Today at preschool I noticed a small child in camo pants with a toy shotgun. (We don't have play guns at school so I knew it was from home, he turned out to be the little brother of a student) At first I thought maybe his parents were part of a separatist group I was unaware of in my suburban neighborhood. I commented to his mom (not about the separatist thing.) She said that tomorrow is the start of Turkey season (I always thought that would be November!) and that her son was excited because his dad was a hunter.
It piqued my interest. So I asked her about that. How many turkeys can you get? Do they eat anything wild besides turkey. (They do) How do her kids like it? (Apparently her daughter will not eat any meat daddy doesn't hunt) and why (Dad likes hunting and Mom likes lean meat with no hormones and without having to worry about how they were raised & of course, price is a factor for them.) It was all so Pa Ingalls. I imagine that there are costs involved with a permit, ammo, and of course, method of hunting. But I also imagine the cost of hunted game is VERY LOW per pound of meat. Another take on providing for yourself in an unconventional way (Though, hunting, has been, the conventional way of providing fresh meat since about the beginning of mankind!)
We don't hunt at our house. We're not morally opposed to it, we just don't have the interest, skill, inclination, and if the truth were known, stomach,to kill our own food. (although my husband DID skin a squirrel last October.) If you ARE morally opposed to it and you still eat meat you may want to consider the conditions your own food is grown/slaughtered under before you make a value judgment about hunting. I do know if I lived near the ocean I would go clamming and gladly eat fish from the sea. (The Lake? I don't know about the type of quality or fish in there.)
All in all, a really interesting conversation about eating locally & a (Now) non-traditional way of feeding your family that doesn't involve supermarkets & tons of fossil fuel)
Good for your neighbor ridding the world of a few more pesky turkeys. I've been bitter a wild turkeys ever since they dented my car and tried to attack my kids last year. :)
ReplyDeleteWe don't hunt but I know a lot of people that do. It's part of the Minnesota/Wisconsin culture. We do fish, but catch and release since we're both too squeamish to gut a fish. I'm thinking of forcing myself to do it, though. I love fresh fish.
I don't know if NY has anything like this but someone just told me that here in MN there is a website the DNR maintains telling you how safe the fish is in each lake in the state. Considering there ares about 12,000 lakes here, that's pretty amazing.
Oh yes! I remember that turkey incident Stella!!!
ReplyDeleteThat's a great resource for fish safety and awesome that they do that! I may have to have Will start fishing!! He can clean them actually but it IS such a mess.
When we were in Florida they had this fishing charter that the guys went on. They would take you out on this boar to fish and then clean the for you when you returned. Then there was a neat restaurant next to the place where you could take the fish and they would cook it up for you however you liked! That actually has nothing to do with feeding your family cheaply of course! But it was pretty neat!
What a cool idea! That sounds like it would be fun even if t isn't frugal.
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