View Full Version : how many of you eat what you kill/grow?
I have found that an alarming number of people hunt but only for the thrill. I have alwayfrom an early age been taught to have respect and reverence for the game that I have.hunted. not to mention the benifits and satisfaction of preparing your own food.
So here is my contribution to wild / organic food post workout meal.
2 grilled squash grown in my garden
1 slice of grilled tomato from my garden
2, 1/2 lbs chipolte rosemary and mozzraella cheese grilled burger.
Pics incomeing
Ok I give.up how do I download pic from my phone to m4
Raven Armament
06-19-12, 13:52
We don't have a garden yet and our yard isn't big enough for one, so we're planning to plant a 1 acre garden on the farm. For vegetables we just buy at the store or farmer's markets in season.
For meat, mostly eat what I kill. There are things I will kill and not eat, like most furbearers except raccoon and squirrel. Stuff like coyote, weasel, opossum, skunk, muskrat I just kill or trap for their fur and use the meat as bait for the next set. Coonpfeffer (hasenpfeffer but with coon instead of rabbit) is good and squirrel is a nice sweet meat. Here in MI, red squirrel season is open year round with no bag limit. Good way to stay sharp during the year and it's good meat. Most of the time I use an iron sighted .22 rifle, but sometimes light for caliber lead bullets in handguns does the job.
I give the tails to Mepps Lures and get fishing lures in trade (Mepps uses squirrel tail on their spinners). The rest of the fur I sell to a local taxidermist who uses it for trim on gloves and other clothing stuff he makes.
We also raise cattle and pigs on the farm, usually 3 cows and a couple dozen pigs. 140 acres about 50/50 woods and hayfield. No one else in the family can handle the animal care and then killing and butchering it, so it's my job to kill and butcher while the others do the animal husbandry (care-taking). Doing that we pretty much eat nose to tail. We get all the cuts of meat not offered except at custom butcher shops like hanger steak, tongue, cheeks, and tail. Tail meat is excellent in stews and soups.
Cows are just butchered in the fall with the pigs. For the pigs, we buy two pregnant sows in the spring. Once the piglets are weaned, I butcher the sows and that's our summer meat. We'll keep two of the piglets for ourselves for fall/winter meat, and then kill and butcher the rest of them for sale to locals. They have 6-10 in a litter, so we're looking at 12-20 piglets plus the two sows.
I am in the process of convincing my wife.we need sheep and I have a plan to capture some wild rabbits and fence in an area and allow.them.to.create Thor.own hurries. I wish we had the land to raise cattle and pig. That my friend is awsome.
I feel like younger generations lack in fiber by not slaughtering their own food. They don't understand the.effort it takes to do so.
Hot Holster
06-19-12, 16:19
I hog hunt and will keep the meat to eat and will also pass some around to friends if the freezer is full.
After deer season my father's side gets together and we grill what we shot. It's basically Thanksgiving with back straps. :D Whatever we don't grill gets sent off to be made in to venison.
Raven Armament
06-20-12, 00:05
I feel like younger generations lack in fiber by not slaughtering their own food. They don't understand the.effort it takes to do so.
I think I'm in the younger category just turning 31yo. I learned butchering from my uncles at deer camp. I don't understand the hunters that hunt for meat, but then pay someone else to butcher it. Sure I make money doing it for those types, but why get your meat yourself and not butcher it yourself? Generally from what I noticed is small game hunters do it themselves, but deer is different and they would rather pay someone. It takes two hours to skin a butcher a deer. They spent more than that sitting in the woods waiting for it to walk by.
I have two deer in the freezer right now, been working on eating them since Jan.
We have a bumper crop of cucumbers and zuchini right now, and the tomatoes are starting to come in. We already ate the radishes and onions, need to plant more next year.
I am 25 and since a young age i have been hunting and growing a garden. The students i have in high school think food grows at Mcdonalds or at the grocery store. Last semester i only had 15 students that hunted, fished, or even helped with a garden. I teach in a pretty rural area where this used to be a way of life.
