Can you eat raccoon year round?

You can not hunt them year around....at least not here in ill-annoy.

You can eat about anything year round. Cows, piggies, bunny rabbits, raccoons, etc. They will still taste the same regardless. Fur isn't worth much in the summer.

Oysters R in season. What round to you recommend for the oyster. Sorry - moderators - chastise me for this.

Only in months with an “R” in them.

I believe that hard freeze story is an old wives tale.

ColtPythonElite said:

I believe that hard freeze story is an old wives tale.

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I did some reading on that and there was some validity to the tale. Basically they can carry some mites and diseases that are an issue. The solution was wear gloves while handling them until they are skinned and gutted. I would guess raccoons would be the same way.

As far as hunting them year round you are good to go with a just a hunting license in the Lone Star State. I'd probably eat rural hunted raccoon anytime of the year even though I haven't. I guess I've never been that hungry! Just cook it well done to kill any parasites like the round worms.

edit: TPWD link ~~~~~> https://tpwd.texas.gov/regulations/outdoor-annual/hunting/fur-bearing-animal-regulations/

I've had raccoon a few times.
You're not missing anything.

About the only thing that eats them around here are buzzards and bald eagles.

Armored farmer said:

I've had raccoon a few times.
You're not missing anything.

About the only thing that eats them around here are buzzards and bald eagles.

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If yotes won't eat them, they can't be ok! That's my general policy anyways..... If yotes won't touch it round here, then I won't either, some raccoons do get eaten from time to time but in general the bugs get em first (and not for a lack of yotes) idk what's different about the rare occasion trash panda that DOES get eaten, if the yotes are particularly inexperienced or desperate that day or if the raccoon itself is different from others somehow but here at least, they've been taken off the menu. Snake, rabbit, etc, are still on the menu though.

There was an old sharecropper who lived on the edge of our lease in Alabama. Every time I brought him a coon, he barbecued it and called the neighbors. He invited me too but I declined.

Coons are really thick here. I trapped them a few winters ago. I probably took 3 dozen or more. I hauled their carcasses to a spot about 400yds from my house hoping to snipe some coyotes off them.....no takers. At least that I saw. I guess you gotta be hungry to eat a frozen coon.

Armored farmer said:

I've had raccoon a few times.
You're not missing anything.

About the only thing that eats them around here are buzzards and bald eagles.

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I hear ya, Mcdonald s sounds better to me.

Armored farmer said:

I've had raccoon a few times.
You're not missing anything.

About the only thing that eats them around here are buzzards...

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That says a lot, even on skunks they always start at the back.

I have not even seen a buzzard eat a coon and I've seen them eat skunk.. Coyotes won't eat them. Nothing eats opossum that I've seen and they have a similar diet to coons.

Kevinq6 said:

I know you are supposed to only eat rabbits after a hard freeze.

Had a friend who was wanting a raccoon pie. We have plenty of them at the ranch and I'd rather eat one if I shoot one if it's safe.

Thanks!

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Only if you want to, I don't want to.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

I think people are quick to judge without tasting things.
Food is my profession, culinary degree and about 20years of experience with many different facets of the industry. To put it bluntly most people are terrible cooks. Taking it down to smaller group, hunters, most are mediocre butchers and even worse chefs ( not all mind you) and all that combined with the environment that animal is in play a big roll in how it tastes. I honestly believe most bad tastes associated with game meat are a combination of poor handling in the field AND the kitchen.
While I have yet to eat a raccoon ( it’s on the list) I have eaten some odd ball stuff including ground squirrels and most notably a coyote. I seared the backstrap to well done 165* and it tasted remarkably like pork.
So if legal in your area, go ahead and eat that raccoon should you want to. Most of my hunting is due to a curiosity of what an animal tastes like. It’s a fun way to explore the world.
General Tso’s rattlesnake anyone?

My brother-in-law grew up literally dirt poor in Arkansas. He said raccoon wasn't regular table fare, but they ate it when they got some. It's apparently rather greasy, and most of the recipes I've seen say to boil the carcass first to remove some of the fat/grease and then cook it however you want. There are enough hogs around here such that I haven't been tempted to cook up a raccoon, but if someone offered me some I'd eat it. I don't think there's a closed season or a limit on them in Texas.

Barbaroja said:

To put it bluntly most people are terrible cooks.

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I’m not saying I am not a terrible cook, I very well could be. Might be why, I prefer to cook meats that I can make taste good.

I also always enjoy how often people that are talking about preparing odd foods also always compare the results to things everyone always enjoys, generally using the word “like”.

“Try this, it tastes like chicken.” Really, in that case, I’ll just have the chicken...

No man in his right mind would tell his wife, the chicken dinner she prepared (if he is so lucky), tastes like rattlesnake. Unless it is well known that her rattlesnake is better than her chicken.

ColtPythonElite said:

I believe that hard freeze story is an old wives tale.

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It may be just that......or perhaps the diseased ones check-out during the first good cold spell! I for one, am gonna wait for cold weather.....which also helps put the Copperheads, rattlers, and Cotton Mouths to sleep! memtb

DocRock said:

Only in months with an “R” in them.

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Supposedly only wild ones; most are farmed now for year round consumption

I've eaten armadillo, gator, snapping turtle, rattlesnake, coots, gallinules, and even possum but never had the nerve to try coon. No coyote or bobcat for me either.

Well they steal Cat food about every night here so I could bag one whenever I wanted to, but then what? Cook it? I wouldn't even want to clean it. I clean Deer, Game Birds, Squirrels and Rabbits every year, but Raccoon? To eat? I know what their diet is, just about anything including the Feces of other animals. I've eaten Bear and some have told me Raccoon taste's like Bear. I'll take their word for it. Here's an old photo, but still my back yard every night.

Coon is fine if cooked right, but is greasy like goose, so it lends itself better to BBQ than to other methods. I'm not sure about coons, but rabbits are prone to have ringworm (called wulves around here), ticks, and other parasites until after first frost. As long as you clean well and cook thoroughly, they can be eaten any time.