last night I had Elk, Squirrel, and Venison

[~Patrick~]

I went to an outdoors banquet last night. We had Chestnut Burgers, Elk Strogenof, and Squirrel Potpie. Along with a 16' table of sweets.

T-10 complete
10/08/01

[Kaprikorn1]

Oh damn Pat...now ya went and done it...

The venison, elk, etc. I can get here in Calif. from friends or even buy at the trendy supermarkets...but squirrel...that is another matter altogether.

Out here squirrels are puny, gray, tree rats. As a kid I grew up in SE Indiana and squirrel hunting was one of my favorite pastimes. The big fat red ones. I cleaned em and mom cooked em. First in the pressure cooker (remember those) so they were fall-off-the-bone tender. She put in some carrot, onion, celery and spices and when done would make this rich brown gravy and put the meat (after deboning) into this gravy and simmer. This was all served over flat egg noodles with some vege's, a salad, bread, etc. To this day, even seeing a squirrel or hearing people talk about them brings back such strong memories of this delicious wild fare.

See...now I'm drooling all over my keyboard just typing this.

Kap

"It's not easy being green"

[marco25]

I just gotta say Kap: There's no other man more qualified to be Food moderator than you. You're enthusiasm for all kinds of food is contagious and inspiring. You make it fun.

You too Jackie. Thanks. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

[vic]

I simply can not understand this, People in a civilized world eat those sweet little red things that we all love to watch crawling up and down the trees, and are so rare to see, that any time we actually see one we yell, look a squirrel and stop what we are doing to observe it..
Oh boy, would you get into trouble if you did that around here. I bet all animals rights organistations would follow you all the way to the border.
Do you really eat them ? How do they taste ?

[duramater]

Once I went to a potluck supper in MO, and I stirred a pot of stew and the little squirrel bum bum came to the top of the pot, and I ....stepped quietly away....rest in peace little road kill....RIP......sniff...


YUKKA!

And I don't care who goes to yelling at me for saying it....

[Damage]

Personally I don't see the problem, our ancestors ate what was available and we're here aren't we? Tell someone in North America you had reindeer for dinner and they look at you like you're from the moon; in Finland we don't think twice, they're everywhere. I've eaten bugs in Asia and Africa and didn't see a problem. Most people have psychological issues with eating certain foods, not necessarily a taste issues. It's all about what you're open to. Some people don't eat things we don't think twice about (beef etc.)

my dear Pat

I must come to your defense on this one. as a vegetarian I would find the eating of any once living creature to be a vile and disgusting act. however, that is my personal choice. people will always eat meat. Ghandi said, "the progress of a nation can be seen in the way it's animals are treated"...or something like that. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/wink.gif I find nothing civilized or humane in how the animals raised for food are treated. From the factory farm to the slaughter house they live a horrible painful existence. I will not take the time to educate the world on the atrocities commited on these feeling beings in these places. If interested they can look it up. It's not hard information to find. Most people think of happy cows grazing in the pasture...that is a rare situation in these modern times. The factory farm is the most economical way to raise animals for consumption. It's also a place worse than hell. While these animals live in torment, the wild creatures that Pat likes to eat, live a wonderful, and for the most part, peaceful existence. They are not abused or tormented or held captive. The only pain inflicted on them by humans may be at the moment of their death, which is brief. Other than that, compared to animals raised for food, their lives are dandy.

So many times value is based on what one perceives to be beautiful. Animals considered not beautiful feel just as much pain as those who man has deemed beautiful and therefore worthy to not be eaten.

My husband hunts and he eats all that he kills and he does not kill more than he can eat. He does not take a shot unless he is 100% positive he can make it and his kills are clean kills. And from what I have heard Pat say here of hunting, I think Pat is the same. I don't make the food choices for my husband. I would like it if he would become vegetarian for many reasons, but he has no interest in that. His choice. If he must eat meat, I am glad that most of what he eats is wild. The animals he eats were not tortured on factory farms, they did not have their babies taken away and locked in veal crates, they were not slaughtered with no concern as to whether it is painful or not. I'd much rather him eat an animal that had a good life, all it's life, than an animal that was brought into the world for the sole purpose of filling someone's gut, no matter what the cost in animal suffering it must pay.

I get so tired of meat-eaters condoning the eating of one animal, yet someone like Pat or my husband is uncivilized because they eat an animal considered cute or pretty. If it's wrong in someone's eyes to eat animal A, then it should be wrong in that same person's eyes to eat animal B. Both A and B have the same potential to suffer.

I am assuming that anyone here who may take issue with the eating of wild animals is already a vegetarian.

