Eating your catch

[Barbaroja]

I’m interested in what an otter tastes like, any input?

[boneaddict]

Seems to me as a generalization, things that eat fish seem to not be very tasty.   ie. Fish eating bears, Merganser ducks etc. 

[Norman89]

Nope  I know only one person that has ate otter and was not impressed. Also were I set up my bait stations iv seen that not many animals will eat otter willingly that carcass is almost always in the pile untill last. Couldn't say if that is because of the taste or because of the gland scents. My guess is the smell of otter aka "wolf of the water" is off-putting to many other predators. In my mind you never see a coyote munching on a wolf for a reason. Pecking order. Same as I can't seem to catch crawdad on crappie carcasses. Whatever an animals natural predator is it won't willingly seek it out as a food source. Just my thoughts. Since an otter eats mostly fish and crawfish in my local area I would think it would taste like merganser does. I don't shoot mergansers haha

[Sandberm]

This thread kind of goes along with the porcupine one from a month or two ago.

We need to set up a volunteer group of Huntwa members to be taste testers

[Oh Mah]

porcupine is delicious.  :twocents:i cook it just the same as chicken.

dont mind the green tint with winter kills its just from eating pine needles. 

[Norman89]

I was gonna say porcupine is great! Check out william larkham junior or youtube for a full how to hunt clean and cook a "pum-pum" as they call them in newfoundland. Plus the skulls,claws, guard hairs and quills can be worth a little gas in the tank for the next hunt. I have one sitting on my table right now I'm picking for a friend who does a lot of black smithing and I have him interested to make some beaver tail sheaths decorated with claws and quills for his knives

[Cylvertip]

I will second what Norman89 said.  Otter and mink will be the last things touched in a bait pile, if they are touched at all.  Raptors are the only thing that will really get on them, but only if there is nothing else.

 

[Barbaroja]

If I can manage to catch one, I’ll try it. Saw one this morning. I’ve tasted coyote before and found it very similar to pork. That said some meat is just inherently not good eating. Thanks for the input!

I’ve eaten merganser before. Not the best but it’s edible if prepared properly.

[JakeLand]

Coyotes and crows won’t even eat a otter

[3nails]

Coyotes and crows won’t even eat a otter

  That's no joke.

[DishBogget]

Coyotes and crows won’t even eat a otter

The old lady pulled into the driveway last night and saw a coyote trying to pull a ziplock bagged otter skull off a cable spool by my garage.


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[JakeLand]

Coyotes and crows won’t even eat a otter

The old lady pulled into the driveway last night and saw a coyote trying to pull a ziplock bagged otter skull off a cable spool by my garage.


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it didn’t know what was in it yet 

[Loup Loup]

There are only two animals, where before I start skinning, I stop and think if I have any rubber gloves around. Wolf and Otter. Luckily, I haven't been hard up enough yet to try eating either one.
There are people in Alaska who eat mink and otter in the spring, and celebrate that theyve made it to spring again.

[DishBogget]

Coyotes and crows won’t even eat a otter

The old lady pulled into the driveway last night and saw a coyote trying to pull a ziplock bagged otter skull off a cable spool by my garage.


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it didn’t know what was in it yet 

Possible lol


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[Alchase]

dont mind the green tint with winter kills its just from eating pine needles. 

I have killed grouse that have had a greenish tint to the meat, seemed to taste just fine though.

There are only two animals, where before I start skinning, I stop and think if I have any rubber gloves around. Wolf and Otter. Luckily, I haven't been hard up enough yet to try eating either one.

I have never trapped or skinned one, but I am curious what is it about wolves that make you put on gloves?

PS: love your namesake! I really miss the Loup Loup area.

[JakeLand]

Wolves and fox both stink

[Timberstalker]

So do some beavers. Just saying.

[92xj]

So do some beavers. Just saying.

Depends on the amount of hair

[Humptulips]

Coyotes and crows won’t even eat a otter

The old lady pulled into the driveway last night and saw a coyote trying to pull a ziplock bagged otter skull off a cable spool by my garage.


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I believe that coyote planned on setting it on fire in front of your door, ringing the doorbell and running.

