Home Forums Birds & Dogs Waterfowl Anybody eat Coots ?

Goofy looking critters - anyone eat’em ?

Nash Buckingham had a recipe for coot from a lady in the south..

I knew a guy who loved coots. He'd take all we could shoot....he pickled them. YUCK!

used to breast them out and make a stew with them. Now it would be tacos. For a long time where I hunted didn't have the.

Heck yeah! We shot our limit of cans one morning and my buddy busted out his 410 to make the coot shootin an little more sporting. Clean them and throw them in with the rest of the meat. I made a canvas coot for the spread just for fun.

The limit is large so if they can be made good to eat it would make for a better day of shooting.

Andrew Zimmerman of Bizarre Foods did a show in Louisiana, seems like coot and nutria were on the menu. Of course Andrew smacks his lips and "says that good".

They taste a lot better than merganser.
But that isn't saying much.

The old story here is that you season them up for coot and gravy, but also put a rock in the pot. When everything is done, you throw out all the meat and eat the rock.

The fact that you would know that speaks volumes.........

My dad said if you shoot it you eat it. I've shot one merganser. He had a good laugh.

As far as coot goes, I've soaked them in a brine and chopped up the meat and used it in Jambalaya or Gumbo but mainly I chop them up and used them for dog food. They love it and l like blasting them when nothing else is flying.

Sounds like a show for the MeatEater........

Poule d'eau gumbo

I tried getting the hide of a merganser last year... I don’t think it can be done.

Then again, you might not notice the difference of chewing on it’s hide from the breast meat anyway.

Ducks are plentiful and failing that bologna is cheap, why would you?

A coot is just a support system for a gizzard ... it is HUGE. Not too bad either.

My attempts to make a meal from the rest of the bird have been kind of painful.

First time in 30 years coots showed up here. In the san joaquin valley of my youth they were by the millions. If you squeeze the mud out of them , mix it with flour and fry it ,the taste will be the same as the coot!
Had a flight of greenwings wheel about 30 yards out. Shot one with a 2 dollar round. When i picked it up it turned into a merganser! Tried to give it to my lab and she spit it out and walked off with a glare😆

Coot gizzard gumbo....pol deaux?......Cajun friends used to talk about it.....gizzards cleaned, diced, sautéed with bacon, then added in place of chicken in chicken & sausage gumbo.....it’s a meat filler in stuff like that. If you have the time to clean and fool with it, it might be worth the trouble.

Don't Cajun's call them water chicken? My uncle was a provincial conservation officer and avid hunter. He said coots were fine to eat. I believe him, but I've yet to put it to the test. He and my cousin also swear by Sandhill Cranes, too.

Does cooter count? Had a lot of that...