Closing Remarks

40 thoughts on “Closing Remarks”

1. I’ve been meaning to ask: do you butcher the large carcasses yourself? Or is this a “trade for parts” sort of deal, or do you outsource on a cash basis?

   I’ve dealt with a pig before, and they’re big, but never done the whole job myself and dizam, it’s messy.Report

   1. When I was a kid, I worked for a rural butcher who would take care of any of your large game for about $50-$100.

      Every winter, I would eat soooo much venison sausage….Report

   2. Patrick,

      In the past I have paid professionals to process deer for me, which hurts my pride more than I can say. I have also done it myself when I was younger but these days I don’t have a good setup at home (my garage doesn’t have a good place to attach the winch). These days one of my friends does it for me at his house in exchange for access to some of the land we hunt, since it is owned by my family.

      I also helped butcher hogs when I was in my teens. That was a 2-day affair with about a dozen people involved. Fun, but a lot of work. Report

2. I gotta ask:

   What kinds of frog?

   What is squirrel like? Is it good plain, or is it one of those meats that is much better in a soup or stew?Report

   1. When I see squirrel, I can’t help but think about Mike Huckabee’s story about cooking squirrel in a popcorn popper in college.Report

   2. MRS,

      I should probably know this but I think what we usually get are bull frogs and green frogs. I know there are a lot more species but I think those are the two most common. Bullfrogs are preferable because they are so large although in a pond that doesn’t get a lot of pressure the green frogs get pretty large too.

      Squirrel is similar to chicken, though with more flavor. They eat a lot of acorns so that flavors the meat. To be honest it is not my favorite wild game to eat but I love hunting them so I try to cook them as well as I can. They do really well in stews or old-world dishes like a cassoulet.Report

      1. Oh god, my kingdom for a cassoulet. Easily in my top five food items.Report

         1. Ryan,

            I make mine with rabbit and/or squirel and some good sausage.

            MikeReport

            1. My brain is melting right now. It’s 9am and you have already committed my entire day to the flames. Thanks for that.Report

         2. Either you live in a very culinary deprived area or just have very low stakes for giving away your kingdom.Report

            1. Pretty low, but I think you may underestimate just exactly how much I love cassoulet. Although, that said, I do live like two blocks from one of the best French restaurants in DC. They just don’t make their cassoulet with rabbit and squirrel.Report

               1. Like Anton Ego & Ratatouille?Report

      2. Interesting…

         I’ve always been a little squeamish to try squirrel, but if I ever find myself staring down at a plate, I will give it a try.Report

3. Just call me pavlov. I took one look at that lil pic and my mouth started watering.Report

4. Growing up my Dad and I would butcher the deer ourselves. That was partially a result of having no one to butcher it for him I’m sure. Now he’s much older and takes it to a butcher. This guy will make anything into sausage too, and it’s pretty damn good.

   Summer sausage from elk or bison
   Venison breakfast sausage
   ETC
   It’s all damn good.

   I do miss the birds though: quail, chukkar, grouse. Sadly, the quail hunting itsn’t what it used to be 50 years ago where he now lives…..Report

   1. Damon – the quail hunting has gotten terrible here as well. It’s a nation-wide problem. Not enough habitat. We have one small covey at the farm but I try to leave them alone.Report

      1. Could you describe the taste and texture of wild turkey to me? It’s one wild bird I’ve never eaten (never been south of Minnesota really) and I am enormously curious about it. I would presume it’s thinner and tougher than a domestic engineered bird and possibly more flavorful? Is toughness a problem?Report

         1. North – Most wild turkeys are remarkably similar in taste to domestic, although you are right, slightly more tough. Careful cooking fixes that. The turkeys I usually shoot are living mostly off of clover and corn in the spring so their diet isn’t much different than domestic birds.Report

