The Other Things You Can Hunt For Food

I have not seen much posted about the other less common things that people can and do (With GUSTO) eat. That said I will tell you that I was raised in Cajun country and we eat everything! In a survival situation having an open mind and being a culinary adventurer will be a good thing.

I was raised in and around the deep swamps of Southeast Texas. Along with the fish, squirrels deer, rabbits, ducks and geese we also hunted/caught/gathered and ate frogs, crawfish, raccoons, nutria rats, possums, alligators, snakes, clams, oysters, crabs, turtles and pretty much anything else that came from or around the water.

Among my gear there are things that make gathering such things easier. I always have a little 4 prong barbed gig in my kits for gathering frogs and snakes. A little ball of netting that wadded up is smaller than a tennis ball makes catching crabs, crawfish and minnows easier. I also make small harpoons for light spears that will take most small animals. A couple of bigger treble hooks and some stainless wire makes catching a gator easier.

To catch crawfish and crabs you can tie a piece of meat on a string and toss it out. When they find it you will see the line twitching. I lay my net on the bottom in about a foot of water and then slowly pull the meat back until it is on the net. Crabs and crawfish are hard headed and will hang on almost until they are on shore so when they get on the net you just pick it up and you have them. Another version of this is that you tie the meat in the middle of the net then toss it out in deeper water. You let it sit for a little while and then pull it in and check it.

You hunt frogs and snakes on the water line right where the water meets the land. I have several gigs or you can just head shoot them if you have plenty of ammo. This might even be a good job for a blowgun. This is also where you will find turtles but they are generally more aware and harder to catch just sitting there.

For gators you hang a rotting carcass above the water on a cane pole on a wire with a big hook in it. The gator will jump up and grab it and swallow it and then be hung up and waiting for you to come and get him. The distance you hang the bait above the water will determine the size gator that you will probably catch. 5 feet usually keeps the little nippers off your bait. As the bait rots and the maggots begin to fall in the water this is just more than a gator can resist. Hanging road kill like this is also a good way to bait a hole for fishing.

In general the things that people don't habitually hunt and kill are less wary and easier to find. Where I was raised the Cajun influence just didn't precede many things from the dinner table.

 

Of all the critters mentioned above the one that I like the least was the raccoon. Maybe this was just an old boar but it was gammy as heck. It made me think a little of liver and didn't do much for me. The possum with sweet potatoes were excellent as is rattlesnake, gator, turtles and the crawfish. Grasshoppers are pretty good fried. Worms just taste like dirt. Not bad but not good either. I actually like raw fish and often will eat some off them as I clean them. I also occasionally like a raw meat cannibal sandwich made with fresh beef that I KNOW is fresh. Truthfully that only thing that I just flat don't like and won't hardly eat is liver. YUUUUK! I can even make a meal off the inner bark of a lot of trees. To me food is just really easy to come by. I also eat ants and termites. By eating nearly everything I seem to have a cast iron stomach and nothing ever bothers me.

 

Groundhog is gamey meat.

 

Nutria is a little gamy but not in a bad way. The Raccoon was BBQed and was pretty strong. I'm always up for trying something new. There have been a few things that I had to sort of choke down to be polite (Blood pie OH HOLY crap!! WORSE than liver!!!) (ripe banana pudding...it was black and tasted rotten but they were eating it with gusto so I choked it down...you never insult a ladies cooking!) I was prejudice against squid for a long time but have gotten past that and now love it in all its guises. I think the first experience was just badly cooked. I haven't eaten a slug yet but I'm not saying it won't happen.

People all over the world eat almost everything that lives and each probably looks at other peoples foods as nasty. I have eaten and enjoyed a lot of things that while common where I was at is not generally considered normal table fare. Mountain Oysters and chitlins jump to mind, hog-head cheese takes a little getting used to. Did you know that genuine Mexican tamales are made from hog heads?? I worked at a restaurant supply place once and we shipped 15 cases of hog head to this one Mexican restaurant every friday. This was one of the best places in town. Great food cooked in a central Mexican style.

Americans in general have a lot of funky ideas about what should and should not been eaten. In general horse, dog, and until recently goats have been not eaten. Where I live there are no sheep and we don't eat them. It isn't even sold in the stores. I have only tasted it once in my life. HEY, I live in Texas we do cows and pigs!! There have been wars fought here over sheep grazing cattle land. They eat the grass so short that cattle can't eat where they are grazing. Real Texans don't eat lamb! LOL.

Never let your prejudices stand between you and a good meal.

 

oh, just FYI... i do not know about every state, BUT, here in Virginia, if you are a senior, or disabled, you can pay one time and get a permanent license for hunting, trapping, fresh and salt water fishing. I have mine.

 

Cats and dogs are also quite edible...My neighbors have been warned...

 

right now in my area the beaver population is exploding. Easy to catch and a great meat. Although in warm weather traps should be checked often. Porcupine is real easy to hunt and kill but I will not kill one . I save them for emergency.

 

FullIy agree TexD. I've ate all the things you mentioned that roam southern America and most game from northern America. Uncle Sam made sure to give me the opportunity to experience many "exotic" dishes, like monkey, flying foxes (large bats), goanna's (Australian monitor lizards) and many more not near so nice.

American sensibilities and prejudices could be our down fall. We have become spoiled with grocery stores and restaurants. Very few animals are un-edible. They might not be palatable to you but you can eat them.

One of the military schools I went through had us eating out of the trash cans we had to dump our dinners into at the end of the mess line. This was about 3AM when we were hot, tired, nasty and very hungry. I didn't understand the purpose of it at the time, but latter realized it was to enable us to overcome our prejudices about food. In survival, you eat to live. Many people these days, live to eat. Hunger will alter your attitude about food.

Dale