Do you eat coots?
- Thread starter Texas Star
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Rpg
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I don't eat em.
I don't shoot em.
I don't shoot em.
rojodiablo
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They provide good target fodder for young, learning hunters.
And, they make good fun targets for older, bored hunters as well.
As to their edibility, they tend to eat worms, snails, and roots much like spoonies, and the meat is a bit on the salty side, with a mud/ liver flavor.
Some have a large breast, as was noted by EQGuy. But I have shot a couple over rice, and they tasted a bit less salty, but still the flavor and texture was not very good.
I tried 3 of them, and from 3 different places. All 3 were not tasty.
Brian41
Member
I tried them when first duck hunting. I decided not to shoot them or Mergansers and concentrated on better tasting ducks more fit for the table.
My wife never did like ducks much either. She did like my duck soup though and I'd make a big batch of that during duck season. Maybe coots would be better in a soup too I don't know.
I did use some coot decoys mixed in with duck decoys though as it made for a more realistic spread and was a confidence builder for wary ducks.
My wife never did like ducks much either. She did like my duck soup though and I'd make a big batch of that during duck season. Maybe coots would be better in a soup too I don't know.
I did use some coot decoys mixed in with duck decoys though as it made for a more realistic spread and was a confidence builder for wary ducks.
vigil617
US Veteran
So, are young coots called cooties? 
vigil617
US Veteran
Ducks equal Chinese turkey!
What do Coots equal?
Ducks = Chinese turkey
Coots = Chinese roadrunner
OP
Texas Star
US Veteran
In view of your board name, I suspect that you may hunt in Africa. I know what a .450 No. 2 ctg. is...
If so, will you mention some game species and rate them as table fare? Among birds, how are guinea fowl and sand grouse? Are Kori bustards eaten? Do most of the smaller antelope, through impala size, taste much like our deer? What about the big ones: sable, roan, eland? I've read that eland is pretty good, and the little Thomson's gazelle and the South African springbok look tasty, as do bushbuck. If memory serves, Robert Ruark said that waterbuck is too greasy, stringy, and wormy to be good human fare. But it was okay to hang out as a leopard bait.
Anyone who's shot much African game, please reply.
CAJUNLAWYER
Member
Actually it's Poule d'eau which is french for water chicken. We've filled out many a duck gumbo with poule d'eau and nobody knew the difference.
Breast them out-soak them in milk for a while, season and smother down and they're not half bad.
rojodiablo
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That about sums up their taste to me also......... if they were about twice as good tasting- THEN they would be 'half bad'!!!!
That about sums up their taste to me also......... if they were about twice as good tasting- THEN they would be 'half bad'!!!!
No, if they were twice as good tasting, they would just be bad.
MrTrolleyguy
US Veteran
....that will do more for their survival than putting them on the endanger species list...
I was brought up to respect all animals and to only take an animal for food or if it posed a danger. Certainly coots dont cause any danger and I had learned from others they were not worth shooting. A friend of mine told me about an old recipe his family had passed down. Take your bag of coots and remove the breast meat, soak it in buttermilk overnight, the next day place the breasts on a well greased cedar board and put in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. When done scrape the coot into the garbage and eat the board.
Seriously I have probably eaten critters most people would never try and coot is by far way down on the list of good eats. You can put just about anything in a stew with enough garlic and onions to make it passable eating and thats about where you are going to find coot really edible. Its right down there with squaw-fish and they are only acceptable if brined and smoked.
Seriously I have probably eaten critters most people would never try and coot is by far way down on the list of good eats. You can put just about anything in a stew with enough garlic and onions to make it passable eating and thats about where you are going to find coot really edible. Its right down there with squaw-fish and they are only acceptable if brined and smoked.
I now know why their called mud ducks around here
We call them Mud Hens here. Sounds tasty!
You do have to watch out for the Old Coots, they can get pretty gamey.
(There seems to be a lot of them on this forum........
You took the words right out of my mouth.
mwtdvm
Member
Recipe for coots..
From my father who grew up poor during the depression in Kansas.
Clean the coot. Put in a pot with a brick. fill with water.
Boil for two days.
Eat the brick.
Never shot one as I thought they were inedible.
From my father who grew up poor during the depression in Kansas.
Clean the coot. Put in a pot with a brick. fill with water.
Boil for two days.
Eat the brick.
Never shot one as I thought they were inedible.
John Eilertson
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It may be that I don't have the keenest taste buds, cuz I will always take coots if I can't get any "real" ducks. We're allowed 25 per day here in Oregon. Those that I have killed have comparatively small breasts to most ducks, but I've never tried the legs. Yeah, they're a bit on the gamey side, but with my less than picky taste buds it's alright with me. I have yet to brine them, but that may not improve them enough to make that worth my while. I have a history of eating almost everything I catch or shoot, meaning muskrats, possum, rattlers, rockchucks, jackrabbits, beaver, porcupine, turtles and others. So, again, I'm not especially picky. Coots aren't the best, but to me they're definitely better than nothing. (NOT a bird that offers much in the way of ''pass shooting'', though, but if you want you can shoot them out of the air.)
mstuhr
Member
Not for the kill and burn style cook
Howdy,
I have floated Missouri rivers the biggest part of my life.
Most the time we go with the least amount of stuff due to weight and room.
I remember that it was the week the first Star Wars movie was released and on the Osage river in late Feb. or early March. Fishing was poor. Hunting was poorer. We were cold and hungry and a coot offered himself up to the 4" 27.
It was picked, put on a spit and roasted over a fire with salt and pepper.
I love the smell of fire cooked meat. Not this thing. It gave new meaning to the word "Stink". No disappointment, it tasted as bad as it smelled.
They get a free pass now up to the point where I'm starving.
They would have to be a lot better marinated in most anything.
Thanks
Mike
Howdy,
I have floated Missouri rivers the biggest part of my life.
Most the time we go with the least amount of stuff due to weight and room.
I remember that it was the week the first Star Wars movie was released and on the Osage river in late Feb. or early March. Fishing was poor. Hunting was poorer. We were cold and hungry and a coot offered himself up to the 4" 27.
It was picked, put on a spit and roasted over a fire with salt and pepper.
I love the smell of fire cooked meat. Not this thing. It gave new meaning to the word "Stink". No disappointment, it tasted as bad as it smelled.
They get a free pass now up to the point where I'm starving.
They would have to be a lot better marinated in most anything.
Thanks
Mike
