I live in Indiana and have a very fat ground hog living around one of the out buildings I am trying to trap. Are they good to eat? Need recipes if they are.
I live in Indiana and have a very fat ground hog living around one of the out buildings I am trying to trap. Are they good to eat? Need recipes if they are.
last one I ate was 2 summers ago. tastes like roasted beef. browned in skillet with onions and garlic then steamed till got more tender. a pressure cooker might work real well.
has very good quality fur. ive still got a few pelts that were fleshed, salted and stretched.
OMG, not sure how many hundred I have shot over the last 43 years or so, but yes the fur is really nice on them and at one time would net me 5 to 10 bux a hog. But, it never once crossed my mind to eat one as they stink so much.
Sorry I can't help you with Ground Hog recipe ... for some strange reason I've never even seen one in the state of Louisiana ... just use your favorite Nutria or Beaver Recipe ... and substitute the Ground Hog meat for the Nutria / Beaver meat ... a good Sauce Piquante should be quite tasty .
I'll do some checking around and see what recipes I can find ... I think they are also called woodchuck and land-beaver ... those names might lead to a recipe or three .
Gary
Certified Cajun
Proud Member of The Basket of Deplorables
" Let's Go Brandon !"
Last one I shot went on the smoker. They have enough fat to cook nicely and being plant eaters the meat is pretty dang tasty!
I have cooked a few, cut up into quarters, in a slow cooker. Don't remember the exact recipe, except I tend to use a pinch of this, a pinch of that. I've read that they have some glands you must remove before cooking. I don't always do that. Never had a bad one yet
I worked with a guy that told me that when he was a boy his Mother would cook a young one if they got one and they tasted like squirrel . I wanted to try one so I started watching for a young one and finally got one about 2/3s grown. Cut it up and pan-fried it like a squirrel. It was the toughest meat I've ever tried... could hardly get any meat torn off the bones but what little I was able to did taste a lot like squirrel.
If you're going to fry one better par boil or pressure cook it first.
I've trapped for 55 years or thereabouts and my Dad was a fur buyer and I've never heard of a market for groundhog hides... what do they use them for? They don't have any underfur to speak of, just coarse guard hair like a hog and when the furbearers prime up in the winter, groundhogs are hibernating. Some people will preserve tainted groundhog meat for coyote bait but that's about the main use that I know of for them.
They also have extremely large and tasty livers if you are so inclined.
Young ground hog is tasty. Old boars are gamey unless brined with vinegar water and salt. During the Depression grandma brined and smoked them, before slow cooking like pot roast. Hillbilly beef. Quite good slow cooked with root vegetables, onions, carrots, potatoes, ramps, served with cornbread and frybread or biscuits and gravy. Better than possum or coon.
Last edited by Outpost75; 06-21-2022 at 10:20 PM.
The ENEMY is listening.
HE wants to know what YOU know.
Keep it to yourself.
Ate a lot of groundhog when I hunted them. They are good and did taste like squirrel or rabbit. I never thought they were tough.
He has bypassed my trap so looking at parking a truck about 50' from the barn and setting in it waiting for it to show the next few nights. There is enough light using a lighted scope to do a head shot.
We had whistle pigs a lot growing up. granny would grind the meat add sage salt and black pepper, form into patties put them in a jar cover with lard or bacon grease cook in a pressure cooker for 1 hour at 12- 14 pounds of pressure. BEST sausage you ever had. Real winter treat.
The real young ones were breaded and fried.
one thing they cannot pass up is musk melon/cantalope. they absolutely go nuts over even just the rind. they will never pass it by.
I had a plate of young groundhog years ago that was quite tasty.
I will have to try the sausage recipe.
Will he is dead but I didn't get him. Son got him, son was coming out to shoot his AR10. 110 yards, one shot, went through the brain. He gutted it and shined it, taking it to his house keeper who grew up on them. Told him since he shot my pet he had to fill the holes.
I've shot a bunch. I've even cleaned a few for people to eat.
I however have never been quite that hungry.
5 or 10 buckks per hide? never heard of that, but they say they make the best banjo heads. roast 'em with bacon, gettem while young, eaRLY SPRING THEY ARTE VERYU LEAN sorry. later they fatten up. we are talking woodchucks right?
Micah 6:8
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
"I don't have hobbies - I'm developing a robust post-apocalyptic skill set"
I may be discharged and retired but I'm sure I did not renounce the oath that I solemnly swore!
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |