Best Skinning incisions for Mt. Lions for Lifesizes & Is the meat edable ?

[Larry Vielhauer]

  I  am    wondering   who  out  there   has   done  enough  Mt.  Lions    that  can    give  me   a   Heads  UP  on  the  best    incisions  to  make ,  for  lifesizes  ? And  IS  the meat    Edible   &   reccomended  to  eat  ?

    I am  sure  IT  ALL  depends  on    the  POSE. hair  length  &  such  BUT   ..................     Dorsal   I  suppose   is  Best   ...............IF   going   to  be  Viewed  from  below (  for  a  hanging  or   wall  mount or   to be  put  up   on  an   elevated   area  ? )
Or,  would   SOME   do  a  different   incision  even  for   this  pose  ?
                 

                 Otherwise,   what  incision  would    you   reccomend   for   various  other    poses  ?    Cased,  or   Open, like  for  rugs   ?   Just  wondering,  as    Planning   a  hunt   & a  mount    ,  this  is  a    good   thing  to    plan  ahead   . I  want to  be  More    sure  when   speaking to   clients ,  asking   questions  .

  I  suppose  one   should  have  a POSE in mind  before the hunt, in order to   plan  the   skinning     incision   just   the same as   most    big  game   animals     ?   If one   doesn't  do   a  lot of    big  game    this is   a   major   decision   that  might   save some   work  later...............& make a   much  better  mount  .

  thanks  in  advance  ................Also,  any idea   where  to go   &   any   recommended   outfitter in   mind ,  also  appreciated  .  ?

[sugar creek taxidermy studio]

Hi Larry

As mentioned in my PM to you.......VENTRAL cuts on cougars are the only way to go. Alot more stitching but you will never see the seams.

Regarding the meat, never tried it but it is recommended that it is cooked well to avoid trichinosis.

Good luck on your next cat........Marco

[mr.T aka mr. friendly]

Larry, could you please only hit the space bar once between words when you type? It makes for smoother reading on our end, no disrespect intended. I have seen this in your past post as well, figured it wasn't your computer doing it.

[Keith]

Ventral is the way to go.

I have had some lion steaks, I liked it.  It taste like pork. 

[Jim McNamara]

Vent cut makes for easier test fitting IMO.  Meat is just fine. I've eaten my two and really liked the taste. 

[Duckslayr]

The meat is a lot like pork, and easily over cooked.  I had barbecued ribs from a huge male once. Easily the best ribs I've ever had.

[Matt]

Vent cut here as well, it does make for a more accurate fit for me. The sewing is not that bad, but I don't mind sewing.

[Michelle Nelson's Taxidermy]

Ventral Cut.

Yes Cougar meat is eddible.  Most of the people that I have talked to that have eaten it have said it is one of the best.  The most important thing to remember when preparing Bear and Cougar is to cool it all the way through to avoid contracting  Trichinosis. 

I heard that Montana did a study on Bears and Cougar and from what I remember 17% of Bears and 47% of Cougars tested positive. 

I had a new customer this year drop off a Bear.  Usually when I get a Bear or Cougar dropped off I want the hunter about  Trichinosis and to cook the meat all the way through.  He told me that if you freeze the meat for a certain amount of time that, that would also kill it.  Wether that it true or not I don't know.  I think he said it was like 30 days.

[Larry Vielhauer]

  Thanks everyone for the incision answers.......

  Mr. " T ", I'll TRY hard to correct my spaceing..errors for easier reading . You wouldn't happen to be an english teacher, would you ?  That was my worse subject in highschool & it looks like it  Still is ?  If this is all I screw up on in a week I guess I can feel good, as age comes ON, I bet there WILL be worse things to go bad, lol ?

  There are several reasons for this, one is  I hurry my   movements  so much I hit the keys  way to  Fast & to many times etc. & I started this by blameing my keyboard, not realizing I started a major error that might take YEARS to correct !

 Thanks for the reminder, but it might be like asking me to quit bowhunting, lol ?

 If you think this is a BAD Habit, wait til you hear me speak, lol . Is this why I find myself carrying more amo when afield, than I need, lol ? I've been called Mr. repeat before, so this is not the first time, lol .

 This definately does take up more space than is necessary . Just like explaining all this IS, also taking up space  but hopefully your reminder Helps, lol  ?

[Rhasputin]

Hey Larry. Cook it just like pork, slow roasted for hours (same time as pork per lb) and give it lots of juices or sauce.
Same goes for bobcat. It's delicious. Real long strings of meat inside each muscle, not like any herbivore you've ever eaten!

Send me a tenderloin man!!

[ryan rhodes]

I've also heard cougar is good to eat, I had a client come in with a bobcat last week and wanted me to save the backstraps.  ANybody ever eat bobcat?

[Rhasputin]

I've also heard cougar is good to eat, I had a client come in with a bobcat last week and wanted me to save the backstraps.  ANybody ever eat bobcat?

Yepperoo. Try out the 'hams'. Great meat there.

[Jim B]

Michelle is correct.They can have trichinosis.Some areas,the incidence is very high.It needs to be cooked thoroughly just like pork or bear.Same goes for bobcats etc..

[John C]

The old mountain men ate a lot of mt lion and bobcat, both excellent and over cook very easy. Like very lean pork inmany ways. The back straps make great kabobs!.  Cavenders Greek Seasoning available at walmart is good in it.
http://www.greekseasoning.com/

[amemorysaved@ymail.com]

I ate a bobcat my husband shot last year. It was delicious. HE wouldn't eat any. Our three cats were in the house when I started cooking the bobcat. They got all shook up and were slinking around the house trying to find that bobcat! I made bobcat tacos that time. The next time I cooked chunks of meat like I cook chicken tenders. Very good. I hear cougar is just as good.