What does 'Skippy' taste like?

[thechamp]

Seems here that the Aussies here spend more time shooting wild cattle, hogs, donkeys, camels, etc., than Kangaroos. Always heard that the countryside was full of wild Kangaroos. Was wondering how much ya'll hunt them and what they taste like. By looking at them I really can't see shooting one or cleaning it but I am assuming that ya'll eat them..... (especially deerhunter...have a feeling he'd eat anything)

Last question will they attack you if you wound one? They look like they could kickbox the dickens out of ya if you cornered them.

Anybody have one as a pet, ala "Skippy"?

[SPEEDY]

No we just have laws that don't let us, you can shoot them as pests but you have to leave them where they lie and not use any part of them not even as dog food

The only way to eat it is to buy it from a shop, but as this is a big country I'm sure that a few of them out of the plagues running around find their way into a freezer or two every now and then

As to the taste, well it's kind of like deer but a lot more of a game taste to it and it's a little tougher as they tend to shoot the big males for meat. It tastes pretty good if cooked right but if you can get your hands on some young roo then it tastes a lot better

[skeetshot]

Thanks for the info Speedy.

Regarding the second part of Champ's inquiry, I understand these wounded 'Roos can be quite dangerous and only double rifles in 400 and above calibers are recommended. Looks like we may need to send NE450No2 to handle all these dangerous Roos

[Olsen]

Thanks for the info Speedy.

Regarding the second part of Champ's inquiry, I understand these wounded 'Roos can be quite dangerous and only double rifles in 400 and above calibers are recommended. Looks like we may need to send NE450No2 to handle all these dangerous Roos

I guess he had shot a kanguroo, he only miss a tiger, then he had shot almost everything in the hole world

[mchughcb]

Seems here that the Aussies here spend more time shooting wild cattle, hogs, donkeys, camels, etc., than

Last question will they attack you if you wound one? They look like they could kickbox the dickens out of ya if you cornered them.

Anybody have one as a pet, ala "Skippy"?

Kangaroo shooting has a strict laws regarding their harvest. Legally, using their meat by non-professionals is legally almost impossible.
A kangaroo may attack if you wound them. Generally they are shot at night by professionals using a spotlight. They generally don't move much and most professionals follow the code of contact so they are generally head shot to prevent meat damage. Therefore most roos that are wounded from a headshot generally have half their face missing. They are generally not in a position to attack if they can't see and breathing through whats left of their mouth. Most professionals are shooting roos in open areas, so it is not that easy to corner a roo either for it to bail up. Most professionals I know use the 22 calibres such as 223, 22/250. I don't know many that use anything more than a 25/06. The main reason is cost. If you are shooting up to 100 per night and the distance is less than 150m, you don't need an expensive to feed, barrel burning cannon, you need precision.

Kangaroos females are generally in various stages of pregnacy with a joey and the external embryo. If a female is shot, there may be a joey in the pouch. A decision is generally made if the joey is old enough to survive to let it go, otherwise it is humanely destroyed. The embryo obviously cannot survive outside the pouch. If you want a pet, it is at this time you can get a young joey and hand rear it.

Kangaroos can fight alright and the back legs are lethal. They can penetrate the stomach and disembowel you or your dog. I still have a scar when with a professional threw one on the back of the truck and when I climbed up it had a involuntary death kick that penetrated two layers of clothing into my calf.

If you have kangaroo prepared professionally and not overcooked it is a very nice meat. If its old its best left for stew or curry with lots of rice and beer

[dinsdale]

I used to watch that show when we came home from church on Sundays.

Just afterward was "Flipper" and then "Lassie",all in re-runs....

That would be a cool movie with the trio fighting crime.They would screw it up with a bunch of CGI effects,damn them

Dinsdale

[thechamp]

Barely remember the show myself. It was pretty cool though. Guess if we'd have had Kangeroos here after that show we wouldn't have been allowed to kill them either!

