Shoot it, catch it, harvest it ...

[ChrisTaylor]

I suppose growing it -- or hand-diving or netting or whatever -- could go in that title, too. And. hey, I suppose this thread might end up containing pix of the 'nasty bits'. Anyways, as much as I like cooking, I'm also somewhat interested in the 'primary production' side of things. For instance, this afternoon I caught these guys about 15 minutes from home:

 

 

 

All caught on an artificial jig during the middle of the day. The heads and wings I'll use for bait, while I'll get a couple meals out of the tubes. 

 

Who else (at least on occasional) hunts, catches, etc dinner?

[nasi goreng]

No hunting for me, athough I have bought licenses for friends who love to hunt, on the condition that I get the meat....

 

Fishing, definitely

Mostly catch and release on the species that I feel are declining, but I won't say no to some freshly caught bream.

 

And fishing on holiday....

Last holiday was in Thailand and I caught some nice king mackerel, squid and plenty species that I don't even know the name of

They all tasted good!

[TicTac]

I wish I could do more of this.

 

Part of my plan for retirement is moving north, on water, to be able to hunt and fish for what we eat.  It is how life was meant to be lived, which humans have sadly strayed too far from.

 

The only 'hunting' I do is for wild edibles (black raspberries, mushrooms, various edible greens, etc).

 

Would love to see more so I can live vicariously through pics, for now; at least

 

[HungryChris]

I have often wondered how to go about catching the squid that I know is harvested locally and I do love calamari. Right now, clamming and fishing is all I do.

HC

[kayb]

7 hours ago, ChrisTaylor said:

I suppose growing it -- or hand-diving or netting or whatever -- could go in that title, too. And. hey, I suppose this thread might end up containing pix of the 'nasty bits'. Anyways, as much as I like cooking, I'm also somewhat interested in the 'primary production' side of things. For instance, this afternoon I caught these guys about 15 minutes from home:

 

 

 

All caught on an artificial jig during the middle of the day. The heads and wings I'll use for bait, while I'll get a couple meals out of the tubes. 

 

Who else (at least on occasional) hunts, catches, etc dinner?

 

Used to hunt some; haven't in a good while. Used to fish a lot. We would forage for wild blackberries and scuppernongs and muscadines. My very favorite "wild caught" meal is bream, caught in the morning, cleaned and pan-fried in cornmeal for lunch. Next favorite would probably be dove breasts wrapped in bacon on the grill, on Opening Day (of dove season, not baseball season, just to clarify).

 

 

[Toliver]

Have you seen @Shelby's blogs? This one (click) pertains to this discussion.

[ChrisTaylor]

On 4/6/2018 at 12:33 AM, HungryChris said:

I have often wondered how to go about catching the squid that I know is harvested locally and I do love calamari. Right now, clamming and fishing is all I do.

HC

 

There's a lot of content on YouTube re: 'egi'. If you've got jetties or rocks somewhere local, and you know there's a weedy or reefy bottom, you can have a go. Most any light rod will do the trick.

[HungryChris]

I went clamming again today. I managed to "rake" in a little over 3 1/2 dozen, but had to leave because my hands got totally numb from the cold water.

HC

[ChocoMom]

We do deer hunting every November, and I process it. I end up cutting the backstraps out and cooking those right away.   The rest, I either do as roasts, or grind it and can it. 

Chickens and turkeys, I raise, kill and process.   

Ruffed Grouse- hubby and the kids go hunt every fall. 

Goose- my daughter did once, got two. It wasn't the tastiest stuff I ever had. 

Duck-  That is next on my son's list.  

Fish - I used to fish a whole lot more than I do now, but hubby and kids do a fine job bringing home brookies, rainbows, perch, and lake trout. (I posted pics of the fishies on another thread .. )  None of us are fond of ice-fishing, so we'll have to wait until thing thaw a bit more up here. 

 

 

[ChrisTaylor]

I failed to snap a photo, but the other day I pulled an Australian salmon off the local pier. Now, Australian salmon aren't ... you know, Atlantic salmon. We have that here, yeah, and it's mighty popular -- they farm it, and stock it in a few inland systems, but it ain't what you're getting if someone presents you with the local variety. Australian salmon ... isn't. 

 

See: http://goodfishbadfish.com.au/?fish=australian-salmon

 

They get a bad rap, so far as the eating quality goes, but I'd never eaten one. I usually catch-and-release, while a lot of people try to convert them into gummy sharks or similar. The advice from people who do like them is simple: bleed them, chill them, eat them within 24 hours of plucking them from the sea. I did as instructed, feeding the innards to some friendly seagulls, and found the flesh to be tolerable. I don't think I'd be particularly excited to eat fillets of the stuff, but I'd use it in a curry or fish cakes or similar. 

[HungryChris]

Clam beds were open, low tide was around 11 AM today and the weather was nice, so I headed out to do some clamming. It was just me and one other fellow clammer in the area. I stayed for about 2 hours and went home with 4 dozen. It can be pretty tiring work, so I took steaks out of the freezer when I got home. I'll probably do something with these clams tomorrow.

