Guest guest Posted November 6, 2008 Report Share Posted November 6, 2008 For a long time everytime I looked at the fat Canadian Geese, I felt like poaching one (everybody here hates them because there are so many but they are beautiful to me - but fat and obviously very meaty!) I was the kid who made my Dad stop hunting by telling him if he killed Bambi, I'd stop loving him! (I think I was 4 at the time). I've kind of got this thing, if we eat meat, we need to be involved in the death at least once so we really " get " where it comes from. But even thinking that would give me nightmares of putting my daughter in the oven as if she were a turkey! We took our overgrown turkey to the butchers this week because she was annoying everyone by sneaking up behind you and then pecking you, walking up and threatening you whenever you go outside, and blocking the doorways so nobody can get in or out (and attacking the hens over food - they all bear scars). The kids had stopped playing outside because of her. The carcass was impressive. So much meat on such a small frame! We don't have batteries in the scale just now, but I think it weighed around 40 lb when we got it back, but maybe more. I wound up cutting each breast into two portions and they still look like too much for a meal and leftovers. The fat is bright yellow and the broth I made looked like someone had thrown in a pound of butter, very unnatural compared to what we're used to where even the " Pastured turkeys " we get at the farmer's market had close to white fat. But so far nobody wants to eat it. We're going to freeze it all and wait for the memories to fade a little, but I'm really struggling to make enough room in the chest freezer! And we have to get used to the yellowness of it. I know it's good, but it's just unexpected to see a meat you expect to be white have so much yellow. Maybe she was so grumpy because her bones were stressed. The skeleton was rather small for a turkey and the meat was rather a LOT! > > Recently several ladies posted that they were becoming interested in hunting for food that is more natively fed. I seen this article and found it interesting. Are any of you posters following up on your hunting? > http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/1013089.html > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 6, 2008 Report Share Posted November 6, 2008 I, too, have been eyeballing those fat geese out there. But what stops me (besides not being able to shoot in the city limits) is that they are an example of what little " wild " is left around me. I can understand raising animals for food, but to go out and blow away something wild in this day and age? It doesn't feel right. We are already taking away their water, their wild spaces, their food supplies....to take their lives is perhaps the final blow? I can understand the self-reliant urge to do so, but unless you are a poor weary traveller with only a pack on your back and a gun on your side, then I can't come up with any reasons to kill wild things anymore. You wanna kill something? Then raise them on your own land, protect them, nourish them...and then, provide for your family. Anything else is simply sport. Deb in NC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 6, 2008 Report Share Posted November 6, 2008 well, depends on the quarry. here in western pennsylvania we don't have too many wolves and consequently the deer population is through the roof to the enormous detriment of the remaining forests. plant / tree diversity is way down and a trip to fenced enclosures which keep the deer out is a real eye opener. so, until the wolves and mountain lions regain some semblance of parity with the deer, hunters are sorely needed to get back to a more natural balance. as to the geese, i'd question their meat value to folks looking for healthy chow. all those manicured lawns they chomp on are likely to be reasonably well pesticided... oliver... On Thu, Nov 6, 2008 at 2:13 PM, Debra <purple66moon@...> wrote: > I, too, have been eyeballing those fat geese out there. But what stops > me (besides not being able to shoot in the city limits) is that they are an > example of what little " wild " is left around me. I can understand raising > animals for food, but to go out and blow away something wild in this day and > age? It doesn't feel right. We are already taking away their water, their > wild spaces, their food supplies....to take their lives is perhaps the final > blow? > > I can understand the self-reliant urge to do so, but unless you are a poor > weary traveller with only a pack on your back and a gun on your side, then I > can't come up with any reasons to kill wild things anymore. You wanna kill > something? Then raise them on your own land, protect them, nourish > them...and then, provide for your family. Anything else is simply sport. > > Deb in NC > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 6, 2008 Report Share Posted November 6, 2008 I agree with just about everything you've said, and I'm not a hunter, but at the same time, wild animals are about the only ones anymore who are able to range enough to meet their mineral needs because domestic animals are confined to a smaller areas as property gets divided up and are stuck with the mineral make-up of wherever they land, for good or ill. Of course we can use companies like Fertrell to do soil analyses and tell us what to add, but I know I don't actually do that (yet). Certain wild animals have benefitted from the changes we bring, like deer, squirrels, foxes, Canadian geese, pigeons and doves. Their populations are actually higher than before we took over the land and settled it. I've read there is no need to get a license to kill doves because they aren't in any danger whatsoever of being killed out, probably because they can hatch two eggs every two weeks for as long as the weather is decent. But they're a little on the small side to justify taking a life, to me. Audubon did an article awhile back on the white-tailed deer problem in the Northeast. There is such a huge population of the deer that they are wiping out native plants by eating them before they get tall enough to survive the browsing. This creates problems for the birds who need the fruit, seeds, etc. of the plants because the species left in many areas are only the ones that are very unpalatable to the deer, and not enough diversity to supply year-round food for birds. So killing deer, at least around here, is a huge favor to the wildlife that is burdened by our presence. In my area, nobody has normal looking cedars because the deer prune them as high as they can reach. They eat elderberries to the ground too and also are wiping out the wild strawberries. --- In , Debra <purple66moon@...> wrote: > > I, too, have been eyeballing those fat geese out there. But what stops me (besides not being able to shoot in the city limits) is that they are an example of what little " wild " is left around me. I can understand raising animals for food, but to go out and blow away something wild in this day and age? It doesn't feel right. We are already taking away their water, their wild spaces, their food supplies....to take their lives is perhaps the final blow? > > I can understand the self-reliant urge to do so, but unless you are a poor weary traveller with only a pack on your back and a gun on your side, then I can't come up with any reasons to kill wild things anymore. You wanna kill something? Then raise them on your own land, protect them, nourish them...and then, provide for your family. Anything else is simply sport. > > Deb in NC > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 6, 2008 Report Share Posted November 6, 2008 On Thu, Nov 6, 2008 at 4:41 AM, haecklers <haecklers@...> wrote: > For a long time everytime I looked at the fat Canadian Geese, I felt > like poaching one (everybody here hates them because there are so > many but they are beautiful to me - but fat and obviously very meaty!) The ones around here are fat, but their diets suck, since they are fed junk food scraps by so many people. However if it meant the difference between eating and going hungry, I certainly wouldn't hesitate to bring one home. -- Buffalo too, has beautiful summers but not this year. Cool and rainy. For the first time in ten years, we never installed the air conditioners. My line on all this is, somebody better do something about global warming before I freeze to death. - Ostrowski " If you're not on somebody's watch list, you're not doing your job " - Dave Von Kleist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 6, 2008 Report Share Posted November 6, 2008 I knew some farm worker immigrants who couldn't work b/c of cancer and the wife used to feed the pigeons until they got close enough that she could grab one, and that was their dinner when they were homeless. I imagine the pigeon's diets were pretty scary too with the poison people put out to get rid of them but it helped the family get by until they found some help. > > For a long time everytime I looked at the fat Canadian Geese, I felt > > like poaching one (everybody here hates them because there are so > > many but they are beautiful to me - but fat and obviously very meaty!) > > The ones around here are fat, but their diets suck, since they are fed > junk food scraps by so many people. However if it meant the difference > between eating and going hungry, I certainly wouldn't hesitate to > bring one home. > > > -- > Buffalo too, has beautiful summers but not this year. Cool and rainy. > For the first time in ten years, we never installed the air > conditioners. My line on all this is, somebody better do something > about global warming before I freeze to death. - Ostrowski > > " If you're not on somebody's watch list, you're not doing your job " - > Dave Von Kleist > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 7, 2008 Report Share Posted November 7, 2008 > > I understand where you're coming from, but properly managed, hunting > can actually help maintain wild spaces by creating demand for them -- > and hunters can also help manage populations that would ordinarily > tend to be generally self-correcting due to other predators which have > been squeezed out by human activity. > > - > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 7, 2008 Report Share Posted November 7, 2008 This is a blog about a huntress. She includes descriptions of her search for hunting clothes that fit her. http://norcalcazadora.blogspot.