Thresherman
Member
I was just wondering if anyone has ever eaten a woodchuck. They are related to squirrels, so are they edible. Have a bunch of young ones around that would make a good 4TH of July BBQ.
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- Thread starter Thresherman
- Start date
Robert in Md
Member
No , I haven't tryed to eat a groundhog but I sure have shot and trap plenty of the critters. Trapped 2 racoons last night , they must have messed up 5 dozen ears ;of sweetcorn in the last 2 nights . Maybe more tonight.
Absent Minded Farmer
Well-known Member
- Location
- Gehl Country, Wis.
Not in a very loooooooong time. I do remember that you want to get them in late winter/early spring so as not to get one full of worms or parasites. The taste reminded me of rabbit. I"d rather the rabbit, tho. Can"t turn down a bowl of hassenf... hasenph... dang it! Rabbit stew!
mazemeister
Member
nope, but they messed up about 500 lettuce plants the other night.. so the war is on
dad used to talk about his grandmother baking groundhogs, said they were good but greasy
as for raccoons in the corn try golden marlen fly bait with pepsi cola, I mix it in a throw a way pie tin,placed in the corn, raccoons love it, I heard they will not go 75 feet before the die. dogs and cats don"t seem to bother it
frank
as for raccoons in the corn try golden marlen fly bait with pepsi cola, I mix it in a throw a way pie tin,placed in the corn, raccoons love it, I heard they will not go 75 feet before the die. dogs and cats don"t seem to bother it
frank
old
Well-known Member
- Location
- Camdenton Missouri
Kick me an e-mail and I'll scan a page or 2 from a cook book that tell how to fix them
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
We had a neighbor who regularly ate Muskrat, he said it taste like squirel.
Old Timer in Ohio
Member
Hey there"
As best as I can remember. It seems my old
"Italian" gramma made spaghetti sauce using
a young "groundhog". My Dad shot one, but he soaked it in water, (lightly salted) overnight.
Of course, I was only about about 3-4 years old at the time, (I'm 76 now). Seems my Dad always
talked about it, throgh the years as being good.
Bob
God Bless
As best as I can remember. It seems my old
"Italian" gramma made spaghetti sauce using
a young "groundhog". My Dad shot one, but he soaked it in water, (lightly salted) overnight.
Of course, I was only about about 3-4 years old at the time, (I'm 76 now). Seems my Dad always
talked about it, throgh the years as being good.
Bob
God Bless
Hills of TN
Member
Yep, and I gotta say that when it is roasted in the oven, with a little bit of barbeque sauce, it is a hellova lot better tasting than goat meat. (I guess that ain"t a very good endorsement, huh?) Having seen the eating habits of the woodchuck versus that of a hog - if you can eat the meat from a hog, the woodchuck ought to be an easy follow-up! (Not to mention the eating habits of chickens, for all of you fried chicken fanatics.)
Everytime Mom made a new dish for supper that was "unidentifiable" we kids would ask what it was. 'Woodchuck and dandelion greens' was the standard answer.
Dogs always enjoyed them, especially after they laid out in the yard a few weeks and are "tenderized" by the lawn mower a time or 2.
Dogs always enjoyed them, especially after they laid out in the yard a few weeks and are "tenderized" by the lawn mower a time or 2.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Just don't tell anyone what they are until NEXT August...... Good stuff though...
Dave
farmer101IL
Member
Here's my preferred method of preparing a wood chuck. First off i pull out the trusty .243, then i settle onto the porch. I get them crossing the alfalfa field alot. About a 150 yard shot,
i like a shot to the head and only the head. Kind of like shooting a squirrel. Just something about high-speed lead poisoning that they don't like.
Grab the 4 wheeler and go get em. Skin em , gut em, and bake em. I ate a wood chuck for the first time about 3 years ago. WOW are they tasty. Had a friend give us some bear, not bad but give me a chuck anytime. They are very rich and dark flesh. If someone offer me a deer, bear or woody i'd take the chuck in a heart beat. Try them, better than a rabbit too.!!
