wolc123

Apparently, she don’t care too much how big they are, since she hit me. If she were super selective, she would hold out for the likes of fsw.

I only tried hare once and it was horrible. We had also killed a few grouse that day, up on Tug hill, and they were great as always. I would not shoot another hare. All off the other rabbits I have eaten were cottontails, which taste a hair better than chicken to me, but no where near as good as grey squirrel. I have never tried domestic rabbit. I might give red squirrels a try, especially if I can ever get more than one in a sitting. They are super jumpy and much harder for me to hit with my .22. That is what I usually carry squirrel hunting, when the leaves are down. Maybe I will use my .410 a little more, to increase my odds with the reds. It seems to me that a red squirrel is closer in size to a chipmunk than a grey squirrel. Do any of you red-eaters eat those and if so how do they taste ? I think they may also be killed in unlimited quantity and year round. I wouldn’t bother with chipmunks, with the current cost and availability of .22 ammo, but a pellet gun might do the trick, if they are tasty and times get tough. Our kids had pet guinea pigs for a while and I always wondered how they would taste. I hear they are a delicacy, down in South America. After I retire, I think I will look into going down there, on a wild guinea pig hunt, and find out. It seems like that would be more of a challenge than big game.

Same here

Never heard of meatloaf the singer, but I have been trying to talk my wife into making me some venison meatloaf for the last few weeks. Ever since someone posted that video of the guy up in Maine, tracking down Brutus the buck, and toasting up a meatloaf sandwich after the kill. Some of those songs did sound familiar, but I never cared much for disco.

I have killed a few, but never ate one. They seem too small to mess with, almost like a chipmunk would be. I only shot them because they seem to run off the greys, which I do like to eat.

They are a pain to clean, and it takes more of them to make a meal. One rabbit is enough for me, but I could easily eat four squirrels. We have eaten them together lots of times, and squirrel has always came out on top for my taste. Even our kids think so. They fight over who gets the squirrel out of the crock pot. I get stuck with the rabbit most of the time. My wife prefers the rabbit. She says the skinned squirrels look too much like rats.

Back on topic, Do you like rabbit better than squirrel ?

I find walleye easier to catch than bass. They will actually strike a hook and worm, in 5 ft of water, directly below the spinning prop of my gas outboard. I need to sneak up to bass in shallow water, using the wind, oars, or an electric motor. In addition to the better flavored flesh (if properly prepared), the bass must have the bigger brains.

No, I use a live well in my bigger boat in the summer at home, or a stringer in row boats at my in-laws up in the Adirondacks in the fall, when the water is cool. I am only 30 minutes from the boat launch at home. I throw a couple bags of ice in the livewell, at the ramp, and the bass are usually still swimming upright when I get home, even on the hottest days of the summer. As soon as I get home, I toss a running garden hose in the live well. That keeps the bass fresh and healthy as they await their turn at the club and fillet knife. Years ago, I preferred to keep just the 12-15 inchers for eating, which sometimes made for a long day on the water. Since the arrival of the round gobies, growth rates are way up, on the Upper Niagara (my home water), Lake Erie, and the St. Lawrence. A 20 incher these days, is as just as young and just as tasty, as a 15 incher was, before their arrival. That cuts down on my fishing and sorting time, because I usually quit after the first limit is onboard. I only released one bass at home all last year (that was just over 20”). I am “guilty” of releasing lots of them in the summer up in the Adirondacks, because I don’t have a good way of keeping them fresh and healthy up there at that time of year. We had bass for dinner tonight and it was excellent. My wife baked it in the oven (upper Niagara smallmouth for her and the kids and St Lawrence largemouth for me). She dipped the fillets in egg and then Panko crumbs (similar to bread crumbs but gluten free). I lost most of my interest in fishing for perch and walleye, after I figured out how to care for and cook bass.

Much of it had to do with cooking techniques and the way the fish is handled prior to cooking. If you deep fry the fish in oil, then I agree that perch or walleye are better, because the meat contains very little “fish oil”, compared to bass. With the healthier cooking methods, like grilling, baking, or broiling, then I like bass better because it has more fish oil in it, which keeps it moist thru those process, whereas perch and walleye tend to get too dry. Eating bass is a win win deal because fish oil is actually good for you and deep frying in animal fat is bad for you. Most folks have no clue how to handle bass meat though. The fish should be kept as healthy as possible and the meat should still be twitching when it is removed. Letting them die, full of guts, in a cooler is asking for trouble. It should also be vacuum sealed if frozen. Get it now ?

this years first ? or one of the two from last year ?

