Turtle Hunting

[EspressoBuzz]

Does anyone hunt for snapping turtles? I'm thinking of trying it on Long island. Anything you can tell me about the experience and methods would be cool.

[Doc]

When I was a kid (10 or 11 years old?), I used to go into our swamp with a fish spear and look for areas of muddied up water. I would probe around in the mud with the spear until I felt the hardness of the shell and then jam in the spear down and bring up the turtle. Then I would carry it over to a dry area and whack the head off with my hatchet. Yeah, it really wasn't as easy a I just made that sound. Then I would work like hell to get that shell off and cut the meat off the bones (no easy job). I then rinsed the meat off, and tried to figure a good way to turn that into food. So, I decided that I would make turtle burgers. So using a hand grinder, I turned it into some decent looking burgers shaped like meatballs and fried them up. They would have made very good centers for golf balls. It was exactly like chewing on cut-up rubber bands. There simply was no eating them. Ok, so that didn't work.

 

So it was back to the swamp to get another turtle. This time, I was going to go find a good recipe and make some turtle soup. Also, I had an uncle that was famous for his turtle soup so I would question him about how to do it. This time I got two turtles. I worked for hours getting the shells off and the meat de-boned. Definitely a p.i.t.a.  Nothing is easy on snapping turtles. I again put the meat in a pail to rinse it off and then began my research.

 

Meanwhile, my little sister was playing out on the porch where I had the pail of meat and decided that it all looked way too dirty. So she added a little detergent to see if she could help me out and clean up the meat for me.

 

That was the last time I messed with turtles.

[greensider]

i do not think spearing them is legal but i could be wrong make sure you check the regs there are seasons on them

[Lawdwaz]

No experience here on catching & killing turtles but I had a friend that did it and did make the turtle soup. It was unreal how good it was.

What sticks in my mind was the incredible amount of work that went into it. From finding the snappers to killing and cleaning them, gathering up all the different ingredients and then the preparation to get it to the stove top.

The final product was probably close to 5 gallons of a chowder that was to die for and I don't say that without considerable experience in the food consumption dept.

[diplomat019]

Never did it. But ill pass along the info given to be by my buddys grandfather. He said he used to take a gallon bottle or something similar. Clorox bottle. Water jug. Etc. empty it and run a metal line thru it so the bittle would act like a giant bobber. Put a decent size hook on with chunk bait. He said he would use live sunfish. the metel line and hook would have to be strong enough so the snapper wont cut it. Toss it in the pond and come back tomorrow. You can see where the turtle is cause u just look for the bottle. Obv make sure the line is long enough that it stays floating and doesn't get pulled under. Then he said to let the turtle sit in clean water for a couple days so it cleans out the muddy taste. Change the water daily or more. Then butcher it.

[wooly]

I only hunt them with a camera.

They have NO sense of humor, so the biggest challenge for me is getting them to show me that toothless smile!

 

[Pygmy]

That's the way the "turtle guys" around here do it. Chicken gizzards or freezer burned venison are popular baits, but probably any fish or meat would work.

 

When you first catch the snapper he will smell AWFUL....Most guys place them in a washtub or something similar with only an inch or two of water to purge themselves...They dump them out once a day, hose them down and put in some fresh water..After a week or so, most of the stink is gone from them..

 

When you're ready to butcher, dump the critter out in the lawn and apply a .22 bullet midway between the eyes..This calms them down enough so you can cut off the head and butcher them.  There is a thin seam along the side of the shell and you can run a filet knife up it and easily separate the top of the shell from the bottom..The HARD part is skinning out the neck and 4 legs...The skin seems GLUED to the meat. You have to cut it every inch of the way. The meat consists of the 4 legs and the neck, with the muscular neck being the biggest piece of meat. There isn't enough other meat in the shell to bother with. The neck is white meat, the massive front legs have both light and dark meat, and the hind legs are dark meat..

                          Dressing one is somewhat of a chore. I've never seen it done in much less than half an hour per turtle.

Edited July 12, 2015 by Pygmy

[Pygmy]

P.S. Be careful when you handle them..They are generally not in a very good mood and their neck is LONGER than you may think.The safest way is a gaff hook in the jaw..You can also pick them up by the tail, but be sure that you hold them far enough away from your body so they cannot grab your leg or some OTHER vital organ..

