All About The World of Wild & Game Meat

You’ll find modestly exotic meats like bison, alligator, wild boar, moose meat and ostrich meat at many restaurants around the country, but what about an incredibly rare type of meat like lion meat?

Do American restaurants sell lion meat**?

What does lion meat taste like, and is it legal to sell in the United States? How is lion meat prepared? Read on to learn more about this exotic meat.

Whether you’re a seasoned outdoorsman or new to the game, there’s nothing quite like the taste of fresh game bird. In this article, we’ll cover 75+ types of game birds that can be found throughout North America and how they taste.

We’ll also discuss how to dress, store, and prepare your harvest for the table. So read on and get ready to bag yourself a culinary trophy!

Rattlesnakes: They’re one of the most easily recognizable of the snake family, and well-known for their venomous bite and noisy tail rattle.

There are 36 known species of rattlesnakes and some 70 subspecies — all of which are native to the Americas. Their range stretches from southern Canada through Argentina, making the rattlesnake a constant presence in wooded and desert areas.

Squirrels: If you live just about anywhere besides Antarctica, you’ve been seeing them your whole life. The little rodents have been remarkably successful at spreading across the world, and some variety of tree squirrel, gray squirrel, red squirrel, ground squirrel, fox squirrel, chipmunk, marmot, or prairie dog can likely be found right in your backyard.

Rangifer tarandus: In North America and Canada, it’s known as caribou. But to the rest of the world, this arctic land mammal is better known as the reindeer.

And within this small category, you can find a surprising range of sizes — from the diminutive Svalbard reindeer to the massive boreal woodland caribou.

Native to Australia, the emu is the second largest living bird by height (only the ostrich stands taller). And just like the ostrich, emus have been targeted as a potential alternative protein source that’s fit for farming and ranching across much of the world.

In fact, the early 2000s saw a big push for Americans to start eating emu meat. And though it’s still not a commonplace sight at the dinner table, once you try emu meat you just might want to start making it a part of your weekly meals.

Transport yourself momentarily to the early colonial days of America, and you would find very different proteins on your plate than the pork, beef, and chicken of today.

Chief amongst these was turtle meat — renowned for its rich, deep flavor and easy availability at the ocean’s shore. As turtle soup, it was even a longtime favorite meal of early American presidents.

It turns out that popular depictions of hungry bears in children’s cartoons (think Yogi and Pooh Bear) may not be that far off the mark.

Even if they’re not eating honey straight out of the jar, bears are always scrounging around for the proverbial picnic basket at the campsite — as any hiker in the Northeastern woods has likely learned the hard way!

The largest and heaviest member of the deer family, the moose (or elk, if you’re in Europe or Asia) is certainly an uncommon game meat for anyone outside of Alaska.

Even if you’re not planning on moving to the snowy tundra, though, you can take part in cooking and eating musky and beef-like moose meat.

Thanks to the magic of the internet, moose meat is available year-round for curious carnivores — and we have all the details of where to get it, cooking moose meat, and what to expect from your first order of moose meat.

Follow along as we explain the ins and outs of ordering and handling this exotic meat, including a simple recipe for a slow cooker moose stew that’s as delicious as it is easy to make.