marsh man Posted December 10, 2018 Report Share Posted December 10, 2018 Having just finished off a Mallard I had for Saturdays night it got me thinking , what shall I have next ? , hanging up in the garage is a brace of Pheasants and a brace of Partridges that I brought home from the Saturdays shoot , this week we will be shooting duck again on the first drive on Saturday , these are all wild duck that are fed with barley , I prefer a duck to eat rather than any game bird so I will pick a decent pair of duck for my free brace , as much as I like game to eat I find one night a week is enough for me as my wife isn't that keen so all the preparation and cooking is just for me and the dog get a few left overs . So this bring me back to the title , having eaten in the past everything on the shooting list , except Corvids , Grouse and other birds we don't get this far South , my list includes all the Waders you can no longer shoot , all the duck , all the geese including the odd one that changed species when the dog brought it back in the dark , after all we are only human and we all make the odd mistake , Rabbits , Hares , Woodcock and most of the deer ( not the whole deer , only the odd joint ) , loads of pigeons and the odd dove , on top of that the odd Cygnet that flew into the telegraph wires , maybe the strangest thing I ate was when a keeper came on a shoot one day and passed his sandwiches around and asked us what meat we thought was in them , we all gave our views on what it was , non of us were right , what was it ? , Coypu . Well my choice if I was allowed only one species to eat would be a Mallard. What would yours be ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FOXHUNTER1 Posted December 10, 2018 Report Share Posted December 10, 2018 Partridge ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harnser Posted December 10, 2018 Report Share Posted December 10, 2018 Rabbit . harnser Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billytheghillie Posted December 10, 2018 Report Share Posted December 10, 2018 Chitsu. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walshie Posted December 10, 2018 Report Share Posted December 10, 2018 Muntjac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wisdom Posted December 10, 2018 Report Share Posted December 10, 2018 Duck and pheasant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7daysinaweek Posted December 10, 2018 Report Share Posted December 10, 2018 Partridge. Ate a peacock once that me mate had roasted, was not that fussed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panoma1 Posted December 10, 2018 Report Share Posted December 10, 2018 +3........Partridge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted December 10, 2018 Report Share Posted December 10, 2018 Agree on the Mallard, but woodcock was on a par Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pigeon Shredder. Posted December 10, 2018 Report Share Posted December 10, 2018 Yes + 1 for Muntjac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted December 10, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2018 A lot of you chaps are quoting Partridges and I am sure some of you are old enough to remember wild English Partridges , in the 70s we had a lot of wild Partridges with good coveys running into double figures , we always ate what Partridges we shot until we got wind of the price the game dealer ( Pettits of Reedham) were paying for young English Partridges , taste wise we couldn't tell the difference between old and young , so when we shot a few we would open the wings to see if the feathers were pointed or round , if they were pointed then they ended up at the dealers and if I remember rightly they were paying over £2 each which I recon would be about a tenner in today's money. Also one or two have said Munjac deer , why is it that most of the places that sell venison only put venison on the package and not the species of deer it came from ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisheruk Posted December 10, 2018 Report Share Posted December 10, 2018 Pheasant casserole tonight. 😋😋😋 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted December 10, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2018 58 minutes ago, Harnser said: Rabbit . harnser I agree a good Rabbit take some beating , Our old keeper used to give me the three quarter grown ones that were shot with his old bolt action 22 rifle that had no telescopic sight on , it only had the standard sight that was on the rifle. I used to cut them up in three or four pieces and leave them in salt water overnight , this made them look pinkish and were lovely and tender when they came out of the oven . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted December 11, 2018 Report Share Posted December 11, 2018 I will happily eat Pheasant, Partridge and Pigeon, but my favourite would be Muntjac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Boggy Posted December 11, 2018 Report Share Posted December 11, 2018 I'm with you MM on mallard so long as they have been feeding on the stubbles. The wife prefers pheasant to mallard. In fact, as we are both out today, me out shooting later and her off with the daughter Xmas shopping, I've just put a pheasant in the slow cooker complete with chunky vegetables, potatoes, carrots, leeks, celery etc. This will be ready when we both get back later today. Lovely. I too remember walking up the stubbles for what seemed covey upon covey of English partridges in each field. Whether it's just nostalgia, but those partridges always tasted better than redlegs do today. Some say that curlew, when shootable was sometimes inedible, but the ones that I shot always tasted good. Mind you, my old Mum, bless her, could and had to, make a good meal out of anything. Cannot say the same about the wife, but