Would you eat raw deer liver?

[Tahquamenon]

I do have a question, is there a reason for eating, say the liver raw, or drinking the blood.

I mean is this some sort of tradition/ritual, or somthing? just curious.

Drinking the blood of your first deer has been a ritual/tradition in my family for several generations.

Not talking draining the blood of he animal, just a swallow from the heart. :shocking:
Following that with a swig of whiskey is also part of it.

According to my grandfather whom was with both my dad and I at the time of my first deer kill, it makes me one with spirit of the deer. I've always held a close bond ever since.

Not sure about the spirit of the deer thing but I have taught the same practice to new folks that I have hunted with.

My daughter will do the same upon her first deer harvest.

 

[oomcurt]

Cookie,

To tell the truth..I don't really know what it is. Yes, I guess you could say traditional..but "it" has been around for so long I doubt if anyone could trace it back to its beginning. And yes, it is a sort or ritual also..wether for it is a sort of ancient thing or at times it is also when someone got thier first deer. Funny thing, as to what makes up some of these things. I have heard and seen where when someone gets thier first deer...other members show the newbie how to dress it out...then...once everything is out and in the open they will slit the stomach wide open, grab the newbie by his arms and legs and stick his head in the stomach. It is fun...but how that got started I have no idea either.

 

[RJR]

It was a tradition with the guys in my first hunting camp, a piece of the heart and a piece of the liver. I just happened to like the taste of the liver raw after I ate it. But it has to be warm right out of the deer. Try it, it's good.

Rick

 

[Halftail]

Getting your head stuck in a Deers Gut Pile,Drinking a swallow of Blood and Munching on Raw organ meat.....Kinda makes Gutting out your deer and just feeling good about yourself kinda plain. :shake:

 

I do have a question, is there a reason for eating, say the liver raw, or drinking the blood.. I mean is this some sort of tradition/ritual, or somthing? just curious.

Of course, I said all that before coming from a military medical background, but when I shot my first deer, I drank a palm full of blood from the throat. Not much, but enough to take in a bit of the spirit of the animal and the hunt. I always thank my deer and sprinkle tobacco where they fell to give thanks for the blessing of the food for my family.

I would assume that the ritual of eating flesh from a kill, especially the heart, is probably tens of thousands of years old. The oldest paintings in the world depict the hunt and are almost universally accepted as being religious in nature. In "primitive" societies the warrior/hunters called on mystic powers to aid them in their endeavors and still do to some extent.

:results:

 

[Trina]

I have heard of this before and always thougth of it as probably a native american custom, watch to much tv I guess... thanks for the explanations.. always fascinates me to learn what folks do, and why.. Thanks again... eace:

 

[thomas]

No, don't really care for it cooked either.

Thomas :shake:

 

[capnwilliam]

I used to cut the liver into miniscule pieces, wrap each one in white bread to make a tiny doughball; swallow it whole, and wash it down with water. My teeth didn't touch the vile stuff so I didn't taste it! :crackup:

To answer the question as posed, though; I will eat sushi: other than that I never eat any raw animal flesh.

Customs and traditions are nice, but not at the risk of parasites and infections. :nono:

Capt. William

 

[3 stinky dogs]

Our tradition was to smear some of the blood on our guns or bows.It is kind of a Pagen blessing thing our family has done as long as we can remember.So long in fact that we forgot excatly why it is done but do it any way.Now I do know a man and his wife who got Tape worms from eating raw fish and in just about evry state hand book I have read they recomend that you not eat ANY part of ANY animal raw.Also polution from the environment will collect in the liver and kidney's so while you may not be at risk of parasites you can be eating heavy mettels and pesticedes as well as other chemicals like mercurey cadmium nickle and some other nasty things.I agree with the man who recomended a new Dr.Raw stuff dont seem safe.It is estimated that somthing like 2 out of evry 3 people are infected with parasites and alot of that is from mishandled and under cooked food and unsanitarey cooking area's.Google it and you will get an idea.Also google tape worms and rare steaks wont be the same.When I eat one now and again I have them Burn it !

