Cooking Wild Game - Meat From Forest, Field And Stream And How To Prepare It For The Table - 432 Recipes

Chapter I

USES AND ABUSES OF WILD GAME

THE upheaval brought by World War II has served to introduce to many 20th Century Americans the novel experience of eating wild game. To these it is a new meat but in reality it is meat that the natives of Europe and Asia have enjoyed and prized for centuries, and one which Colonial America depended upon for subsistence.

In fact, the so-called new meats of today—venison, wild turkey, grouse, quail, wild ducks and geese—were every-day fare for Pilgrim families. Early historical records tell us that these first colonists found the land teeming with wild game. The coasts and inland waterways were covered with waterfowl. Elk, deer, grouse, wild turkeys and small game roamed at will in the forests, and the meadows and plains were swarming with prairie chickens and buffalo.

During the migration period the waters were alive with waterfowl, and the bays and shores where swans resorted, appeared as if dressed in white drapery, recorded Adriaen Van der Donck in Descriptions of the New Netherlands, 1653.

Wild turkeys abounded in all wooded areas, in flocks of 20 to 40, and were sold by the Indians to the New Netherlands colonists for 10 stivers (20 cents) each. Bobwhites and ruffed grouse were even more abundant, and were regarded as too unimportant to waste gunpowder on.

Likewise, big game was found everywhere. For 5 guilders, according to Van der Donck, a good buck could be purchased, and often for less. Moose roamed the northern woods. Elk and buffalo were also numerous. A settler at Onondaga Lake, N. Y., estimated that 10,000 buffalo were accustomed to visit the salt springs on his place.

Probably few of us realize that buffalo and elk were once to be found in the regions bordering the Atlantic Ocean. The first white men to ascend the Potomac River saw specimens of the American Bison—the correct name of the humped and shaggy buffalo—near the place where the White House stands today. If there were no other evidence—and there is plenty—the Elk River in Maryland flowing into the Chesapeake Bay indicates by its name that the early settlers saw enough of these animals along its course to name the stream for them.

The turkey never became the emblem of the country but it did, by popular consent, become the symbol of Thanksgiving Day—and freedom. Pennsylvania Game Commission Photo.

Deer were everywhere, and the black bear, upon which animal the Indians relied for the fats and oils so essential even to savage dietetics, lumbered under the wild grape vines and chestnut trees with an appearance of awkwardness that belied the fact that bruin, when he needs to be, is one of the swiftest animals afoot.

Abundant flocks of the western quails on the Pacific coast supplied fresh meat to the missions founded by the Jesuit fathers.

In those old homespun days of abundance, wild passenger pigeons were often seen in flocks 200 miles long. They were found nesting in such enormous numbers that 50 to 100 nests could be counted in a single tree.

But, whatever game was handiest to the rifle of the frontiersman became food and the pioneer’s wife made an appetizing and nourishing dish from it.

Big game was found everywhere. U.S. Forest Service Photo.

Although all these early records tell us that North America at one time abounded with big game, overshooting and the usurpation of wildlife areas by an increasing population soon contributed to the rapid depletion of the continental supply.

By the end of the Civil War, killing for the market had become a serious factor in the reduction of game. Traffic in game reached its peak probably in the 1880’s. During that time uncounted millions of passenger pigeons, prairie chickens, grouse, ducks, geese, upland plovers, snipes, woodcocks and quails were sent annually to market by gunners who, except for a few months in midsummer, shot and snared game the whole year round—before, during and after the breeding season.

By every conceivable method, waterfowl were killed by the million and sold in the open markets for a few cents apiece. Old-time market hunters used swivel or punt guns that could kill as many as 50 to 100 waterfowl with one shot.

I killed more than 1,000 waterfowl in one week and shipped the whole lot to New Orleans for $2.40 a dozen, or 40 cents a pair. That was the largest number of ducks I ever bagged in one week, is the tale told by one market hunter who was considered to be one of the most successful hunters in the bayous and swamps of the Mississippi delta in the old days.