            1. Wow I am surprised that they’re so similar though I suppose I shouldn’t be, diet informs the flavor.Report

               1. One caveat I would add is that the meat can be a bit more ‘complex’ in the fall. While they will still eat corn and winter wheat where available they will also begin eating a lot of acorns to build up their winter protein stores. The flavor from the acorns ends up in the fat on the bird and as we know fat = flavor. This is similar to a good Serrano ham.Report

      2. Quail are thriving here, as well as dove. Over the last month the rabbit population was annihilated by a bobcat. I miss those furry lil fellas hoppin around the yard. they should return in force soon.Report

      3. Yep. Sadly. My Dad once called me to ask if I wanted to kick into a group land purchase for deer hunting. Four or five folks would buy the land and pay for it to be planted with desirable crops for deer.

         I indicated I’d rather do that for quail, but Dad said that the cost of creating the habitat and maintaining it, much less getting the quail to come would be time and $$ expensive. Many times greater than the “deer route”.

         I have heard some good news about folks making progress restoring habitat in Texas though…..Report

         1. Damon,

            The problem we have here is that farms are relatively small (under 200 acres). People will tell the fish & wildlife guys they are managing their 150 acres for quail and the response wil be, “That’s great but you really need 500 acres.” They’ve been encouraging people to team up with their neighbors but there just aren’t enough hunters anymore.Report

            1. Yep, number of acres was indeed a factor in my case. That’s what Dad said. God I’d love to have 500 acres of prime quail land.

               490 of it could be for the quail.Report

   2. I like to quail watch outside of my office window. I’ve never had the desire to kill them though.Report

5. The whole world of hunting is pretty alien to me, so it’s been interesting to read your stories about it. Unless I was starving, I don’t think I could bring myself to kill an animal but, if you eat meat (which I rarely do) there is a certain honesty about it.

   Congratulations on a successful hunting season.Report

   1. +1

      I can’t bring myself to kills something, so I’m a vegetarian. But I like the idea of Mike killing an animal who has lived in the wild and eating. I guess that’s the way to go.Report

      1. Miss Mary – there is an old saying that the problem with game animals is that they have the misfortune of being delicious.

         I haven’t worked out the details yet but I am hoping that when I die my family can just leave me somewhere for the critters to eat. Maybe they could rub bacon all over me to speed things along. After all the hunting I have done it only seems fair.Report

      2. If someone doesn’t kill the deer around here soon, there will be an ecological catastrophe (scale: small). And people aren’t going to notice in time.

         If there was a way I could wave a wand and make it legal, I’d pay Mike to come up here and hunt ’em down. With arrows, preferably.

         These deer are mentally retarded. Chuck a stick (or snowball) at ’em, and they sniff it to see if it’s food.Report

6. I should probably refrain from commenting, us being on different teams and all, but this was another terrific post. Have you ever considered writing a book about your experiences hunting? I would buy it.Report

   1. Thank you Mike – and yes, I’ve thought about it. I just have no idea what that would look like.Report

      1. Probably look like, well, a book. With, you know, pages. And a cover. Maybe a nice graphic on the front.

         Some written words on the pages.

         You know…Report

   2. Yeah, I’m going to second Mike’s suggestion.

      You should talk to Kyle, Mike D.Report

      1. Didn’t the publisher find Kyle though? That’s my problem – not enough time to self-advertise.Report

         1. I cold e-mailed a publisher recently with an idea for a book (which would be my first.) She wasn’t interested, but was very helpful in suggesting ways to find someone who might be. So, it might not be as difficult as you’re probably imagining.Report

         2. *sparkles* you don’t need to self-advertise if you’ve got finished product. that’s what agents are for. (I’d be seriously interested in what you’d come up with for a science fiction story…)Report

            1. I’m not a sci-fi guy writing-wise. I’m much more Garrison Keilor.Report

               1. and that, my friend, is exactly what would make it interesting.Report

                  1. Back home at Asteroid Mining Station Woebegone….Report

                  2. Where the gravity is fierce, the solar wind mild, and all the mineral strikes above average.Report

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