Waste Not, Want Not- What do you leave behind and Why?

[littlebuf]

rosinbag,please tell me what stones i threw?a question was asked i answered according to my views and then was called out on it by you.i mentioned no one specific in my post (unlike you) i simply quoted your post as it was directed towards me.seems your posts were a little more stoney than mine,as far as direction they were being thrown anyhow.take your own advice maybe?and now I'm done with this thread.

 

[Evan Williams]

I take meat, heart, tenderloins, if buck or bull head and cape. Even if I am not going full shoulder I will pack out head and cape. The local taxidermist can always use another cape. Guys are always ruining their capes and needing another to mount. Early season mule deer there isn't much meat to take but late season in the rut I pulled 30 pounds off my Kansas Mule Deer in 2010. GREAT JERKY!!!

 

[Backpack Hunter]

I am hoping that we all do what is legally required of us as hunters in accordance to the law. With that said, anything else is at your own personal discretion.

However, I do feel strongly about this subject. Especially in the regards of hunters killing an animal and wasting organ meat because they do not like the taste, or do not want to do the deed of field dressing and would rather take the easy way out using the gutless method.

I will always try to take the organs, heart, liver, kidneys, spleen. And if it turns bad in the 90 degree sun then I will leave it on the mountain to feed the wildlife or enrich the soil. - But the key is I will try.

I just don't understand how a hunter would not atleast try to honor an animal by using its bounty to the best of their ability, espeically since it offers such emence sustenance and nourishment.

I don't try to honor any animal. I kill animals to eat them. I do not eat the organs of any animal.
I'm not trying to call you out personally, but I really do not understand this whole "honor the animal" thing going around these days.

 

[RosinBag]

Hey Littlebuf, when you start talking about someone being out of their league, you are throwing a stone. That is how I took it, which maybe I am wrong, but it certainly read as though you were saying I was out of my league if I was to far back to take out certain meat. I say that qualifies as a stone. I used your name as it was your post I didn't agree with. I have tried and maybe not as well as I had hoped to not throw a stone.

The hohoring the animal, personal preference and everyone has different feelings about each of their kills. But even that is a slippery slope. Do you honor the animal with all the meat and organs and stop. Or do you take the hide to make clothing and blankets, the bone to make tools. It would go on forever as every part of the animal would have some way to legitimately use it. I say follow the law at minimum, everything else is personal preference.

 

[JSonn]

I believe you do not posses the mental and physcial fortitude to cut open a dead animal and eat its organs, which explains your defensive remark. If you look at any primitive culture that has relied on hunting and gathering, they all pay respect to the animal in which they have killed. Which means honoring it by using it's body to the best of their abilty.

If you want to have a bleak outlook on life that animals are only here for humans to eat and kill, then by all means follow that path.

I don't try to honor any animal. I kill animals to eat them. I do not eat the organs of any animal.
I'm not trying to call you out personally, but I really do not understand this whole "honor the animal" thing going around these days.

 

[BuckSnort]

Judging by the older picture of Aron Snyder I bet that he never used to pack any meat home, he'd just go up the mountain with a knife and fork...Gotta feed them muscles...lol

 

[JPD350]

I also don't eat the heart or liver so why take them, this is how I usually leave a carcass but there are times I have not stripped the bones of all meat.
I shot a cow last year that the coyotes and wolves got to her before I did, it was a mess! I unwillingly claimed her and took the hind quarters and left the rest to be consumed by all the other animals in the forest, nothing went to waste. I almost posted a pic of her but decided it was not a good pic for a forum.

 

[littlebuf]

rosinbag,wasnt going to post again but i don't like leaving the topic on that note.i was not directing my coment towards you,and i apologize if you took it that way.i try to always make general statments on these forums as not to personally attack any one. when i said "your out of your leage"it was a general statment regarding anyone who may not be able to take care of there kill and not supposed to be a stone tossed at you,so sorry about that . as far as organs go,no i dont think you should have to pack them out,i mentioned them as part of what i bring out because i enjoy certain dishes i make out of them.i realize many people dont want to eat them and never think any less of someone leaving them,they are after all part of the gut pile.this is always a touchy subject and guys from all different view points can get real wound up over it.i agree that as long as you are following the law where you hunt you are indeed being an ethical hunter. as far as honoring an animal,to each there own.i have a place of honor right there on my charcoal grill,and thats where they tend to make it

 

[Backpack Hunter]

I believe you do not posses the mental and physcial fortitude to cut open a dead animal and eat its organs, which explains your defensive remark. If you look at any primitive culture that has relied on hunting and gathering, they all pay respect to the animal in which they have killed. Which means honoring it by using it's body to the best of their abilty.

If you want to have a bleak outlook on life that animals are only here for humans to eat and kill, then by all means follow that path.

Tough guys on a forum, this is where people get into arguments on the internet.
I will leave this by saying you have no clue as to my mental or physical fortitude, and you would be wise to remember that.