Lots of interesting information. I figured you could go shoot one like anything else but ahhh the government had to get involved. I remember reading somewhere that they estimated Australia had over 50 million of them and that they were considered a nuisance. I had seen that they were sometimes shot and left by the farmers but never would have thought that it was that big a deal for somebody to shoot one themselves. If we could take our politicians and ya’lls politicians and use them for Shamu food it would seem we’d both be better off!

They always looked like they were about half tame from video clips we see out of Australia. Doesn't look like they'd be much of a challenge to hunt. Kind of like the video of the guy shooting the donkey at 25 yards... Never heard the term 'joey' either. Interesting stuff. Recall reading that they had lethal feet.

Your comment about them disembowling me reminds of of the Ostrich that attacked Johnny Cash at his ranch. He said he was walking along and the Ostrich was in the way. So he did something to get it to move and it ripped his stomach wide open. Dam near killed him. Depending on which story you find archived it broke anywhere from 2 to 5 of his ribs too. I recall seeing him discussing it on a video clip. Funny story if you weren't the one getting your butt kicked by an Ostrich!

[mchughcb]

I used to watch that show when we came home from church on Sundays.

Just afterward was "Flipper" and then "Lassie",all in re-runs....

That would be a cool movie with the trio fighting crime.They would screw it up with a bunch of CGI effects,damn them

Dinsdale

Unfortunately Skippy required about 14 plus skippys for the tv series. His paws that were so dextrous were actually stuffed claws manipulated by an actor. The problem is that, Australians hunted and ate kangaroos for decades until that TV series. Then a kangaroo was given a personality and the mental ability of Columbo to solve crimes in a National Park where nobody was allowed to use the "public land" for any recreational purposes. Yes we shoot about 2-3 million a year for dog feed or pest destruction and hardly any can be used for domestic consumption by farmers or the average joe blow. - Pathetic because of that stupid TV series, changed the urban pysch of Australia for ever

[SPEEDY]

I used to shoot them for a living, damn messy, smelly work with long hours although the pay was pretty good and I was only shooting for the dog food trade, then they bought in all these new laws about meat handling even for the pet food trade and I couldn't find the cash to fit the truck out with all the stainless steel racks etc
I used to keep a few as pets running around the house paddock until they eventually went full wild again. Now the pricks are everywhere, where I used to live there were a heap of little hobby blocks with them running around everywhere. When I was working night shift I used to hit about 15-20 every year in the truck, although Roo Vrs bull bar is a pretty one sided fight

[dinsdale]

I used to watch that show when we came home from church on Sundays.

Just afterward was "Flipper" and then "Lassie",all in re-runs....

That would be a cool movie with the trio fighting crime.They would screw it up with a bunch of CGI effects,damn them

Dinsdale

Unfortunately Skippy required about 14 plus skippys for the tv series. His paws that were so dextrous were actually stuffed claws manipulated by an actor. The problem is that, Australians hunted and ate kangaroos for decades until that TV series. Then a kangaroo was given a personality and the mental ability of Columbo to solve crimes in a National Park where nobody was allowed to use the "public land" for any recreational purposes. Yes we shoot about 2-3 million a year for dog feed or pest destruction and hardly any can be used for domestic consumption by farmers or the average joe blow. - Pathetic because of that stupid TV series, changed the urban pysch of Australia for ever

Theres a book by a local author that cronicals the movie and TV industry with the animal rights groups gaining a foothold in the US...."The Bambi Syndrome"

Same issue=equating animals with human characteristics.

Loved Columbo and Pete Falk;used to watch that and it alternated with "McMillan and Wife" and "McCloud" with Dennis Weaver;god I miss TV....dammit

Dinsdale

[mchughcb]

The last time I ate roast kangaroo, my wife ate sirlion steak in a restaurant about 2 years ago. I couldn't believe how much nicer the kangaroo was and it was cooked medium. It was just perfect and had taste, not just a bland cow taste. Had no fat but wasn't dry. Emu on the other hand I find generally has been marinated well before serving.

[HunterAU]

like my roo fresh!!