raccoon

[Night goat]

would ya eat it? have you eaten it?

not talking about the urban trash panda type coons, more of the type youd find way out in the woods (or cypress island in my case)

I never have, was just bored reading the regs and saw the season was sept 1-march 31st

thought it might be fun to break up the winters boredoms by going out and letting the dog find some raccoons to chase, seeing as you can hunt em at night with dogs and lights...

suppose they would always make a nice hat or something

[merkaba93]

I'd try cooking it. I don't see how it would be all that different than squirrel or ground hog.

[syoungs]

I have eaten it a few times. Meat is somewhat sweet, consistency close to pork.
We just roasted them when we tried it, and finished with some bbq sauce
 I'd do it again.

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

Still trying to come to grip with just killing them.
I know where a lot are, see them all the time.
With having just taken the trapping class and figure I am going to man up.
.
But in the mid '80's I had one for a pet.
Neighbors killed the adults because they were aggressive, then found babies.
Eyes were not even open, I bottle fed and used a warm washcloth to make it (defecate) until it got bigger.
Potty trained, slept with, and took everywhere with me until officer Jim Suda with the wdfw took him, and wrote me a $150 ticket for "wildlife in captivity" even though the raccoon was free to leave at any time...
Best pet I ever had.
.
Now, those chicken killing egg stealers better stay off my property, and if I find one in my trap...
I'll have my daughter kill it (lol)..
Just kidding...
But yes, I'll probably eat one.
Two, if they are any good.

[pcal]

Just hope they aren't dining on salmon.I ate a few bites of roasted coon back in Virginia  and to get them ready to cook is quite involved.Skinned,remove glands under the front legs and small of the back.Then you parboiled twice pouring off the water.After all that you roast them like a goose in a racked roaster pan.I shot a couple hundred for sport.I shot as many as 10 on one night and as many possums with friends and their dogs treeing them.We would use .22 short to knock them out of the tree and let the dogs kill them.That would do little damage to the fur unless the coon was small .We'd hold the dogs and club the coon as the dogs would pull them apart.Possums would be killed and left.Few people I knew would eat coons let alone a possum.(any animal that would den in the carcass of a dead horse isnt high on my list for fine dining)







 

[Kc_Kracker]

i have eaten alot of it growing up down south. its greasy. and if you live near fish no beuno

[idaho guy]

I would never eat one but keep us posted on how it is! Raccoons carry a ton of diseases. We used to hunt them with dogs quite a bit for off season training for the dogs. I understand not wanting to kill one and not at least use something but we just salvaged the hides. My friend actually did a full body mount on one my son shot when he was still young.

[HighlandLofts]

When I had a pair of blueticks I shot a butt load of coon.
I had three people who tookd the medium.sized ones to eat. They would bake them on a wire rack and the strip all of the meat off the bones for sandwiches, one guy boed the legs up and simmered them in spaghetti sauce.
I've tried it cooked several ways and liked most of it.

[DOUBLELUNG]

A buddy and I spit roasted a sweet corn depredator back in high school.  We did remove the glands. It was a bit stringy, a bit greasy - flavor was fine.  We thought it was most similar to domestic turkey thigh meat.

[RockChuck]

tried it once and remember it being a bit greasy as well, don't think id go through the work to eat another.

[HighlandLofts]

Raccoons have fat stored between the muscles that why a lot of people bake them on a wire rack.or boil them and throw the water away to get rid of the fat then recook it with seasonings.

[lokidog]

I'd try cooking it. I don't see how it would be all that different than squirrel or ground hog.

Very different, they re not rodents.

tried it once and remember it being a bit greasy as well, don't think id go through the work to eat another.

I heard this for years from my mom when I would mention we were having raccoon. Finally, upon one of her visits, I cooked coon stew... I did not hear a word about grease while she finished her second or third bowl.... When cleaning, get every speck of fat you can find off of it. I've not noticed fat between the muscles any more than any other animal. You can quarter them to fit in a pot.

I've done raccoon a couple of different ways, all involve slow cooking or an InstaPot. After cooking, remove from the water/broth it has cooked in, separate from any fat on surface if using the broth. Pull meat off bone and cut/pull into bite sized pieces, raccoon makes good stew and chile. My favorite though is Sloppy Joes.

I get razzed a bit by certain members, but if you go at it with an open mind, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

edit. I've seen references to removing glands, I've never noticed any, but probably come out with the fat that I remove.

[idaho guy]

Dang! You guys make it sound good but I will still never eat a raccoon  They do make a good addition to a bear bait however. I will try and eat most things if I kill it but not raccoon or coyote ever.