# Dealing with snapping turtles



## backwoodsman (Jan 21, 2010)

Curious about everyones methods/opinions on dealing with snapping turtles? Do you harvest them for your own consumption? For the market? We use setlines and search for them by hand as all nets are illegal here for turtles and any type of turtle trap is also illegal. Grampos used no.3 and no.4 foothold traps to catch them before.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

I would catch them in my seines when harvesting my ponds. I would just slip them into a bucket or tote and haul them to the river for release.


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## Micheal (Jan 28, 2009)

Having only known one person that ate turtle I've never really given them much thought. 
There are people around here that kill turtles just because and others that let them be. I fall in the latter group - just let'em be.
Oh and yes, I do have snappers and other varities of turtles in my pond....


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## WstTxLady (Mar 14, 2009)

I fall into the, they need to go due to eating up all the fish category. There have been too many times fishing, to catch a fish with pieces missing out of it. Im not feeding the turtles my fish, they are for us.


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## JJ Grandits (Nov 10, 2002)

I knew a guy who put in ponds who got a call from one of his clients saying the water smelled bad. They drained the pond and found over 300 ducks stuffed under the banks by snapping turtles. We are lousy with them around here.


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

Micheal said:


> Having only known one person that ate turtle I've never really given them much thought.


It tastes like chicken. Really, honestly it does. I know people say that about every animal to describe it, but turtle tastes like chicken.
I would eat the things if they are coming out of your own pond.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

JJ Grandits said:


> I knew a guy who put in ponds who got a call from one of his clients saying the water smelled bad. They drained the pond and found over 300 ducks stuffed under the banks by snapping turtles. We are lousy with them around here.


Never heard of turtles caching food for later use. They are only smart enough to stay with their kill until they've consumed it. Mink will do that just for the fun of killing.

Parts of a turtle will taste like chicken, especially the neck area. Legs are more like pork while rump has a slightly fishy taste. Been eating them for as long as I can remember. Other than the usual soup, one of the best is "turtleburger". Boil the meat until it falls off the bone and then grind it along with some onion and mix with cracker crumbs. Form into patties and then just nicely brown them. For a great sandwich spread, add a sweet pickle with the onion when grinding and mix with mayo. 

Martin


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

I've ate them all my life and I am now 63. I like them cooked many ways but the best way I like them is to parboil them then deep fat fry them with a layer of some thing to put a crust on them.

 Al


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## Chuck R. (Apr 24, 2008)

Iâve got a bunch in my 9 acre pond, and so far weâve had a peaceful co-existence going. Iâve caught a couple by accident in leg-hold traps when I was after muskrats and Iâve just let them go. 

This past weekend we had a couple with their kids out fishing and when they pulled in their stringer of bass the largest was pretty much eaten by a snapper. So it looks like Iâm going to thin them out some.

Do you guys that eat them hold them in clean fresh water for a couple days? Or just go ahead and clean them right away?
Chuck


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## charliesbugs (Feb 25, 2007)

I never heard of turtles caching their food, as they are not big eaters of carrion or rotten food as someone else said. They will stay with something they kill till it is gone or filled up. Fresh bait is always best, and something I argue with guys is they can"t smell their food they taste it with their mouth open,as they breathe through their nose,anybodys thoughts on this??


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

mekasmom said:


> It tastes like chicken. Really, honestly it does. I know people say that about every animal to describe it, but turtle tastes like chicken.
> I would eat the things if they are coming out of your own pond.


I always thought chicken tasted like turtle myself


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

Had Turtle couple days ago just Baked it up.

I always skin mine wash them up soon as I get them.

big rockpile


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

JJ Grandits said:


> I knew a guy who put in ponds who got a call from one of his clients saying the water smelled bad. They drained the pond and found over 300 ducks stuffed under the banks by snapping turtles. We are lousy with them around here.


That sounds like something a mink would do but even then I seriously doubt the 300 number. That's a LOT of ducks. I know a bait minnow trapper that told me he had mink empty about 80 lbs of shiners out of a trap in a couple of days. He could see their tracks where they made trip after trip and stuffed the minnows into holes in the bank.

