Question about geese

[antharper]

Never been much of a waterfowl hunter but my daughter is wanting to give it a try and I live close to big lake that has a lot of geese and was thinking about giving it a try , but I really don’t want to kill them unless they are good to eat , so my question is do y’all that hunt them eat them , I guess I’ve just heard they weren’t fitting to eat , if so how do y’all cook them ?

 

[Duckbuster82]

Best way I have found is either jerky or make it in the crock pot. Potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, onions, beef broth, Lipton French’s onion dip mix and goose. Let it cook a few hrs and you can pull it apart with a fork.

 

[bear claw]

I'm not a waterfowl hunter either but I do try to get 1 or 2 a year. I just slice the breast up thin marinate in a lil dale's an black pepper. It makes good jerky pilgrim.

 

[across the river]

I second the jerky, as you can make some pretty good jerky from them. I have a buddy that makes sausage from them, that is really good. I know he does add some pork fat to them though.

 

[Athos]

Put the breast in a bag with Light olive oil and Montreal steak seasoning for 3 hours (has to be extra Light, not extra virgin). Then add to the bag whatever you would to marinade a steak (chopped garlic, lemon juice, Worcestershire, splash of dales).

Let that sit for a couple hours, then grill to internal temp of around 130 just like a good steak. Let that baby rest for about 20 minutes, and slice it against the grain.

 

[jrmcc]

Don't overlook a goose breast seared to medium rare in a skillet. Past medium it gets a beef liver taste to it. Pluck the feathers and cook with the skin left on. Sausage and jerky might be the best and quickest option if you kill a bunch. If you only get one or two the skillet goose isn't bad at all. Treat them like a steak not poultry. Goose and chicken are nothing alike.

 

[cowhornedspike]

Delicious to eat. And easy.
Filet breast meat off and cut into 2 or 3 large chunks per half. Put in crock pot and cover with large can of cream of mushroom soup. Use more soup if needed to cover well. Cook on high for about an hour and then turn down and leave on low the rest of the day (6 hours or so at least).
Soup makes best gravy for mashed potatoes or rice. Meat tastes like roast beef to me and all I have served it to unless you tell them it is goose before they taste it. Best and easiest way to cook it.

 

[antharper]

Thanks everyone , just the info I was looking for !

 

[Para Bellum]

antharper, I disagree with everything above. Making a resident goose taste good is like putting lipstick on a pig. Bottom line is, they're gross.

Specklebelly goose = yum. Migrating, flyway Canada geese = yum. Snow goose = yuck. Local, resident Canada geese that eat off of sewage treatment facilities, heavily fertilized, herbicized and pesticized golf courses, business park parking lots, etc. = bad for your health. Go have fun though. You're not going to do any detriment to anything by not eating the nasty things. Use them for erosion control.

 

[kmckinnie]

Thanks everyone , just the info I was looking for !

Grind into sausage. I’ve had snow geese sausage. Not bad.

 

[Athos]

antharper, I disagree with everything above. Making a resident goose taste good is like putting lipstick on a pig. Bottom line is, they're gross.

Specklebelly goose = yum. Migrating, flyway Canada geese = yum. Snow goose = yuck. Local, resident Canada geese that eat off of sewage treatment facilities, heavily fertilized, herbicized and pesticized golf courses, business park parking lots, etc. = bad for your health. Go have fun though. You're not going to do any detriment to anything by not eating the nasty things. Use them for erosion control.

I want to disagree here, but the point stands: it totally depends on what the goose has been feeding on and what the ‘residence’ of that resident goose was. If the lake where they are taken is in an area where they can forage in fields, etc., that is a whole different creature than a neighborhood, suburban sewage goose.

 

[Para Bellum]

I want to disagree here, but the point stands: it totally depends on what the goose has been feeding on and what the ‘residence’ of that resident goose was. If the lake where they are taken is in an area where they can forage in fields, etc., that is a whole different creature than a neighborhood, suburban sewage goose.

It does depend on what the goose has been feeding on but I respectfully beg to differ on the latter. "Resident" translates loosely to year round. Migratory geese migrate from diminishing resources to plentiful resources (food and cover). Resident geese make do with what's available where they are. With nowhere inside the gooses migratory range or region capable of producing year round food and cover, resident geese must ingest things other than waste grain to live no matter where the residence.

 

[Dustin Pate]

I think they taste quite good. That said, if you are wanting to hunt where I think you are, those are the most pressured, shot at birds you'll ever face.

 

[MudDucker]

If it ain't a speckled belly, fix it some way to hide the taste.

 

[antharper]

antharper, I disagree with everything above. Making a resident goose taste good is like putting lipstick on a pig. Bottom line is, they're gross.

Specklebelly goose = yum. Migrating, flyway Canada geese = yum. Snow goose = yuck. Local, resident Canada geese that eat off of sewage treatment facilities, heavily fertilized, herbicized and pesticized golf courses, business park parking lots, etc. = bad for your health. Go have fun though. You're not going to do any detriment to anything by not eating the nasty things. Use them for erosion control.

These are resident geese but they should be good , I’ve been feeding them corn for about 2 months , they eating 50lbs a day !

 

[antharper]

I think they taste quite good. That said, if you are wanting to hunt where I think you are, those are the most pressured, shot at birds you'll ever face.

That’s funny u say that and I’m sure it’s the area u speak of , but I’ve deer hunted this spot for several years and only ever seen one group hunting them or ducks , I hunted there this past Sunday and had to see at least 100 or more geese , they were all headed the same direction about 5 or 6 different groups , but maybe one shot and they disappear , they just don’t seem that smart but I’ve never even shot at one , maybe I’ll find out

 

[Goatman70]

I like to cube them or make into andouille (sp?) sausage

 

[Athos]

It does depend on what the goose has been feeding on but I respectfully beg to differ on the latter. "Resident" translates loosely to year round. Migratory geese migrate from diminishing resources to plentiful resources (food and cover). Resident geese make do with what's available where they are. With nowhere inside the gooses migratory range or region capable of producing year round food and cover, resident geese must ingest things other than waste grain to live no matter where the residence.

True, but making do with what’s available in a rural area and making do with what’s available in a subdivision can be drastically different things.

Regardless, I’ve killed resident geese that were phenomenal on the table. Not to say that all are, but it’s certainly possible.

 

[Quackmasterofgeorgia]

Run through a cuber and fry them

 

[GeorgiaBob]

Greasy, very, very greasy. But if you prepare it carefully (I already read several appropriate recipes above) and pay attention to draining off, or otherwise addressing the grease, goose be good eating.