[DishBogget]

Coyotes and crows won’t even eat a otter

The old lady pulled into the driveway last night and saw a coyote trying to pull a ziplock bagged otter skull off a cable spool by my garage.


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I believe that coyote planned on setting it on fire in front of your door, ringing the doorbell and running.

Could be I was surprised as well ,
But it did happen


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[Humptulips]

One of my favorite quotes from Wiley Carrol, "Anything that stinks has value as coyote lure."

[Loup Loup]

Alchase: I have been schooled that wolves could be vectors of a varity of blood borne diseases. I have been taught to wear gloves and wash my skinning tools in bleach solution after skinning wolves. And honestly it wasnt a hard sell. Some wolves are really nasty. Its not like theyve rolled in something rotten, its just a really rank smell that permeates your skin.
I remember a wolf I skinned last year. I wore rubber gloves when I skinned it. I had to go out right after skinning it. I was home for two days, where I took three showers and washed my hands several times. When I got back to camp, I could still smell that wolf on my hands.
I am impressed with the trappers in Alaska and Canada who have to hang frozen wolves in their cabins to thaw before skinning.
Oh well, the sweet smell of success.

[Norman89]

But the sweet smell off cash when that hide sells would probably offset the smell on your skin

[JakeLand]

That’s a cool pic right there ! You should post more ! Good work

[Loup Loup]

Thanks JakeLand, I appreciate it.
I am the photographer. But what Im striving for, is to be the Wolfer. Oh well, maybe next year.....

[AL WORRELLS KID]

From "Meateater"
Badger meat made quite a few appearances in mountain men journals. Historian Martin Schmitt noted that meals of badger were often a sign of necessity, or in cases like mine, curiosity. “Eaten by Lewis and Clark, and Wyeth, and listed by Farrow as a possible meal, the badger has never been acclaimed with enthusiasm as meat,” Schmitt wrote.

My favorite badger dining account comes courtesy of Thomas Becknell, though. While en route from Missouri to New Mexico, he encountered a badger for the first time and perfectly described the alien varmint.

“We found a ludicrous looking animal, unknown to any one of our company,” Becknell wrote. “It was about the size of a raccoon, of a light gray color, had uncommonly fine fur, small eyes, and was almost covered with long, shaggy hair.”

With an open mind, Becknell and his crew gave the badger meat a try. His review of the flesh is one of the first on record: “Its meat was tender and delicious.”

[Loup Loup]

Ha ha Kid, Im guessing they were pretty hungry.
Reminds me of the two Mountain Men tasked with carrying dispatches from Wyoming to Missouri during the winter. After a long spell of terrible weather and no game around, they got lucky and shot two Ravens.
Later one of them was asked how did the Raven taste. He answered, he didn't know, he'd eaten it so fast he'd never tasted it.

[idaho guy]

Alchase: I have been schooled that wolves could be vectors of a varity of blood borne diseases. I have been taught to wear gloves and wash my skinning tools in bleach solution after skinning wolves. And honestly it wasnt a hard sell. Some wolves are really nasty. Its not like theyve rolled in something rotten, its just a really rank smell that permeates your skin.
I remember a wolf I skinned last year. I wore rubber gloves when I skinned it. I had to go out right after skinning it. I was home for two days, where I took three showers and washed my hands several times. When I got back to camp, I could still smell that wolf on my hands.
I am impressed with the trappers in Alaska and Canada who have to hang frozen wolves in their cabins to thaw before skinning.
Oh well, the sweet smell of success.

   

Great picture  when I took the Idaho wolf trapping class they were adamant about wearing gloves and said definitely don’t gut one if you can help it. Main thing that trapper thought was dangerous was the cyst they carry and transfers to humans. But the cyst was one of many things they could carry pretty filthy. I felt like an idiot because I had shot a wolf previously and we took one tiny bite of a well done backstrap from it. Tasted like rotten liver. Anyways that was over 10 years ago and I’m still alive .  Yes there was alcohol involved before and during the taste test ha ha. Hopefully I catch one this year and I will be wearing gloves. I think otter is legal bait in Idaho need to check but sounds like it would be useless? I wanted to prebait a bobcat set if legal after I check. I rarely disclose that I tried wolf but feel some anonymity on this site