[vic]

X,
If you are refering to my earlier post, i know you have misunderstood me. I have no problem with people eating "cute" animals, if that is considered normal where they are. I just never heard about eating a squirrel before. My comment about a civilized world was more just fun, i am really sorry if that was misunderstood. I have eaten lots of strange animals, and will continue tasting new food as long as i can, meat is not a problem for me. I even asked how the squirrel tastes to get an idea of where to place it in my mind. Is it more like a whale than like a pigeon (probably far from both)

Chance is, that i misunderstood you, and did not even have to clear things out, and if so, then just forget this message :-)

Originally posted by X:

my dear Pat

I must come to your defense on this one. as a vegetarian I would find the eating of any once living creature to be a vile and disgusting act. however, that is my personal choice. people will always eat meat. Ghandi said, "the progress of a nation can be seen in the way it's animals are treated"...or something like that. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/wink.gif I find nothing civilized or humane in how the animals raised for food are treated. From the factory farm to the slaughter house they live a horrible painful existence. I will not take the time to educate the world on the atrocities commited on these feeling beings in these places. If interested they can look it up. It's not hard information to find. Most people think of happy cows grazing in the pasture...that is a rare situation in these modern times. The factory farm is the most economical way to raise animals for consumption. It's also a place worse than hell. While these animals live in torment, the wild creatures that Pat likes to eat, live a wonderful, and for the most part, peaceful existence. They are not abused or tormented or held captive. The only pain inflicted on them by humans may be at the moment of their death, which is brief. Other than that, compared to animals raised for food, their lives are dandy.

So many times value is based on what one perceives to be beautiful. Animals considered not beautiful feel just as much pain as those who man has deemed beautiful and therefore worthy to not be eaten.

My husband hunts and he eats all that he kills and he does not kill more than he can eat. He does not take a shot unless he is 100% positive he can make it and his kills are clean kills. And from what I have heard Pat say here of hunting, I think Pat is the same. I don't make the food choices for my husband. I would like it if he would become vegetarian for many reasons, but he has no interest in that. His choice. If he must eat meat, I am glad that most of what he eats is wild. The animals he eats were not tortured on factory farms, they did not have their babies taken away and locked in veal crates, they were not slaughtered with no concern as to whether it is painful or not. I'd much rather him eat an animal that had a good life, all it's life, than an animal that was brought into the world for the sole purpose of filling someone's gut, no matter what the cost in animal suffering it must pay.

I get so tired of meat-eaters condoning the eating of one animal, yet someone like Pat or my husband is uncivilized because they eat an animal considered cute or pretty. If it's wrong in someone's eyes to eat animal A, then it should be wrong in that same person's eyes to eat animal B. Both A and B have the same potential to suffer.

I am assuming that anyone here who may take issue with the eating of wild animals is already a vegetarian.

[duramater]

Before anyone hops on my YUKKA, Pat knows I shoot, and while I think hunting is an expensive, all consuming and potentially dangerous sport, I have nothing against it's morality....I like chicken, duck, quail, fish, some cuts of beef, the tenderloin of deer, squid , octopus, various vegetables and legumes....I don't fancy squirrel....so do not think for a minute, that I am staking an argument against eating it....I would just prefer chocolate....Pat knows if he made me squirrel stew I would eat it...but can we have cheesecake for dessert????? Rock and Roll..my friends......Mary

[Kaprikorn1]

Originally posted by vic:

I simply can not understand this, People in a civilized world eat those sweet little red things that we all love to watch crawling up and down the trees, and are so rare to see, that any time we actually see one we yell, look a squirrel and stop what we are doing to observe it..
Oh boy, would you get into trouble if you did that around here. I bet all animals rights organistations would follow you all the way to the border.
Do you really eat them ? How do they taste ?

"It's not easy being green"

[.]

http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

the dumbass blundy didn't tell me he'd loggged me out! http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/mad.gif

the message I'd tried to write was this:

no vic, I understood you what you meant, you were very clear the first time, but thanks for the explaination anyway.

This is a serious question, so please no one laugh. Is it possible to get rabies from eating a rabid animal or only if it bites you? I don't think rabies is apparent at first. An animal will act and look strange/sick after it's had rabies a while, but I don't think you'd be able to tell at first. don't laugh, just answer! http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/wink.gif http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[vic]

Thanks Kap :-)

Originally posted by Kaprikorn1:

Squirrel is a dark rich meat with no "gamey" taste. I daresay, if prepared like I said in my post you couldn't tell the difference between it and say beef stew meat or buffalo. It is not stringy and has sufficient fat content (when harvested in the fall during the hunting season)to not be dry if cooked by other methods.

