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    • David Petersen
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        Post count: 2749

        I took these pics an hour ago while on a dog walk (12x tele). The herd has been growing daily. I counted 35 and feel sure there are more on the far side of the ridge (a quarter-mile from the cabin). It’s that time of year here and while I love it, I’d rather be seeing turkeys right now. Oh well, we all have to suffer through our hardships. 😆

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      • WyoStillhunter
          Post count: 87

          It’s good to know they are making it through the winter. I saw a couple hundred last Saturday as I battled a wicked cross wind on I-80 near the Snowy Range west of here (Laramie, WY).

        • James Harvey
          Member
            Post count: 1130

            Nice pics Dave! That is a tough situation, unable to find the turkeys for all the elk that are blocking your view 😆

            I went walking some hills yesterday looking for any sign of huntable ferals and found several species of wallabies instead. Jumped a few that were bedded down but I also got the jump on some as they were feeding. We’re not allowed to shoot natives so they were safe from me, I was just watching. It’s hard to be disappointed with the natural world isn’t it?

            Edit: I took these pics with my iPhone held up to an 8x bino from about 25m away.

            I’ve cropped the lense shadow out of the pics.

            Mike, in answer to your question below, my ‘jumping’ the wallaby looked a lot more like slithering like a snake!

          • paleoman
            Member
              Post count: 931

              Some of my better dreams look like that.

            • Col Mike
              Member
                Post count: 911

                What Paleo said x2:D

                Jim how do you get “the jump on a wallabie”? 😆

                Today while stumping I was looking for bear and the darn turkeys like to over run me—total 19 hens and 4 gobblers:D

                14 more days.:lol:

                Mike

              • Bruce Smithhammer
                  Post count: 2514

                  I envy your lack of snow, Dave! At least at this point in the season. How are you guys doing for water in general?

                  A dozen elk were bedded on the south-facing hillside behind our house this evening, taking in the last of the evening sun. Hopefully before long I’ll be able to get up into the hills without skis or snowshoes and look for some sheds…

                • Stephen Graf
                  Moderator
                    Post count: 2429

                    That’s some steady work Jim!

                    You say you can’t eat the natives… no natives? I thought roo meat was on the menu?

                    I always figured I’d get back to my homeland one day and hunt kangaroo. For some reason they appeal to me in that way.

                  • Ptaylor
                    Member
                      Post count: 579

                      Great photo Dave, looks like the snow is melting over your way.

                      Jim, uh what planet do you live on again?:lol: Such an awesomely weird and foreign place to me!

                    • David Petersen
                      Member
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                        Post count: 2749

                        Hammer — All that burned-over brown terrain is white this morning with 2″ snow, hallelujah! By this afternoon it will be brown again, but the new grass a brighter shade of green. It’s great while it lasts. Most of the state is at or above average snow pack, except down here in the SW banana-belt corner where we are way dry. The local reservoir hasn’t filled in many years now. Nothing weather-wise here is as it used to be.

                      • James Harvey
                        Member
                          Post count: 1130

                          Steve, I eat roo all the time 😉 But the harvesting of them is fairly tightly controlled and limited to commercial enterprises that must use rifles. Grazers are allowed to cull them as well to protect their grazing land from being eaten, but again must use rifles.

                          People shoot them with bows all the time, it’s not like there’s any shortage of roos here, but it’s illegal in every case. Which is a pity as they are truly delicious.

                          Preston, it is a weird and wonderful world here. But you wouldn’t believe how excited I get when I see deer or squirrels or any of your ‘normal’ wildlife 😀

                        • David Petersen
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                            Jump-monkey Jim — Please give the best description you can of how roo are “delicious.” Please don’t say “tastes like chicken.” What is the texture, color of meat, closest thing (other than chicken) you can equate it to? Rabbit? Deer? In the “face” they remind me of a cross between rabbit and deer. The rest is purely unique. We watched a youtube video on the history or Aboriginals coming to Oz, some 60k years ago. The present-day group of foraging people they used to represent the first arrivals, killed a red and I was amazed how they prepared it–they dug a pit and built a big fire and let it burn down to coals, then shoveled out some of the coals and tossed the roo in whole, ungutted, on its back, then refilled over it with hot coals so that only the “feet” were sticking out. Then ate it beyond rare. You never know what may taste great and it’s often best not to go into the kitchen while it’s being prepared! It doesn’t appear they are much of a challenge to hunt, eh? Unless of course you’re using a spear.

                          • James Harvey
                            Member
                              Post count: 1130

                              Dave,

                              Never fear, it doesn’t taste like any bird I’ve ever eaten. A point to note is I’ve only ever eaten eastern grays. Western grays are reportedly quite similar, euro’s are described as so oily to be barely edible and I don’t really know anything about reds. Anyway, I’m so used to eastern grays now I’ll struggle to do it justice so will describe it as I remember first encountering it.