Probably not, but I might have an early morning or evening or two open. Do they bite good in late May / early June ?

Every time I do get out, I look forward to coming home. I have yet to visit a state that can even come close to holding a candle to upstate NY. My biggest problem with any of them south of PA, is the oppressive heat. In these days of global warming, the smart folks are moving north. That’s probably why we are seeing our land prices going crazy.

It all evens out. Those are very small prices to pay. Not having to deal with oppressive heat, wild hogs, rattlesnakes, too many bugs, hurricanes, forrest fires and heavy traffic are big plusses for us upstate NYers. Also, you would be hard-pressed to find a state where low-cost & legal freezer-filling, from the woodlands and waters, is any easier than it is right here in upstate NY.

I like a 3 ft high barnwood wrap the best, and have killed a number of mature bucks from behind it, from several different stands. Before that, I tried a few other things including camo burlap, and old snow fence with leafy branches weaved through it. Both sucked big time, compared to the barnwood. The burlap flaps in the breeze and takes a lot of maintenance, as does branch-weaved snow fence. Neither of those makes as good of a wind break. The barnwood blends in with the woods very well, blocks the wind almost completely, hides most of your movements from the deer, and makes a good safety rail and gun/crossbow rest. Best of all, it is virtually maintenance free.

We are heading up to the NW corner of the Adirondack park, for a little ice fishing, over Presidents’ Day weekend.

Larry got a nice buck on the tail end of his bout (I may be eating some breakfast sausage from that for lunch right now in fact), so maybe you will get your January trout. Prayers sent that you get well soon anyhow.

You really notice it when you put both in a crockpot together . That is the only way I have ever cooked rabbit or squirrel. It is easy and good (especially the squirrel). The squirrel has a bit of a nutty flavor, while the rabbit tastes more like chicken dark meat. I usually add some potatoes, onions, cream of mushroom soup, and s was little water. I didn’t see any back in the woods this afternoon, but my sister said they were all over her bird feeders this morning.

Not too many folks have a clue how to prepare bass.

That’s right and I also like venison better than beef and bass better than walleye and Genny better than Labbats. The temperature just broke 32 degrees, so I am out after some dinner right now.

As long as you don’t mind the heat and the hurricanes. I can’t stand the heat, and could never live year-round, south of northern PA. Also, I can’t imagine that the fishing in Tennessee is even close to what we have here in NY. Watching bass tournaments on TV, even the pros seem to struggle to get limits down there on lots of days. They seem dumbfounded, when they fish tournaments up here, and get a taste of some real bass action. As far as the hunting goes, maybe some decent antlers down there, but you can’t eat those. The farther south you go, the smaller the deer bodies get on average. It has to be tough on them, competing with all the wild hogs. Throw in more ticks and rattlesnakes, and you couldn’t pay me enough to live down there. It don’t get too much better than we have right here in NY, as far as the hunting, fishing, and weather climate comfort go. I’d be ok with an occasional weekend getaway down there, in the spring or fall, but that’s about it.

I have done mixed bags in the crockpot multiple times, and the squirrel always tastes better to me. Only problem is, that they are smaller, so it takes more of them for a meal.

If it warms up enough, on one of the next few weekends, I may try a little. I do love squirrel in the crockpot. It is way better than rabbit. I will have to take my pellet gun to the stand where I took this picture of one while I was crossbow hunting there last fall. It is too close to some buildings to use a firearm.

The bulk of our family of four’s protein comes from wild game. On a good year, my venison comes in at close to $ 1 per pound, after subtracting most input costs. We were never able to approach that level raising domestic beef, pork or chickens. The best tasting wild game that I ever had, was moose tongue, on a hunt up in Quebec when I was young: Corn fed button buck liver is a close second, and I would put ruffed grouse breast in the number 3 spot. Baked Largemouth bass fillets are right up there also.

January 15: Too cold for me to go outside today, but nice inside by the wood stove. I tied up a half dozen 1/8 and 1/4 oz bucktail jigs. I think this tail was from a doe that my buddy shot during the winter 2020 ML season. Those jigs are my favorite smallmouth bass bait (hooks are cheap and they work good). That was my last bass from 2021, with one in his mouth. I was going to pour the jig heads from the 4/5 oz 16 gauge slug that last years 9-pointer caught in his rib cage, but I found another use for that.