Anyone here eat groundhogs?

mwilken03 · #21 08/20/14, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MOgal

Oggie, when my grandfather was still alive, he used to love asking a visitor if they'd eaten this or that wild meat. Then he'd ask if they'd had ground hog. When they were a little shocked and disgusted, Papa would give a big smile and say "What? You've never eaten sausage?" Thanks for reminding me of his sense of humor. Loved my grandpa whose been gone over 40 years now.

Saw a groundhog coming home from Columbia last week. He was on the right hand side of eastbound I-70, right close to Bourne Feed for all the Boone County folks. Inside the city limits, he's probably pretty safe from everything but fast moving vehicles. We had a groundhog under the back porch until until our dearly departed Pyr Tasha tangled with him. Man, those critters can be wicked fighters but I think he took the worse beating. We couldn't find a source of the blood on Tasha's muzzle, either on her muzzle or in her mouth.

My grandpa would do the same thing!

Farm junkie

big rockpile · #22 08/20/14, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paula

DH says the hillbilly way to cook groundhog is to boil it in salted water till the bones almost turn loose, then put it on a pan, sprinkle some pepper on it and bake in the oven long enough to get it dried off on the outside.
He also said don't eat too much at one setting unless you want to spend some time in the outhouse, for some reason it has a laxative effect.

I've ate many like this but I season with Sage, Salt and Pepper.

One time I ate 5 young ones fried up in one setting, and yes it seemed to have a Laxative effect.

Anyone here eat groundhogs? - Homesteading Questions

big rockpile

Silvercreek Farmer · #23 08/20/14, 06:54 PM

Keep wanting to try one, but haven't had one wander in front of my rifle yet.

Benny b · #24 08/20/14, 08:03 PM

I think young ground hog is rather good. Slow cook it in a stew or we used it a lot in spaghetti sauce. Racoon tastes about the same. Both need to be slow cooked. Or boil until falling off the bone then pull it a part and add BBQ sauce. Don't be afraid to give it a try. Big ones ( coon or g hog ) are very tough. I also think I might depend on what ya grew up eating.lol

Danaus29 · #25 08/20/14, 09:21 PM

My grandma could take a nice juicy steak and turn it into shoe leather. You had to cut it into small pieces to be able to chew it. You learn to cut tough meat into little pieces early that way.

Of course running the meat through a meat grinder would probably help it a lot. I wonder if canning it would help make it tender.

Tabitha · #26 08/21/14, 05:05 PM

My dear Mother in law grew up eating ground hog, coon, squirrel and possum.
Ground hog is supposed to be good. I have only tried possum, barbecued. the sauce was too sweet and the meet was kind of slick, very greasy. Kind of icky.

Old John · #27 08/22/14, 07:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benny b

I think young ground hog is rather good. Slow cook it in a stew or we used it a lot in spaghetti sauce. Racoon tastes about the same. Both need to be slow cooked. Or boil until falling off the bone then pull it a part and add BBQ sauce. Don't be afraid to give it a try. Big ones ( coon or g hog ) are very tough. I also think I might depend on what ya grew up eating. lol

Yeah I've eaten several Groundhogs, or Whistle pigs, over the years. We hunted them once in a while. And I use to live up the road from a guy that did a lot of "night hunting" with coon hounds. I went a few times with him & his hounds. He and his wife about always had raccoon, in the freezer, and or cooked & on the table.
But, it was hard, trying to stay up with them, hounds, getting all muddy, running in the dark, over hills & fences and hollers. A few times were enough for me. The first time or two was good fun, though.
I worked for him some around the Farm. And they'd often invite me to stay for a dinner of raccoon or sometimes a groundhog. I'd never eat a possum, though. They are too nasty.
But squirrels, rabbits and groundhogs.....Forgot T add... and an occasional raccoon, are all pretty goo eating.

placidscene · #28 09/11/14, 11:27 PM

Well my stewed ground hog turned out pretty good, I thought.
No one else would eat it. Tasted just like beef stew the way I made it. The meat was fall off the bone tender. My wife and I have been married 8 years, and she still doesn't know what happened! Guess I fooled her!
All kidding aside, she's great.
She said she'd eat it if there was nothing else, which I am preparing for. You never know.

just_sawing · #29 09/12/14, 02:04 AM

A ground Hog is one of the most important SHTF animals in the south. It is the only (Besides Bear) that has a fat that can be rendered. This means if you don't have lard biscuits can be made from groundhogs. It is also the only wild animal that will make decent shoe laces and soles.
Cooking it most people do parboil it because of the fat content. If you have a fairly young one parboil it for 5 minutes then take it season it, and put it in a bed of onions and peppers and bake at 225 for about four hours. add some water to the pan. Remove debone stir up and season to taste. This is as good of chili that you will get. Add beans if you like.

