Cougar meat - is it legal to not eat the meat?

[Tree Killer]

Don't waste the meat, it's quite good.  I'd had some that a friend gave me several years ago, but when I killed a big tom a year ago last February, we utilized as much as we could.



Here's a big piece of marinated backstrap I grilled, just like pork loin.





I canned quite a bit of it, been using it in various recipes...like predator/prey stew. Lion and deer in the same pot!   

[Curly]

Oh boy. That looks good.

[jasnt]

this wont help with washington but in Idaho you do not need to salvage the meat. We do eat it and it is good. I usually make peperoni sticks out of the hingquarters and just steak the backstraps. You could make peperoni sticks out of any meat and it would be good I think but I would definitely eat it if you get one.   

I've had cougar pepperoni sticks before

[mxryder909]

taste like roast beef in the crock pot, as well as bobcat...
I eat it every year, and enjoy the hing quater. Tasty!!!

[bucklucky]

At least make pepperoni or summer sausage out of it . You cant tell a difference between elk or deer that way. Ive let people eat it before I told them what it was LOL. Steaks are good, but I personally have a hard time eating steaks , something about eating .... well.... pu...um..... kitty that just doesn't allow my brain to accept it LOL. Pepperoni and summer sausage no problem .... I don't know ....

[dingle]

You are so write it is very good, I have cougar ham just about every year. I have been lucky enough to have killed a nice tom  and it was taste.

[bobcat]

Predator meat is not for me, I've hunted Africa several times and the parasite content of predator meat is too high for my taste.  If you must eat it, cook it thoroughly and make sure its handled well.

Exactly why I have no desire to eat cougar meat.

[Threewolves]

Eat it, EAT IT, EAT IT.   It is the other white meat. I have a 8 foot 1in cougar on the wall and it's meat was excellent.

This was from back in the hound hunting days. I was new to hunting cougars I drew a tag (a great way to manage hound hunting and still allow hound hunting). I killed this long tail with some help from a friend with dogs and other hound hunters. They other hound hunters asked me if I wanted the meat and started arguing over the meat before I could reply. I thought there has to be something to this so I told them I was keeping the meat. One of the best decisions I ever made, some of the best meat I have ever ate.

I had a house warming and allot of multicultural folks over cooking out. One of my friends bite into some cougar meat, then asked what it was. I told him it was kitty cat, cougar. You seen the look on his face like eck, then he says you know this is really, really good. 

Try it you will like it. Come to find out it was also one of the preferred meats of the Mountain Men. Paul

[Threewolves]

Now I would not eat the livers. Back in the day I was going through six weeks of the Winter Phase of  Northern Warfare Training Center's (IQC) Instructor Qualification Course, We had the NC0IC of Black Rapid Training site (Ski Lodge) eat a Lynx liver and he got something so bad he had to eat something like six MREs worth of calories a day to keep from loosing any more weight before they got him straighten out. He had a trap line around the site and I guess he figured he would try it out.

[Curly]

Predator meat is not for me, I've hunted Africa several times and the parasite content of predator meat is too high for my taste.  If you must eat it, cook it thoroughly and make sure its handled well.

Exactly why I have no desire to eat cougar meat.

Well,  I just think it is a shame that this state makes a hunter keep the meat if they are uncomfortable eating it. Oregon and Idaho allow the meat to be wasted.

like I say, I will probably keep the meat (instead of finding someone to give it to) if I ever get lucky and shoot one, but I know I would be eating it alone at my house.

[bobcat]

Bigtex says you just have to bring it home and throw it in your garbage can. That way it won't go to waste.      

[BOWHUNTER45]

I am sure if you kill one you can find someone who would love it ...it is good but just hard to sit down and have a full course meal with it  As far as having to eat I do not think they can make you eat it or is there a law stating you have to ..

[bobcat]

The warden is going to sit at your kitchen table with you and make sure you eat every bite! 

[BOWHUNTER45]

I think I will invite them over for dinner come Sunday when I am clubbing a few Sockeye in the head ..I also have some cougar meat left and wonder if they would like some of that too ? 

[Curly]

Well, there are officers citing people for leaving coyotes lay where they shoot them; they are citing them for wastage..........so, I assume those same officers would cite someone for wastage of cougar meat.

Of course if you just skin it and throw it in the garbage, I guess that is ok.    

I just started this thread because of the legal question about leaving a coyote lay.  I had mistakenly thought the law in WA used to say it was okay to not use cougar meat..........but I found out that I remembered incorrectly and was thinking of the Oregon regulations.