Kap


Kap

"It's not easy being green"

[Lindox]

Originally posted by X:

This is a serious question, so please no one laugh. Is it possible to get rabies from eating a rabid animal or only if it bites you? I don't think rabies is apparent at first. An animal will act and look strange/sick after it's had rabies a while, but I don't think you'd be able to tell at first. don't laugh, just answer! http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/wink.gif http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

X
I don't think this happens.
I was raised on the wild kingdom.
I don't think any of us ever got rabies..hard
to tell with humans sometimes.

My Dad was a hunter, trapper, fisherman deluxe..one time he barbequed a beaver rump
roast..oh boy..it was nasty.
But rabbit, squirrel, pheasant, goose, duck,
deer...very tasty if you can get past the
mental block of some of them being rodents,
and the deer being so darned cute.

And when it was eat it or go hungry..you ate it.

<"();::::::::::;~

[duge]

I personally Like squirell it's a good break to eat one evry now and then as I can't walk in the wood's anymore I have to wait for my boy's to bring one in. animal's I think have to be kept in check or they over populate for instance raccoon's here there are so many that Rabies are getting into them!!!! Ive ate it once but did not care for it stringy!! My youngest got a deer this year so we are having alot of jerky and the deer saugage is great!!! they turned Turkey's loose and now we have way to many it's nothing to see 20 at a time I hear there not that good to eat plus now you have to worry about lice and tick's from them not to mention they turned loose rattlesnakes because they say it's a turkey's farvorite food!!!! so now I know for sure I'll stay out of the wood's But has anyone here eaten rattlesnake?????

[metronycguy]

snake works nicely, sea turtle is the best meat i have ever had, better than a filet minion steak, same color and texture, but protected most places nowadays, land turtle works too, but lots of flukes/worms, not that tasty, in the organs not a good thing..tabasco sauce always helps what wasnt always pallatble, eels are great... bbq
lobster used to be fed to the prisioners in new england as it was considered trash food early on.
if someone could figure out what to do with the damn geese around here, be great to turn them into food, they dont migrate anymore, just foul everthing with the dropppings, ruining lakes and other area for swimming due to high geese droppings.

[~Patrick~]

I had rattle snake when I lived in Mississippi. Along with Gator. I thought it all tasted like chicken meat so why not just eat chicken?

As far as rabies. It is hard to catch unless you eat raw meat or get blood in with your blood, like a cut.
rabies info (http://www.hci.net/~decoydoc/local/rabies/rabies_FAQ.html)

T-10 complete
10/08/01

[metronycguy]

Originally posted by Pat(wheelinarcher):

I had rattle snake when I lived in Mississippi. Along with Gator. I thought it all tasted like chicken meat so why not just eat chicken?


snakes and such ...
we used to call it chow on the hoof, an unexpected delight to add to the mundane of lrrp rations... tabasco sauce fixes all in the field

[LauraD]

Sounds delicious to me!!

I have had elk once and loved it. My hubby and son hunt so we often have squirrel, rabbit and we did have venison tonight for supper. I love wild game. If the population of wild game wasn't contolled some by hunting there would be more problems with disease and other things.

http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/smile.gifThank you Pat and Lindox for answering about the rabies! Much appreciated! http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

Pat, what is a chestnut burger? Is it really made with chestnuts? Is there any meat in it? Thank you. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

[~Patrick~]

it has a chestnut center. It is like a venison meatball wrapped around a chestnut. I will see if I can get the recipe.

T-10 complete
10/08/01

[chick]

Population of wild animals wouldn't require so much control.... IF there wasn't so much usurping of land and habitat.. Ironic huh... population control due to calulated manipulation of population and land. Much of it due to human irresponsibilty and recklessness.

Im not against hunting, per se, but when people argue that WE need to hunt to control population, it seems a very deflective and self serving remark.

I have more regard/respect for those who can at least admit that they hunt because they enjoy the kill and prefer to eat wild game.

Originally posted by Pat(wheelinarcher):

it has a chestnut center. It is like a venison meatball wrapped around a chestnut. I will see if I can get the recipe.

Thank you Pat! http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif I was hoping it was some sort of "woodsman's vegie burger"! http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif I'd still like to have the recipe though because my omnivorous spouse will like it and another member on this site who seems to think our house is a restaraunt! http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif but I won't name names...(covers mouth and coughs out..hmmhmm...blundy...hmm..hmm...no, no, I didn't say anything, I just have a cold! http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif) http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/wink.gif