 

[capnwilliam]

Much good food for thought there, 3 stinky: (ignore the obvious bad pun).

Capt. William

 

[waksupi]

The state university here in Montana did a research some years back. They found that a healthy deer will carry up to 175 parasites, per pound of meat.

No thanks!
:m2c:

 

[sfruhwirth]

Not so sure I would eat it raw... But love my liver and onions...

Beef
Chicken
and even deer!

 

[Ohio Rusty]

The deer here in Ohio have something called 'Taxoplasmosis' found in their blood. It can make you sick or eventually kill you is you have no resistance to it. Taxoplamosis is some sort of blood parasite, and it's found anywhere there is blood in the deer body, including the organs. It is easily killed by freezeing the meat for a couple of days, or by cooking the meat properly. Would I eat raw liver ... Nope. I want everything I eat to be cooked .... The only thing I eat raw are vegetables.
Ohio Rusty

 

Too many parasites around for me to be eating raw anything. Native hunters probably started doing it because they were hungry after the chase and as a quick protein pick-me-up before hauling the kill back to camp. However, lots people in undeveloped countries have parasites so I try to eliminate any activity that might increase my chances of picking up a nasty critter.

 

[sniper68]

NO! before this post. HEEEEEEEECK NO!!!!!! after reading some of these posts. :shocking:

 

[noahmercy]

May be a little technical, but I'd ask the local Game and Fish or state wildlifw biologist if there's anything like liver flukes or any other parasite common in the local ungulates that might be harmful. If not, I wouldn't hesitate to partake of raw organ meat. And between salivary amylase and stomach acid, most parasites or bacterium don't fare too well in our digestive tract. (Obviously there ARE notable exceptions...)

 

[3 stinky dogs]

Its the more common ones thet evryone gets.Tape worms,hook & round worms .Tape worms are spread threw eating them either there castes in muscle meat and fecies for hook and round worms.I dont know if you can die from thees but amebas and some others I know will get you.

 

[oomcurt]

I'm replying to this post as it was the last one before mine and to pick quotes from some of the other posters would take too much time. That said...I'm far from being a young man and have eaten and drank a lot of stuff and from places some of you would not even want to enter. Never had a problem either. Seems to me there is way too much of this what I call a health fad going on. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me..I don't wish to convert anyone that might not want to do what I've done..just that I can't understand all the squeamishness.

 

[RJR]

Oomcurt, you said it exactly. I've been all around this globe and tried just about everything that's been put in front of me. From the most domestic cow to fringing on cannibalism (raw monkey brain). Some I liked, some I didn't, some came back up faster than it went down. So far I haven't came down with any nasties yet, so no reason to change. Still say deer liver fresh, warm and bloody straight out of the gut is the best way to eat it.

Rick :imo:


HEY! Why haven't we heard from Liver Eatin' Johnson yet?

 

[soquili]

I do have a question, is there a reason for eating, say the liver raw, or drinking the blood.. I mean is this some sort of tradition/ritual, or somthing? just curious.

In the south, there's a tradition that goes way back but I'm not sure how far back, of marking the person who gets their first deer with the deer's blood. Usually a streak on each cheek and on the chest of the hunter, so those back at camp will all know when they see him/her, that they were successful. It's like a rite of passage. Just on the first one you kill though, not all the rest.

Eating the buffalo liver raw and straight out of the animal was apparently a custom among the Plains Indians, I hear.

Personally, I hate liver, but I've never tried it raw. My mother cooked it till it was hard as a brick, and to me, it tastes like moldy cardboard. :: But I have a friend that doesn't like cooked liver and he's eaten raw deer liver and said it tasted good, kinda sweet. I think I'll take his word for it! :crackup:
Patsy