What to do with turtle?

BattleRifleG3 · 06-16-2004, 01:59 AM

Of course I'd first check to see if they were endangered, and then what the laws are for taking them...

But GunGeek and I came accross four soft-shelled turtles today, and an even bigger one on our last canoe trip, and...

Well...

We kept trying to figure out what to do for dinner, and those turtles kept coming to memory. But I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it. I'm not a soup fan, but my great uncle told a childhood story of catching a turtle and his mother using it for dinner (this was during the depression). So anyone know how you'd go about cooking up a turtle?

NRAJOE · 06-16-2004, 02:06 AM

http://www.backwoodsbound.com/zturtle.html

Big Dog · 06-16-2004, 06:00 AM

BRG3, turtle is basically "white meat" - prepare it just as you would chicken.
Once the shell is opened, you're after the four masses of leg meat.
It can be a bit stringy, especially an older "cooter", but it tastes good. Batterfried, it does indeed "taste like chicken". It can also be cooked in gravy, and served over rice.
Gopher tortoises are very good eating too, but alas are protected down here. Big no-no to kill one.
Snappers and the big Alligator Snappers are very tough - not worth the bother unless it's a survival situation.

Rooster · 06-16-2004, 09:10 AM

I've had snapper and it was de-licious, not tough at all, nice and tender. Matter of fact it did taste just like chicken.

colt45 · 06-16-2004, 10:24 AM

i would stay with the sanper, myself. i know up here in NY along the chadicion river and the allagany it is illeagle to mess with the soft shells at all. not sure what they'r status is south of the NY border.

colt45 · 06-16-2004, 10:25 AM

and the snaper is good eating, lots of work but well worth it
just mind the head it can still bite for up to 6 hours after it has been lopped off, never believed it till one darn near took my lil finger off when i was 12. that one had been cut off for at least 4 hours before i picked it up.

BattleRifleG3 · 06-16-2004, 04:16 PM

Ok, I had the impression that all snappers were soft shelled, can someone clarify the difference?

ScottD · 06-16-2004, 04:38 PM

Soft shell turtles have an almost round shell that is rather flat and it will have spots on it. Also the head is very point toward the snout.

Snapper shells are bumpy and domed, but not like a box turtle and the head will have a very wicked beak on it. Something you do not want to get a hand near.

So what do you have?

Shoot what am I telling you for you're on the web look it up.

Rooster · 06-16-2004, 04:44 PM

Oh you guys are talking about turtles - I thought you meant "snapper"!

I have actually eaten snapping turtle and it is like chicken- good white breast meat type meat

BattleRifleG3 · 06-16-2004, 04:54 PM

After checking pics online, the turtles we saw were definitely snappers. Anyone know how to pry one off of you? I've heard there's a secret to it.

Oxford · 06-16-2004, 05:32 PM

Wait for thunder. That'll do it.

ScottD · 06-16-2004, 07:03 PM

Or is it when he77 freezes over.

asgard_prince · 06-16-2004, 09:11 PM

.22mag and a crow bar

colt45 · 06-16-2004, 10:08 PM

mine took a visit to the ER where they cut it in half took 45 min. and alot of stiches.

BattleRifleG3 · 06-16-2004, 11:10 PM

Suppose a cordless Dremel would help?

squrrilJerky · 01-30-2005, 03:23 PM

while fishing with my 9yr old daughter
we caught the same 25 pound snapper
3 times so i dragged it ashore
and dispatched it
i turned some of it into chili some into stew
it was awsome
the rest i deepfried
an made it into "buffalo wings"
well worth the effort
my daughter an wife really loved how it
moved long after it was cut into small pieces

squrrilJerky · 01-30-2005, 04:33 PM

i forgot i made red chowder
also very good
alot of times you can find them crossen the street
easy dinner

Apollyon67 · 01-30-2005, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BattleRifleG3

After checking pics online, the turtles we saw were definitely snappers. Anyone know how to pry one off of you? I've heard there's a secret to it.

A straw up its nose is what I have been told. I catch them for a buddy of mine.

gunssb · 01-30-2005, 07:53 PM

there aint no way I'm eating a turtle...my cousin used to keep em as pets and they would eat up roaches like nobody's business

squrrilJerky · 01-30-2005, 11:33 PM

the turtles i run into dont see many roaches....thank god

06-16-2004, 01:59 AM	#1
BattleRifleG3 Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Western PA Posts: 11,429 Images: 13	What to do with turtle? Of course I'd first check to see if they were endangered, and then what the laws are for taking them... But GunGeek and I came accross four soft-shelled turtles today, and an even bigger one on our last canoe trip, and... Well... We kept trying to figure out what to do for dinner, and those turtles kept coming to memory. But I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it. I'm not a soup fan, but my great uncle told a childhood story of catching a turtle and his mother using it for dinner (this was during the depression). So anyone know how you'd go about cooking up a turtle? __________________ Trust is earned, not... GIVEN away. - Worf

06-16-2004, 02:06 AM	#2
NRAJOE Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Toledo,OH Posts: 19,177 Images: 3	http://www.backwoodsbound.com/zturtle.html __________________ U.S. Army 1976-1979 237th Combat Engineers Heilbronn, Germany

06-16-2004, 06:00 AM	#3
Big Dog Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Tallahassee, Florida Posts: 10,359	Turtle - the other white meat! BRG3, turtle is basically "white meat" - prepare it just as you would chicken. Once the shell is opened, you're after the four masses of leg meat. It can be a bit stringy, especially an older "cooter", but it tastes good. Batterfried, it does indeed "taste like chicken". It can also be cooked in gravy, and served over rice. Gopher tortoises are very good eating too, but alas are protected down here. Big no-no to kill one. Snappers and the big Alligator Snappers are very tough - not worth the bother unless it's a survival situation. __________________ Moderator of: AR15/M16, M14/M1A, New/Beginning Shooters and Militaria/Collectables. Last edited by Big Dog; 06-16-2004 at 06:02 AM.

