What do you do with your kills?

oz_bandit · October 29, 2010, 07:45:00 PM

Hi all,
I'm from australia and new to this forum and I was just wondering what do you guys do with the animals you shoot, like I know turkey and deer are edible but what do you do with bear, mountain lions. mountain goats, coyote e.t.c. I'm not trying to criticise anyone but merely trying to broaden my understanding of bowhunting
Thanks, Matt

lpcjon2 · October 29, 2010, 07:47:00 PM

I think the boys all send them down south, They eat anything!

This should be interesting to read.

4dogs · October 29, 2010, 07:53:00 PM

We eat it...everything you mentioned (with the exception of coyotes) is very edible. The coyotes need to be controled had alot of attacks in this part of the country this year. Those carcusses usually feed the rest of mother nature.

Ray_G · October 29, 2010, 08:01:00 PM

Matt,

I have eaten bear, mountain lion and mountain goat meat from hunts. All was good when properly prepared, although the goat was a bit tough.
A local butcher shop by me used to have a smokehouse and he would take the bear hind quarters and make boneless, smoked hams. Man they were good. Other cuts made good stew meat, brats, etc. Seasoned, roasted lion was like a good pork roast.

Ray

Jerry Jeffer · October 29, 2010, 08:10:00 PM

Food and/or furs.

John Scifres · October 29, 2010, 08:15:00 PM

Food, furs, or pest control. Mostly food. About the onoly thing I won't eat are coons, possums, and coyotes.

David Yukon · October 29, 2010, 10:36:00 PM

Eat what you kill, and kill only what you eat... That is what I do. We don,t have any predators problems up here so I don't shoot them. As for the bears, I realy like the meat on the spring one!!

RAU · October 29, 2010, 10:58:00 PM

I eat almost all of what we shoot. Ive shot a few coyotes and had their hides tanned. I couldnt bring myself to eat one. Ive trapped a bunch of coon and fox in the past and never ate any of them but sold their hides. Down south they eat coons and possum but ive never tried them. Ive eaten turtles and frogs and muskrat and woodchuck as with almost everything its how their prepared. Ive heard mountain lion is really good which really surprises me. I just dont look at them as food i guess but would love to try it. You guys (australians) dont eat your feral pigs do you? I think I heard theres diease or something. How about those big nasty scrub bulls do they get eaten? How about those camels and donkeys? Do you guys eat them? I dont blame you guys one bit if you dont eat them their all introduced feral animals im just curious. Visiting the australian bush is one thing I have to do before I quit. An australian scrub bull bowhunt is probably higher on my want to do list than a semi-guided horseback elkhunt and thats pretty high!!!!

BBK41ND · October 29, 2010, 11:15:00 PM

If I put an arrow through it I try it ,with the exception of coyote or any canine(as far as I know).Rau, coon and bear are basically the same(IMO)and the same is true with any critter,its all in the care and preperation.the fur and skins are just a bonus.

Rooselk · October 29, 2010, 11:27:00 PM

I understand predator and pest control and fully support it (even had lots of fun practicing it on my great-grandfathers farm when I was a kid). But the outdoorsmen in my family also pressed the "if you kill it, you eat it" ethic into me from the time I was small boy. And that's pretty much my practice today. There are animals I don't hunt simply because I don't like the taste (ie, duck).

landman · October 29, 2010, 11:30:00 PM

I grew up in the Deep, Deep South....Southern by God's Grace, as we from "down there" like to say....and I've never eaten a coon or a possum and don't know anyone who has or does.

But, back in the day when I was a kid my grandmother would tell me of her father and grandfather who were Civil War era gents and she said that they would eat possum. She said the nastiest thing she ever saw was a baked grinning possum, stuffed with sweet potatoes, laying on a platter in a pool of its own grease. She said my great grandfather loved that dish, but her description ensured that I would never try it.

Besides, I've seen those things waddle out of a dead cow's carcass after gorging themselves. They're really more of a ground bound buzzard than any other thing that I can think of. Downright nasty.

oz_bandit · October 29, 2010, 11:36:00 PM

Kk, thanks everyone, thats interesting to know
To answer rau's question, im not actually a bowhunter yet, but i am wanting to get into it and give it a try but i believe most people do not eat ferals down here as have many diseases, perhaps with the exception of feral deer

PAPA BEAR · October 30, 2010, 12:22:00 AM

i dont eat anything that eats meat.love me a good elk backstrap though...mmmmmmmmmmmm...

Looper · October 30, 2010, 12:37:00 AM

I utilize everything I shoot, which, around here, are mostly deer, squirrels, rabbits, and hogs. I've shot one coyote, and his hide is going to be a quiver. His skeleton is going in a local museum.

I've eaten raccoon and opossum, but prefer other meat, so I just let them go. I enjoy watching them.

sagebrush · October 30, 2010, 12:44:00 AM

I like bear,elk,moose and deer. Mountain lion is excellent meat. Probably the best out there. Gary

coaster500 · October 30, 2010, 01:02:00 AM

QUOTE>>>>> "i believe most people do not eat ferals down here as have many diseases"

What animals specifically, and what diseases? ... I'm curious....We have Feral Hogs, Burros and Horses....I've eaten Burros and Hogs both are very good?

I eat deer, elk, and bear. I don't eat coyote and they are pests here.

October 30, 2010, 01:10:00 AM

I shot a large possum once that got into our front porch. They ate them on the Beverly hillbillies so I thought, why not. I got a few bucks for the hide. The possum meat was not edible because I threw-up on it, before I had a chance to cook it.

oz_bandit · October 30, 2010, 02:47:00 AM

coaster, although i dont know much about it, my dad said many animals they shot when he was a kid had all sorts of worms and many where very sickly looking e.g rotting gums, rotting feet, infections, etc

Ben Maher · October 30, 2010, 04:00:00 AM

I have eaten nearly everything Australia has to offer in terms of wild game and "ferals". Goat and pig if cooked properly are superb eating .
Camel and buffalo are delicious and rabbit is a mainstay food in my house .
But Sambar deer is perhaps the best meat I have eaten and will hopefully continue to eat it for years to come !

Just be sensible when dressing game as to is and what isn't suitable for consumption.

Joseph · October 30, 2010, 04:12:00 AM

When I was in Australia we ate a young pig that we had shot but I was told that the older pigs, especially if they have been eating carcasses were not safe to eat. There were places in Australia where they were edible because of having a vegitarian diet, one place I think by McKay, was a bannana plantation the pigs were suppose to be very good eating. The Chital are excellent eating.