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 7, 2008 Report Share Posted November 7, 2008 It's interesting that the deer are overpopulating because we have been hunting down their predators, the wolves. So now we have to kill the deer. Seems like we're chasing our collective tails about all this?... I know I must be out of the natural loop when I can't fathom eating a squirrel, a pigeon, or a...dove? At some point, its akin to killing wild cats and dogs. Yeah, they have meat on them, but hellooo. Besides, you are correct about the pesticides these little guys are consuming. If we're having health problems from our food supplies, I can just imagine what the animals are ingesting. I see highway and business lawn people spraying allll sorts of chemicals on the lawns, roadsides (where I see quite a few nibblers), flowers, bushes, and my favorite is where they spray mushrooms who spring from the ground after the rains because " they aren't pretty enough " .... Dang, this is a depressing thread....forget I brought this up...ack. Deb in NC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 8, 2008 Report Share Posted November 8, 2008 i agree. from what i understand as well, the natives used to hunt until their population would significantly decrease (to a point that today's people may be concerned), but it would actually cause them to repopulate to even greater numbers. sabine. >>I understand where you're coming from, but properly managed, hunting can actually help maintain wild spaces by creating demand for them -- and hunters can also help manage populations that would ordinarily tend to be generally self-correcting due to other predators which have been squeezed out by human activity.<< - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 8, 2008 Report Share Posted November 8, 2008 Yeah, they claim that the deer have one fawn a year when crowded and twins when there is less density. 'Course I've seen plenty with twins in this overcrowded area. > > i agree. from what i understand as well, the natives used to hunt until their population would significantly decrease (to a point that today's people may be concerned), but it would actually cause them to repopulate to even greater numbers. > > sabine. > > >>I understand where you're coming from, but properly managed, hunting > can actually help maintain wild spaces by creating demand for them -- > and hunters can also help manage populations that would ordinarily > tend to be generally self-correcting due to other predators which have > been squeezed out by human activity.<< > > - > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 8, 2008 Report Share Posted November 8, 2008 The more there is to eat the more likely they are to have twins. Folks will sometimes " over feed " their goats to produce more young. Belinda > > > > i agree. from what i understand as well, the natives used to hunt > until their population would significantly decrease (to a point that > today's people may be concerned), but it would actually cause them to > repopulate to even greater numbers. > > > > sabine. > > > > >>I understand where you're coming from, but properly managed, hunting > > can actually help maintain wild spaces by creating demand for them -- > > and hunters can also help manage populations that would ordinarily > > tend to be generally self-correcting due to other predators which have > > been squeezed out by human activity.<< > > > > - > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 10, 2008 Report Share Posted November 10, 2008 you've hit it on the head. here in the northeast it is quite non-pc to bring back wolves so the deer run unchecked for the most part due to a declining hunter population. interestingly, the deer are more overpopulated in the suburbs than in the large game and state forest areas because they've overgrazed those to the point that there isn't enough vegetation left to sustain large populations. in the suburbs and agricultural areas though, we keep planting more and more stuff for them to eat so they explode population wise and you see many more roadkill. oliver... On Fri, Nov 7, 2008 at 3:36 PM, Debra <purple66moon@...> wrote: > It's interesting that the deer are overpopulating because we have been > hunting down their predators, the wolves. So now we have to kill the deer. > Seems like we're chasing our collective tails about all this?... > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 10, 2008 Report Share Posted November 10, 2008 Yeah, you wouldn't believe it if you didn't live here. I can count right now 5 deer I know of lying on the side of the roads in a 3 mile radius of my house, and that's just the roads I frequent! Every house on my street has someone in it who has wrecked a car by hitting a deer - except us, so I'm getting nervous. In the last month, two have jumped right in front of me when I was driving but I stopped in time. I've heard there is about a fox per acre or something ridiculous like that, but you rarely see them. I'd bet they can get by almost without hunting just from eating roadkill. We also have an abundant squirrel population and I'd guess I could count around 15-20 dead squirrels on the roads in the same area. We also have huge skunk and raccoon populations - it's pretty surprising how well they adapt to living in our backyards! If it weren't illegal to fire weapons in the suburbs, I'd guess a homeowner with an acre could supply a lot of their meat needs from the backyard without making a serious dent in the wildlife population. > > > It's interesting that the deer are overpopulating because we have been > > hunting down their predators, the wolves. So now we have to kill the deer. > > Seems like we're chasing our collective tails about all this?... > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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