I have had minnows back into muskrat holes in the bank. I accidently stuck my finger into the mouth of one.


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## JJ Grandits (Nov 10, 2002)

You all are smarter then I am involving snapping turtle. I just related it as I heard it. I was told that they will lay up food to rot and get soft as they can not chew. My real experience with snappers is that they stink like hell. I pretty much stay away from them.


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## poppy (Feb 21, 2008)

JJ Grandits said:


> You all are smarter then I am involving snapping turtle. I just related it as I heard it. I was told that they will lay up food to rot and get soft as they can not chew. My real experience with snappers is that they stink like hell. I pretty much stay away from them.


Same here.If I catch one by accident or see it on dry land, I load it up and take it to the river. They will eat rotten food. I had a channel catfish die for some reason and it was floating in the pond bleached out from the sun and rotting. I had two snapping turtles eating it while I watched. Nasty critters.


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## springvalley (Jun 23, 2009)

I havn`t been around alot of them, but the few I have been around were not smelly guys. I have eatin them, and they are purty tasty. Found one one day headed to the other farm on the tractor. He was walking across the road, I stopped and caought him, tryin to figure out what to do with him. Had my dog with on the tractor, so I took her leash off and tied on the turtles tail and hung him on the back of the tractor. Took him to the landlord at the farm and he cleaned him and ate him. He gave me the shell off him.>Thanks Marc


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

springvalley said:


> I havn`t been around alot of them, but the few I have been around were not smelly guys. I have eatin them, and they are purty tasty. Found one one day headed to the other farm on the tractor. He was walking across the road, I stopped and caought him, tryin to figure out what to do with him. Had my dog with on the tractor, so I took her leash off and tied on the turtles tail and hung him on the back of the tractor. Took him to the landlord at the farm and he cleaned him and ate him. He gave me the shell off him.>Thanks Marc


There's just one thing wrong with that story. I've only found a single mature male snapper out of the water in my entire life and that was due to flooding. Male snappers are generally known as mossbacks since they never leave the water to allow their shells to dry. Thus your turtle was most likely a "her" rather than a "him". It's easy to tell as soon as they hatch since the shells are different shapes.

Martin


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

fishhead said:


> That sounds like something a mink would do but even then I seriously doubt the 300 number. That's a LOT of ducks. I know a bait minnow trapper that told me he had mink empty about 80 lbs of shiners out of a trap in a couple of days. He could see their tracks where they made trip after trip and stuffed the minnows into holes in the bank.
> 
> I have had minnows back into muskrat holes in the bank. I accidently stuck my finger into the mouth of one.


Was on the river today,guy had his Jon pulled up there was crying that the ***** ate all his bait.I told him it was a Mink,that I seen it on his Boat.I guess he thought I was lieing because I could hear him telling the others in his camp.

big rockpile


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## charliesbugs (Feb 25, 2007)

If you see a turtle out on the road or in a field this time of year it is a good 20to 1 bet that it"s a female looking to lay eggs. Males hardly ever leave the water. The best time to put out a trap is when the river or "crick' is coming up as it will run them out of their holes under the banks. I rem. one time I put a trap out and was going to check it in the morn,rained that night hard and when I went to look in the morn. creek was up about 2 ft. I thought dam, lost my trap, looked down stream about 100 ft. and saw it caught on a root had to go back to the bridge and come back other side, pulled it out and had 3 male snappers all over25 lbs. I always think of that when drive by there.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

The other day I was kayaking down a small stream and saw a medium sized snapper on a beaver house. It was facing uphill with it's neck stretched out. As I got closer I heard crying sounds. The snapper slipped down into the water as I got closer but the sound continued. I slide the kayak up on the house a bit and listened. The crying sound I heard was the baby beaver inside. They continued for a while and then went quiet. When I first heard them I was at least 30' away.

I'm wondering if the snapper was attracted to the crying or if it might have been looking for a place to lay eggs.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

Years back there was an old gal who owned a local bar. She would give you a 12 pack for every snapper you brought in. She kept them in a big tank. When she had 20 or so she would have a free turtle feed. She would pressure broast them. Very good.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

I read about a snapping turtle farm in IA. They produced about 10,000 lbs/year.