"Chicago became the greatest game market in the world. Bear and deer hung from hooks like beef. It was not unusual for quail to sell two for 5 cents, prairie chicken for a nickel, and ducks like ordinary poultry.

"From 1872 to 1886 these prices per dozen were quoted in a Chicago paper:¹

It was during the days of market hunters that the passenger pigeon was exterminated and certain other game species were so badly reduced that they have never since recovered.

In seeking the reason for the immense decrease in the game of the country we have not far to look, wrote Henry Oldys in The Game Market of Today in 1910.² The recklessness with which the early colonists destroyed the game that filled this land to overflowing is astonishing, even though such wasteful methods are usual in a new country. We find them selecting haunches of venison and leaving the rest of the carcass to the dogs and beasts of prey; and burning canebrakes, thus destroying the haunts of many game animals and birds, merely to secure a day’s kill. Such practices continued to prevail on the borderline of settlement as it advanced westward, and late in the last century numbers of slain buffalo were left to rot after their tongues had been cut out.

Waterfowl were killed by the million and sold in the open markets. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Photo.

Market hunting, which contributed so much to the decrease in the abundance of our waterfowl populations, was a two-fold evil; it exhausted the supply of game quickly with little or no thought for the future; and the value of the wild game resources went into the pockets of the few who engaged in the market hunting activity instead of to the health and well-being of the many who enjoy the kind of recreation that wild game hunting affords.

"So long as man hunted for his own personal needs, the turkey and other game held its own, but when game became an important article of commerce, it soon began to disappear.

From our present point of view, market hunting is a crime against conservation, but when game was so abundant that a group of soldiers could surround an area of woods after a turkey drive and kill with gun, club and stones, four to five hundred turkeys, we can easily understand why market hunting was so profitable and so widely practiced.¹

Conservationists became alarmed at the depletion of the waterfowl that formerly had abounded in all parts of the country. Laws for the protection of these birds had been enacted in many of the states but nevertheless the numbers of waterfowl continued to decline and it was feared that some of the species might be exterminated. It was generally recognized by progressive conservationists that the state laws had proved inadequate to give the birds the protection they must have if their numbers were to be maintained.

In accordance with this belief, a bill was introduced into Congress in December 1904 by Congressman George Shiras, 3rd, to protect the migratory game birds of the United States. The preamble of the bill recited that Whereas experience has shown that laws passed by the States and Territories of the United States to protect game birds within their respective limits have proved insufficient to protect those kinds and classes of said birds which are migratory in their habits and which nest and hatch their young in states other than those in which they pass the usual hunting season and in some cases breed beyond the boundaries of the United States. . . . etc. This bill failed to pass.

Efforts were continued, however, to obtain passage of Federal legislation to protect migratory birds and in 1913 Congress passed the Weeks-McLean Bill which authorized the Federal Government to regulate the taking and selling of migratory game birds.

But many sportsmen frowned on the Weeks-McLean Bill, declaring it unconstitutional. A test case came up when Col. Joseph Acklen, a Tennessean who served as the first Chief Federal Game Warden, without pay, persuaded Harvey C. Shauver, of Jonesport, Ark., to plead not guilty to taking coots out of season. Mr. Shauver, who readily admitted the violation unofficially, agreed to make the test case.

The case was tried before Federal Judge Jacob Trieber, who found the law unconstitutional. Appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States, the case was argued once, but no decision was made by the court. The case was later scheduled for reargument.

Before a second hearing was held, however, the United States and Great Britain signed the Migratory Bird Treaty, and a Supreme Court decision on the earlier law was never made. Ratified by the two countries, the treaty was proclaimed by President Woodrow Wilson on December 8, 1916.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act was much more comprehensive and far-reaching in its effect than was the Migratory Bird Law of 1913. It placed a perpetual close season on many migratory nongame birds, and provided in substance that no migratory birds of the species mentioned in the treaty could be taken or molested except in accordance with regulations of the Secretary of Agriculture.