                              I remember the smell first, so rich, gamey and pungent, like beef that had been aged too far and gone bad. It’s very lean, very dark red meat. I was hesitant eating it the first time, because the smell was so off putting, but once it was cooked the smell was all but gone. I remember the flavour being like a toned down version of the odor. So rich and gamey in comparison to beef to seem almost bad.

                              I have not had too much deer meat, but the gamey flavours were similar. The roo I’ve had has had a richer more robust flavour than the deer I’ve eaten though, but like I said, not a fair comparison from my tiny deer sample.

                              Fast forward to now and I breath deeply through my nose and start salivating at the smell of raw roo. It’s very easy to overcook as it’s so lean and roo rookies often complain of that after their first attempt. But if you treat it right (which in my opinion means rare at most) it is the most succulent red meat I’ve had the pleasure of eating.

                              I hardly eat any beef anymore and generally find it pretty watery and tasteless in comparison.

                              Here is a roo cut guide (they really do look like a big bunny with their skin off). Unsurprisingly the tenderloins are the choice cuts and the easiest to prepare. The thigh steaks are also great.

                              That whole roo cooking technique doesn’t surprise me and probably represents the very earliest techniques of human cooking don’t you think? Like the !Xo persistance hunting representing early methods of bringing down large game. But Aboriginal culture here was very diverse, from simple hunter/gatherer societies like that to the little kingdoms of the south east that conquered neighbouring tribes and made slaves of them.

                              I don’t think anything in Australia is going to be much of a challenge to hunt compared to what you have in America, due to our general lack of hunting pressure. Emu’s are next to suicidal as they’ll generally come running to check out any movement they see and stop within bow range wondering what you’re up to. Roo’s would be effortless with a rifle, but any herd animal is going to be challenging with a tradbow, specially given the open grasslands and woodlands roos tend to favour. They’ve spent 10’s of thousands of years being hunted at least, so they’re not dodos 😀

                              Wallabies while very skittish are generally solitary which makes for a much easier stalk. That whiptail pictured above had the wind behind it and I had some wonderful dead ground with soft green grass to walk through before belly crawling the last 20 metres or so to the little ridge I took the photos from.

                              Wow, I just wrote a lot more than I intended when I set out to tell you what roo tastes like so I’ll leave it there 😉

                            • Stephen Graf
                              Moderator
                                Post count: 2429

                                I knew they’d be good!

                                I have the same reaction to beef. It’s tastless muck compared to wild meat.

                                But I think it’s a bit unfair to the cow. I expect it would be fantastic meat if it was truly grass fed…

                              • David Petersen
                                Member
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                                  Thanks for the excellent info, Jim. I’m afraid that’s likely as close as I’ll ever come to eating roo. It’s great to have a local abundance of meat you love to eat, whatever it is or was. The resemblance to giant vertical rabbits is truly amazing.

                                  Speaking of hunting, I hear that another Ozzie got munched by a shark. Here’s a puzzle to make nightmares: Would it be “better” to get ‘et by a shark, or a crock? 😛

                                • James Harvey
                                  Member
                                    Post count: 1130

                                    Haha, Dave the results of that macabre thought experiment probably come down to the individuals own fears.

                                    A croc is probably just going to drown you and eat you after you’ve aged a while. I’ve almost drowned a couple of times, there’s nothing to it. It’s just like breathing except it doesn’t work 😉

                                    Sharks on the other hand don’t seem to have an opinion on whether or not you live or die, they just take bites out of you like a sandwich. I have seen some pretty gnarly footage of a woman getting dragged around the water by a great white, Jaws style, while it was half heartedly pulling her leg off.

                                    Maybe if the shark was big enough you wouldn’t even know what hit you. But you can’t count on that, sharks are unreliable friends at best.

                                  • Col Mike
                                    Member
                                      Post count: 911

                                      I believe in another thread Hammer made the comment “these comments require further scrutiny, probably by a professional.” I disagreed, I was wrong:shock:

                                      Don’t believe I will be kayaking or boating with ausjim or Dave. You can just imagine their conversation when the croc appears or the great white:roll:

                                      Mike

                                    • James Harvey
                                      Member
                                        Post count: 1130

                                        colmike wrote: I believe in another thread Hammer made the comment “these comments require further scrutiny, probably by a professional.” I disagreed, I was wrong:shock:

                                        We all make mistakes Mike 😉

                                      • Col Mike
                                        Member
                                          Post count: 911

                                          Jim

                                          Yes, but I keep a record of mine and it’s the first one this century. Only had one last century and it started with “I swear” trying to not make those error’s in my waning years:D

                                          Back on trad thread–for mom–I shot my bow today:D

                                          Mike

                                        • Ralph
                                          Moderator
                                            Post count: 2580

                                            Don’t wanna get anyone’s blood stirring or anything.

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