New to hunting! Tips and tricks? Eating game meat?

[OODAH]

I've spent lots of time at the range or a mates property shooting targets, but I've only been out hunting once, a long time ago and I couldn't hit a cow's arse with a banjo. Now that I'm bigger,older and uglier I want to get out there and get my own dinner. I feel to many people tell me you can't eat what you shoot. To much risk of getting sick or worse, but if that's the case what the hell is Hunt-Catch-Cook doing? And why didn't I curl up and die after eating the Roo my mates Grandpa shot? I understand there's much more involved after you decide if its good enough to consume but I thought I would break the ice with this.

I'm hoping the wise will come forward and give there wisdom on the subject

[Sydor]

Cook it well and for long

[bladeracer]

Cook it well and for long

That's my favorite recipe too, if it's not black it's not done yet!

[Oldbloke]

Keep it clean and cool

[Bosbefok]

Get a licence, get yourself somewhere to shoot, pick an appropriate weapon. Get into it. I'm not sure what advice you are looking for but if you get more specific someone here will be able to help.

[bladeracer]

I've spent lots of time at the range or a mates property shooting targets, but I've only been out hunting once, a long time ago and I couldn't hit a cow's arse with a banjo. Now that I'm bigger,older and uglier I want to get out there and get my own dinner. I feel to many people tell me you can't eat what you shoot. To much risk of getting sick or worse, but if that's the case what the hell is Hunt-Catch-Cook doing? And why didn't I curl up and die after eating the Roo my mates Grandpa shot? I understand there's much more involved after you decide if its good enough to consume but I thought I would break the ice with this.

I'm hoping the wise will come forward and give there wisdom on the subject

I'm far from wise but I'll give you a few things that might get some discussion happening

What are you wanting to hunt and/or eat?
There's rabbits, foxes, goats, pigs, ducks, cats, dogs and several species of deer.

Where are you wanting to hunt?
You can ask landowners for permission to hunt on their properties under their rules, or you can hunt in State Forests. To hunt state forests in NSW you need to book your hunt and carry a GPS with the latest maps of the area. Some places also require "blaze" caps or vests. To hunt deer or shoot ducks you also need a game licence and can only hunt them when they're "in season". There are also laws about spotlighting and minimum calibres for deer. There are also rules about disposing of carcasses, although I think most vermin species are left where they fall. Often not a bad idea to stop for a rest somewhere upwind of your kill site and see if any foxes or dogs come for a look.
There are bounties on foxes and dogs down my way, but I don't think there's any market for pelts any more.

If you haven't already got a firearms licence there are laws about carrying or using firearms on roads and tracks, from vehicles, or in areas frequented by people.
Are you looking at hunting only in NSW?

Gut the animal straight away as meat begins to decompose as soon as the animal dies, also cut away any shot-damaged meat and wipe out any blood (blood is what will attract flies). It's also common to just remove the bigger pieces and leave the rest without having to gut the animal. Rump, shoulders, back straps and the neck can be taken without opening the animal up.

The meat is usually better if you hang the animal for a few days before butchering it. But given the size of pigs, goats and deer it's generally easier to carry the meat out after butchering it on-site, even if it requires a couple of trips - two 30kg loads through the bush is way easier than one 60kg hump. I like elastic cargo nets for strapping bagged meat to a pack.
Gutting an animal reduces it's weight by around 20-25%. The actual meat you might get out of it after completely (including the extra stuff for mincing) butchering it is closer to 50%, but if you only take the shoulders, rump, backstraps and neck you might only be carrying out 25% or less of what the animal weighed.

If you want to keep a deer or goat skin and head for mounting you might have another 10-20kg load to carry out. If you do carry out any racks try to wrap them or cover them so you don't get yourself shot!

[happyhunter]

I used to only eat what I caught. Lived like that for years and never got crook. Now I don't eat meat at all but that's only cos it works for me. I still hunt.

Target the younger animals if you are chasing food. They are less likely to have developed heavy worm infestations. If the animal looks healthy, the guts look good (no liver spots, no puss or anything nasty) you will be fine.