06-16-2004, 09:10 AM	#4
Rooster Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: SW FLA Posts: 186	I've had snapper and it was de-licious, not tough at all, nice and tender. Matter of fact it did taste just like chicken. Last edited by Rooster; 06-16-2004 at 09:13 AM.

06-16-2004, 10:24 AM	#5
colt45 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Occupied Territories of New York (Buffalo) Posts: 2,898	i would stay with the sanper, myself. i know up here in NY along the chadicion river and the allagany it is illeagle to mess with the soft shells at all. not sure what they'r status is south of the NY border. __________________ "A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity" -Sigmund Freud, General Introduction to Psychoanalysis "If guns cause crime, all of mine are defective." - Ted Nugent "Self-defense is Nature's eldest law." -John Dryden

06-16-2004, 10:25 AM	#6
colt45 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Occupied Territories of New York (Buffalo) Posts: 2,898	and the snaper is good eating, lots of work but well worth it just mind the head it can still bite for up to 6 hours after it has been lopped off, never believed it till one darn near took my lil finger off when i was 12. that one had been cut off for at least 4 hours before i picked it up. __________________ "A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity" -Sigmund Freud, General Introduction to Psychoanalysis "If guns cause crime, all of mine are defective." - Ted Nugent "Self-defense is Nature's eldest law." -John Dryden

06-16-2004, 04:16 PM	#7
BattleRifleG3 Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Western PA Posts: 11,429 Images: 13	Ok, I had the impression that all snappers were soft shelled, can someone clarify the difference? __________________ Trust is earned, not... GIVEN away. - Worf

06-16-2004, 04:38 PM	#8
ScottD Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Evanston, IL Posts: 1,020	Soft shell turtles have an almost round shell that is rather flat and it will have spots on it. Also the head is very point toward the snout. Snapper shells are bumpy and domed, but not like a box turtle and the head will have a very wicked beak on it. Something you do not want to get a hand near. So what do you have? Shoot what am I telling you for you're on the web look it up. __________________ "Some people can not live without wilderness"-Aldo Leopold

06-16-2004, 04:44 PM	#9
Rooster Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: SW FLA Posts: 186	Oh you guys are talking about turtles - I thought you meant "snapper"! I have actually eaten snapping turtle and it is like chicken- good white breast meat type meat Last edited by Rooster; 06-16-2004 at 07:31 PM.

06-16-2004, 04:54 PM	#10
BattleRifleG3 Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Western PA Posts: 11,429 Images: 13	After checking pics online, the turtles we saw were definitely snappers. Anyone know how to pry one off of you? I've heard there's a secret to it. __________________ Trust is earned, not... GIVEN away. - Worf

06-16-2004, 05:32 PM	#11
Oxford Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Gladstone, Missouri Posts: 13,073 Blog Entries: 4	Wait for thunder. That'll do it. __________________ "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right".

06-16-2004, 07:03 PM	#12
ScottD Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Evanston, IL Posts: 1,020	Or is it when he77 freezes over. __________________ "Some people can not live without wilderness"-Aldo Leopold

06-16-2004, 09:11 PM	#13
asgard_prince Senior Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: BACKWOODS PA Posts: 168	.22mag and a crow bar __________________ ALL FEAR THE SENTINAL

06-16-2004, 10:08 PM	#14
colt45 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Occupied Territories of New York (Buffalo) Posts: 2,898	mine took a visit to the ER where they cut it in half took 45 min. and alot of stiches. __________________ "A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity" -Sigmund Freud, General Introduction to Psychoanalysis "If guns cause crime, all of mine are defective." - Ted Nugent "Self-defense is Nature's eldest law." -John Dryden

06-16-2004, 11:10 PM	#15
BattleRifleG3 Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Western PA Posts: 11,429 Images: 13	Suppose a cordless Dremel would help? __________________ Trust is earned, not... GIVEN away. - Worf

01-30-2005, 03:23 PM	#16
squrrilJerky Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: coventry,rhode island Posts: 79	while fishing with my 9yr old daughter we caught the same 25 pound snapper 3 times so i dragged it ashore and dispatched it i turned some of it into chili some into stew it was awsome the rest i deepfried an made it into "buffalo wings" well worth the effort my daughter an wife really loved how it moved long after it was cut into small pieces

01-30-2005, 04:33 PM	#17
squrrilJerky Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: coventry,rhode island Posts: 79	i forgot i made red chowder also very good alot of times you can find them crossen the street easy dinner

01-30-2005, 07:53 PM	#19
gunssb Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: socal Posts: 1,833	there aint no way I'm eating a turtle...my cousin used to keep em as pets and they would eat up roaches like nobody's business

01-30-2005, 11:33 PM	#20
squrrilJerky Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: coventry,rhode island Posts: 79	the turtles i run into dont see many roaches....thank god