I thought about that type of farming after I found out how much fish waste is generated by the resorts all summer. I think a guy could have collected 1,000+ lbs/week from Memorial Day to Labor Day.


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## charliesbugs (Feb 25, 2007)

I was thinking about that so called turtle farm that produces 10,000 lb of turtle a year. That would be 500 20 lb turtle or 1,000 10 lb turtle. Now turtle don"t grow very fast,in the wild am going to say it would take 20 years to grow a 20 lb. turtle, in pond raised or farmed maybe a lot faster. Am also thinking, what a lot of work as I have cleaned a bunchof them in my life 75yrs. and I scald and skin all as I also save the skin when making soup. Anbody else have any thoughts on this.


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## poppy (Feb 21, 2008)

charliesbugs said:


> I was thinking about that so called turtle farm that produces 10,000 lb of turtle a year. That would be 500 20 lb turtle or 1,000 10 lb turtle. Now turtle don"t grow very fast,in the wild am going to say it would take 20 years to grow a 20 lb. turtle, in pond raised or farmed maybe a lot faster. Am also thinking, what a lot of work as I have cleaned a bunchof them in my life 75yrs. and I scald and skin all as I also save the skin when making soup. Anbody else have any thoughts on this.


I thought about it too. It must bring a pretty good price per pound considering the feed cost over the time required to grow one.


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

Paquebot said:


> Other than the usual soup, one of the best is "turtleburger". Boil the meat until it falls off the bone and then grind it along with some onion and mix with cracker crumbs. Form into patties and then just nicely brown them. For a great sandwich spread, add a sweet pickle with the onion when grinding and mix with mayo.
> 
> Martin


It's also good BBQ. Just cook it down and add your favorite BBQ sauce, then serve on buns with pickles.


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## Ohiogal (Mar 15, 2007)

I've got one now terrorizing my ducks in my pond. I'm setting trap lines for him, but he's breaking the treble hooks. Went to the bait shop today and bought large hooks for salt water marlin - 100 lb hooks. Going to set them tonite with chicken necks and see what I get. I saw it 2x this spring, out of the water, easily 25 lbs. HUGE.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

I did some searching yesterday and found that IA has 25 turtle farms. I couldn't find out if they were for meat or pets. Retail turtle meat is about $15/lb.


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## GBov (May 4, 2008)

The Asian turtle market makes it well worth farming turtles. Its because of the tons of turtles sent over a few years ago that we cant hunt snappers down here in Florida. They look too much like alligator snappers seemingly 

I have toyed with the idea of raising alligator snappers if we manage to get some farmland one day but they wont fit into the back yard we have now lol.

It seems to me if you have water on your property and raise poultry or fish then feed your turtles the off cuts from the rest of your farm. They arnt fussy eaters after all  

In fact, I know a pond where I grew up that is full of sliders that the entire neighborhood feed stale bread too. Its kind of freaky watching the turtle mob going after slices of wonder bread lol!

It always makes me wish for darkness and a couple of big buckets but my family wont let me go after them. They say going after the next best thing to pet turtles isn't sporting


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

The painted turtles in my ponds learned to eat the floating fish feed. It was never a problem because I tried to move them off the farm whenever I caught them in the seine so their numbers never got high.


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## backwoodsman (Jan 21, 2010)

If we only have one or two turtles we just dress them fresh and dont hold them to clean out. Wow $15/lb! Blackmarket here is $5/lb. They do grow very slow, way I was taught is each scale on the edge of the shell is one year? Ive had turtles raid stringers before and even had several try to get into holding baskets. On rare occasions they'll take bait or fish off our bankpoles. With nets when we did that we always left a few inch's of the net above water so they could breathe. Ive had them cooked all kinds of ways but just fried is about my favorite. Steamed to tenderize then fried is good too. We use to use alot of them in burgoo too.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

The $15 was retail I believe. Unfortunately even $5 is enough to get people to wipe them out.


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## poppy (Feb 21, 2008)

fishhead said:


> The $15 was retail I believe. Unfortunately even $5 is enough to get people to wipe them out.