However, as soon as Congress passed an enabling act authorizing the Biological Survey (now a part of the Fish and Wildlife Service) to enforce the provisions of the treaty, the Federal Government’s right to regulate the taking of wild birds was challenged again.

Snow geese landing on the marsh. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Photo.

Final decision in the Federal-State controversy was made in the famous test case, Missouri vs. Holland, in which the Supreme Court declared the treaty to be constitutional. The court’s decision was read by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Here a national interest of very nearly the first magnitude is involved, stated Justice Holmes. It can be protected only by national action in concert with that of another power. The subject matter is only transitorily within the State and has no permanent habitation therein. But for the treaty and the statute, there soon might be no birds for any powers to deal with.

Since the Supreme Court decision upholding the treaty, sportsmen and conservationists have cooperated in the Federal Government’s efforts to administer the Nation’s wildlife resources. Regulations on hunting migratory waterfowl are recommended to the Secretary of the Interior by Fish and Wildlife Service officials after a year-round survey of conditions on the nesting, the resting and feeding, and the wintering grounds of the migratory birds of North America. These regulations become effective when approved by the President.

On the 25th birthday (Monday, December 8, 1941) of the Migratory Bird Treaty between the United States and Great Britain, Secretary of the Interior Ickes said, "It is no exaggeration to call this treaty the most significant advance in the history of wildlife conservation in North America.

Discharging our Federal obligations under these international agreements has made possible one of the most successful wildlife conservation programs in history, the Secretary added. Not only does the Department of the Interior carefully regulate the hunting of the species affected, but it also maintains a nation-wide system of refuges to protect and encourage the migratory birds. The resulting increase in birds is today the best possible evidence of the importance of this international cooperation.

In 1936 the Migratory Bird Treaty Act was amended to extend its provisions to the treaty with Mexico and now affords Federal protection to many species of birds which migrate between the United States and Mexico in addition to those that were included in the Canadian Treaty. Under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, spring shooting, as well as the sale of migratory waterfowl, has been prohibited, seasons and bag limits have been reduced, and many other restrictions imposed to limit the numbers of birds taken each year by the hunters.

Migratory game and wildlife thus naturally became the ward and charge of national governments, while the protection of resident game is the responsibility of each state, each county, and each landowner.

The Fish and Wildlife Service, which is the wildlife agency of the Federal Government, has no actual jurisdiction over deer, turkey, quail, grouse, bear, and similar forms excepting when they are found on Federally-owned lands, but the Service is required by law to cooperate with the States in measures to increase and perpetuate these and similar species.

Migratory waterfowl is the ward and charge of the Federal Government. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Photo.

As the result of concerted conservation measures which have been taken in recent years, the big-game animals have been, in the main, slowly increasing or, at least, no longer decreasing.

The latest estimate of big-game animals in the United States, based on the big-game inventory made in 1941-42 by the Fish and Wildlife Service, shows a total of 6,748,000 big-game animals of 15 species, of which white-tailed deer led with 3,805,000. The previous inventory, taken in 1940-41, indicated a total of 5,964,391 animals.

In 1900 there were estimated to be at least 150 million migratory waterfowl in North America but they dwindled so rapidly that by 1934 there were less than 30 million wild ducks and geese on the continent. But the waterfowl regulations imposed by the Federal Government and the nationwide system of national wildlife refuges are both playing an important part in increasing the continental population of migratory waterfowl. During the 1943-44 season it is expected that 120 or 125 million birds will be winging their way southward over the four flyways.

But the ‘good old days’ of unlimited killing of waterfowl are gone forever, says Dr. Ira N. Gabrielson, director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as no land on earth can build up and maintain a supply of birds that could stand an increasing annual drain by a constantly growing army of sportsmen.