HC 

[MaryLouise]

Keen to see what you do with the clams!

[suzilightning]

On ‎5‎/‎8‎/‎2018 at 4:14 PM, HungryChris said:

Clam beds were open, low tide was around 11 AM today and the weather was nice, so I headed out to do some clamming. It was just me and one other fellow clammer in the area. I stayed for about 2 hours and went home with 4 dozen. It can be pretty tiring work, so I took steaks out of the freezer when I got home. I'll probably do something with these clams tomorrow.

HC 

Good Lord does THAT bring back memories!!

[HungryChris]

The tide was low at 4:45 PM, but Deb had a hair appt at 5:PM and would not be home until 7 PM, so I ventured out to the clam beds yesterday, leaving the house around 3:PM. It was a beautiful day, and even though the water was plenty warm, I chose to wear the waders, as I did not want to ride home in wet clothes.

I made out pretty well, "raking in " a total of 7 dozen clams (a mixture of littlenecks, middle necks and chowder clams) and told Deb she can't get tired of clams just yet. She said that was not a problem.

HC

 

Edited May 31, 2018 by HungryChris (log)

[chromedome]

My mom's cousin and her husband found a large patch of morels growing at the edge of their lawn. They were going to gift me with a basket of them, but - alas - didn't realize I was driving straight home from the funeral (long story). I told them to saute 'em in a bit of butter and freeze them, and next time I'm down I'll do something with them.

[kayb]

6 hours ago, HungryChris said:

The tide was low at 4:45 PM, but Deb had a hair appt at 5:PM and would not be home until 7 PM, so I ventured out to the clam beds yesterday, leaving the house around 3:PM. It was a beautiful day, and even though the water was plenty warm, I chose to wear the waders, as I did not want to ride home in wet clothes.

I made out pretty well, "raking in " a total of 7 dozen clams (a mixture of littlenecks, middle necks and chowder clams) and told Deb she can't get tired of clams just yet. She said that was not a problem.

HC

 

 

Will y'all adopt me? Will bring zucchini.

 

[HungryChris]

Low tide was at 8 am today so I was out the door by 6:30 am. The competition was there ahead of me, but I managed to "rake in" a little over 8 dozen in 2 hours.

HC

 

[johnnyd]

Outstanding! Where are you HC?

 

[HungryChris]

5 hours ago, johnnyd said:

Outstanding! Where are you HC?

 

These were from Bluff Point State Park in Groton, CT. Just about a 30 minute ride from my house on the CT side of the RI boarder. It's another 30 minute walk from the parking lot, out to "Area P", where I like to go. Those buildings in the background are the hangars and maintenance buildings at the Groton-New London airport. There is a National Guard facility there and the copters are always checking out the clamming activities. I bet they all know where the best areas are!

It will be chowder and fritters, tonight, I suspect.

HC

Edited June 19, 2018 by HungryChris (log)

[HungryChris]

I tried my hand for the first time at getting steamer clams yesterday, digging like I have seen others do, along the waters edge at low tide. After spending an hour and a half and only finding 8 legal steamer clams, I put them back and headed in. I had a brief discussion with the game warden who checked my permit. He told me that the area where I was digging has been pretty well picked over and that using a small boat or canoe, would open up many more productive areas and would greatly improve my chances of getting the daily quota.

I spent the remainder of the day checking local prices and looking online and found this kayak at a very good, marked down price. 

I want to give it another go soon, and have hopes for better luck

HC

[chromedome]

There's a goodly stand of chokecherries on the way out to my GF's parents' place, where my garden is. So we stopped today on the way home and stripped a few of the bushes, to the tune of 15 pounds of chokecherries. My GF likes to make fruit wines occasionally, but has never attempted this one before. Should be interesting.

[Nyleve Baar]

I have a friend who used to make something she called Chokecherry Cordial, which was basically a syrup you could add to sparkling water or whatever. Non-alcoholic. It is delicious. I have no idea how she made it but I"m sure recipes exist.

 

 

[kayb]

Picked 10 pounds of pears this weekend up home. There will be pear preserves this week.

 

[chromedome]

Last week I spotted some absurdly huge rose hips on a large stand of roses not far from my home. I picked three pounds in about 10 minutes, from just around the edges of the patch (I was in shorts, and not minded to delve further in). I could have gotten more, but suspected (rightly) that this was as much as I'd want to handle for one evening.

 

Most were the size of large grapes or cherries, with the largest getting to be plum size (larger, in fact, than the plums on my counter right now). I've peeled away the fleshy portions and have them drying in my dehydrator for rose hip tea over the winter. I suspect I could also pulverize them in my spice grinder and use them for a tart, fruity element in a dry rub, much as sumac is used.

 

Since I was on a roll, I visited my neighbours a block away and harvested their quince bush (they're delighted to have someone take 'em away). I haven't weighed those, but I'd guess it's 12 to 15 pounds of them. Planning to do some quince chutney and maybe just can some in syrup for later tinkering.

[kayb]

Was up home on a flying trip today. Wanted to get some more pears, but just didn't have time. Another trip is set for next week, though. There will be more pear preserves.