Coon and Taters

[fourarmed]

My 16-year old niece came in with a very young coon over the weekend. She skinned and dressed it and gave it to me to cook. I rubbed it with salt, pepper, and Tone's Rosemary Garlic, and put it into a small, granite roaster pan. It was not very big, so I made dressing by sauteing a shallot, a stick of deer sausage, and toasted bread. I put in an egg and a dash of dark beer for moisture, filled the cavity, and trussed the legs together to hold it all in. Then I surrounded it with potatoes and sweet potatoes, and stuck it in a 375 degree oven with the lid on for almost an hour. I took the lid off for another ten minutes or so, and served it. There were no leftovers.

[oldblinddog]

When she skinned it, I assume she knew to remove all the coon glands in the back?

[richhodg66]

I trid cooking a young possum last Winter and attempted something like what you did. Didn't turn out well, flavor was Ok, but it dried out and was tough. Think I might try to shoot a couple sometime and just make like a pulled pork barbecue out of them instead.

[fourarmed]

Couple of years ago, a guy was trapping beaver on my place, and gave us the carcass of a young one. I cooked it according to a pulled pork recipe I got off this board. That evening a neighbor couple dropped in, and we offered them some barbecue. The wife took one taste and said "That's very good. Is it beaver?"

[gwpercle]

A glad to see there are still young people who can live off the land, you are teaching her her well.
I call it teaching them the three C's. Catching, Cleaning and Cooking...need to know how to do all three , especially the Cooking part.
Gary

[richhodg66]

I have eaten beaver prepared that way and it is very good. I'm kind of figuring it'd be hard to not get good eating out of something cooked that way.

[MaryB]

Friend of mine was a trapper. He gave me a beaver tail one year. I skinned it, cured it in bacon cure and smoked it. Sliced and fried it made some pretty good bacon!

[Blackwater]

In my neck of the woods, blacks are the main coon consumers, and believe me, those folks KNOW what's GOOD! I've eaten two I've killed, and both were really great. Mom cooked them, though, and she could make corn sucks taste great. IIRC, we BBQ'd both of them, and I ate my fill BIG time! Like venison, it tends to dry out, so you have to watch for that. Other than that, it's just a really good tasting meat, if you get a good one. Like all wild meats, it'll vary depending on what it's been eating, and what stage of adulthood it's in when you get it.

I grew up doing a good bit of coon hunting through my first 2 years in college. Would go out on a date Friday evening, drop her off, and then change and go coon hunting with an old high school buddy. Anyone who's never seen a coon in a good fight with a dog cannot in any way comprehend what those "cuddly" lil' creatures can become when challenged! They're amazing. I think they're second cousins to a badger! One nearly killed my buddy's dog by drowning it. Prathel waded in to the crotch deep creek backwater, grabbed the coon, who had ahold of the dog's neck right behind the skull, and slung it like a baseball about 30 ft. into the woods and away from the dog. He then gave it literal mouth to mouth recessitation, and it lived, but it was clearly nearly drowned. It was an amazing sight to watch the whole thing.

As to possums, my coon hunting taught me to hate those ugly things. It's not fully rational, and I know it, but I can't un-learn it. And BTW, possums are some of the most awful dieters you can imagine - some are like eating a buzzard! Because of that, I can't even stomach the thought of eating one, and even though I know that's not rational, again, I just can't un-learn it. And among those who regularly catch or kill them, and know what they're doing, they build a pen and feed them table scraps and dog food or whatever is cheap and available for about 2 wks. BEFORE butchering them. This lets any disgusting things they've been eating to be thoroughly "run out" of them, and I'm told improves their flavor. I can't attest to that. Some friends knew of my aversion to eating possum thanks to my big mouth. It's unwise to voice such things around one's redneck friends! They SAY they fried some up, and whatever they fed me was mighty good, but I am to this day not certain it was possum. I prefer to think it was just a big joke, but I'll never know 'cause they're not talking! Maybe you have better friends than I do?

