Anybody eat raccoons

[sse]

I love reading what all you guys eat or used to eat.  I love just about any game meat, but can't say I've had any coon or possum or muskrat.  

I think I've said before that I did make a pot of venison and bear stew (using the fire set made by Lightseeker that I won in the RAFFLE!) year ago Thanksgiving for the flatlanders to take in while turkey dinner was going. I invited anyone outside to sample at their pleasure.  Surprisingly, a lot of them really liked the bear meat and so did I.  

Growing up we got fed a lot of old world stuff, though:  blood sausage, tripes, kidney, pigs knuckle, then some stuff I didn't know what it was and didn't ask neither...!

[Stryker]

Raccoons are actually pretty tasty. It's just time consuming to make. Grandpa used to brine his for 24 to 48 hours. Then boil it for an hour or so, and only then would he Grill, roast, barbeque or smoke it. I liked it. Now Possum is another story, I'd have to be mighty hungry to eat them critters again. Mighty hungry!

[Fletcher]

Now that brine may be the trick!  24 to 48 hours for the critter and some good brine for me for at least a few hours before dinner  

[oomcurt]

In regard to what Butterchurn asked about rabies... Funny thing, never ever did I ever worry about that. My own opinion on that is the heat from cooking would eliminate any problems plus, unless one ate the brain I doubt very much that there would be any complications. As long as the rabies thing was brought up...there is something else I would like to address. This CWD thing. Now, from what I've read, there is no evidence as yet that that can be transferred to a human. Also, from what I have read...in advanced stages the critter in question does not look at all healthy nor act normal...so why would anyone wish to take such an animal for food??? Here in Colorado, there are areas where the disease has been found and of course it is recommended that testing be done before one eats it. Well, I know several people that don't bother with that...and yup...they're still kicking. Bottom line...I guess any animal could have some disease but that has never bothered me...as long as when I gutted it things looked normal inside, that is all I care about.

[Uncle Russ]

Now Possum is another story, I'd have to be mighty hungry to eat them critters again. Mighty hungry!

Stryker, I'm with you!........ A Possum can flat out ugly ya to death...

To me, the 'possum is proof positive that God does indeed have a sense of humor.....

Uncle Russ...

[Stryker]

In regard to what Butterchurn asked about rabies... Funny thing, never ever did I ever worry about that. My own opinion on that is the heat from cooking would eliminate any problems plus, unless one ate the brain I doubt very much that there would be any complications. As long as the rabies thing was brought up...there is something else I would like to address. This CWD thing. Now, from what I've read, there is no evidence as yet that that can be transferred to a human. Also, from what I have read...in advanced stages the critter in question does not look at all healthy nor act normal...so why would anyone wish to take such an animal for food??? Here in Colorado, there are areas where the disease has been found and of course it is recommended that testing be done before one eats it. Well, I know several people that don't bother with that...and yup...they're still kicking. Bottom line...I guess any animal could have some disease but that has never bothered me...as long as when I gutted it things looked normal inside, that is all I care about.

A state game warden told me that for Raccoons and a few other smaller critters, rabies is only a problem east of the Mississippi. I tought that was interesting. That brings up an obvious point though, you don't want to be eating anything that looks diseased.

[Stryker]

Now Possum is another story, I'd have to be mighty hungry to eat them critters again. Mighty hungry!

Stryker, I'm with you!........ A Possum can flat out ugly ya to death...

Uncle Russ...

Aint that the truth!

[deadfallpaul]

LOL!! :rofl  :lt th

[Fletcher]

Uncle Russ - how about Armadillo.  That is really Possum on the half shell  

[vermontfreedom]

I've had coon only once and enjoyed it. It was ground meat in a chili.

My favorites are venison, squirrel, muskrat, and beaver. NOt necessarily in that order.

I don't trap or hunt furbearers, so it's been a long time since I've had them.

Also long since I've had moose or elk or caribou, but I like it all.

Bear and groundhog are at the bottom of my preference, but I'll eat them if put in something with lots of covering flavor, like chili.

I'll try anything at least once.

