Learning to love Canada Geese

[Sniper-T]

I came across this article and just had to share. great info here!!

Canada geese get a bad rap. We all know this goose. It's the one that chokes our parks, wanders around our neighborhoods, and leaves great cylindrical snakes o' crap all over the place. Sky carp. Flying rats. Stinking, arrogant hissing birds that frighten children.

Yeah, Canadas can be all of these things. But in the right circumstances they can be wonderful at the table, in many ways better even than either a domestic goose or a wild specklebelly goose, which is known to those of us who hunt them as "the ribeye of the sky."

I managed to return from my sojourn to Manitoba with five Canada geese, and since then I've been busy trying to elevate what most people view as barely a step above vermin.

I should start by noting that there are Canada geese and there are Canada geese; incidentally, it is most definitely not a "Canadian goose." That drives me nuts. The geese I shot happened to be Canadian because I killed them in Manitoba. But the species is correctly known as "Canada goose." Got it? Good.

As I was saying, there are all sorts of geese that look like Canadas, from tiny Aleutian geese no larger than a mallard, to the Giant Canadas, which can reportedly top 18 pounds. That, my friends, is one big-ass sky carp...


more here:

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2010/10/learning-to-love-canada-goose/64450/

[4suchatimeasthis]

We have them year round in this area. Boy, those pictures make it look good......"here goosey, goosey, goosey"!

[Brownwater Riverrat 13]

Hey Sniper, that was a good read! I thank you very much and I appreciatecha! I'm going to print that one out, as many of those suckers are flyin around here in TN I know I'm going to end up with them hangin out in our two ponds that we are going to build. Last time I had goose was when i was a wee lad up in Montana with me Grandparents. Pops used to go "Moosin and Goosin" all year round. RIP..........I remember pickin a pellet out of my mouth but I don't recall if I liked it or not. But the article makes me a person that says "If I shoot one of these suckers we have a proccess now" Thanks again. Yeah I know.........long answer, thank you, whatever..............

[Sniper-T]

I have been hunting them and eating them for many many years. if anyone is interested, I can augment that article with some other personal information about some other techniques, and recipes

[Brownwater Riverrat 13]

Yes please:p

[ladyhk13]

Last time I had goose .............

Don't make him crazy....It's a GEESE, not a GOOSE!! :)

[Sniper-T]

One thing that struck me as odd in the article is how he would hang it for a couple days to age(tenderize) it. While that part makes sense, assuming your climate allows it, the whole 'guts still in' thing kinda seems wrong. Personally I would rather take the meat from the bird, and age it in the fridge in a marinade, or with a dry rub. Goose guts REALLY do stink when they are fresh, I cannot imagine what the inside of that bird will smell like after 2 days!!

There isn't a rush/panic to clean it ASAP either though. When hunting, it could be several hours from the time the firstone hits the deck to when you're packed up and back at a appropriate location to clean them.

Probably 90% of the geese we get are simply breasted. That is where the bulk of the meat is, and it takes a fraction of the time as dressing the whole bird. There is next to no meat on the wings, and if you're a thigh-guy (or gal), it is easy enough to grab them too. AND... this can be done without even opening up the stomach or tuching the guts.

I like the idea of the neck sausage, and will see about plucking one this weekend, if I'm lucky enough to shoot one. As you get later in the year, they get more and more pin feathers, which make plucking really REALLY nasty.

[Sniper-T]

I wasn't able to save a neck skin, The only ones that weren't full of pin feathers were full of holes.

I did make some decent jerky out of one bird. I had breasted it, so just had two nice slabs of meat.

I sliced them up about 1/4 inch thick, and then mixed some spices and sauces together, and gave them 8 hours, the dehydrated for another 8.

Typically I like to give them an hour in the smoker too, but didn't have the time for this batch.

marinade 1:
Cajun Seasoning
Cayanne
Garlic powder
Onion powder
cracked black pepper

rubbed everything in good, then put into a small ziplock bag and poured in enough chulula sauce to make it 'soupy'. shake it up, and flip it around whenever I had the fridge open.

Marinade 2
Italian Seasoning
Greek Seasoning
Garlic powder
Onion Powder
Bay leaf
Rosemary sprig.
into another bag, with a generous squirt of fat free Italian salad dressing. Shake and toss as with the other.

Dehydrate at 95 degree for 8 hours, flipping once about 1/2 way through

Turned out wonderfully!

