# Does Ga folks eat raccoon meat?



## TREY1984 (Jun 15, 2013)

I'm from Fla but move to GA about 5 years ago with the military.. All my life my family taught me if I shoot it then I must eat it. The one reason why I never shoot opossum.  When I ask people in my area do they eat raccoon they look at me as if I let out the wet one that smell like old three day grits... Whats up with that?  Need to mention they coon hunt too.


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## hobbs27 (Jun 15, 2013)

TREY1984 said:


> All my life my family taught me if I shoot it then I must eat it.



Dont blame bad raising on Georgia folks. You was taught wrong...otherwise you would see a whole lot of folks sharing coyote recipes.


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## John I. Shore (Jun 15, 2013)

Have eaten a bunch of it when I was younger.....not any longer.

John I.


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## Dr. Strangelove (Jun 15, 2013)

I know an older black gentleman whose family eats raccoon, or used to, he said most the folks that know how to cook it have passed away.  They won't eat possum, though.  I've been asking him for a couple of years to bring me back some raccoon whenever they cook it next.  

Apparently it's boiled a couple of times, then roasted over a bed of veggies.


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## GA DAWG (Jun 15, 2013)

I don't eat rats,armadillo, snake,coon,possum ground hawgs, beaver,coyotes,fox,bobcats..Yet I've killed em all.


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## dotties cutter (Jun 15, 2013)

In the fall of 1969 we were going to a campsite on the saint Marys river and one of the guys shot 3 half grown coons which he cleaned and cooked into a hash in a big black iron pot on the open fire with potatoes and carrots and we all enjoyed that supper. As long ago as it has been I still remember how good them coons were at camp.


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## TREY1984 (Jun 16, 2013)

hobbs27 said:


> Dont blame bad raising on Georgia folks. You was taught wrong...otherwise you would see a whole lot of folks sharing coyote recipes.



Well I do know a guy that eats Coyote.


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## TREY1984 (Jun 16, 2013)

dotties cutter said:


> In the fall of 1969 we were going to a campsite on the saint Marys river and one of the guys shot 3 half grown coons which he cleaned and cooked into a hash in a big black iron pot on the open fire with potatoes and carrots and we all enjoyed that supper. As long ago as it has been I still remember how good them coons were at camp.



Yeah my grandad cook one up about three years ago when I came home from Afghanistan. All I have to say is I didn't touch the turkey


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## TREY1984 (Jun 16, 2013)

GA DAWG said:


> I don't eat rats,armadillo, snake,coon,possum ground hawgs, beaver,coyotes,fox,bobcats..Yet I've killed em all.



So what you do with the animal when you kill them?


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## Nicodemus (Jun 16, 2013)

A young one is good roasted over the coals.


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## jandr1 (Jun 16, 2013)

serious country folk and old "African Americans"


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## drawedback (Jun 16, 2013)

There are a few folks around here that eat them, we usually give the one we kill away. I have ate BBQ coon before and it wasn't bad


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## bigdawg25 (Jun 16, 2013)

TREY1984 said:


> I'm from Fla but move to GA about 5 years ago with the military.. All my life my family taught me if I shoot it then I must eat it. *The one reason why I never shoot opossum.*  When I ask people in my area do they eat raccoon they look at me as if I let out the wet one that smell like old three day grits... Whats up with that?  Need to mention they coon hunt too.



naah no-one I now eats a coon. They all coon hunt too, and I have been with them few times, but we give away the meat to those people across the tracks, if you knw what I mean  

I think varmints and furbearers are free for all, and most people trapping animals for their fur dont end up eating that meat anyways.


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## Al Medcalf (Jun 16, 2013)

We eat them.  I clean everyone I catch.  If you aren't going to eat them or let someone else eat them, leave them in the tree!


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## Throwback (Jun 16, 2013)

TREY1984 said:


> So what you do with the animal when you kill them?



do you eat the rats and roaches you kill when they get in your house/barn? 


T


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## thomas gose (Jun 17, 2013)

Nicodemus said:


> A young one is good roasted over the coals.



we cooked one over a camp fire this past january. it tasted pretty good. im gonna roast a few this comin season.