The majority of sportsmen realize today that no game means no hunting and that the future of their sport depends upon the conservation of breeding places. The restoration of habitat is necessary to a future game supply but an adequate breeding stock is also indispensable. Laws are made to carry out this essential part of a constructive program for the restoration of wildlife, and they are preparing the way for a happier future for hunters. With its 279 wildlife refuges, the Fish and Wildlife Service is endeavoring to provide the necessary habitat and breeding places that will insure a future game supply.

The food value and economic importance of the migratory birds of the United States, amounting to many millions of dollars annually, justify the widespread interest in their preservation. No less important is the esthetic value of birds—the inspiration and stimulus which they give to the moral sense, and the charm and beauty which they lend to the life of all our people. Valuable in other ways are the game birds which not only furnish delightful and pleasing recreation to the great army of American sportsmen but add materially to the food supply of millions of people.

From a recent Government survey made by the Fish and Wildlife Service, we learn that "more than a quarter of a billion pounds of nutritious wild meats were made available to the American public during 1942 as a by-product of hunting."

Old-time market hunters used these illegal guns and killed 50 to 100 waterfowl with one shot. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Photo.

Based on data taken from State Game Departments and other sources, the tabulation reveals that deer alone yielded more than 59,000,000 pounds, with elk contributing 9,000,000 pounds, and antelope, moose, bear, mountain sheep and goats adding 1,650,000 pounds to the total.

Among small game, wild rabbits amounted to 68,735,000 pounds, squirrels more than 2,000,000 pounds, while raccoon, opossum and woodchuck totaled 14,222,000 pounds.

Ducks accounted for 32,500,000 pounds and geese, 3,000,000. Upland game birds, including quail, pheasants, grouse, partridges, and wild turkeys, totaled 42,243,000 pounds, with pheasant (15,000,000 of them) accounting for 30,377,000 pounds of the total. Doves, band-tailed pigeons, and woodcock added 2,405,000 pounds.

Early in 1943, Albert M. Day, assistant director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, made this statement: With the present severe shortage of domestic meats due to the need for shipping such large quantities to our armed forces and to our allies, these wild species provide a food resource that is becoming increasingly important. Probably no other source of food is so easily available at such little expense to the public as is a continuing harvest of wild game. The extent of this contribution by wildlife to the Nation’s food supply is surprising.

Game taken in the wild cannot be purchased at the corner meat market because its sale is prohibited by law. Private individuals and others, however, may raise migratory game birds under domesticated conditions, for sale purposes, provided they have obtained the required Federal and State propagating permits.

Propagating permits are issued under Regulation 8, section 12 of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which reads:

Nothing in this act shall be construed to prevent the breeding of migratory game birds on farms and preserves and the sale of birds so bred under proper regulations for the purpose of increasing the food supply.

In further explanation of the method:

A person in possession of a valid, subsisting permit issued to him by a State, on its part, authorizing him to possess, purchase, sell, and transport migratory waterfowl and their increase and eggs for propagating purposes, may possess, purchase, sell, and transport such waterfowl and their increase and eggs for such purposes when authorized by a permit issued to him by the Secretary (of Interior); but may not purchase from or sell to any person not authorized by these regulations or by a permit issued thereunder to sell or purchase such waterfowl and their eggs; and migratory waterfowl, except the birds, and those hatched from the eggs, taken under paragraph 1 of this regulation, possessed under such permit, or as otherwise authorized by this regulation, may be killed by him at any time and in any manner (except that they may be killed by shooting only during the open season for waterfowl in the State where killed), and the carcasses, with heads and feet attached thereto, may be sold and transported by him to any person for actual consumption, or to the keeper of a hotel, restaurant, or boarding house, a dealer in meat or game, or a club, for sale or service to their patrons, who may possess such carcasses for actual consumption without a permit, but no such birds that have been killed shall be bartered, sold, or purchased unless each bird before attaining the age of 4 weeks shall have had removed from the web of one foot a portion thereof in the form of a V large enough to make a permanent, well-defined mark, which shall be sufficient to identify it as a bird raised in domestication under a permit.