Edited July 12, 2015 by Pygmy

[Doc]

i do not think spearing them is legal but i could be wrong make sure you check the regs there are seasons on them

I don't know. I have never seen that written anywhere, but with the volumes of laws that are squirreled away, it wouldn't surprise me any. I do know that it was a regular practice back in my grandfather's day and so, I never gave it a second thought. Anyway, I think 60 years or so probably exceeds any statute of limitations ..... lol.

[Daveboone]

I picked up a big one near my camp this year, and decided to clean and cook it. I was amazed how long the turtle was still active after being dispatched.

It was trying to crawl away beheaded, for about an hour. after that, the legs were still waving away as I cleaned. it.

The heart was beating  2 hrs later!

I found cleaning it really pretty simple and strait forward. I didn't split the shells...first hose it off real good, and gave the shells a quick scrub with a brush. The I used a long fillet knife to loosen the innards from the front and back, inserting into the soft skin along the shells and cut as deep around the front and back opening as I could. Pull the skin back to the feet, and cut off the feet, head, tail. You will with just a little work be able to pull everything out, and separate the leg quarters and the neck (LOTS of meat there). I was surprised the meat looked so clean and appetizing, red meat. Trim off the yellow fat, and you should have quite a pile of meat. If you try to keep it clean, no one will be grossed out by the by product. I made a soup ...Louisiana style from one of Emerils recipes I found on line. Every one liked it fine, but it was a bit rubbery . Next time I will par boil it to tenderize it.

[Pygmy]

I have cut the heads off snapping turtles early in the morning, hung them all day by the tail, and butchered them in the evening... The legs were STILL waving and trying to push the knife away after 8 hours or so of being headless..If you want to eat turtle it's just something you get used to.

 

No need to eat rubbery turtle...Simply simmer them in water until the meat is fork tender, or slow roast them in an oven...

 

Here's my favorite recipe....

 

Take one turtle, cleaned and disjointed into 5 pieces, 4 legs and the neck...

 

Dip in eggwash and roll in Italian breadcrumbs...

 

Brown pieces up in a heavy skillet with butter...

 

Place turtle pieces in a roaster with a little water, cover and roast in a medium oven about two hours until the meat is VERY fork tender..Remove the cover, turn up the heat a bit and allow the meat to brown before serving.. I have never served it to ANYONE who didn't like it..

 

Another VERY simple way to cook it is to simmer the meat in water until it is fork tender, and then brown it in a skillet with butter , salt & pepper..  very good also...

Edited July 12, 2015 by Pygmy

[EspressoBuzz]

http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/31339.html

[Pygmy]

There ya go, Expresso...

Looks like you have to shoot them with with a gun or a bow...

That's the way I have taken ALL the turtles that I have harvested, because I NEVER do anything illegal.

[Red]

I use to bow fish for snapping turtles ive also caught them on a hook tied to a pop bottle for a bobber and sun fish for bait. You can also shoot them with a firearm.

I think the most popular way of cooking snappers is a turtle soop.

[DirtTime]

My brother and I used to hunt them, sort of. We would walk the streams, creeks, swamp, edges ...etc, and catch them by hand. That was 30 years ago, so I do not remember what the regulations were back then. My brother would take care of the killing and cleaning, and make soup. I always liked it and ate more then my share.

I remember a lot of walking carrying a 5 gallon pail. Most times we didn't find anything.

 

Used to hunt frogs with an air rifle or pistol as well. Now that I really want to get back into!

[Red]

There are plenty of snapping turtles in the ponds at most golf courses I remember catching them at the golf courses as a kid my biggest wouldn't even fit in a recycling bin

[Pygmy]

I only hunt them with a camera.

They have NO sense of humor, so the biggest challenge for me is getting them to show me that toothless smile!

 

 

[Pygmy]

Nice snapper shot, Wooly  !!

 

It's a GOOD thing that snappers don't have TEETH !

[Rhwrhwrhw0426]

I caught a nice one with a big minnow under a bobber and saw a smaller one bite on a nightcrawler that my buddy was bullhead fishing with off the same dock. Both were caught this year and they were both released. The moss on their head and shells is pretty neat.