 

[JSonn]

It's not about being tough, its about doing what is ethically right- but the only explanation for not plucking the organ meat from a kill is either the hunter doesn't want to field dress an animal or doesn't care for the taste of them, period. If a hunter does not have the stomach or the taste buds to eat what they have killed then they shouldn't pull the trigger.

I may not have a clue of peoples personal fortitude, but not taking organ meat because field dressing is gross and organs taste yucky gives a good indicator of one's lack of appreciation for the kill.

Tough guys on a forum, this is where people get into arguments on the internet.
I will leave this by saying you have no clue as to my mental or physical fortitude, and you would be wise to remember that.

 

[justin davis]

I take all the edible meat I can. Quarters, back straps, tenderloins. Antlers, (cape if I am mounting). I do the gutless. Leave the guts and organs and hide. Have taken the heart before. Heart on the grill is pretty tasty. I do this for all big game animals. I like bear too, Bear brats are pretty tasty. I have eaten Bobcat and coyote too!

 

[Matt Cashell]

I have eaten Bobcat and coyote too!

bbbbaaaarrroowwwoooffffff....

Now I have to clean the puke off my keyboard...

 

[Curtis C]

Anybody ever pickle the feet of elk and deer they kill?


C

 

[RosinBag]

Littlebuf, enough said on our stone throwing. All is good.

Justin, I have heard of people eating bobcat and was told it tastes like cougar. I have not eaten either. What does bobcat taste like?

 

[Aron Snyder]

Jsonn,

So if you kill a coyote, do you eat it? The intestine is edible, so are you eating those as well?

If someone follows the law, but the law lets them leave the organs, than in your mind they are unethical?

I've eaten marmot, bobcat, dog (I was overseas), horse and many other animals, but I feel that leaving the organs does not have anything to do with not honoring the animal enough. It just shows that I have a choice (and a legal one) to bring back something I would choose not to eat unless I was in a survival situation. So yes, to me it's yucky, but I think McDonalds is yucky too and I see people eat that everyday.

I honor the animal in other ways; training as hard as I can, practicing with my bow everyday and scouting as much as possible. These things may be what I feel should be done before you go out and try and kill something, but that doesn't mean that if you train less, shoot less or scout less that you are unethical! It just means that you are different than me and if that difference is still within the law, than I see no reason to tell someone that they are unethical because they have different views.

I would say that Rokslide was started so people could talk about issues like this without being criticized, so please keep that in mind.

 

[JSonn]

As I said before, as long as we do what the law requires of us- anything else is personal discretion

I mentioned that I like to honor the animal as best as I can, by trying to pack out all meat, including organs. I was criticized and called out for using the word "honor" so I naturally defended my position.

Leaving the organs because you don't like the taste or because gutting is nasty work is unethical in my opinion. Law and ethics are two different fields.

I do not hunt coyotes, so therefore I do not eat them.

Our culture is very wasteful and picky with our food, and I am in disbelief that a man can devote 365 days a year to killing a big game animal and only taking what meat tastes good to them or what the law requires of them.

organ meat is life of that animal, it offers the most nutrition- which is why hunting cultures always eat it first and why predators eat it first as well.

Jsonn,

So if you kill a coyote do you eat it? The intestine is edible, so are you eating those as well?

If someone follows the law, but the law lets them leave the organs, than in your mind they are unethical?

I've eaten marmot, bobcat, dog (I was overseas), horse and many other animals, but I feel that leaving the organs does not have anything to do with not honoring the animal enough.

I honor the animal in other ways; training as hard as I can, practicing with my bow everyday and scouting as much as possible. These things may be what I feel should be done before you go out and try and kill something, but that doesn't mean that if you train less, shoot less or scout less that you are unethical! It just means that you are different than me and if that difference is still within the law, than I see no reason to tell someone that they are unethical because they have different views.

I would say that Rokslide was started so people could talk about issues like this without being criticized, so please keep that in mind.

 

[justin davis]

Littlebuf, enough said on our stone throwing. All is good.

Justin, I have heard of people eating bobcat and was told it tastes like cougar. I have not eaten either. What does bobcat taste like?

Yea Bobcat is like Cougar. Cougar is oh so good!!! Honestly as silly as it sounds Bobcat tastes like chicken. Same a Cougar which I think is a mix between chicken/pork. The coyote steak I had on the grill wasn't bad either.

 

[RosinBag]

I may try it and see. The bobcats I kill don't look that tasty, but I have ugly things taste good in the past.

 

[justin davis]

I may try it and see. The bobcats I kill don't look that tasty, but I have ugly things taste good in the past.

Yea I use to have this mentality that "cats" tasted gross. but heck the chinese are on to something. Cougar is probably the best wild game out there!

 

[Ryan Avery]

JSonn, I see what your saying. But on the flip side you can take anything to an extreme level. Someone could argue that unless you take everything your being wasteful. If you are truly 5+ miles back solo, this is simply not possible. Would you get every last scrap, if that meant you could loose it all to spoilage. Maybe you haven't been in on enough backcountry kills or maybe I am just not tough enough....As long as your not breaking any laws, we can leave the PC police to the anti's

RosinBag, bobcat taste just like chicken!