No need to over cook the meat. There's a bloke up the road that has a recipe for raw bunny and won the wild bunny cooking comp the other season.

Hunting is not target shooting. Animals move and don't wait for the shooter to fart around like range shooters do. When you know you got the shot take it.

[OODAH]

Gut the animal straight away as meat begins to decompose as soon as the animal dies, also cut away any shot-damaged meat and wipe out any blood (blood is what will attract flies). It's also common to just remove the bigger pieces and leave the rest without having to gut the animal. Rump, shoulders, back straps and the neck can be taken without opening the animal up.

The meat is usually better if you hang the animal for a few days before butchering it. But given the size of pigs, goats and deer it's generally easier to carry the meat out after butchering it on-site, even if it requires a couple of trips - two 30kg loads through the bush is way easier than one 60kg hump. I like elastic cargo nets for strapping bagged meat to a pack.
Gutting an animal reduces it's weight by around 20-25%. The actual meat you might get out of it after completely (including the extra stuff for mincing) butchering it is closer to 50%, but if you only take the shoulders, rump, backstraps and neck you might only be carrying out 25% or less of what the animal weighed.

Target the younger animals if you are chasing food. They are less likely to have developed heavy worm infestations. If the animal looks healthy, the guts look good (no liver spots, no puss or anything nasty) you will be fine.

No need to over cook the meat. There's a bloke up the road that has a recipe for raw bunny and won the wild bunny cooking comp the other season.

Hunting is not target shooting. Animals move and don't wait for the shooter to fart around like range shooters do. When you know you got the shot take it.

Thanks guys, this is the information I'm after^^^, I've been shooting a few years now. I'm after roo's, pigs for consumption. I have my own guns and property's to shoot on in QLD. I know my targets not going to stay still but I'm not going for a 1" group at 300+ yards either. I'm heading out this weekend to hopefully rid a lady's property of some rabbits and dogs that have been making a mess so I guess that will prove if I can get a moving target or not.

[Blackjack]

I've always been wary of worms - especially with wild pigs. Not sure what the risk is. With rabbits I check the eyes for mixo. I also check the liver.

[OODAH]

I've always been wary of worms - especially with wild pigs. Not sure what the risk is. With rabbits I check the eyes for mixo. I also check the liver.

Not to keen on rabbit for dinner,but in my recent research I've found that 99% of worms are in the offal which I plan to let fall out on the ground and that checking the chest cavity and the inside of the carcass for any cysts will expose the possibility of the other 1%. Also checking all orifices and internal organs for any irregularities. Plus cleaning and general hygiene and cooking it over 100'C will do the rest. I'll be doing a lot more research before I bring home pork for the table but it's looking good.

[Browning]

Where we hunt, I wouldn't carry a pig 5m... You'd end up with 100 ticks on ya and be scratching for 6 months lol

[WayneO]

I dont know much about the pigs over here, but as far as the deer go, The best way to eat it is rare.
However as with all game meat, the taste is very dependent on the animal you shoot and then the prep. Big old males will have a bit of an odor and the meat is mostly only good for stew. Same as with very old females.
The best animals of any species to harvest are the young ones between 1 and 2 years old. Cut the limbs off leaving the skin on and then hang them in a cold room or cool place for at least a week before skinning and cutting up the meat. This allows the meat to bleed out and start to cure. If you have a spare fridge (only for meat), then air dry the meat for a further week before vacuum packing.
For me, meat processing and preparation is the best part of the entire experience, and believe me, what you get out is 100% dependent on what you put in.
If you take your time, do the ground work properly and age it well, you can turn the rump of an old stag into very fine table meat.

[OODAH]

I dont know much about the pigs over here, but as far as the deer go, The best way to eat it is rare.
However as with all game meat, the taste is very dependent on the animal you shoot and then the prep. Big old males will have a bit of an odor and the meat is mostly only good for stew. Same as with very old females.
The best animals of any species to harvest are the young ones between 1 and 2 years old. Cut the limbs off leaving the skin on and then hang them in a cold room or cool place for at least a week before skinning and cutting up the meat. This allows the meat to bleed out and start to cure. If you have a spare fridge (only for meat), then air dry the meat for a further week before vacuum packing.
For me, meat processing and preparation is the best part of the entire experience, and believe me, what you get out is 100% dependent on what you put in.
If you take your time, do the ground work properly and age it well, you can turn the rump of an old stag into very fine table meat.