Maybe i am just nostalgic and want to go back to the days of making it yourself. On a similar note i had pics of the 2 bucks i killednthis year on my desk and i had a young lady tell me i was a barbarian for killing those animals:confused:
She had a chicken biscuit for a snack between classes.
Growing up hunting and fishing with my family and enjoying farm fresh produce gave me an appreciation for food and life as a whole which I cannot imagine life without. Eating store bought fish just feels weird to me; it strikes me as somehow cheating or unnatural to actually buy fish as I grew up always eating that which we caught. My mom's side of the family raised beef and grew peas and all manner of other fresh produce, and my dad's side were multi generation hunters and fishermen with a lot of travel exprience, so every home cooked meal was amazing.
I eat every possible gamefish or wild game animal I can possibly get my hands on. It just makes living seem more real to me, as conversely life without it doesn't feel like life at all.
Between work, my three kids, and a holster shop I don't have much time for gardening anymore. But, I stockpile deer meat as deep as I can every season. There is also not much better than a few dozen dove for dinner after a good shoot. So yes, I tend to eat what I kill outside of coyotes and other vermin.
My parents keep a garden that would feed a few dozen people, so I get summer veggies from them when I can't grow my own.
One day when I grow up I'm moving back to the country.
I eat what I kill, but I don't do any gardening.
We have a small garden and grow tomatoes, peppers, squash cucumbers and a few herbs. I hunt as much as possible and unless I'm shooting coyote or some other varmint I won't shoot what I won't eat. We hunt waterfowl, turkey, deer, hogs and upland birds. I try to keep a freezer full of wild game most of the year. Usually start running out around early August. I've also taught my kids the same values and they eagerly help out with both the garden and love to hunt.
We keep a small garden in the backyard, and the freezer is usually stocked with an assortment of wild game.
ICANHITHIMMAN
06-20-12, 16:32
I'm on board with this, not 100% but we eat a lot of deer and we have a vegie garden. I found that we were not eating most of the deer in the past but then I found a sausage maker about 7 miles away and now its like I cant shoot enough.
We don’t garden but know a number of people that do. I'm thinking of starting in the future. I’ve hunted since I was 14 years old. With a few exceptions we’ve always eaten what we kill. Deer, antelope, elk, rabbits, squirrels, turkey, raccoon, quail, pheasant and dove grace our table at various times. Like you, we were taught to respect the game and to take only what you need. I loved to duck hunt years ago but never developed a taste for it so we no longer hunt them. About the only thing I’ve killed over the years that we didn’t eat have been pests, such as ground hogs and prairie dogs, or coyotes. I was always taught that killing for killing’s sake was wrong.
I eat what I kil quail and duck really but this year I am going to get into deer california sucks for hunting!
mallowpufft
06-25-12, 17:31
I've got a couple of raised beds that provide the bulk of my summer and fall veggies.
Planning on trying my hand St canning this fall and then expanding with more raised beds next year.
I hunt as much as I can but am limited with time so small game graces my plate more often than large. Squirrel and rabbit are often overlooked on public land so I can get my hands on them easily.
I haven't shot a deer in a long time time due to my time constraints at work (mostly Saturdays only off and no hunting on Sunday in VA). In addition to developing relationships with landowners for deer hunting land I'm hoping to pick up a used muzzle loader this year and extend my season by three weeks. I'd love a crossbow but them suckers are expensive.
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I have always been fortunate to hunt ducks with guys that hate eating ducks... I get to keep all the ducks:p unfortunately they also refuse to clean them if they give them to me and they drink at the end of the day while I clean and pluck and clean and pluck:rolleyes:
For the record they give them to a food bank or friends if I do not take them I would never hunt with someone that tossed their game.