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## TREY1984 (Jun 17, 2013)

Nicodemus said:


> A young one is good roasted over the coals.



I gotta try that one day


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## TREY1984 (Jun 17, 2013)

Throwback said:


> do you eat the rats and roaches you kill when they get in your house/barn?
> 
> 
> T



:deadhorse


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## TREY1984 (Jun 17, 2013)

Al Medcalf said:


> We eat them.  I clean everyone I catch.  If you aren't going to eat them or let someone else eat them, leave them in the tree!



Thats how you do it Sir


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## TREY1984 (Jun 17, 2013)

bigdawg25 said:


> naah no-one I now eats a coon. They all coon hunt too, and I have been with them few times, but we give away the meat to those people across the tracks, if you knw what I mean
> 
> I think varmints and furbearers are free for all, and most people trapping animals for their fur dont end up eating that meat anyways.




Nah.... what you mean by you give to those people across the tracks? I'm clueless


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## Redticker (Jun 17, 2013)

I wish I knew someone that ate them, would make me feel a whole lot better when shooting coons out to pups. I don't shoot many out but when I do it sure feels like a waste.


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## kmckinnie (Jun 17, 2013)

Trey you can hunt them at our house anytime your in town. We have plenty.


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## chehawknapper (Jun 17, 2013)

Properly cleaned and ground - makes great burgers.


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## Throwback (Jun 17, 2013)

TREY1984 said:


> :deadhorse



truth always is

T


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## Backcountry (Jun 17, 2013)

y'all are some crazy folks...


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## FIG NEWTON (Jun 17, 2013)

we've eat lots of them, their good if fixed rite!!


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## Vernon Holt (Jun 17, 2013)

*Eating Raccoon*

Most of the folks who are fond of Raccoon know how to prepare them and just as importantly, know how to cook them.

I lived on the GA coast for a number of years where raccoons were always plentiful.  I had black acquaintenances who were especially fond of coon.  Have had them tell me that they would much prefer a coon over a fat hen or turkey.  As often an I had opportunity to kill a Raccoon, I would do so just to see them smile when I would drop by their residence. 

They always emphasized the importance of properly "musking" the critter when dressing it.  I never watched one dress a carcass, but was told that at the point where each leg joins the body (on the underside) there can be found a musk gland which must be removed.  By their testimony, this is the secret to having a delectible meal.

I don't have the benefit of knowing just how they proceeded to cook this special meal, but I know they cooked them in a roasting pan in the oven as opposed to cooking them over a grill or in a slow cooker.

Give it a try sometime, you might like it.


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## EAGLE EYE 444 (Jun 18, 2013)

Vernon Holt said:


> Most of the folks who are fond of Raccoon know how to prepare them and just as importantly, know how to cook them.
> 
> I lived on the GA coast for a number of years where raccoons were always plentiful.  I had black acquaintances who were especially fond of coon.  Have had them tell me that they would much prefer a coon over a fat hen or turkey.  As often an I had opportunity to kill a Raccoon, I would do so just to see them smile when I would drop by their residence.
> 
> ...




Mr. Vernon, you are very correct.  When I was growing up, I remember my dad and some of his friends used to cook up barbequed coons and they really tasted good.  The secret as you said was to remove the "musk type" glands during the cleaning process and ultimately boil the coons in a large pot for a while and then put them in a roasting pan with a covered lid.  They would cut up some sweet potatoes and place them around the perimeter of this roasting pan also.  They made up a barbeque sauce and covered the coon meat with it and let it cook together with the sweet potatoes.  I remember when they would take the top lid off of the roasting pan, you could smell the aroma of the barbeque and the sweet potatoes cooking together and it would make your lips smack.  They would also fix several types of vegetables to go along with this meal such as turnip greens, collard greens, potato salad, green beans, english peas,  cream corn, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes and gravy, butter beans, squash, and most every other kind of vegetable that you could think of.

My dad had several friends that included a few black men that were very avid hunters that he hunted with from time to time and they would trade different meats together such as quail, rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, possums, fish, etc.  This older generation of blacks and whites learned their cleaning and cooking methods from each other and most of them knew how to cook most any kind of meats and vegetables etc.  I think that most of these type of skills are forever lost in this day and time unfortunately.

