G'Day mates. (better? )

I've read some of the posts here and was wondering about eating what we kill.

Has anyone eaten water buffalo? What does it taste like? How is it prepared? Are buff dangerous and difficult to hunt?

And what about those large hogs that seem to
bring a smile to your faces. Are they good to eat or are they kinda "gamey"? How are they cooked/prepared? What I've shot here were pretty rank. Or maybe wifey just didn't cook them properly?

Do the feral goats and tahr get eaten? What about those camels, roos and wallabies? Are camels hard to hunt or dangerous? What do these things taste like?

Recently I saw a post where an Aussie had shot a very large feral cow....maybe bull? Are these
around in numbers? Are they dangerous? What about cooking them? Gamey or the same as any other beef?

Now I understand that some pretty mean and large wild cattle roam the border land between Texas and Mexico. Maybe some of our Texans or Mexicans can chime in with some information.

We hunt and eat gator here, what about your salties? Are they hunted and eaten too or are they fully protected?

And my goodnes, is OZ still overrun with rabbits? Are they eaten as well?

What about NZ? What exotic stuff do we hunt there and eat that really is not done around the rest of the world?

What can be rather mundane locally can be real
exotic and unknown stuff elsewhere. I've eaten rattlesnake, possum, racoon, and ground hogs
taken here in the States. Even many Yanks find that strange or exotic! The best meat I've ever eaten was not any deer or stag, but american black bear which a mate's wife had cut into chunks and "canned". Made into a gravy over white rice, it was perfect!

Recipies are welcome too. Contrary to what many people believe, I don't think we in the international brotherhood of hunters just go and kill stuff. Yes, there is a certain element of that but what about the "eat what you kill" side of our passions? If I understand correctly, Alaska has tried to address the wasting of meat problem?

I don't mean to be overly selective here. I'd like to hear from all 7 continents. What game does the rest of the world hunt and eat? Nutria?
And don't tell me it tastes like chicken either!

If I could eat, and not necessarily hunt, anything it would be elephant. I've always wondered what a steak from the trunk would taste like?

Thanks for your responses in advance,

Don

Don, Don, Don....It's G'Day, pronounced gud-day

Mate there are a lot of folk that do eat what they kill. Some draw the line at a big old boar but tonnes of pig meat is sent to Germany every year from Australia so someone has to like eating it (those crazy Germans....don't mention the war )

I have eaten Rabbit,duck,Magpie goose,hare,feral goat, small feral pig (didn't mind it at all, a bit gameyer than the store bought pig we had roasting alongside), Buffalo (like beef I thought but a bit chewier, mind you it wasn't hung and aged but killed and grilled that day) A good mate of mine (the guy in the pig hunting photo's from the NT eats a lot of feral donkey).

Roo shooting is not available to the general hunting public so most roo is bought through the supermarket. Camel I have eaten, bought from a wholesale butcher. Again I thought it was like beef.
Croc can be bought through the supermarket, These are farmed crocs. The deer hunters will make the most use of the animal I would think.

In general we don't utilize our animals like you guys in North America. Some people just take the choice cuts and leave the rest, some like a lot of pig hunters will leave the animal where it lays. In the NT unless you go out specifically to get meat you tend to leave it when the picture taking is over. Its just to bloody hot sometimes!

We also don't have game processers we can drop the animal off to either, our meat handling laws won't allow that. Even hunting pigs for the chiller box can be difficult, in the NT you have to get your dead pigs in the box within an hour. On some of the cattle stations it takes and hour just to get to the front gate. People would then catch live and chuck the pig in an enclosed trailer and kill it when they get closer to town.

Hope that answers some of the questions Don.

quote:

Originally posted by Bakes:
Don, Don, Don....It's G'Day, pronounced gud-day

Mate there are a lot of folk that do eat what they kill. Some draw the line at a big old boar but tonnes of pig meat is sent to Germany every year from Australia so someone has to like eating it (those crazy Germans....don't mention the war )

I have eaten Rabbit,duck,Magpie goose,hare,feral goat, small feral pig (didn't mind it at all, a bit gameyer than the store bought pig we had roasting alongside), Buffalo (like beef I thought but a bit chewier, mind you it wasn't hung and aged but killed and grilled that day) A good mate of mine (the guy in the pig hunting photo's from the NT eats a lot of feral donkey).

Roo shooting is not available to the general hunting public so most roo is bought through the supermarket. Camel I have eaten, bought from a wholesale butcher. Again I thought it was like beef.
Croc can be bought through the supermarket, These are farmed crocs. The deer hunters will make the most use of the animal I would think.

In general we don't utilize our animals like you guys in North America. Some people just take the choice cuts and leave the rest, some like a lot of pig hunters will leave the animal where it lays. In the NT unless you go out specifically to get meat you tend to leave it when the picture taking is over. Its just to bloody hot sometimes!

We also don't have game processers we can drop the animal off to either, our meat handling laws won't allow that. Even hunting pigs for the chiller box can be difficult, in the NT you have to get your dead pigs in the box within an hour. On some of the cattle stations it takes and hour just to get to the front gate. People would then catch live and chuck the pig in an enclosed trailer and kill it when they get closer to town.