[vermontfreedom]

regarding CWD

oomcurt is correct that there is no evidence to suggest humans can contract it from eating meat of animals that have it.

CWD has been known in the western US since the 1960s. I'm betting thousands of muleys, white-tails, elk, and even moose have been eaten that were infected.

HOWEVER, there is abundant evidence, some might even say proof, that a form of a disease related to CWD, called Creutzfeld-Jakob (CJD) or variant Creutzfeld-Jakob disease (vCJD) is contracted by people that eat beef from animals that have bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also called "mad cow disease".

CWD in deer, mad cow in cattle, CJD and vCJD in humans, and scrapie in sheep are all similar diseases, so it may well be only a matter of time before epidemiologists determine if humans can get 'sick' by eating CWD-infected deer.

To each his own, but if I was hunting in CWD infected areas, or if it ever gets to PA, I'll be having my deer tested before consuming.

You can protect yourself by deboning all meat, removing lymph nodes (there are some that sit between the muscles of the hams), not using a bone saw to cut through meat and bone when processing, and having the deer tested, but this will cost a few bucks (about $40 or $50 in PA).

And it's always sensible to wear latex or rubber gloves when dressing any game. There are lots of crazy diseases and conditions people can get from gutting and handling wild meat. You ABSOLUTELY could contract rabies this way - a little blood in a cut, a squirt of blood or some other fluid in the eye or mouth. And deer can and do carry rabies, not just bats and coons and skunks and foxes. Any mammal can have rabies. Many diseases have a long incubation period. For example, it can take 6-18 months for an animal with CWD to show symptoms!


I knew personally a biologist who died because he didn't take precautions when dressing (actually performing a necropsy) on a mountain lion in Arizone a couple of years ago. Spend 50 cents on a pair of dressing gloves and wash afterwards - it might just save your life or prevent a rash or feeling really sick!

[Three Hawks]

A half dozen pairs of nitrile gloves is less than $4.  I rinse mine in a solution of 1/4 cup of bleach to two gallons of warm water, spread e'm out on an old towel to dry.  Not much work, not much expense and a lot of peace of mind.

Queasy ol'

Three Hawks

[Longhunter]

Bear and groundhog are at the bottom of my preference, but I'll eat them if put in something with lots of covering flavor, like chili.

V F, I'm surprised at that statement...Bear roast is my all time favorite wild game roast. I don't care as much for bear burger or steak but the roast is better than the best beef roast I've ever had.

When I get a bear I put as much of it as possible into roast, it's a fine grain meat with a rich almost sweet taste. I've only had one bad one in my life and that was piece of meat given to me by a friend that didn't take care of the meat properly after he killed it. A bear will sour quickly if not skinned and cooled then cut up as quickly as possible.

[vermontfreedom]

Well, to be  honest, LongHunter, I've only had bear 2 or 3 times. The first time I had it it was good.

The second, it was from a friends 200 or 250-pounder and it was gamey and strong.

I ate it, and it was o.k., but not "good".

And he took care of the meat.

But again, only had it a couple of times. I remember getting some venison steaks from a friends' buck a few years back and it was horrible - gamey, strong. Had that been only my 2nd or 3rd experience with venison, I might feel the same way.

Bear season here in PA is only 3 days long, and I have to work 12-18 hour days that week, including working at least half a day on Thanksgiving every year, so I don't get a chance to hunt them. ...Though now we have an extended season (a few days concurrent with rifle deer season) in the management  unit I live in, so I might just buy a tag and hope to knock one down.

Rest assured I will save all the meat I can from any bear I shoot. ...Maybe some day.

[RckyMtn Joe]

Hey Ron---I think we grew up under similar circumstances----your childhood sounds remarkably familiar to me!  About "coon"---my Dad loved to hunt, we always had coon dogs, and we had coon on a regular basis.  My mom cooked them in a pressure cooker to tenderize them  and then put them in the oven with the BBQ sauce to simmer for a while.

People who eat processed meat from Kroger's etc. turn up their noses at the kind of tablefare us older country dudes enjoyed.  I sure miss a lot of those old times.

Joe