I remember many times while growing up, the menfolk of the community would cook up a Saturday lunch surprise at Goolsby's Country Store in Lincolnton.  They would alternate amongst themselves as to who might do the cooking each week.  Sometimes, it was barbequed raccoon, baked possum, fried fish such as catfish, crappie, and bass, fish stews, fried quail, doves, rabbits and squirrels, roasted turkey, deer, and even turtle stew, and I also remember big pots of vegetable soup with cornbread during the colder winter months as well.  They always had to cook at least two raccoons at a time because they didn't last too long after the blessing was asked.  This was a country store that people were buying groceries etc all day long.  This meal was free to whoever wanted to eat.

I am proud that I grew up in the country and was able to experience these type of occasions and relish these memories of being along side my dearly departed Dad.


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## Oldstick (Jun 18, 2013)

I've eaten coon one time and it wasn't bad.  They had roasted it in a pan with new potatoes and some a thin BBQ sauce, kind of like they used to cook BBQ pork chops in the oven.


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## chehawknapper (Jun 18, 2013)

All the scent glands are encased in fat. Remove all the fat and you will have great tasting meat. The same is true for beaver, muskrat, bobcat, armadillo, etc. Cook your meat thoroughly with any "moist" method you choose. Don't knock it if you haven't  tried it.


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## Trey Miller (Jun 18, 2013)

I've eaten a casserole with coon meat in it and I went back for seconds, somebody else cooked it. A little greasey but good if cooked right and that was cooked right. I'm not going to try to cook it but I'll eat that casserole again though.


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## TREY1984 (Jun 18, 2013)

kmckinnie said:


> Trey you can hunt them at our house anytime your in town. We have plenty.


 
I would but I live 4 hours away from ya.. But I know alot of people in Midway that would take them off your hand.
Two years ago I caught 17 behind my house.. So I'm GOOD..  Boil'em up with salt pepper and some red pepper until the meat is nice and tender. throw that joker on the grill or oven with some BBQ. Then start digging in.


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## TREY1984 (Jun 18, 2013)

Backcountry said:


> y'all are some crazy folks...




Backcountry you gotta try it sometimes.. Its good once  you get the hang of fixing them up.


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## TREY1984 (Jun 18, 2013)

EAGLE EYE 444 said:


> Mr. Vernon, you are very correct.  When I was growing up, I remember my dad and some of his friends used to cook up barbequed coons and they really tasted good.  The secret as you said was to remove the "musk type" glands during the cleaning process and ultimately boil the coons in a large pot for a while and then put them in a roasting pan with a covered lid.  They would cut up some sweet potatoes and place them around the perimeter of this roasting pan also.  They made up a barbeque sauce and covered the coon meat with it and let it cook together with the sweet potatoes.  I remember when they would take the top lid off of the roasting pan, you could smell the aroma of the barbeque and the sweet potatoes cooking together and it would make your lips smack.  They would also fix several types of vegetables to go along with this meal such as turnip greens, collard greens, potato salad, green beans, english peas,  cream corn, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes and gravy, butter beans, squash, and most every other kind of vegetable that you could think of.
> 
> My dad had several friends that included a few black men that were very avid hunters that he hunted with from time to time and they would trade different meats together such as quail, raccoons, possums, fish, etc.  This older generation of blacks and whites learned their cleaning and cooking methods from each other and most of them knew how to cook most any kind of meats and vegetables etc.  I think that most of these type of skills are forever lost in this day and time unfortunately.
> 
> ...



Eagle you have me home sick.. I'm currently in Afghan... thinking about what you said.. Those were the good ol days. My family did the same thing when I was growing  up. When I was younger I was the only young guy still into hunting in my area. I trapped, deer hunted, rabbit and everything dealing with the woods.. I had it so good until I had orders from many older folks that could not hunt anymore. If they ask for it i would have it the next day.. What was so cool is when i was in High School I brought a few squirrels to one of my teacher. Sometimes I wish everyone could only live off the land and get rid of the electronics so we all could be closer just like the old days.