Hope that answers some of the questions Don.

Thank you sir. And I must say, I hadn't realized Australia was so hot? Feral donkey? Hmmm...I forgot that I've eaten horse meat which wasn't all that bad. Comedian, Tim Allen, has a theory that the Germans are always so angry because they have nothing to eat but
half rotted cabbage and road-kill stuffed into animal guts. The rest of us should thank Ausralia for sending them food. It makes the rest of us sleep better knowing they have a full belly!

Tahr are very tasty, only problem is it can taste really nice but still be like an old boot in the chewing department.
Hare, goat and rabbit, all nice. But same as tahr, the bulls or billy's are to be avoided.
Pork out of the pines normally tastes like crap, but off the tussock or out of the native and it's good.

Fallow venision is still the best I've had by far.....
Here in NZ there is a wild foods festival held each year on the west coast. Pretty much you name it and it's on the menu.

Have a look http://www.wildfoods.co.nz/index.cfm/1,51,0,0,html

quote:

Originally posted by wirehunt:
Tahr are very tasty, only problem is it can taste really nice but still be like an old boot in the chewing department.
Hare, goat and rabbit, all nice. But same as tahr, the bulls or billy's are to be avoided.
Pork out of the pines normally tastes like crap, but off the tussock or out of the native and it's good.

Fallow venision is still the best I've had by far.....
Here in NZ there is a wild foods festival held each year on the west coast. Pretty much you name it and it's on the menu.

Have a look http://www.wildfoods.co.nz/index.cfm/1,51,0,0,html

WOW! A whole festival? I'm not real sure I could eat the worms and grubs though?

We ate a LOT of buffalo on the station, of course, hunters are shooting old trophy bulls, so probably not the best choice for meat. The meat is a very deep dark red with no fat in it. The few cow buff we shot did have a lot of fat, but not marbleing in the meat like beef. The buff is tough, so we either minced(ground) it for burgers, tacos, chili and such or corned it and then simmered it for hours until tender. You can also beat it with a tenderizing hammer, if you feel the need for exercise. We had one hunter insist on digging out the tenderloins on a bull buff, they were the toughest tenderloins I have ever encountered. Scrub cattle(feral)are EXCELLENT eating, I had one hunter shoot a very old arthritic bull and it was the best "free range beef" I have ever tasted, it wasn't real tender though. We don't eat the pigs, I don't even like to touch them, during the dry season, they mostly eat carrion and after you see them come out of the body cavity of a beast thats been dead for a couple weeks, nobody has any interest in eating them. We have caught the little ones and pen raised them, then they are fine. Axis deer is some of the best meat I have eaten. I shoot a lot of feral hogs back here in the US, but for eating I stick to the ones in the 40-80 pound range and they are the best pork of any.

quote:

Originally posted by loboga:
We ate a LOT of buffalo on the station, of course, hunters are shooting old trophy bulls, so probably not the best choice for meat. The meat is a very deep dark red with no fat in it. The few cow buff we shot did have a lot of fat, but not marbleing in the meat like beef. The buff is tough, so we either minced(ground) it for burgers, tacos, chili and such or corned it and then simmered it for hours until tender. You can also beat it with a tenderizing hammer, if you feel the need for exercise. We had one hunter insist on digging out the tenderloins on a bull buff, they were the toughest tenderloins I have ever encountered. Scrub cattle(feral)are EXCELLENT eating, I had one hunter shoot a very old arthritic bull and it was the best "free range beef" I have ever tasted, it wasn't real tender though. We don't eat the pigs, I don't even like to touch them, during the dry season, they mostly eat carrion and after you see them come out of the body cavity of a beast thats been dead for a couple weeks, nobody has any interest in eating them. We have caught the little ones and pen raised them, then they are fine. Axis deer is some of the best meat I have eaten. I shoot a lot of feral hogs back here in the US, but for eating I stick to the ones in the 40-80 pound range and they are the best pork of any.

I never thought about the hogs eating carrion.

I don't know why though, it's quite well known they will eat anything! Makes me wonder about North American bears now? Although I must admit that Washington State black bear was some of the best wild game I've ever eaten.

Buff being tough and not that good seems to be the feeling of most,
although I understand some of the domesticated ones in Asia are eaten.

Water buffalo ARE good to eat and Australia exports thousands of them for that purpose. However a steer or a heifer that is kept in a yard is going to be a lot more tender than a herd bull, full of testosterone from chasing cows around all day. We did make water buff jerky, the only problem is, it takes all day to make it and it is all eaten in about 45 minutes!

quote:

Originally posted by loboga:
Water buffalo ARE good to eat and Australia exports thousands of them for that purpose. However a steer or a heifer that is kept in a yard is going to be a lot more tender than a herd bull, full of testosterone from chasing cows around all day. We did make water buff jerky, the only problem is, it takes all day to make it and it is all eaten in about 45 minutes!

Yeah. I can relate to that!