Of course, buying game thus raised under domesticated conditions won’t give you the thrill of having obtained it through your own efforts, so when you can, go afield with your gun, rod, or traps, and bring home your own meats, and at the same time get the right kind of recreation and relaxation.

Game Management Agents of the Fish and Wildlife Service with law violation seizure. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Photo.

Unfortunately, however, thousands of pounds of venison, waterfowl, upland game birds and fish are wasted each year due to carelessness, neglect, or ignorance on the part of the hunter or fisherman. Correct information will assist the sportsman to enjoy himself to the utmost and, if he follows certain directions given in the following chapters, he will arrive home with his game and fish in proper condition for an appetizing meal.

Note: Persons interested in propagating waterfowl, etc., under the above conditions, may obtain a list of dealers in waterfowl and a list of dealers in upland game birds by writing to the Fish and Wildlife Service, Chicago, 54, Ill.

1934 DUCK STAMP

Mallard ducks coming in for a landing by J. N. (Ding) Darling was the first of the annual series of migratory waterfowl hunting stamps issued by the Federal Government. It was released in 1934.

Duck Stamps, as these are popularly called, are about as large as a special delivery stamp and must be purchased by all migratory-waterfowl hunters over 16 years old. They are sold at post offices at $1 each. Proceeds are used to buy and maintain national wildlife refuges administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service, United States Department of the Interior, for the protection of migratory waterfowl. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Photo.

¹ The Wild Turkey in Virginia: Its Status, Life History and Management, by Henry S. Mosby and Charles O. Handley.

² The Game Market of Today, by Henry Oldys, Year Book Separate No, 533, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1910.

¹ The Game Market of Today, by Henry Oldys, Year Book Separate No. 533, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1910.

Chapter II

FOOD VALUE OF GAME

GAME is the term applied to animals and birds which live free in the fields, woods, and mountains in a state of nature and are good to eat. The pioneers of our country had a high regard for game because they had to depend upon wild animals for their meat supply. All pioneer women knew how to prepare game; they either cooked the fresh meat for immediate consumption or cured it by pickling, smoking and drying to preserve it for later use.

Animals living in the wild are for the most part vegetarian—plants, seeds, fruits, and berries forming the bulk of their foods. They do not live in crowded conditions, and their habits are surprisingly sanitary. People eating game for the first time usually try to compare it with beef, pork, or other domestic meats, but it should be remembered that game has a distinctive flavor which for the most part is not comparable with the meat of any other group of animals.¹

Game meat is considered to be one of the luxuries of the dinner table; in addition, it is healthful food, heat-giving, savory, tasty, and easily digested. Jean Anthelme Brilliat-Savarin says, "These qualities are not so intrinsic as to be in a great measure independent of the skill of the cook. If we throw into a pot of water, salt and a piece of beef, we will obtain some boiled meat. But if instead of beef we put wild boar or venison in the pot, we will have but poor fare; in this respect, butcher’s meat has the advantage. Under the direction of a skillful cook, however, game undergoes a great number of scientific modifications and transformations, furnishing the majority of highly flavored dishes on which a transcendental gastronomic art is based.

Game also owes much of its quality to the nature of the soil it is fed on. The taste of red partridge of Periogord is not the same as that of a red partridge of Sologne, and although a hare killed in the neighborhood of Paris is but a poor dish, a leveret from the sunburnt slopes of Valromey or Upper Dauphine is perhaps the finest flavored of all quadrupeds.

The last heath hen. This game bird disappeared in spite of belated efforts to keep it from extinction. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Photo.

The flesh of game, when young, is generally tender, contains less fat than poultry, is of a fine though strong flavor, and is easy of digestion. Game meat is usually of dark color, partridge and quail being exceptions, and is usually cooked rare.