Anyways, couldn't let the possum comment go without pointing this out. Those things will eat ANYTHING, alive, dead or whatever, and at any stage of decomposition, too! Like I said, ground borne vultures in my book! I MIGHT eat one in preference to the winged kind, but it'd be the very LAST option for this ol' boy! You can take THAT to the BANK! Others just love them, though, and apparently aren't as encumbered as I am by my previous experience with them.

But I can attest to the goodness of coon. It's not quite lie squirrel, nor rabbit, nor anything else, but its own subtle and very good flavor. I just like 'em, and have a lot of respect for them, and with the coyotes around, they're not as common as they once were, so I just leave them alone, and have for quite a while. Some deer hunting clubs, though, have so many they eat up all the food in their deer feeders. If you want one, put out a feeder and keep it full. I can pretty well guarantee you'll get one soon under it, but it'll have to be at night, likely. They're amazing little cretures, not unlike little bears with more sense and logic than any bear has ever had. Smart enough to learn to lock and unlock a cage! Crows can also be surprisingly "smart," too, but you have to get them from the nest before they learn to fly. If they imprint on you, you'll be their Mom or Dad forever, and they'll react to you like no other bird I know. I've never had one personally, and it's illegal to keep one here now, but I've known a couple in the past, and they're really something else to watch! Amazing birds! FWIW?

[MaryB]

After watching a possum eat a hole into the belly of a dead bloated cow then keep on eating after the rotting intestines sprayed all over... nope, no way, not eating one, can't make me! And I have eaten just about anything that walks, crawls and flies in MN!

Now wood chuck was some tasty stuff, prairie dog was decent too but they don't eat whatever was in the garbage pile! Possums are worse than rats!

[bangerjim]

Rib eye steaks for me! Only.

My dad told me stories of them eating coon, possum and even skunk when he was a kid. But that was during the depression.

I grew up on black angus beef. Had one in the freezer every year.

[Blackwater]

A lot of folks don't realize just how bad the Great Depression really was. People grubbed for whatever they could get to eat, and didn't cull much at all! Here in my neck of the woods, the deer population was nearly wiped out, and it didn't take all that long to do it, either. Most of the current survivalists and preppers seem to think that they'll be able to "live off the woods," but that didn't work out that well in the Depression, and it won't this time around either, and with over twice the population to feed and less woodlands, it won't fare nearly as well as it did back in the 30's. Grubs, worms, etc are repulsive to my delicate sensibilities now, but get hungry enough? Adaptability is our most marked and important trait, and we CAN change our attitude, especially if we're really, seriously hungry.

Still, coon is one fine meal, and I've only eaten two because of my delicate sensibilities and respect for them. We all have our pecadillos, I guess? As a result of this thread, I think I may take the next one I get a chance to, and introduce the grandboys to a good meal of coon. Will probably have to wait until AFTER the meal to tell them what it was. Being younger, their delicate sensibilities are much greater than mine, but I think it'll open their eyes to just what's good and what's not. It'd be good for my nostalgic bent, too. Thanks for starting this thread!

[fourarmed]

My dad told of watching his male pointer kill a coon in swimming water. Dad stood ready to wade in an help, but the dog circled the coon just out of reach until he got behind the coon, then lunged in and grabbed the coon by the back of the neck and shook him. Then he dropped him and swam like hell for shallow water until the coon came up. Then he started circling him again. Eventually, he wore the coon down, and dragged him out on the bank to finish him off. Smart dog, he was the first dog I hunted quail over.

[Blackwater]

That was one amazing dog if he'd hunt both quil and coon, AND kill the coon! Not many like that, and it would have been worth a fortune back in the depression, at least for those times.

It takes a special sort of dog to make a good kill dog on coons. My buddy I hunted with back in high school had a bluetick track and trail and bay dog, and a smallish black and tan for a kill dog. The black and tan was the scourge of the neighborhood, and was just plain mean. He had a smallish head for his size, too, and I believe he was just born "bad." Someone finally fed him crushed glass in some hamburger and killed him. Terrible way for even a "bad" dog to die! But he was amazing, nevertheless. The bluetick had one of the most musical and beautiful and expressive voices I've ever heard in a dog, and was very good at the tracking, trailing and baying. It was a real pleasure to just sit and listen to her, and you'd easily know what she was doing and why by just listening. Once bayed, the kill dog would sneak around back silently while the voicey and demonstrative and somewhat clumsy bluetick would keep the coon's attention, and dash in like a mongoose on the kill, grab it by the neck, shake it briefly and it'd be dead. It's amazing how quick it could be.

