# Fresh Turtle Meat!



## GirlOnAFastPony (Apr 3, 2014)

Walking out the front door today we were treated to a good-sized snapping turtle on our lawn, heading in the direction of the pond behind the house. It's the beginning of April and the trees are just now budding out - I guess it's probably a female, but isn't it a little early in this cooler spring weather we've had for her to be out laying eggs?

The hard shell is maybe about 10 inches from front to back.

As we stood there admiring her, another thought came to us. This is the perfect time to practice a skill we don't have...

Killing and eating a turtle.

So it's in the back yard, in a tub that we filled with water to just over the shell. I've heard this is good for cleaning the system. We once ate some catfish - let me rephrase that - TRIED to eat some catfish out of a pond not far from here once and it tasted so bad, just like leating mud. This pond behind our house is really stagnant, so if it came from here, I am guessing the meat is not all that tasty.

So I wondered about feeding it some fruits and veggies, maybe a little chicken, for a day or two, to put something sweet in, before leaving it alone for a week or two, changing out the water, in preparation for butchering.

Also, not sure how to kill it. Yeah, there are lots of ways, but I want to be as merciful as possible to the turtle and to me.

I'd love any tips from those who have done this before.  Thanks!


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## bassmaster17327 (Apr 6, 2011)

You might want to be careful, I don't know where you live but in PA snapping turtle season doesn't open until July. If it is a female you might want to at least let her lay her eggs this spring and then trap her in the summer

Edit: I have butchered a LOT of different animals and snapping turtle was by far the most unpleasant to do


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

Yep.. check your laws. in WV you have to have a fishing license.. or at least while your hunting them.. but I'd imagine if you found it in your yard and killed it, they'd still call it fishing without a license... $$$$

Otherwise, watch this... it's how we used to do it.. 

http://www.travelchannel.com/video/how-to-prepare-snapping-turtle

After you get the meat out soak the meat in milk over night and it will take a lot of the fishy or mud flavor out..

Man.. this is making me want to go out and catch a couple.. I miss our turtle mulligan parties we had years ago..


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## oldasrocks (Oct 27, 2006)

10 inch turtle won't yield much meat. Just butcher him for practice. They are probably the most labor intensive way to get meat. Even the larger ones don't yield much. The biggest one we ever ate had a shell 36 inches front to back. I label it more of novelty meat than productive. Others may disagree. Fine eating though.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

10" would be a female on her first trip out of the water to lay eggs and about 7 or 8 years old. Probably about 24 eggs, a dozen on each side. Chance of one hatching and maturing is about 1 of 100. Turn her loose or make provisions for hatching the eggs yourself.

Martin


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Michigan also has a turtle trapping/hunting season and you need a fishing license also.
As for the killing we would get it to latch on to a stout stick to pull its head out of the shell far enough we could chop its head off with a cleaver, hatchet or axe. let it bleed out then split the shell to get the meat.
We mostly stewed the meat a bit then fried it with a few different recipes.

*Baked turtle.*
1 turtle, cut into serving pieces, bone in okay
1 carrot, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
flour
salt
pepper
garlic powder
2-3 eggs 
cracker crumbs, make your own from Town House or saltine crackers
butter enough for browning 


Place the meat, onion, carrot and celery in a large pot. Add enough water to cover.

Cover pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Let set in juices to cool.

When cool, drain and discard everything but meat.

In a shallow dish, beat the eggs. 

Season the flour to taste with salt, pepper and garlic powder or use your favorite seasoning.

Roll the meat in the flour. Dip in the eggs and then roll in the cracker crumbs.

Melt the butter in a large skillet. Brown the meat on all sides.

Place meat in baking dish. Cover and bake at 325 degrees for 30 - 40 minutes.


*Twice fried turtle.*

medium sized soft shell turtle, cut into serving size pieces
2 cups flour
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp paprika
oil

In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients

Fill a large cast iron skillet half full of oil. Heat to 325 degrees.

Coat the turtle pieces in the flour mixture and place in the hot oil.

Once turtle is browned, reduce heat to medium. After the oil has cooled to a slow fry, remove skillet from heat and add 1 cup of water. BE CAREFUL!!! Remember to remove the skillet from the stove in case of boil over. Remember oil and water don't like to mix. USE CAUTION!

Return the skillet to the stove. Cover and cook until all of the water has cooked out.

Uncover and fry turtle until it starts to get crispy. Remove and drain.

Serve with your favorite side dishes such as gravy, grits and biscuits.

*Fried turtle.*


<LI class=profile> 



 






*Fried Turtle *

turtle meat
~ 1 bay leaf
~ black pepper
~ seasoning salt
~ your favorite fish breading 


Soak the turtle meat in salt water for at least 2 hours. Drain.

Place meat in a pressure cooker and cover with water. Add the bay leaf and pepper and seasoning salt to taste.

Cook 35 minutes at 15 lb's of pressure. Cool.

Roll meat in your favorite fish breading.

Pan fry like chicken in a skillet or deep fry like fish until golden brown.




 Al


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

We have a season on snappers too and I would expect even that to end in the not too distant future because of population decline.


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## AndrewOSpencer (Jun 18, 2013)

Post pictures of the cleaning process...any of you turtle munchers.


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

Here we don't have a season.

I take cut the Head, Feet and Skinny part of Tail off. I leave Shell on. Cut skin along edge of Shell around the Leg, then slit along the Leg, take Pliers and pull Skin off. I use Loppers, to cut Leg lose on inside. Do the same with other Legs, Tail and Neck.

I actually use Loppers to cut Feet and Head off. Works good.

big rockpile


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## GirlOnAFastPony (Apr 3, 2014)

I only just now got notification of all these responses. Thanks!

We are in TN and it's out of our own pond, so no license necessary. No season here, either. They are plentiful and not many people hunt them.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpD1xlbA1_Q[/ame]
If she has eggs, we'll bury them. Not a lot of sand in this county, so I'll see if I can find some and hatch them. It will be fun and will be food later on. 

Great Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmerman clip! I didn't know why I had seen the inflating before, and that explained it nicely, as well as being nice to see that head removal technique. The turtle we caught is about that size, maybe a bit bigger.


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## charliesbugs (Feb 25, 2007)

Hey oldasrocks, what was the weight of that turtle that had a 36 inch shell?????


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