You are splitting hairs.
A well trained dog, hawk or ferret will take game/meat and not damage it
Hi, I have never hunted before but my step-dad will be teaching me how to use his shotgun soon and we'll be going after pheasants or rabbits. He assures me that they will be fine to eat afterwards but what concerns me is that a shotgun shot will go through the animal in multiple places, piercing the internal organs and thus contaminating the meat?
I am right in thinking this or does it not matter once it's cooked?
Actually hunting involves hounds. Hence Hunting, shooting and fishing being listed as separate pursuits. In the UK hunting means hunting to hounds.
It's how close you are with a shotgun that affects the eating quality. Up close you pepper the thing. You will be spitting out shot all through dinner.
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Or working out how to clear out shot from the toilet pan.....it wasn't me it was a friend...honest
I agree at least partly; it shouldn't damage it. In fact that's the whole point of my post; that piercing an organ (whether by a shot pellet, a rifle bullet, or an animals fangs/talons) won't hurt the meat. I have some experience as I've hunted foxes and coons with dogs (on foot rather than on horseback over here) Granted we didn't eat either one, we sold the furs instead, but we did usually give the coon carcasses to somebody who did eat them. But then again, I also said that shooting it won't normally damage it either.
But the reference to trapping is anything but splitting hairs. Hunting is hunting, trapping is trapping, and fishing is fishing; they're not interchangeable.
I thought the OP was concerned about splitting hares!
I think you have been reading too many articles on preparing game meat written by people who don't hunt.
Clean the meat, cook it, and you'll be fine.
Don't over think it.
Does it make more of a difference if it is a large animal then? Here is one of the recommendations in this article...
https://www.avma.org/public/Health/Pages/Disease-Precautions-for-Hunters.aspx
"Avoid abdominal shots because they lead to contamination of the meat and can cause the animal needless suffering. If any intestinal contents of the game come into contact with meat, the meat should be considered contaminated and should be cut off and discarded. Do not feed the contaminated meat to other animals, or they may become infected."
Once in a while a ferret may make a kill underground but any damage is usually confined to the neck and head area as these are the natural target of most predators.