Hunting Pigs in BC

[Rockfish]

Obviously you have never eaten the dreaded Newfanise special -Flipper pie!!! That's one delight I hope to never partake of again-ever!!!LOL

Really off topic now.

I have eaten flipper pie. Put in a request with some friends who flew home for a visit to Bell Island a couple of years ago. When you live on a big rock, your ancestors learn to eat what’s available. They brought back some frozen flippers and gave me a package and a copy of the recipe. I decided it was best to let them cook it up and get it right so we picked up some live lobsters and we had an east coast dinner. Essentially flipper pie when well prepared, to me tastes just like beef stew with lots of gravy and vegetables and homemade biscuits on top. The seal flipper meat is very dark, almost black so it looks a bit different and was not fatty. In my experience it is sometimes fat that can give you a gamey taste but that was not the case with this flipper pie. I thought it was tasty and one of the quintessential Canadian experiences, but I did enjoy the lobster a little bit more.

Now if you want to taste something different try Beaver (save the jokes). One of the wild game fund raising dinners I attend for habitat restoration usually has it, presumably from a trapper. It is certainly an unusual flavor being a giant semi-aquatic tree eating rodent.

My guess is that in another 40 years of vertical human population growth and environmental destruction, humans will be very happy indeed to be eating seals, assuming ocean acidification has not killed them all indirectly by killing off the base of the food chain.

For now, politically the only ones who could get away with harvesting Seals in BC are First Nations despite Seal populations being at "Historical Highs" because their two primary predators, Transient Killer Whale populations are down and Humans now prefer Big Macs.

 

[Fish Assassin]

Heli Hog Hunting video..... http://vimeo.com/m/21181307


I want to go.... Looks like a ton of fun

 

[IronNoggin]

Really off topic now...

... I thought it was tasty and one of the quintessential Canadian experiences...

Lived in the Western Arctic more than a few years. There, anyone with Residency Status can shoot seals. And of course, it is still a staple in the Inuvialuktun diet. Shot a few myself, some in the name of science (and did find some interesting things out about them as a consequence), some to prevent their interference with science (fish tagging and enumeration projects) and some to chow down on.

Didn't take long to realize that the ONLY ones to eat were the first year juveniles. Between their first and second (and subsequent) years they accumulated a LOT of fish oils, and to me, tasted like I imagine liver dunked in cod liver oil might.
BUT, much to my surprise, the yearlings were excellent table-fare! So much so I even drug a few home for The Missuz to try, and She agreed: "Tender Vittles - Bring Home At Will!"
Had a good handful of recipes for them by the time we departed...

Back To Topic: I have also eaten wild pigs on many occasions. Javelina do not qualify in my books. Bush pigs in Africa were superior to wart-hogs, but the latter were good once marinated a spell. Ones in the SW US were a little stringy, flavor good - excellent for hams. The ones in Alberta were Excellent all round... I suspect that any living any real distance from agricultural lands in the BC Wilds might range somewhere between Wart-Hogs and Peccaries in terms of being "palatable"...

That said, I certainly will not go out of my way to turn one down when out there now...

Be downright interesting to find out in fact...

Cheers,
Nog