The worst game or fish you've eaten

[Bar]

Those two whitetail deer my daughter and I shot last December aren't exactly great table fare IMO. And they were completely deboned within an hour of shooting them, one doe and one spike. The meat smelled bad even when we were deboning them, but after sitting in the cooler for a couple days on ice it didn't smell anymore. But the meat still doesn't taste all that great. These were our first whitetails.

I've never had bad elk, rutted up or not. And I've killed a gob of them.

I agree. I've never been a big fan of venison. I normally give the venison to the mission or my dog. Just give me elk and i'm a happy camper.

 

[Lukem]

Every time I've had Tilapia it has no taste at all. So in that regard, I can't understand its popularity.

It's just like chicken or pork and just the opposite of most of the species listed in this thread. If it has any flavor, it's bad. It's all a matter of preparation and expectations. Our culture likes our meat flavorless, welcome to the Matrix...

 

[FlyGuy]

My buddy and I decided to go all Jeremiah Johnson in high school and spit roast a jack rabbit we had killed. That turned into a how much of a man are you contest consisting of who could put the most down without gagging...which resulted in a nice puking rally/dinosaur calling contest. I saw Rinella do jack rabbit stew and appear to enjoy it. All i can say is it must have had a very different diet than the walking pile of 3 year old boot laces we tried...

HaHa! Never tried one, but us coon asses are kind of known for eating just about anything. A fellow South Louisiana native buddy of mine that also lives in TX now who cooked a jackrabbit (We only have cottontails and swamp rabbits in LA) in a stew. He said it was terrible and sort of made him sick. I've been told that the Indians/native Americans wouldn't eat jackrabbits either. Never tried to authenticate that though.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[backcountry_hunter]

The first BIG whitetail I shot was a very old deer in the heart of the rut. Up until that point I had been spoiled with smaller bucks, doe and fawns in corn country. That deer still resonates in my mouth how terrible it was, I should have ground the whole thing. Younger deer properly cared for in a good food source is better than beef.... this one was not that.

All my geese get turned into sausage now wit snow, Canada or specks. I've spent countless hours trying to get them to taste decent and a local sausage shop making summer sausage is bar none the best. Late fall/early winter Mallards on the other hand are a precious commodity and even the years I get into triple digits each one is treated like gold.

Antelope is amazing if cooled quickly.

Possum is horrible raccoon wasn't bad, rattle snake and snapping turtle are a delicacy.

Spring bear for me is probably my consistently least favorite, a fall bear eating acorns though is hard to top.

 

[woodmoose]

Almost any meat you can mention you don't like. Someone else will say it's the best meat they ever had.

exactly,,,,if not the best at least good,,,,,,


when I was a kid I was kind of a Euell Gibbons of carnivores,,,,tried everything I ever trapped and shot at least once,,,,,let's just say that some things just aint worth the time (skunk and fox come to mind),,,,,,,,,,,but other than that,,,,it's about timing and preparation as others mentioned,,,,

 

[Bar]

The first BIG whitetail I shot was a very old deer in the heart of the rut. Up until that point I had been spoiled with smaller bucks, doe and fawns in corn country. That deer still resonates in my mouth how terrible it was, I should have ground the whole thing. Younger deer properly cared for in a good food source is better than beef.... this one was not that.

All my geese get turned into sausage now wit snow, Canada or specks. I've spent countless hours trying to get them to taste decent and a local sausage shop making summer sausage is bar none the best.

Antelope is amazing if cooled quickly.

Possum is horrible raccoon wasn't bad, rattle snake and snapping turtle are a delicacy.

Spring bear for me is probably my consistently least favorite.

You shot fawns?

 

[backcountry_hunter]

You shot fawns?

You're damn right, dad's philosophy toward hunting was a product of the depression and carried the "can't eat antlers" mindset with him his whole life. I once got in trouble for passing a doe that was being followed by a good sized buck, which I missed but the doe would have been a layup. When it came time for us to hunt big game it was for food, not scores. Always legal but a whitetail fawn is arguably the best table fare... ever. I'm at a point in my old age that I don't need to anymore but when I was a kid nothing was better.

 

[wyosteve]

Worst= ostrich sausage!

 

[KurtR]

You shot fawns?

lots of fawns get it every year out here and they dont get much better eating hauling right out of the cut corn field. No spots and it is go time

 

[go4thegusto]

Goose.....I tried preparing it 6 ways to Sunday and it never tasted like anything other than warm turtle shit.

OMG....goose breast filleted off the bone, pounded flat and seared over high heat rare on the grill. Red wine reduction sauce with thyme and butter. The finest game meal you can ever put in your mouth. The darker the meat the rarer you cook it!!! Golden rule. same with ducks and the holy grail...Sharptails.

