GJgo
Member
Well folks, it's marmot season here in CO. Thinking about going after a few to warm up for big game season. Save for prairie dogs & coyotes I like to eat what I shoot. So, are they worth eating? Any recipes? Thanks 
Does anyone eat Marmot?
- Thread starter GJgo
- Start date
- Status
I've heard that some of the Native American tribes around these parts have some recipes for marmot, but I haven't ever had the privilege of trying any.
Mongolians apparently hunt and eat them: http://www.e-mongol.com/mongolia_culture_cooking-recipes.htm#Marmot boodog
That actually sounds kind of good, but it does take some effort.
Mongolians apparently hunt and eat them: http://www.e-mongol.com/mongolia_culture_cooking-recipes.htm#Marmot boodog
That actually sounds kind of good, but it does take some effort.
HighExpert
Member
I don't know but I killed a ground hog this last weekend and couldn't quite bring myself to try it. He WAS burrowing under my house and had to go.
OP
OP
GJgo
Member
Any place I'd go to take them would be over 10,000', and I'd think anything they're eating up there should make them taste better than their low lying counterparts!
birdshot8's
Member
I worked with a Navajo man on a job last summer. We were going through a large prarie dog town, when he said, he wished we could stop, so he could shoot a couple for supper. i thought he was pulling my leg, but he insisted they were tasty. I questioned him about possible deceases, and he explained his method for preparing the PD for the table.
I talked with a guy who managed a mine in the desert for a while. He was playing around with a .22-250 early in the morning before work started, shooting jackrabbits, and some Navajo guys said that, if he collected them, they'd get the stuff ready and make a feast.
They cooked a stew with jackrabbits, spices and vegetables in a big pot over an open fire all day, now and then checking on it and stirring. When quitting time came, he said it smelled wonderful and tasted even better. It's all about knowing how to cook something -- most people wouldn't touch desert jackrabbit, because they think it tastes awful.
They cooked a stew with jackrabbits, spices and vegetables in a big pot over an open fire all day, now and then checking on it and stirring. When quitting time came, he said it smelled wonderful and tasted even better. It's all about knowing how to cook something -- most people wouldn't touch desert jackrabbit, because they think it tastes awful.
armoredman
Member
Louisiana Hot Sauce, made even Navy food taste good.
Floppy_D
Member In Memoriam
It still does.
I've heard of folks eating groundhog because it was "grass-fed" like good beef.
~z
Member
AB, that is correct, it IS pretty good stuff. I'm headed back to Mongolia next week and look forward to a heaping helpin of boodog. Amazing people over there
~z
W.E.G.
Member
Tastes just like chicken... If you drink enough Tequila.
jimmyraythomason
Member
Well,my dad did get that hungry. During the great depression(dad was just a kid) my grand dad killed any ground hog (no marmots around here) possum or raccoon he found and my grandmother would bake it. Anything that COULD be eaten was. There was no choice other than starvation.
FLAvalanche
Member
How big to those things get? About the size of a groundhog?
Joe Demko
Member
Some folks around here eat groundhogs which are a species of marmot (Marmota monax). I've tried them and they were somewhat similar to squirrel, although larger. Key to their preparation is the removal of fatty scent glands from the critter's "arm pits." Last time I had it, the carcass was soaked overnight in salt water. It was then cut up, dredged in seasoned flour and fried. The pieces were then arranged in a glass baking dish, covered with canned spaghetti sauce and baked in a 350 degree oven with foil over the dish until the meat was fork tender. It was actually pretty tasty.
Just checked Wiki, yes they all Genus Marmot, Sub-genus Marmota, either ground hog or woodchuck or just plain Marmot, and yes Mongolian seemed to like them, but I think I'll pass ;-)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmota
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmota
I see where no one that has actually eaten them (Marmots) has answered. Well, that now ends. I've eaten them (from CO for that matter). First off, I selected relatively young ones, but that was cansidering tenderness, not flavor. Skinning them cleanly is a bit of a challenge, because their burrowing life style makes them a bit "dirty", meaning just plain old dirt in the fur. I found the best way was to wash them off well in a creek, then skin them while still wet--it kind of helps capture loose hair. Once skinned then eviserate as a rabbit or any other mammal. There is a gland (eluded to by someone earlier) under each forefoot (armpit) that should be removed. No big deal, it's kind of tanish color, easily seen, easily removed. I cut them up like a rabbit and fried them--pretty good, but chewy. So I tried pre-cooking them a bit in a preasure cooker, then frying. Much better. They are quite good. I've also made stew out of them--excellent, maybeso better than fried. At any rate, edibility is good. Big ones are quite tough (chewy). When I lived in CO there was no season or limit, as there is now. I've eaten many of them, and not because I was starving. They are fine fare! Try it. You'll like it! Good Luck!
Forgot to mention that I mostly only ate head shot ones--easier/cleaner to dress out.