fortunately she doesn't read my posts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Boggy Posted December 11, 2018 Report Share Posted December 11, 2018 14 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said: I will happily eat Pheasant, Partridge and Pigeon, but my favourite would be Muntjac. I'm not an expert at all on venison. Are the different species that different in taste ? I have eaten quite a bit of venison not really knowing what species it was. As Marshman says, when you see deer for sale, it's invariably just marked up as venison. I will endeavour to seek out Muntjac when next buying some venison and bow down to your better knowledge Tightchoke. Thanks for that. OB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted December 11, 2018 Report Share Posted December 11, 2018 Nowadays I prefer woodcock to anything else. In the good old days Blackcock took some beating. It had three if not four definite types and colour of meat. It tasted very good especially after walking twenty miles to shoot it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walshie Posted December 11, 2018 Report Share Posted December 11, 2018 29 minutes ago, Old Boggy said: I'm not an expert at all on venison. Are the different species that different in taste ? I have eaten quite a bit of venison not really knowing what species it was. As Marshman says, when you see deer for sale, it's invariably just marked up as venison. I will endeavour to seek out Muntjac when next buying some venison and bow down to your better knowledge Tightchoke. Thanks for that. OB I've not eaten all 6 species, but I have eaten munties, roe, fallow and red. Obviously there could be some differences in how they were prepared, but in order of "gaminess" I found red to be the gamiest, then fallow, then roe, then muntjac, like there is a correlation between size and gaminess. My least favourite is roe. It's not the taste, I'm just not keen on the texture, which especially the loins, is so soft it's almost like eating pate. Muntjac whether male or female have had little gaminess and a very nice texture, almost like lamb. At least that's my personal experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted December 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2018 THANKS for all the replies , with all the talk nowadays about game been shot and ending up been dumped ( although this has never happened on all the shoots I have been on ) its nice to know what is preferred for sportsmen like ourselves and the general public. I dare say the taste of most , if not all game is down to the age , time of year and what the animal or bird have been feeding on. O B , mentioned Mallard that have been feeding on the stubble's , if the duck were young it is possible that the grain have been there main diet since being on the wing and they have been eating food as good , if not better grub than chickens , same with young pigeons shot on laid barley fields , far better than pigeons shot on Green crops during hard weather. Now I have said what I prefer , what could I now leave out of eating edible game ? , well for starters most of the wading birds that were removed from the shooting list , Canada geese , Hares I no longer shoot , all the diving duck and last but not least , Shoverlers , that will do to get on with , What would you no longer eat ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aga man Posted December 11, 2018 Report Share Posted December 11, 2018 Teal or Golden plover are up there with the very best in my opinion although young woodpigeons and half grown rabbits are very good too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitchrat Posted December 11, 2018 Report Share Posted December 11, 2018 (edited) Am I the only vote for WILD turkey? I am also told that Sandhill Cranes eat really well but don't want to shoot one. (not allowed in BC or Alberta but OK inSaskatchewan) Coots are also recommended by my shooting buddy but I don't fancy them! Kitchrat Edited December 11, 2018 by kitchrat addition Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted December 11, 2018 Report Share Posted December 11, 2018 (edited) MM, I am not fond of Cormorant even if it has been shot on licence. The old joke was the defendant in Court accused of shooting a Golden eagle. In mitigation he told the Procurator Fiscal that he always ate what he shot. 'And what exactly does Golden eagle taste like'? Asked the Judge. 'Well sir',The man replied, 'It tastes like a cross between Osprey and Red Kite. Edited December 11, 2018 by JDog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted December 11, 2018 Report Share Posted December 11, 2018 2 hours ago, JDog said: Nowadays I prefer woodcock to anything else. In the good old days Blackcock took some beating. It had three if not four definite types and colour of meat. It tasted very good especially after walking twenty miles to shoot it. You're a lucky man to have done so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Boggy Posted December 11, 2018 Report Share Posted December 11, 2018 1 hour ago, aga man said: Teal or Golden plover are up there with the very best in my opinion although young woodpigeons and half grown rabbits are very good too. Ah, Golden Plover, I`d forgotten about those. They are very good to eat if I remember, but haven`t shot any for a few years. OB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guzzicat Posted December 11, 2018 Report Share Posted December 11, 2018 5 hours ago, Old Boggy said: Ah, Golden Plover, I`d forgotten about those. They are very good to eat if I remember, but haven`t shot any for a few years. OB + 1 for Goldies & partridge, Curlew I used to skin, still got my old Curlew call from Holy Island days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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