They won't be wiped out. Lots of people here eat them and they are everywhere. Our local Moose club will buy them ( not sure how much they pay ) and have a turtle fry a couple times a year. You see them in the 15-25 pound range crossing the roads here all the time, especially after a rain.


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

I have a pretty simple rule about food. Unless it's the end of the world, and there's nothing left to eat, I'll not kill and eat anything older than me... especially when it could live to an age comparable to mine.

I've only had one large alligator snapping turtle show up in my lake. Caught him and carried him down to the river. He might come back, but it'll take a while. He was over 18" wide. I've seen bigger, but figured he was an old fella. I reckon growing up and up until now I've been blessed with an abundance. We never ever lacked for fresh catfish or perch. We never knew what cold fish was... what wasn't eaten was fed to the dogs. If we wanted fish later, my pa would cook some up. He went fishing pretty much every day, even when he was sick... We'd catch turtles, snakes, eels, and other 'trash', and throw them back in.


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## phrogpharmer (Apr 25, 2005)

Several years ago I read an article about a farm in IA that was selling over 100,000 lbs of snapping turtle meat a year. It appeared that it was hard work during the growing season and then lots of time off during winter. There weren't many details about the operation in the article. I think the farmer was trying to keep a low profile. A smart farmer who is making a profit raising and selling a specialty product generally keeps a low profile.
I agree with Texican, killing a wild animal older than me for a meal just doesn't seem right. We don't have wild snapping turtles in this area. We do have some wild sturgeon which can live to be over 100 years old. I don't have a problem using the farmed sturgeon for food, but people who kill the scarce wild ones are disgusting.


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## GBov (May 4, 2008)

http://www.5starturtles.com/

Kind of like this farm?


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

We grew up in a time when we could harvest old turtles from the wild without being concerned with hurting the population because there were fewer of us. Those days are gone for the most part. There are simply too many of us now and more of us coming every day. 

Just road kill mortality is wiping out some populations of turtles that have been here since the glaciers left. Then you add developments consuming habitat at an unbelievable rate. Then you add the explosion in ***** because of low fur prices.


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## poppy (Feb 21, 2008)

fishhead said:


> We grew up in a time when we could harvest old turtles from the wild without being concerned with hurting the population because there were fewer of us. Those days are gone for the most part. There are simply too many of us now and more of us coming every day.
> 
> Just road kill mortality is wiping out some populations of turtles that have been here since the glaciers left. Then you add developments consuming habitat at an unbelievable rate. Then you add the explosion in ***** because of low fur prices.


I remember when we had a bounty on hawks and foxes here. It was back in the 60's and the bounty was enough to buy a box of shotgun shells. That was pretty good in those days. Some of them were killed, but they never were nearly wiped out. Now the do gooders have them protected ( hawks ) and they are everywhere. The result is the rabbit, quail, and squirrel population have been decimated. I don't even know anyone who keeps hunting dogs anymore because of the lack of game. But, hey, the hawks are thriving and the do gooders can feel proud when they see them circling overhead.


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## backwoodsman (Jan 21, 2010)

Sounds just like my arguments Poppy. We have to guard our chickens while they are out of the coop or the owls and hawks will get them. Between the varmints on land and flying ones Im ready to give up on chicken's and fresh eggs. Bobcats are protected here and theyre getting as common as yotes. Found out bobs love chicken. Gramps trapped owls on the fence post tops around the barnyard. No.2 or bigger jump steepled to the pole. Owl would land to inspect lunch and snap.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

When my neighbor catches a stray housecat in his live trap he sprays it with the hose before turning it loose. They don't come back.

I'll bet that the same treatment would work on bobcats too.


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## backwoodsman (Jan 21, 2010)

Well, if you can get a bobcat in a cage trap? Any type of non incidental contact here is illegal. I dont know if cages work too great anywhere but out west? Our problem is with all of our barnyard fowl etc the varmints flock to us. Illegal or not I'd be tempted to spray a few. We've got one that responds almost everytime during deer season and one of us uses a fawn distress call.