Anyways take care and keep your rifle at the ready
Farmer
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Growing up, neighbor regularly shot them and his wife cooked them, have eaten them many times. I remember that he only ate the young ones, and that was mentioned earlier was a regular part of the process.
Good morning, Sometimes people on this board MIGHT lead you a little astray as for eating woodchucks/ground hogs. good idea is destroy the critters and throw in bushes or let crows seagauls or other rodents from nature feast on the woodchucks. They are sort of closely related to a rat. Would not be very tasty. cheers Murray
K
Kruse
Guest
A lot of people in Louisiana eat nutria. That's nothing more than a South American water rat.
I've wondered that myself, I know they eat good stuff, clover, dandelion, other young greens etc.
There is some oddball tree that used to be in a fence line along my old garden, that I let just grow, can't figure out what it is but it sure grew in beautiful, nice round canopy, and is the last to get leaves on it, looks dead for awhile, then it catches up. I saw a woodchuck go up into that tree last Sun., so I went down and paid a visit to him, he froze, I kind of tickled him with a small stick, seemed to calm down a bit last one I did that with, was up in a tree, ( photo below ) he became a great little pal, I used to feed him and he would hang out morning or afternoon, no one would believe it so I took photos. I took several photos on my cell phone of the one in the tree, he was eating the leaves, had one in his mouth when I took the photos.
You would think that being herbivores or grazing, can't be nothing like a rat, though I've never done it, in a survival situation, I would without hesitation.
I used to blame them for any damage in the garden, then I observed them to see what in heck they really eat, everything but the vegetable plants, if there were weeds, I mulch with hay now, and fence it off. They will eat flowers and similar plants, and if they will wait for a ripe tomato, won't take it green usually. Not much of a nuisance around here, I've let them be, and boy has the population been steady. The network of holes seems to stay the same, before I mow, I mark em out and flatten the dirt, get rid of the rocks. I used to shoot them, til this guy softened me up, though if those holes were a problem would have to go back to that, interesting and sometimes a nuisance creature, you know they have a separate compartment in there den system for a bathroom, they don't go on the surface, seemingly clean/neat creatures, this guy tried to take a broom down into the hole once, had to fight with him to get it back, he sure was different and was a lot of fun the years he was around.
I did'nt do it, no really !!!.......
There is some oddball tree that used to be in a fence line along my old garden, that I let just grow, can't figure out what it is but it sure grew in beautiful, nice round canopy, and is the last to get leaves on it, looks dead for awhile, then it catches up. I saw a woodchuck go up into that tree last Sun., so I went down and paid a visit to him, he froze, I kind of tickled him with a small stick, seemed to calm down a bit last one I did that with, was up in a tree, ( photo below ) he became a great little pal, I used to feed him and he would hang out morning or afternoon, no one would believe it so I took photos. I took several photos on my cell phone of the one in the tree, he was eating the leaves, had one in his mouth when I took the photos.
You would think that being herbivores or grazing, can't be nothing like a rat, though I've never done it, in a survival situation, I would without hesitation.
I used to blame them for any damage in the garden, then I observed them to see what in heck they really eat, everything but the vegetable plants, if there were weeds, I mulch with hay now, and fence it off. They will eat flowers and similar plants, and if they will wait for a ripe tomato, won't take it green usually. Not much of a nuisance around here, I've let them be, and boy has the population been steady. The network of holes seems to stay the same, before I mow, I mark em out and flatten the dirt, get rid of the rocks. I used to shoot them, til this guy softened me up, though if those holes were a problem would have to go back to that, interesting and sometimes a nuisance creature, you know they have a separate compartment in there den system for a bathroom, they don't go on the surface, seemingly clean/neat creatures, this guy tried to take a broom down into the hole once, had to fight with him to get it back, he sure was different and was a lot of fun the years he was around.
I did'nt do it, no really !!!.......
Yup, and they're quite good. Served some to my unsuspecting college roommates many years ago as "ground chuck". Wasn't till afterward I somehow remembered to mention it wasn't chuck steak I was referring to. They ate it and called it good. Tons of recipes online, including the following article that also discusses snaring methods. As has been mentioned, they're a whole lot more selective in their eating methods than chickens or pigs!
snaring and cooking woodchucks
snaring and cooking woodchucks
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Probably, not knowing where, in some cafe, or buffett some place, some times it tastes like ground hog...