Forgot to mention that I mostly only ate head shot ones--easier/cleaner to dress out.
caribou
Member
Sriksrikpuk as they are called here are delicious.
Grasses and Herbs, berrys and flowers from the Tundra make the meat very mild and tatsey with LOTS of fat between the layers. Mmmmmmmm juicy and awsome.
I cook em split in half and roasted over coals. Salt n pepper and your good to go. I personally carry Tiger Sauce, its great on most any dark meat.
We get them up on mountain sides, in the rocks.
I head shoot them with my M-39, usually at much less than 50 yards, they are very wary.
Grasses and Herbs, berrys and flowers from the Tundra make the meat very mild and tatsey with LOTS of fat between the layers. Mmmmmmmm juicy and awsome.
I cook em split in half and roasted over coals. Salt n pepper and your good to go. I personally carry Tiger Sauce, its great on most any dark meat.
We get them up on mountain sides, in the rocks.
I head shoot them with my M-39, usually at much less than 50 yards, they are very wary.
OP
OP
GJgo
Member
Heh thanks for the first hand experience guys. I'd wager the adult ones I see up in the high country are in the neighborhood of 20 lbs walking, big fat critters. Have to be as cold as it gets up there. With any luck I'll report back after the hunt.
bad_aim_billy
Member
I've had marmot--shot a fat one and put it in the crockpot with barbeque sauce and spices, along with onions. Tastes a lot like pork, but the meat is quite dark. Very tasty overall.
Red Cent
Member
Notice my origins. Still have my teeth and I don't chew. Don't fool around with cousins.
Whistle pig hunting in WV is a pasttime welcomed by the farmers and most anybody else. I was raised in a rural part of WV. Putnam County. 18 Mile Creek.
Later, when I would go for a pig hunt, Mom (grandmother) would say bring me back a young'n and we will cook it. Cooked it like a chuck roast after soaking all night in vinegar and water. Downright delicious. Tasted like chuck roast.
We did not shoot until after May 15. Did not want to leave little ones to starve in the ground. Around July was the best time to harvest pot fare.
Remember a few high knolls that I have carried the cannon (13# 22-250) up and bedded down with two friends. A jug and a ....a....uhhh friend. Memories.
Yes, we ate squirrels. Mom would par boil the squirrel parts, including the head. Make a white pepper gravy out of the broth and put them together. Take the handle of a butter knife, crack the skull open and it was squirrel pate'. Very good.
Rabbits we usually fried. Roll in flour, and fry in the water from boiling the potatoes. After they were fried add a little flour and milk to the crispins and you had the best gravy, even better than Jeb's and Grannie's.
Whistle pig hunting in WV is a pasttime welcomed by the farmers and most anybody else. I was raised in a rural part of WV. Putnam County. 18 Mile Creek.
Later, when I would go for a pig hunt, Mom (grandmother) would say bring me back a young'n and we will cook it. Cooked it like a chuck roast after soaking all night in vinegar and water. Downright delicious. Tasted like chuck roast.
We did not shoot until after May 15. Did not want to leave little ones to starve in the ground. Around July was the best time to harvest pot fare.
Remember a few high knolls that I have carried the cannon (13# 22-250) up and bedded down with two friends. A jug and a ....a....uhhh friend. Memories.
Yes, we ate squirrels. Mom would par boil the squirrel parts, including the head. Make a white pepper gravy out of the broth and put them together. Take the handle of a butter knife, crack the skull open and it was squirrel pate'. Very good.
Rabbits we usually fried. Roll in flour, and fry in the water from boiling the potatoes. After they were fried add a little flour and milk to the crispins and you had the best gravy, even better than Jeb's and Grannie's.
ThePunisher'sArmory
Member
Now Ive never got the chance to shoot one but if I did I would use a .223. Now If one was shot at less that 100yrds what would really be left to eat????? Seems to me it would explode in a grand spray of blood, bone, and metal. (sorry to get so graphic
)jaybirdjtski
Member
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2009
- Messages
- 35
Let's see.....steroid fed meat, pesticide laden veggies, salmonella in eggs, e coli in lettuce. The media has you fooled. What you have to worry about is what is being sold in Safeway. Eating a marmot would certainly be better for you than say, a Big Mac, fries and a Coke. People eat muskrat, possum, rabbit, squirrel, porcupine, alligator, snakes, grubs, grasshoppers, moose nose, etc. I love bear but to hear some folks talk you would think that it would make you sick. Tastes like the best pork you have ever eaten. Heck! Saw a show the other night and the ultimate delicacy was maggot-laden cheese!
My guess is that cooked correctly, a marmot would be delicious. Probably a high fat content so you would cook accordingly.
My guess is that cooked correctly, a marmot would be delicious. Probably a high fat content so you would cook accordingly.
General Tso
member
- Status