M4fundi. Where are you? I'm a duck hunting addict. Maybe we can hook up next season
TX. I am more of an Upland Bird addict, but I love eating ducks and hunting them. In MT we hunted ducks & geese in fields, lakes and rivers (hate rivers always scared of losing a dog) and I only ever got to hunt once there in an actual wetland which looked like an overgrown with brush ice rink:eek: (it was an experience) and I haven't done any "proper" duck hunting in TX in about 15 yrs (in E. TX and LA), so far all I've managed here since I got back is jumping them on tanks. I do miss calling them in or better yet having someone better than me call them in:p I've always wanted to hunt ducks on the coast which I have never done.
How do y'all hunt them in your AO?
My boy's first duck hunt in MT
Not liking his hat :eek:
http://i491.photobucket.com/albums/rr280/45Fundi/IMG_1140.jpg
http://i491.photobucket.com/albums/rr280/45Fundi/IMG_1146.jpg
Ah screw the hat
http://i491.photobucket.com/albums/rr280/45Fundi/IMG_1152_2.jpg
We use a variety of setups. I've hunted over huge spreads of divers on big lakes here, 4 or 5 dekes in beaver ponds, typical setups in impoundments, field hunting for geese and even layout hunting on our coast for sea ducks. We get a good variety of different types of waterfowling. Most of what I do though is small pond and impoundment hunts. I love to upland hunt also. Very little wild bird hunting here. Quail habitat was ruined by the farming practices here. I have a few areas with wild birds but do not have a upland dog. I have 2 labs and they are all waterfowlers and flushers. Good looking dog you have there!
Lone_Ranger
07-03-12, 12:25
Thought about hydroponics/aquaponics, but got turned off, when 90% of the websites, were geared toward growing "herbs," that you probably don't want on your salad.
I don't particularly care for venison so I quit deer hunting many years ago. Grow things? I'd have to ask my wife, but that's not likely in the cards either. We're consumers. And there's a grocery store right down the road.
Most people are consumers and I just feel that eating what you kill/grow satisfies some primitive desires.
Most people are consumers and I just feel that eating what you kill/grow satisfies some primitive desires.
I'm ok with just putting it on my Visa card.
My wife is having a very successful garden this year. She has become quite skilled at it. Lots of fresh vegetables & herbs. I recommend the hanging tomatoes. I built a 4x4 frame to support them. Last year's garden was a dud.
Dollylamma
07-04-12, 14:44
I kill/eat deer, rabbit, squirrels (when warbles are not present), mourning dove, and wild turkey. I shoot a lot of groundhogs/coyotes to help the local farmers who allow me to hunt all edible game I have listed above. We also garden and can/freeze.
I can honestly say I have never purchased a pound of beef because we raise our own Holsteins/jerseys. Hogs are a new venture in my family, and it has been interesting. I will say this, all meat I have eaten that has been killed or raised on the farm tastes vastly different from store purchased meat(eaten at friends or families) or restaurants.
I eat every bit of it. Pheasant is a particular favorite of mine.
http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/3357/img1715customq.jpg
We eat produce from our own garden fairly regularly. Much of the meat we eat comes from deer my sons and I have shot or from feral hogs. However, my sons and I also shoot close to 60 hogs a year. I give a few away to folks that want them but there is no way I can eat/use that many hogs.
For us it isn't about "thrill killing"- it's simply a management decision. A single feral sow will be responsible for 2000 offspring in her lifetime. They are a menace to agriculture and with no natural predators only by killing every one we see can their numbers be kept in any kind of balance. It is an unfortunate fact that more of them cannot be utilized as they can be good eating but I will say that the practice has made my kids deadly field marksman and that is worth something by itself.
We hunt (moose/caribou/black bear) and we fish (salmon/halibut), but we don't garden. Most gardeners I know are so tied to their gardens they don't have time to hunt and fish. My friends that are gardeners trade me for meat :cool:
We eat produce from our own garden fairly regularly. Much of the meat we eat comes from deer my sons and I have shot or from feral hogs. However, my sons and I also shoot close to 60 hogs a year. I give a few away to folks that want them but there is no way I can eat/use that many hogs.
