In the United States, wild game is classified, including legal classification, as either small game or big game. Small game includes small animals and birds, such as rabbits, pheasants, doves, ducks and geese. Big game includes animals like deer, bear, and elk.
The purpose of this site is to help those of you who wish to know more about wild game in the United States of America, how to harvest and process from the field to the freezer. The most important thing is knowing how to begin processing your wild game animal or bird right in the field after harvesting.
Below you will find a list of rules on what to do with your edible wild game. By following these simple rules you'll not experience bad tasting meat. It will be as good as you care for it. (Cooling and temperature are critical.)
- Safe handling of wild game.
- You should not handle or consume wild game that appears sick or acts abnormally in the woods or fields, period.
- Always wear rubber or latex gloves when field dressing wild game.
- If wild game intestinal contents come in contact with the meat while field dressing, consider the meat contaminated; cut off contaminated area and discard it.
- Cool wild game carcass rapidly in the field using bags of ice if possible.
- Hold your wild game meat at or below 40°F at all times. If you don't plan to process meat within 5 days, freeze it.
- If you are tenderizing your wild game; age animal carcass at or below 40°F for no longer than 5 days; hanging with head down. Hang birds by feet at less than 40°F for 2 days.
- Thaw frozen wild game meat only in a refrigerator.
- Wash hands thoroughly before and after handling wild game meat.
- Sanitize equipment and work surfaces during handling and processing of wild game meat with a bleach solution of; 1 tablespoon bleach to 1 gallon water.
- Thoroughly cooking wild game meat is important to reduce any bacterial disease. If cooked accordingly, the likelihood of any disease transmission to individuals consuming this meat is extremely small.
If you have an abundance of wild game in your freezer after a very successful hunting season and your wondering what to do with so much wild game meat. Donate it. There are a lot of hungry people in this country that need help.
Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry (FHFH) is a great organization to distribute your excess wild game meat. FHFH, is an outreach ministry of people transforming a renewable resource (Wild Game) into food for the hungry.
If you do not wish to use an organization to distribute your excess wild game meat, just look around you, there are hungry people everywhere. The elderly people in this country who have retired are on a fixed income and many have to decide between food, medication or ridiculous utility bills every month.