Chester5731
Member
Spook, I'm with you. Killem all. I ain't eatin it tho.
My Step Grandma was raised very poor and was a VERY good cook .
She was telling me one spring how she missed eating Ground Hog once in a while . She said for a few years as a kid that was about the only meat her family had .
I went & shot one for her , she made me throw that one in the woods & told me to go back & get a young one .
She cooked it & Grandpa said he wasn't eating that ! I thought Grandma was always good to me and I would eat it with her no matter how bad . Turned out I liked it . Every spring I'd shoot one to eat . Fried Mush & Ground Hog MMMMMMMM .
She was telling me one spring how she missed eating Ground Hog once in a while . She said for a few years as a kid that was about the only meat her family had .
I went & shot one for her , she made me throw that one in the woods & told me to go back & get a young one .
She cooked it & Grandpa said he wasn't eating that ! I thought Grandma was always good to me and I would eat it with her no matter how bad . Turned out I liked it . Every spring I'd shoot one to eat . Fried Mush & Ground Hog MMMMMMMM .
I've eaten ground hogs, rabbits, squirells (sp) & Deer I like it. You want to soak them out overnite in salt water, drain that off & rinse well, you want to parboil Or bake them, I tried to barbq one once with out parboiling it. It was so tough you could'nt eat it, now you guys are making me hungry. Dave F.
charles lendman
Member
no woodchuck...but my dad told me during the Depression things were so bad he used to shoot Sparrows with his bb gun and they;d eat them...he was the oldest of 11 kids and his Dad . my Great grandpa was disabled when he was 40 so things were tough to say the least!! Charles
cj in wisconsin
Member
No woodchuck, but lots of beaver.
Sure wish we all lived close enough together that I could invited you all over for supper and have Bar-B-Qued Woodchuck. I have another property out in the country that has more than ample supply of woodchucks, we normally don't get along too good. ( I have some pretty crude names for them). Would be nice to capture/shoot some and bring them back to the city and then invite all you nice people over for a woodchuck Bar-B-Que. Doesn't sound too appetizing to me. Cheers, Murray
My Grandpappy did and thought it was the most delicious steak. He was working on the volunteer road crew way back in early 1900's when and all the men were staying at the boarding house way out in the middle of nowhere. Everynight the land lady served up the most delicious steaks. None of them could figure out how she could afford such fair on the board they were paying, until one day the work crew looked out across the fields and spotted the good husband stocking wood chucks with his old hound dog.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
I shot one once and the cats wouldn't eat it! Personally not that hungry for now but if others want to eat dogs, cats, woodchucks ect, I figure thats their business!
You guys that won't eat groundhog that eats nothing but grass, alfalfa and clover all day but will sit down and say how good the chicken was that followed your cows around and cleaned up after them crack me up. Groundhog potpie is simply delicious!!!!!!!!!! Sorry Doug!!! mEl
buickanddeere
Well-known Member
People say yum as they sit down to a feed of bacon,ham, BBQ ribs or pork chops. Then they turn around and saw eeeeeewwwwwww to groundhog???
Folks take a look at the ground hog, eats the finest clover and sleeps in a dry clean den. What does a pig push around with it's nose all day and what does it lay in???
Folks take a look at the ground hog, eats the finest clover and sleeps in a dry clean den. What does a pig push around with it's nose all day and what does it lay in???
Hills of TN
Member
Don"t know much about their "chucking" abilities. Back when I was introduced to their culinary usefulness, there were very few around my rural area that reached maturity and you know how bad adolescence affects work ability! The reason they didn"r reach maturity was because there were so many hungry hunters looking for meat for the table - and finding it was not optional.
Girlfriend and her kids came over for dinner a month ago and when her daughter aked what we were having, I said Possum. She said, "you killed a possum?", I said "no, the car in front of me did!" The look on her face was priceless!!! What we were acually having was just some beef stirfry. I have heard young woodchuck is good though.
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