For us it isn't about "thrill killing"- it's simply a management decision. A single feral sow will be responsible for 2000 offspring in her lifetime. They are a menace to agriculture and with no natural predators only by killing every one we see can their numbers be kept in any kind of balance. It is an unfortunate fact that more of them cannot be utilized as they can be good eating but I will say that the practice has made my kids deadly field marksman and that is worth something by itself.
In the same "trough" ;)here as well...we kill the hogs on sight and do our best to drop'm humanely, but we are trying to kill'm first and foremost. The suckling pigs usually hit the table right away & the others ? Well Buzzards got to eat too:p
With the exception of chicken, the vast majority of the meat we eat is venison or feral hog that I or my father-in-law have shot. We kill 6-8 deer a season between us and my mother-in-law doesn't like venison so I average about 5 deer in my freezer every year. :) Hogs have been less common as we haven't had a good place to hunt them but that has changed this year as they have started to invade a co-workers "farm" (25 acres he intends to retire on), our deer lease, and a property one of my cousins leases to run cattle. We also do all of our own butchering including ground meat and making our own sausage.
As for birds, I intend to get into turkey hunting this year as they have repopulated our deer lease finally and have also moved into my Aunt and Uncle's farm. I have only been duck hunting a couple of times as my father was mever a bird hunter but my father-in-law, who had stopped hunting ducks due to some vision issues, has promised to teach a friend and I everything he knows on some public land near us that is open to duck hunting with the right permits.
I am trying to get fruit trees going. Figs and loquats are going good but lemons and tangerines/satsumas are just starting this year. Now I need a couple of other fruit trees and at least a pecan tree for nuts. (Houston Urban Harvest tree sale here I come.) The wife and I have plans to put in a garden in one of our side yards this fall/winter but right now we buy most of our vegetables through a local farmers co-op. My wife even has a small bee-keepers rig ready to set up once the garden is in but we have to have our daughter checked to make sure she is not allergic (like her aunt) before we do that.
Restarting our garden efforts this year. Slacked of. A couple years but back at it. Already picking blueberries in the lower garden. Apples starting to appear. Should have enough for canning. Planting just a small vegetable garden and several more herb bushes.
Awesome1228
07-10-12, 15:41
I eat most of what I kill. I have deer, elk, halibut, salmon, trout, and antelope in the freezer right now. I dont do all of my own butchering, but I do grind burger and make an assortment of sausages.
I also grow veggies, but not as much as I would like due to lack of space. I do trade a lot of meat for fresh veggies from family members who do have pretty sizeable gardens.
I do a lot of food preservation, fresh made salsas, sauces, jams and jellies as well as soups, stews and meats. This is something I have rediscovered in the last few years, and I really enjoy it, as well as the fact that I get to control what goes into the food I am eating. The convenience of a home cooked meal in 10 minutes after a busy day is nice, rather than spending 45 minutes cooking. Especially with a screaming 1 year old in the background and a GF who's ready to fall over from exhaustion after a 13 hour shift at the hospital.
Producing your own food is a very rewarding experience, in my opinion. Maybe we could start a recipe thread, if there isn't one already.
nineteenkilo
07-24-12, 10:39
Better late than never.
We have a decent sized garden from which we can for the winter and eat fresh if canning isn't much of an option.
Herbs
Watermelons
Purple Hull Peas
Okra
Tomatoes
Cantaloupe
Muscadine/Scuppernones
Green Beans
Corn
etc.
I also eat local wild as much as possible:
Whitetail deer
Dove
Squirrel
Rabbit
Crappie/Bass/Catfish/Bream
Sure beats paying the local grocer if I don't have to.
bussecrazed
07-24-12, 19:53
I eat all that I kill except small rodents, we also have a large garden that we do seasonally here in NY
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