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## ||Downhome|| (Jan 12, 2009)

poppy said:


> I remember when we had a bounty on hawks and foxes here. It was back in the 60's and the bounty was enough to buy a box of shotgun shells. That was pretty good in those days. Some of them were killed, but they never were nearly wiped out. Now the do gooders have them protected ( hawks ) and they are everywhere. The result is the rabbit, quail, and squirrel population have been decimated. I don't even know anyone who keeps hunting dogs anymore because of the lack of game. But, hey, the hawks are thriving and the do gooders can feel proud when they see them circling overhead.



sure it isn't lack of habitat? do to those filling there bank accounts developing it! we have a few areas that we pile brush for the rabbits and they are murder around here decimate a garden and kill plenty of trees girdling them in winter. more then enough wild rabbits and to be honest I have seen a few domestics set free survive a few seasons. as far as the bird population quail,pheasant and even turkeys whats your feral cat population like and lets bring up the poachers too? ]


I will also add I see many turtles go to waste at the side and even more so middle of the road as they cross very frequently around here, I would rather someone stome and catch it rater then malaiciously drive over it and leave it to waste.

I can count at least fifty in the last month! road smoosh. and many someone swearved to hit! wastefull in every sense! 

we have a small pond here and I will put the stringer in on a late return and clean the fish next wake, well the resident snapper beat me to it last time around and no not happy but I think it is fair game so well I created the problem by putting my stringer off the dock I also firgure it is also open to my food gathering efforts and most likely made its contribution for the year as well as the last twenty!


we also have a healthy bird of prey population though I do welcome it though with mixed emotions. I have chickens and ducks so that's the reason for those mixed emotions though they do keep the rabbits in check which is good though there are still plenty for the hunters. I myself prefer bigger game but they are there and in numbers. squirrels there are only a few types here and are kinda sparse I chalk that up to the farm fields. 

think you are placeing blame in the wrong place really, I said it before and will again "if you create the problem is it really a problem" with that said my bird runs are covered and when they are out I'm there to safe gaurd. 

man always places his needs first, even those who subscribe to god but is this not his creation and the system he set in place? snappers and birds of prey have their place as well as other predators if you are lazy and provide a free meal, even with the human sort is it their fault or yours? 

I have not lost one animal to a pred yet! though I do know they are just waiting and know that a potential meal is waiting. I created the problem by raising the prey but I also took steps to avoid it! can the nay sayers say the same?


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## Ed Norman (Jun 8, 2002)




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## GBov (May 4, 2008)

OMG, thats a perfect picture!


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## Judy in IN (Nov 28, 2003)

We caught a snapping turtle crossing the road yesterday. 

HHubby killed and cleaned it, but is having trouble skinning it. 


Any suggestions?


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## GBov (May 4, 2008)

Judy in IN said:


> We caught a snapping turtle crossing the road yesterday.
> 
> HHubby killed and cleaned it, but is having trouble skinning it.
> 
> ...


I scalded my slider in boiling water nad the skin pulled off pretty easily but have never done a snapper so I dont know if they would be the same.


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## pheasantplucker (Feb 20, 2007)

Kids up in Canada where we used to go, would catch them, and drill holes in the shell, and wire them to fences. they'd feed them fish and chicken guts till the turtle men would come and buy them off of them. I've had turtle meat. Very fine fare, if you ask me. Just a week ago, as I was driving home along a busy highway that parallels a local river, I saw a big snapper trying to cross the road. I stopped and picked it up by the tail, and carried it to the river side and let it go. It was as big around as the steering wheel on my truck. I woulda considered killing and eating, but wasn't up for spending a big part of my day, cleaning a turtle.


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

fishhead said:


> The painted turtles in my ponds learned to eat the floating fish feed. It was never a problem because I tried to move them off the farm whenever I caught them in the seine so their numbers never got high.


What about painted turtles (tortoises)? Are they edible? There are tons of the things around here, but nobody eats them.


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## WstTxLady (Mar 14, 2009)

Dry land tortoises usually aren't ate ( I wouldn't anyways). But turtles who live mainly in water are usually better fair.


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## WstTxLady (Mar 14, 2009)

Ed Norman said:


>


that is FUNNY !!!