 

[KJH]

OMG....goose breast filleted off the bone, pounded flat and seared over high heat rare on the grill. Red wine reduction sauce with thyme and butter. The finest game meal you can ever put in your mouth. The darker the meat the rarer you cook it!!! Golden rule. same with ducks and the holy grail...Sharptails.

Amen!

 

[Bar]

If I had ever shot a fawn when I was a youngster my dad would have beat the crap out of me. He had his own ideas and me and my brother had to follow his rules. We couldn't even shoot does. It was bulls, bucks, and boars, or take a beating. It wasn't trophys either. We could never brag or take pictures of kills and antlers were always left on the ground. He used to tell us we don't shoot girls. It kind of stuck with me. Although i've been known to shoot a cow elk in my old age, but never a doe.

 

[KurtR]

here the first tags you get as a youth are all doe tags. Populations would get out of control in this part of the country if no one shot does. Hell a few years back we were getting triple tags and they had left overs you could have up to 15 deer tags i think.

 

[RoJo]

For me it has never really been about a species, but more about individual animals. Although I did have some Abert squirrels once that were reminiscent of turpentine. May be the pine trees they live on...

 

[Bar]

I have no bias about what others hunt. Well, maybe the fawns, but besides that. I was just explaining how I grew up and it kind of stayed with me.

 

[backcountry_hunter]

I have no bias about what others hunt. Well, maybe the fawns, but besides that. I was just explaining how I grew up and it kind of stayed with me.

That's fine if those are your convictions... it's your tag(s) fill it as you see fit. On my own farm I'll fill a tag 10:1 doe to buck as I'd rather shoot a doe now than an immature buck. Cow and spike tags are easier in many states to draw than bull tags. Simple shilvery when it comes to hunting is not biologically sound however. Your family hunted bucks n Bulls... ours didn't. We took meat over antlers. I had pretty humble beginnings, not horrible poverty but missing a deer meant money down the drain that we didn't have. In a lot of states now it's a 1 buck limit but many let you shoot up to 10 deer so do the math. My dad would have beat me for passing on what your dad would have beat you for shooting.

 

[16Bore]

OMG....goose breast filleted off the bone, pounded flat and seared over high heat rare on the grill. Red wine reduction sauce with thyme and butter. The finest game meal you can ever put in your mouth. The darker the meat the rarer you cook it!!! Golden rule. same with ducks and the holy grail...Sharptails.

Did similar, still bad. Don't know if it's a resident goose thing or what. Ducks off the same water were a totally different story.

 

[Bar]

We didn't hunt for antlers. Read my post again. We were and I still am a meat hunter. You do realize the males have more meat? We don't get multiple tags here. It's hard enough to get one tag.

You don't have to explain what you do unless you feel a need. I don't really care what others do, and i'm fully aware of herd control. There are no deer tags left in my area, so I know enough does are being taken. I just won't be doing it. I like the challenge of hunting a mature buck, but my goal is still the meat.

 

[16Bore]

That's fine if those are your convictions... it's your tag(s) fill it as you see fit. On my own farm I'll fill a tag 10:1 doe to buck as I'd rather shoot a doe now than an immature buck. Cow and spike tags are easier in many states to draw than bull tags. Simple shilvery when it comes to hunting is not biologically sound however. Your family hunted bucks n Bulls... ours didn't. We took meat over antlers. I had pretty humble beginnings, not horrible poverty but missing a deer meant money down the drain that we didn't have. In a lot of states now it's a 1 buck limit but many let you shoot up to 10 deer so do the math. My dad would have beat me for passing on what your dad would have beat you for shooting.

Freezer full of fat 1-1/2 year old does is good stuff in my book.

 

[ben h]

One trick we recently found out with waterfowl is to put the uncooked breast meat into boiling water for about 45 seconds to a minute, you'll know when it's done because the water will have a brown stinky foam at the surface from all the blood. Immediately remove them and put them on an ice bath till they cool down then prepare as you wish. We made duck tacos and they're pretty good.

16Bore or any others, with waterfowl, try this trick I posted earlier. An acquaintance of mine told me about this trick and believe me I was skeptical after trying for 20 years to figure out how to cook the damn things and always felt a little guilty about feeding all the ducks and geese to the dogs. I was shocked at how much it improved the taste. I won't bull shit you and say better than rib-eyes, but it did make a decent meal. the 1st time I tried it I said to myself, "alright, I'll try 1 taco" and I ended up eating 3. I think it's that nasty stinky muddy blood in them that makes them taste so crappy. I try to do the boil part outside if I can, it's pretty nasty stuff that comes out.