Hunting a Grouse with a House: Local Food Stories

David Syring Apr 20, 2009 3 Comments

What’s the most interesting story you can tell about eating “something local”?

I might be the only person you’ve ever heard of who actually hunted a grouse with a house. About seven years ago I lived on Morris Thomas Road. One day my daughter (then 7) and I were sitting and reading a book together when we heard a tremendous bang against the large plate glass window on the front of the house. When we looked outside we found a grouse dead on the lawn. My daughter, ever responsible and serious at the time, said we shouldn’t let the animal go to waste.

I’ve never been a hunter, so I called the DNR and asked the very nice man who answered the phone if there was any reason (legal or health-related) that I couldn’t eat that bird, and he proceeded not only to reassure me it was alright, but also to carefully explain how to skin the bird and prepare it. We ate it for dinner and my daughter and wife both declared it was the best winged creature they’d ever eaten.

What’s the oddest local food story (either acquiring, preparing or any other) you have?

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3 Comments

vicarious

about 16 years ago 

One Easter when I was a kid, my Mom served an unknown meat, telling us it was roast beef. The next day I found out it was squirrel - shot by my cousin in the backyard. Pretty local.

Tim K

about 16 years ago 

A very similar thing happened to my family when I was a kid. We lived in Kenwood at the time and we, too heard a loud "smack" against the picture window in the living room. We went outside to look and discovered a pheasant flopping around with an obviously broken neck. One of my older brothers put it out of its misery and my Mom proceeded to clean it. That was supper that night! Apparently the nuns over at Scholastica put out feed for pheasants by the cemetery and it attracts a fair number of wild (game) birds.

Calk

about 16 years ago 

I lived out in the country when i was a kid and we ate our barnyard animals all the time. I'm still traumatized over it. At least we did not eat our horses. More like the ducks, chickens, and lambs.

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