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## TREY1984 (Jun 18, 2013)

chehawknapper said:


> All the scent glands are encased in fat. Remove all the fat and you will have great tasting meat. The same is true for beaver, muskrat, bobcat, armadillo, etc. Cook your meat thoroughly with any "moist" method you choose. Don't knock it if you haven't  tried it.



Right on brother!!!!


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## The mtn man (Jun 18, 2013)

I have had it made into a stew with veggies, cooked on coals in a dutch oven, with a cake of cornbread, (delicious!), also had it barbqued, over open hickory coals, like bbque chicken, that was good too.My dogs usually have them tenderized a little too much for me to eat the meat though.I just usually skin them and feed them to the hounds.Saves on dog food, and seems to make my dogs better coon hunters.


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## EAGLE EYE 444 (Jun 18, 2013)

TREY1984 said:


> Eagle you have me home sick.. I'm currently in Afghan... thinking about what you said.. Those were the good ol days. My family did the same thing when I was growing  up. When I was younger I was the only young guy still into hunting in my area. I trapped, deer hunted, rabbit and everything dealing with the woods.. I had it so good until I had orders from many older folks that could not hunt anymore. If they ask for it i would have it the next day.. What was so cool is when i was in High School I brought a few squirrels to one of my teacher. Sometimes I wish everyone could only live off the land and get rid of the electronics so we all could be closer just like the old days.



TREY, I agree with your comments for sure.  I just noticed that Harlem is your home base so to speak but after seeing where you are currently located.........THANK YOU very much for your military service to our country, so that all of us can remain somewhat free and do the things that we enjoy doing here in America.  Stay safe and I hope that you will return safely home soon.


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## GA DAWG (Jun 18, 2013)

Well if anybody wants a few this fall. Give me your number. I'll get ya some. I did run across a guy from Buford last winter. I had killed the meanest toughest biggest ol boar coon you ever saw. He said you treed any. I said yeah one. Then he said he hadn't had any luck and loved coon. So he was the proud new owner of that boar coon.


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## cotton top (Jun 19, 2013)

I have eat just about every thing thats known to be good to eat. Some I have enjoyed and some wasn't quite as good. You know probably every one of us have eaten things we didn't know what it was. My mama was always clean with her cooking, so when she called meal time we never asked what it was. The truth is we didn't care long as ma said it was good. She wasn't wrong many times.
 We all seem to be trying to out do our raising, cotton top


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## bigkga69 (Jun 20, 2013)

when I was doing my intern work and starting with DNR, I lived and worked on Sapelo Island.  I eased my way into the Gullah community there known as Hog Hammock and tried things and learned things about living off the land that most folks will never know...A very well known lady of that community would ask me to catch her any possums I might see and make sure they dont get hurt, so, in my nightly ridings I would catch any possums I ran across.  When I made my way back to her house the next morning she would have me put the possums in a pen and from there she would hose them off and start feeding them.  After a few weeks she would pick out one of the possums and that night we would have a community feed with possum being the star meal, and I can tell you it was very good.  I would bring her raccoons, dead of course and she would cook them various ways, bbq style in a dutch oven was always good, I liked quarted up and seasoned and surrounded with small sliced veggies and then wrapped in corn silks and husks and placed in a cook pit with coals placed around...theres tons more of old world stuff I got to experience and could tell but I dont feel like typing all day...


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## TREY1984 (Jun 20, 2013)

*Coon Cooking*

Here ya go


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## brown518 (Jun 20, 2013)

Very nice story. I enjoyed reading this.




EAGLE EYE 444 said:


> Mr. Vernon, you are very correct.  When I was growing up, I remember my dad and some of his friends used to cook up barbequed coons and they really tasted good.  The secret as you said was to remove the "musk type" glands during the cleaning process and ultimately boil the coons in a large pot for a while and then put them in a roasting pan with a covered lid.  They would cut up some sweet potatoes and place them around the perimeter of this roasting pan also.  They made up a barbeque sauce and covered the coon meat with it and let it cook together with the sweet potatoes.  I remember when they would take the top lid off of the roasting pan, you could smell the aroma of the barbeque and the sweet potatoes cooking together and it would make your lips smack.  They would also fix several types of vegetables to go along with this meal such as turnip greens, collard greens, potato salad, green beans, english peas,  cream corn, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes and gravy, butter beans, squash, and most every other kind of vegetable that you could think of.
> 
> My dad had several friends that included a few black men that were very avid hunters that he hunted with from time to time and they would trade different meats together such as quail, rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, possums, fish, etc.  This older generation of blacks and whites learned their cleaning and cooking methods from each other and most of them knew how to cook most any kind of meats and vegetables etc.  I think that most of these type of skills are forever lost in this day and time unfortunately.
> 
> ...


