First Ingredient for Turtle Soup?

[Cyclic-Rivers]

I had   few hours off early this morning and decided to take a  walk.

I have to say it was hard to walk past the carp in search for a turtle.  One presented itself after 3/4 mile walk.

I had to follow his bubble trail  for about 100 yards before he finally surfaced.

Two more turtles were seen about the same size but were passed on because my hands were full...... Literally.

I'm getting better at cleaning them. This one only took me 1.5 hours. Last year it was 2 hours.

[MnFn]

Charley,
My dad loved to eat snapping turtles. He cooked one up once and took it to our families fourth of July picnic.  My uncle said it was the best chicken he had ever had and by the way, how did you get rid of the bones? Good times.

They used to use a big spike in the middle of the table. Slam the turtles upside down on the spike and then start cutting. That was after the head was cut off of course.

[Lefty]

Love turtle!

[4runr]

Congrats Charlie! That's quite a beast.

[Tater]

Charlie,
 Nice shooting, Turtle soup is great. By the time you get them cleaned you have worked up an appetite!!

[Thadbow]

Great job Charlie!  My grandpa use to take us turtle hunting when we were kids and you just brought back some great memories. Thanks for sharing!

[hitman]

I love turtle soup and it is great on the grill too with some barbeque sauce. Of course you have to pressure cook them a while to tender them up.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

Gary, I left the bones in and will cook the meat until it falls off.

Last time I made Turtle I put some in soup that came out great and slow cooked the legs on the grill for 4 hours.  They tasted great but were impossible to eat.  I now know you have to par boil or pressure cook it first, then fry or grill.

I saw the nail in the board trick on you tube but don't kill enough to have  a regular cleaning station. I had to put this one on Ice for a  few hours due to other engagements (Johnny cash cover show with the misses and Grandma) and he was pretty much done moving by the time I got ready to clean him.

[drewsbow]

Congrats Charlie      

[Sharpster]

Pour boiling water over the whole turtle, or better yet, if you have a pot or tub large enough, place the whole turtle into boiling water for just a minute or 2. Remove the turtle from the hot water, hold by the sides of the shell and shake up/down. The entire flesh section will just about fall out.

Ron

[dave h]

Nice shot!

[smokin joe]

That's a nice size turtle, Charlie. Well done.

[Mike Vines]

Nicely done Charlie

[NBK]

Congrats. That's pretty cool.

[JoeM]

Congrats!!  Turtle soup one of my favorites!!

[Biathlonman]

Keep going!  Turtles are always thick around here, and I have no idea what to do with them. Would love to figure out how to make a meal out of them.

[bear mike]

It does not get any better than snapping turtle good shot

[fmscan]

Charlie, thx for sharing, quite the critter, would love to know the age of a guy like that.... Did you get a weight on him?

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Originally posted by fmscan:
Charlie, thx for sharing, quite the critter, would love to know the age of a guy like that.... Did you get a weight on him?

I guess it was about 30 lbs +.  It felt like 200 after the 3/4 mile walk back to the parking area.  

My shooting suffered today as a result.

[2treks]

We always left them in a horse tank for a week or two to get "flushed out".  We talked of turtle soup this morning at Church. My buddies pond is plagued with em. maybe I need to go get some now that Charlie flung a cravin' on me.
Nice job Charlie.