Thanks mate, sounds like all the hard work pays off at dinner time.

[Oldbloke]

Lots of info and free stories here.

http://ssaa.org.au/stories/rifles-selec ... dBt_PTcDMU

[OODAH]

Lots of info and free stories here.

http://ssaa.org.au/stories/rifles-selec ... dBt_PTcDMU

Thanks Oldbloke just in time for bed time stories

[ursus]

I just say that I find Australia quite conservative when it comes to food. I guess hunters are out of the mainstream cuisine culture and are probably more adventurous.

Deer. Cooking a backstrap or an eye fillet more than medium is wasted animal life and has to be punished. Ok, you can turn these parts into rubber if this is the way you like your food. The best though is to age them for at least a week. The easiest way is to wrap a large piece of meat in a clean cloth and put it in the fridge. Change the cloth every day or two. The surface of the meat becomes sticky, but it's ok. If you marinate it in something containing a tablespoon of vinegar this texture goes away. The rest - slow cooking works very well. Sausages - a bit too lean for may taste, so I would recommend to mix deer mince with lamb or pork, to make it smoother. Most parts of deer can also be dried - see jerky, biltong or - more exotically - basturma. Last time we hunted we got a small deer and had his liver - fried with onion, medium rare. Delicious. Liver of a grown animal has quite a strong taste.

Rabbit. Stew. With rice or buckwheat. Veggies, fried onion, garlic and other spices to taste. It's very lean, so not that nice on its own. Oh yeah, rabbit liver with onion or garlic (peri-peri if desired) is a treat, similar to chicken livers.

Kangaroo - I have limited experience. My friends are very keen on Roo tail stew. In the field they cut the tail off and seal it with clay. Then bury the tail under the coals of the camp fire. Several hours later they remove the clay plug and the contents of the tail are poured out into a bowl. You can also simply skin the tail and cook it similar to the ox tail. Apparently the tail is the fattiest part of this animal and is really nice. I haven't tried it. Fillets, silverside and backstrap - I have eaten numerous times, mostly rare. It has quite gamey taste, you can take it away by marinating the meat: lots of chopped onion, salt, pepper and a touch of vinegar, overnight.

Pigs - should be cooked well, as they have lost of nasty parasites that are invasive to humans. Marinating the meat in the concoction above works quite well. Male pigs often have unpleasant taste - that's why they castrate pigs in agriculture couple of months before slaughtering. So ask a pig to raise its leg before shooting and let the testicled ones walk away (or feed it to the dog). Pork is the best meat to make sausages.

Meat is one of the main reasons I am getting into hunting. You simply cannot get anything more "organic" than a wild deer. There are quite a few books on cooking game with proper advice on safety.

[Bigjobss]

I dont know much about the pigs over here, but as far as the deer go, The best way to eat it is rare.
However as with all game meat, the taste is very dependent on the animal you shoot and then the prep. Big old males will have a bit of an odor and the meat is mostly only good for stew. Same as with very old females.
The best animals of any species to harvest are the young ones between 1 and 2 years old. Cut the limbs off leaving the skin on and then hang them in a cold room or cool place for at least a week before skinning and cutting up the meat. This allows the meat to bleed out and start to cure. If you have a spare fridge (only for meat), then air dry the meat for a further week before vacuum packing.
For me, meat processing and preparation is the best part of the entire experience, and believe me, what you get out is 100% dependent on what you put in.
If you take your time, do the ground work properly and age it well, you can turn the rump of an old stag into very fine table meat.

Best eating sambar Ive ever had was a velvet spiker, just like veal, I used the backstrap for a rare "beef" wellington, just amazing.
Totally agree with your philosophy on meat processing and IMO its when the real work begins on a hunt, most times it feels that atleast twice the duration was spent breaking down, hauling and butchering than on the stalk itself, great feeling to end a succesfull hunt exhausted and with a stong sense of accomplishment.