The Modern Survivalist

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Survival and Bushcraft go hand in hand with knives! This group is about anything survival/bushcraft! Show us your videos...what's in your Altoids survival kit? What kind of paracord wrap do you prefer for your neck knife? That kind of stuff...

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Wildlife recipes you wouldn't normally know

by Jan Carter

Jul 17, 2015

Rattlesnake Skinning and Dining

If you live in the country there’s a fair chance that you live with rattlesnakes. Some folks kill them and throw them aside, but rattlesnake meat is actually pretty tasty and nutritious, and the stretched skins are beautiful, too! Preparing a fresh snake isn’t for the faint of heart. Take your decapitated snake and bury the head to keep pets and critters safe. If it was killed recently, it will probably still be wiggling and coiling. You just have to work around that. Hold it firmly and slit the skin where the head was attached. Stick your finger into the slit, grab the skin and yank downward. You should be able to remove the whole skin; it will turn inside out. Or cut carefully down the middle of the belly and gently peel it off. The rattle can go with the skin. For a 3- to 4-foot snake, melt a quarter of a stick of butter in a frying pan. Sprinkle the meat with salt and your favorite spices. Add snake meat and brown. Once browned, turn heat down, cover (with lid slightly off to allow steam to escape) and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the lid for the last 10 minutes to reduce juices. However you decide to prepare it, make sure to cook the meat for at least half an hour to tenderize. The meat can be eaten from the spine and ribs, similar to fried chicken. We preserve our skins by nailing them on a board and rubbing hand lotion into both sides several times while they dry. 

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  • up

    Lars Ray

    American Pronghorn Stew

    This is a stew I submitted in a Phoenix Chili Cook-off competition and won two years in a row....once with Pronghorn, the second with Elk. I like this stew a lot – and I mean a lot. I adapted it from our traditional Polish stew that uses lamb and goat. Loaded with hearty, healthy ingredients, it can be used with any meat really; beef, pork, venison, rabbit, or other wild game are equally suitable for this stew.

    But if you want to win a competition, you better use something exotic!

    Day 1 - Smoke the meat. Use any smoking technique you prefer - keeping it low and slow. I smoked 5 pounds Pronghorn in oak for 3 hours at 200 degrees. We don't want to cook it through, we just want a heavy flavoring. Remove meat from the smoker, let rest over night.

    Day 2 - Make the Stew

    Ingredients:

    3 lbs

    boneless Pronghorn leg and shoulder, or leg of lamb or lamb shoulder trimmed of excess fat, cut into 1 1/2" pieces

    1 1/2 lbs

    small yellow potatoes halved or quartered into 1" pieces

    1 lb.

    button mushrooms thickly sliced

    4 oz

    bacon (4 strips, chopped into 1/4" strips)

    4

    medium carrots 10 oz, peeled and cut into 1/2" thick pieces

    4

    Garlic cloves, minced

    2

    bay leaves

    1

    large yellow onion, diced

    4 C

    low sodium beef broth or stock

    1 1/2 C

    good red wine

    1/4 C

    all-purpose flour or gluten free flour

    1/4 C

    parsley finely chopped for garnish

    1 Tbsp

    tomato paste (I use my favorite BBQ sauce)

    1/2 Tbsp

    sea salt for the lamb plus 1 tsp for stew

    1 Tsp

    black pepper for lamb plus 1/2 tsp for stew

    1/2 Tsp

    dried thyme

    Directions:

    1. In a 5Qt Dutch oven, sauté chopped bacon over medium heat until browned and fat released. With a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to a large plate.
    2. While bacon cooks, season Pronghorn pieces with 1/2 Tbsp salt and 1 Tsp pepper. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup flour and toss to coat. Cook Pronghorn in 2 batches in hot bacon grease over medium heat until browned (3-4 min per side) then transfer to the plate with bacon.
    3. Add diced onion and sauté 2 min. Add garlic and cook another minute, stirring constantly. Add 1 1/2 cups wine, scraping the bottom to de-glaze. Add sliced mushrooms, bring to simmer then cook uncovered 10 min. Preheat Oven to 325˚F.
    4. Return bacon and lamb to pot and add 4 cups broth, 1 Tbsp tomato paste, 1 Tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 Tsp dried thyme and 2 bay leaves. Stir in potatoes and carrots, making sure potatoes are mostly submerged in liquid. Bring to a boil then COVER and carefully transfer to preheated oven at 325˚F for 1 hour and 45 min. When done, potatoes and Pronghorn will be very tender.

     Serves 8...unless you're really hungry - then only serves 4. :-D

    Aug 30, 2021

  • up

    Jan Carter

    WOW that really sounds good!

    Aug 30, 2021

  • up

    Kevin D

    I have had speed goat just a couple of times.  But I had never really been that impressed with the meat.  Elk is FAR better in my opinion.  I will have to add this one into my list, and try antelope again.  THANKS!

    Lars Ray said:

    This is a stew I submitted in a Phoenix Chili Cook-off competition and won two years in a row....once with Pronghorn, the second with Elk. I like this stew a lot – and I mean a lot.

    American Pronghorn Stew

    1.  Serves 8...unless you're really hungry - then only serves 4. :-D

    Feb 17, 2023