[4suchatimeasthis]

Thanks Sniper! I can't wait to try this! Hubby informs me we need the stamp, and then a few of those "flying rats" are MINE!!!! :)

[Sniper-T]

Easy cleaning 101

If you are just breasting the bird, it is easiest to lay it down on its back, reach through the feathers at the chest with both hands, and pinch the skin about 1/2" apart. then just give a sharp pull to tear the skin.
If you cannot tear it, or just get tufts of feathers, grab a pinch of skin with one hand and poke pointy knife through with the other.
cut a decent sized gash, then you can work a finger or two in between the skin and the meat. work it around to seperate as much skin away as you can, then pull and tear.
expose both breasts from the sternum to the neck, from wing to wing. Using your sharp knife, cut down on one side of the breast ridge, down to the ribcage, from by the belly to up past the wishbone (if you wish, you can take the wishbone out first to make things a little easier. "fillet" the meat from the ribs, towards the back until it is all off. Repeat on the other side

Seperating the skin is usually easiest when the bird is still warm, but can be done anytime.

wash and bag, and you're good to go

If you like some of the innards, have a decent set of kitchen shears handy, or tin snips. After both breasts are off, if you cut through the ribs on either side, from the nexk down a couple inches, and reflect the sternum down, the tasty parts (heart, gizzard, and liver is in the chest cavity right there, and you don't have to muck around in the intestines.

[4suchatimeasthis]

I have butchered hundreds of chickens, I am hoping it is similar. I step on the wings close to the body, pull the feet, and tada - the bird pops out of it's skin, no plucking required. I don't care for organ meat, but gutting usually doesn't bother me, unless goose guts are somehow significantly worse than chicken. Only one way to find out.....

[Sniper-T]

Out of all the things I have gutted, I hate goose the most! I would rather be up to my armpits (or more) inside a moose, than even have to open up a goose sac.

You will NOT be able to pull apart a goose like a chicken. The are way more attached to themselves.

I clean chickens the same way, except instead of stepping on them, just grab their head and wings in one hand and their legs in the other and pull. keeps the fresh meat from possibly hitting the ground, and somehow it works out that you don't get as bloody

[Brownwater Riverrat 13]

Easy cleaning 101

If you are just breasting the bird, it is easiest to lay it down on its back, reach through the feathers at the chest with both hands, and pinch the skin about 1/2" apart. then just give a sharp pull to tear the skin.
If you cannot tear it, or just get tufts of feathers, grab a pinch of skin with one hand and poke pointy knife through with the other.
cut a decent sized gash, then you can work a finger or two in between the skin and the meat. work it around to seperate as much skin away as you can, then pull and tear.
expose both breasts from the sternum to the neck, from wing to wing. Using your sharp knife, cut down on one side of the breast ridge, down to the ribcage, from by the belly to up past the wishbone (if you wish, you can take the wishbone out first to make things a little easier. "fillet" the meat from the ribs, towards the back until it is all off. Repeat on the other side

Seperating the skin is usually easiest when the bird is still warm, but can be done anytime.

wash and bag, and you're good to go

If you like some of the innards, have a decent set of kitchen shears handy, or tin snips. After both breasts are off, if you cut through the ribs on either side, from the nexk down a couple inches, and reflect the sternum down, the tasty parts (heart, gizzard, and liver is in the chest cavity right there, and you don't have to muck around in the intestines.

Took awhile to get back to this but you just answered my question. I was going to say......If the damn thing stinks so bad and it's such a pain in the ass why can't you do it just like wild turkey and "de-breast" it? Well you just did my Royal Canadian Yaksman friend. So how's about some Caribou? Got any of that layin around that you could herd down my way? Hear they can be mighty tasty too!

[Sniper-T]

Caribou is good, ALthough VERY VERY lean meat. I enjoy it best as a bacon wrapped steak on the que, or a crock pot roast. In my near area, we only have Woodland Caribou, and they are protected. The Barren ground ones are 1000 miles North of me, and I personally have never chartered up for them. Although many friends do, and fortunately for me they are horn hunters, and pass off a good pile of meat in exchange for a few homecooked Caribou meals.

Moose is by far my favourite big game animal to eat, probably followed closely by bear, deer, buffalo/bison, and then Caribou. In my mind, it is not worth the charter cost to go for Caribou, as I don't care about horns, and there isn't enough meat on them to justify the cost

http://www.canadianwildernessoutfitters.com/cwoprice.html