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## ALPHAMAX (Jun 20, 2013)

wonder what a ground hog in crock pot taste like? chicken


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## j_seph (Jun 20, 2013)

GA DAWG said:


> I don't eat rats,armadillo, snake,coon,possum ground hawgs, beaver,coyotes,fox,bobcats..Yet I've killed em all.


You are unethical


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## GA DAWG (Jun 20, 2013)

j_seph said:


> You are unethical


I know and I can't help it  I killed a ground hawg this morning. Then went to McDonalds


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## j_seph (Jun 20, 2013)

GA DAWG said:


> I know and I can't help it  I killed a ground hawg this morning. Then went to McDonalds


You trade it for an egg McMuffin and a sausage McGriddle?


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## Throwback (Jun 20, 2013)

j_seph said:


> You are unethical



and proud of it 


T


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## MFOSTER (Jun 21, 2013)

this one don't


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## TREY1984 (Jun 22, 2013)

ALPHAMAX said:


> wonder what a ground hog in crock pot taste like? chicken



Everything that takes flour and grease taste like chicken.


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## Flaustin1 (Jun 22, 2013)

Ive ate a ground hog.


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## The Longhunter (Jun 22, 2013)

We used to attend a church where the deacons saved up all winter and had a big coon BBQ in the spring.  Always sold out.

I eat coon, I've found it to be very sweet meat.  I'll pass on the possum, seen (and smelled) them cooked, but I'll pass.  So I don't shoot them.  

Armadillo is pretty good too.


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## flatheadfisherman (Jun 22, 2013)

Growing up in WV, I have eaten about everything including raccoons, groundhogs, and opossums. I lived in Folkston during the late 90's and used to trap raccoons. A neighbor wanted all the meat. Had to leave the paws on it though.


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## The mtn man (Jun 24, 2013)

ALPHAMAX said:


> wonder what a ground hog in crock pot taste like? chicken



The answer is NO!!! It tastes like ground hog.If not cooked correctly, tastes more like a leather boot, with a slight hint of grass.If cooked correctly aint bad.


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## dawg2 (Jun 24, 2013)

Throwback said:


> do you eat the rats and roaches you kill when they get in your house/barn?
> 
> 
> T





Nicodemus said:


> A young one is good roasted over the coals.


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## TREY1984 (Jun 24, 2013)

Yup my granddad told me back in the day people use to kill small dogs and sale them as raccoon.  That's why you have to keep the paw on them now if your giving them to someone else


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## ridgerunner404 (Jun 26, 2013)

been wanting to try coon just affraid of not doing it right. any good recipe's would be put to good use. and wondering how to REALLY clean one.


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## grouper throat (Jun 28, 2013)

I have tried it as BBQ and it's good but not something I would eat regularly. I know several people who eat them.


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## irishredneck (Jun 28, 2013)

Coon fat gravy. Yum yum!


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## dadsbuckshot (Nov 27, 2013)

Interesting thread for sure!!


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## jigman29 (Nov 28, 2013)

I have ate them all.Groundhog is decent but it is a acquired taste.My granny would cook possum and I tried it and it was good.Problem is,I can't get past the thoughts of the ugly boogers lol.Coon and squirrel are some of my favorites,right up their with deer.If you boil or crockpot until tender then roll in flour and fry they are great.You can also boil a coon till tender and strip it off the bone then put it on an oven pan with cut up sweet potatoes and salt,pepper  to taste and lay the sage to it heavy and bake till the potatoes are done you will eat till you hurt yourself.But to answer your question yes I eat every coon I get my hands on.


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