A nearby neighbor deals in coon and other hounds, and there's big money in them. He flies all over the USA and Canada dealing in them. He has a pen nearby behind my house. I don't care for how he treats his dogs, but am still friendly with him. They're a source of income for him, and he's a "traditional" breeder, and thinks nothing of killing one that doesn't suit him. One less mouth to feed. I just can't do that with dogs, and have only put one to sleep, and that one was kind'a self defense. It had fleas, mange and who knows what else, stunk to high heaven, and had taken up residence in our garage because I made the mistake of feeling sorry for it and feeding it once. We got a truly horrible infestation of fleas in our inside carpet, and it was a true trial to finally kill them off. I took it in my truck, which also got a bad case of fleas from that one trip, and took it out in the woods and shot it, but it was one of the hardest things I'd ever done. I couldn't just haul it off to put such an infestation on someone else, and knew somebody was going to have to put it to sleep anyway, so I just bit the bullet, and did what I knew would avoid someone else's having to do eventually.

Good coon dogs, or any other good hunting dogs, are amazing animals, and a delight and wonder to watch and work. They'll make you a real "dog man" for the rest of your life, guaranteed. And if you've never tried coon, don't EVER let one lay if you shoot it, like around deer feeders. Have never eaten beaver, but I'd sure like to try it. There can be a lot of meat on those critters, too!

Wild game of ANY type is almost certainly good, and good for you. Lower fat content, great taste almost all the time, IF it's prepared well. What's not to like?

[brassrat]

Im with Banger, ribeyes .....and not from a racoon! I did take my gun-less brother to a benefit at a gunclub and he had no problems with the beaver, me no way, I had burgers.

[olyeller]

Fried chicken anyone? Ummmm Uuummmm good! But wait, ever watch a free range chicken eat? Just a possum with feathers.

[Blackwater]

Now yeller, that's more Truth than many of us wanted to hear! ;^)

[rush1886]

When she skinned it, I assume she knew to remove all the coon glands in the back?

Have eaten my share of "not normal" fare. And enjoyed most of 'em. Couldn't quite finish up a plate of grilled Coot breasts, that one time.

Anyway, Coons have been on the increase here locally, and I admit to eyeballing them as a food source. I am not familiar with the coon glands. Can you give a bit more detail, Please?

[MaryB]

Coot is nasty! Friend made a pot of coot stew for a wild game party we had... we all tasted it, tried to feed it to the dog and he ran away... tried the sled dogs and they wouldn't touch it...

[rush1886]

Coot is nasty! Friend made a pot of coot stew for a wild game party we had... we all tasted it, tried to feed it to the dog and he ran away... tried the sled dogs and they wouldn't touch it...

I have to think even an old Magpie, would turn up it's beak, at a Coot! And I have seen Maggies happily chewing on the south end of northbound roadkill skunks!

[oldblinddog]

Have eaten my share of "not normal" fare. And enjoyed most of 'em. Couldn't quite finish up a plate of grilled Coot breasts, that one time.

Anyway, Coons have been on the increase here locally, and I admit to eyeballing them as a food source. I am not familiar with the coon glands. Can you give a bit more detail, Please?

there are several (the number varies) small pea shaped glands in the back. Some will come off with the hide (sometimes) but you have to inspect visually and by feel for them. These are scent (or musk) glands and if not removed will taint the meat and render it inedible. Usually, any good wild game cookbook will advise on this and have illustrations of this.

I missed one once on the second coon that my wife wanted to cook. After that my son and I made a conspiracy of silence and left all the coons in the woods. That's him upper left. That Axis buck he killed is/was way better than any coon...ever!