**Shrek** · #30 09/12/14, 02:21 AM

My great aunt made baked ground hog with potatoes and we thought it tasted better than baked possum.

Danaus29 · #31 09/13/14, 12:29 PM

But is baked possum any good??????

Riverdale · #32 09/14/14, 06:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by silverbackMP

I don't know that I could bring myself to kill one--I kinda like watching them and they aren't that common (but not rare) in Missouri. Which is odd cause I've splattered a many Prarie Dog in South Dakota. I wouldn't hesitate to eat one though. Coon is pretty good--you just have to parboil it before you barbecue it. I imagine ground hog may be the same way.

When you have to put a cow down because they broke their leg by stepping in a woodchuck (groundhog, whistlepig) hole, it gets real easy.

The big thing is to get the scent glands out, they make the meat taste terrible if left in (yes, the voice of experience

)

Here is a site with some recipes

http://www.wildliferecipes.net/game_...ipes/index.asp

I like the woodchuck pie (woodchuck and dumplings) best

Riverdale · #33 09/14/14, 06:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danaus29

But is baked possum any good??????

The issue I have with raccoon and possum is the location. Where I grew up, I would have no problem eating either, not a lot of garbage around. Here, no way would I eat either, too many people around (a lot of 3-5 acre parcels, where I grew up 4 houses in a 1 mile stretch

) and 3 different garbage days.

Since they are both opportunistic omnivores, they take the easiest meals they can, be it chickens or chicken bones in your garbage bag....

Riverdale · #34 09/14/14, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by big rockpile

I've ate many like this but I season with Sage, Salt and Pepper.

One time I ate 5 young ones fried up in one setting, and yes it seemed to have a Laxative effect.

big rockpile

Gettin' ready for a sammich?

Conhntr · #35 09/14/14, 06:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by just_sawing

A ground Hog is one of the most important SHTF animals in the south. It is the only (Besides Bear) that has a fat that can be rendered. This means if you don't have lard biscuits can be made from groundhogs. It is also the only wild animal that will make decent shoe laces and soles.

interesting did not know that! I have eaten "whistle pig" and found it to be tasty

MichaelZ · #36 09/14/14, 06:56 AM

Roommate years ago was a trapper and he left a note to "Cook the roast". He meant deer roast but I cooked a beaver roast that was also in the refrigerator. Tasted a bit like popples! Beaver meat needs to be parboiled first - the ingrained fat is then removed. I had beaver pot pie once and it was good, but it was prepared correctly.

placidscene · #37 01/25/15, 08:21 PM

I have yet to try beaver, I've killed a couple, but they were in the water, and I haven't been able to recover them. A couple others, I trapped, but then they can't be bled properly because they were dead for hours before I recovered them.
The 2 animals do seem very similar to each other as far as anatomy (besides webbed feet and a flat tail.)

FireMaker · #38 01/25/15, 08:51 PM

We like beaver but never parboiled it. Roasted it over the fire or charcoal grill. Have also made some great stew. It is one of our favorite meats. Introduced some folks to the treat of roasted tail. Some were not too sure, others said no way. Wash off the tail and throw it on the coals. Skin will burn off one side, flip and burn off the other. It's now nice and hot and tasty. Lots of calories for hard working winter days.

placidscene · #39 01/25/15, 11:44 PM

You wouldn't see me turnin' it down.
Y'er makin me hungry! haha

JoePa · #40 01/26/15, 11:54 AM

I watch some of those Alaska outdoor TV shows - man they eat everything - beaver tails, inside organ meats - moose head soup - nothing goes to waste - I guess its what you are used to and how you prepare it -