Would You Eat It?

[Tronneroi]

Chatting with the wife over a couple of beers last night, we got onto the topic of the three critters we would absolutely not eat.

Out of sheer boredom I decided to make a poll to rank animals from most appetizing to least. I left deer, elk, moose, etc off the list...

Poll

Results

[wildwoods]

Good one. Cougar is absolutely amazing to eat. Very pork like and tasty

[Tronneroi]

Yep, Cougar is real good.

The other, other white meat...

[brewster29]

I gag just thinking of eating a skunk...

[normanrd]

Originally Posted by brewster29

I gag just thinking of eating a skunk...

Not as bad as wolf or coyote. Only thing worse would be a raven.

[north american hunter]

I have heard Cougar is real good.

[trooper]

I've had cougar before

[Rather Be Hunting]

Muskrat or porcupine

[EZM]

I ranked Beaver and Squirrel up top.

Never ate a cougar (but according to MEATEATER it's great) so put that ahead of Wolf/Coyote.

I put muskrat and skunk at the bottom of the list.

[Tronneroi]

I read a book called My Life With The Eskimo by Vilhjalmur Stefansson, apart from a great read, he said wolf meat was his absolute favourite. Can't say that I've thought about trying it, but I've dressed out a few muskrats and I definitely put them near the bottom. Yuck.

[Ken07AOVette]

I had cougar once, iirc it was kind of yellow? This was at a F&W wild game supper. I much prefered the bison and salmon. All the rest on that list share 9th spot on my list, fussyguy

[huntinstuff]

The smell of a wolf just puts it #9 for me. Tied with skunk

The rest are all edible. But a wolf? Nope.

[Tronneroi]

Originally Posted by huntinstuff

The smell of a wolf just puts it #9 for me. Tied with skunk

The rest are all edible. But a wolf? Nope.

Coyote is last for me, as far as dogs go...

[Positrac]

I’ve had Cougar twice. It tasted just fine but I still had a hard time eating it. Much like bear to me. The few times I’ve had black bear there was absolutely nothing wrong with it but I still had a hard time swallowing it. I know...it’s all in my mind. Apparently knowing that still doesn’t help me enjoy it though.

One of the first bears I was part of getting way back in the early 90’s had cysts all through the meat. That did it for me. I’ve taken a pile of friends out bear hunting since and have no issue helping out with gutting or breaking a bear down, but I’m not interested in eating one myself.

[Moo Snukkle]

Cougar is excellent. Light pink meat that turns almost white when cooked. Most similar to pork. Porcupine is greasy like bear, and better as ground up. The rest I’d have no interest in, except in a survival situation.

[john-brennan]

Cougar and beaver are very good eating, ate squirrel once but was drunk so I think it was good.

[ghostguy6]

Ive eaten squirrel and muskrat. Definitely need to be served with some sort of gravy like in a stew or pot pie. On their own too dry and reminded me of liver. Id have to be starving to eat them again.

I made coyote jerky once but never did have the heart to try it. I put it out for my co workers who would steal all my deer jerky. They stopped shortly after.
The rest I have not tried although I have tried the alternative varieties of cougar and beaver, tasted kind fishy....

[creeky]

x7 on cougar.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Osky]

Bears great, big cats terrific, beaver tail in the morning is very good...
Wolves have a stench so bad you can pick it up from a distance when conditions are right, no thanks.

Osky

[owlhoot]

I've only had beaver and squirrel, Both quite good. The beaver was par boiled and baked, the next day the cold leftover carcass was covered with gelatin

[catnthehat]

I've eaten lots of muskrat, squirrel, beaver , Lynx, Bear , etc. and like them all.
I'd stay away from the canine family unless it was a survival situation.
The thing about muskrats is the glands need to n=be removed from the legs, lots of guys doo not realize that .
Cat

[WinFwt]

I've eaten 5 animals on the list, beaver, muskrat, cougar, porcupine, and lots of squirrel. Have taken a pass on the dogs and the skunk though.

50 years ago, as a kid living at home, I would try to fill the stew pot with either squirrels or rabbits every couple of weeks.

Had an uncle who was a trapper, ate quite a bit of muskrat and beaver at his table. Both are quite good, very rich, just have to have lots of potatoes or bread with them. He served up porcupine once, very fatty and not my favorite.

[Dennis169]

Skunk is a non-starter. As is Beaver, used it as bait when I was younger...no way. I've tried Lynx and it was good, similar to Cougar I would guess.

[straight]

Ate almost everything above (no skunk) plus badger and marmot - very good. Dog meat, when cooked properly, sooo delicious.

[Sitting Bull]

Only bear for me and fantastic. I do have a question regarding squirrels though. Are the squirrels that we see in our forest good for eating or only the big greys you get out east.

[trooper]

I'm thinking that any member of the squirrel family is edible. Small critters would be dried out and smashed into powder mixed with suet and powdered dried berries to make pemmican.

[Tronneroi]

Originally Posted by Sitting Bull

Only bear for me and fantastic. I do have a question regarding squirrels though. Are the squirrels that we see in our forest good for eating or only the big greys you get out east.

I've eaten plenty of the little red guys. They've all been really good. Garlic, salt, pepper in a cast iron skillet.

You've gotta shoot a pile for a half decent meal though.

[270person]

Bailed on the pool after porcupine, squirrel, and beaver. I'd rather die in the wilderness than eat the bottom 6.

[3blade]

The only one that really turns me off would be skunk. Rabies is a hard no

I’ve eaten kangaroo, jackrabbit, an old rutted up wild boar. Those were all pretty terrible and much worse than most of that list but I’ve never tried wolf or coyote.

[KegRiver]

I've eaten Beaver and Squirrel, would do so again.

I haven't tried any of the others but wouldn't rule any out. Depends on the situation and how it was killed and prepared.

Wolf and Coyote only if I was starving.