Climatic conditions, food and cover all bear a definite relation to the quality and taste of game meat. Many small game species survive and thrive in densely populated farm areas. Farms in which a rotation of crops include wheat, corn, buckwheat, lespedeza, soy beans and similar seed producers are especially attractive to upland game birds and rabbits. In addition, rabbits are fond of almost any green vegetation, especially the variety of green foods found in Victory gardens.

Age affects the flavor and texture of the meat to quite an extent. While it is not possible to state the age at which an animal will be best for meat, it is a well-known fact that meat from old animals is more likely to be tough than that from young ones. The flesh of very young animals frequently lacks flavor and is watery. An old animal in fattened condition and in good health, however, would be preferable to a young one in poor condition.

Venison is similar to beef in chemical composition but is not nearly so fat as well-fed cattle. A lean venison roast before cooking has been found to contain on the average of 75% water, 20% protein, and 2% fat; a lean beef rump 65 to 70% water, 20 to 23% protein and 5 to 14% fat; and a lean leg of mutton 67% water, 19% protein and 13% fat. Venison, like beef and other common meats, is thoroughly digestible, whatever the method of cooking.

In some nutrition tests conducted in 1944 at the Technological Laboratory of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at College Park, Md., proximate analyses and vitamin assays were determined on cooked samples of domestic rabbits, raccoons, opossums, muskrats and beavers.

Proximate Analysis

Vitamin Assays

Hunters and trappers depend upon game for their meat. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Photo.

On the average, game birds furnish a little more protein than the so-called red meats, but the two classes, red and white meats, are equally healthful. It is probable that as regards ease of digestion the method of cooking, as well as differences in composition or texture, has an effect on both white and red meat.

The share of food contributed by game to the average table is at present relatively small, and it is surprising to realize how few persons in this country have ever eaten game. Most American families, in fact, have never even tasted it.

In more recent times game has been hunted primarily for sport and the emphasis has been on recreation rather than on the necessity for obtaining food. Therefore, game meat has not been utilized to the fullest possible extent in supplementing the domestic meat supply and little time has been devoted to the proper preparation and cooking of wild meat.

If game meats were used more commonly and a taste for venison and wild fowl cultivated, there could be more variety in the diet with practically no increase in cost. Game is not expensive if one shoots it but if it is brought home and not cooked properly it is a total loss. Many an ardent hunter has hastened home, bubbling over with enthusiasm about his prize game kill, only to have it ruined by improper cooking. While the cooking of game is not difficult, it does require special knowledge for its preparation and cooking.

INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY IN RELATION TO WILD GAME MEAT

The Indian is familiar with many methods of obtaining food and cooking it without having recourse to exotic suggestions. Carl Sylvester¹ says, "The Indian considers it a sacrilege to kill any edible wild animal and throw away the carcass. All the fur animals are skinned and the Indian saves the fur and utilizes the meat. Big game animals are also skinned for the hides and are treasured property. Some organs of big game animals are eaten raw by the Indian but the flesh is always cooked.

"Buffalo, deer, elk, antelope, mountain sheep and bear are eaten and also rabbit, squirrel, chipmunk, muskrat, groundhog, prairie dog, coyote, wolf, and other wild animals are relished by the Indian.

All porcupines are stout, heavily built animals with blunt rounded heads, fleshy, mobile snouts, and coats of thick, cylindrical or flattened spines. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Photo, by Donald A. Spencer.

"The porcupine is usually not skinned but singed. Before this is done the workable quills, hair and tail are removed. Quills are used for ornamenting clothing, hair for the head dress and the tail for a head comb. After the carcass is dressed it is cooked and eaten.

The Indian utilizes practically the entire body of the wild animal he kills. Even the blood is saved for blood pudding. Mr. Sylvester also states that he could tell more about