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

I think painted turtles are edible but I can't imagine there is much meat.


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## GBov (May 4, 2008)

fishhead said:


> I think painted turtles are edible but I can't imagine there is much meat.


Are painted turtles like red eared sliders? If so I found a medium sized one was a generous one person portion or a scanty two person portion.

Is there a trick to cleaning them though? I sawed through the side plates but was thinking all the time "There has GOT to be an easier way!"


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## backwoodsman (Jan 21, 2010)

Ive never dressed any of the sliders etc but on snappers the "parapice"(?)belly plate has a spot on each side where it joins the back shell and if you hit it right the knife goes thru like its butter. Catfish skinners are about the only way we've found to help skinning snappers. Ive heard of all kinds of other methods, air compressor, scalding etc but never tried any of those.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

GBov said:


> Are painted turtles like red eared sliders?


Yes. I believe sliders are also called painted turtles.


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## Judy in IN (Nov 28, 2003)

fishhead! Why don't you consider raising snapping turtles?


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

I had thought of it briefly but the MN DNR doesn't like that idea either. Before they would license my ponds for turtles they were requiring me to cut holes in my dikes for overflows. My dikes are tight and cutting through them might weaken them and cause them to fail. Then they wanted me to completely surround my whole farm with a dike in case a dike failed. Plus they wanted me to excavate a pond equal to my largest pond. The $50,000 pond would have to remain dry and unused. 

Then they said the "might" license it for turtles and restore the species they illegally removed after I filed a complaint against a top official.

The MN DNR is nothing more than a state sponsored crime family. I call them the "Minnow Mafia".


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## Txrider (Jun 25, 2010)

phrogpharmer said:


> Several years ago I read an article about a farm in IA that was selling over 100,000 lbs of snapping turtle meat a year. It appeared that it was hard work during the growing season and then lots of time off during winter. There weren't many details about the operation in the article. I think the farmer was trying to keep a low profile. A smart farmer who is making a profit raising and selling a specialty product generally keeps a low profile.
> I agree with Texican, killing a wild animal older than me for a meal just doesn't seem right. We don't have wild snapping turtles in this area. We do have some wild sturgeon which can live to be over 100 years old. I don't have a problem using the farmed sturgeon for food, but people who kill the scarce wild ones are disgusting.


There's nothing scarce about snappers in South Texas.

I don't go looking for them for food, last time I ate one was big ole fella that ate all our fish when out camping. Cleaned off our whole stringer of dinner, caught in the act he was, so he replaced them. Good eatin he was.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

Txrider said:


> There's nothing scarce about snappers in South Texas.
> 
> I don't go looking for them for food, last time I ate one was big ole fella that ate all our fish when out camping. Cleaned off our whole stringer of dinner, caught in the act he was, so he replaced them. Good eatin he was.


Since you mentioned a snapper cleaning off a stringer, I'll tell a story. I had several catfish on a stringer in shallow water. Big old male snapper kept trying to get at them but would slip off into deeper water when I went to check out the flopping fish. Finally I decided to hunker down at the edge of the water and look more like a tree stump. Snapper finally figured that I must be harmless and came in to work over the catfish. I jumped into the water and grabbed him on the sides and then back onto the shore. Two men were fishing from a boat and watching me. One said to the other: "Did you see what that son-of-a-b just did? He has to be crazy!" I just gave them a big thumbs up!

Martin


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

One day while snowshoeing I came across 5-6 big snappers that an otter had hauled up onto the ice. It brought them up and then just left them to freeze. I've only seen that once.


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## backwoodsman (Jan 21, 2010)

We use to find snappers under the ice and chop them out while ice fishing or trapping. We had one pond we werent allowed to drive into and one fall it iced over early. While running traps we found 4 huge snappers in about 3 feet of water. Ex BIL hit the ice running for them, I yelled, he didnt listen, lol. Ice was too thin and he walked 1/2 mile back to the truck carrying 4 cold snappers and soaked to the waist as I had my 3 yr old son and 4 ***** and 3 muskrats. Thats still one of my favorite pictures of the turtles and critters by the shed and BIL soaked and freezing. Snowed that evening while we dressed them.


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