Hunting and eating pigeons ?

We used to shoot a few when we were kids and cook them over a fire up on the mountain at the back of the farm. They were just fine. Most of the ones around here are grain fed anyway. When my son goes to his grandparents place, he goes next door to his uncle's farm and shoots them with his pellet gun. He gets his grandmother to cook them for him.
 
They call it squab in the restaurants.. and its quite popular.. well until you call it a pigeon.
My cousins used to eat it regularly, although I haven't had it in a good six or seven years.
 
I used to eat pigeons often when I was a kid, my Mom would cook anything I brought home from my local hunting adventures. She was raised on a farm with a pigeon loft and squab was their special Sunday meal. Adult pigeons don't taste quite as good i'm told but the ones I had certainly were OK eating. I shoot quite a few while training gun dogs now, should give them a try again.
 
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I'll be pretty hungry before I'll city pigeons, but as with most animals, what they have been eating matters when you eat them. If they are living in rural areas they are probably o.k.

I've eaten wood pigeon in England (in a restaraunt.) It was good.
 
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Matt_555 said:
They call it squab in the restaurants.. and its quite popular.. well until you call it a pigeon.
My cousins used to eat it regularly, although I haven't had it in a good six or seven years.
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Squab is a very young pigeon. Before flight pigeon. Adult pigeons are a little more gamey.
 
Actually pigeons diets are made up of almost entirely of grains and seeds. They even feed their young a half digested slurry of grain called "pigeon milk". I'd bet pigeons are better tasting than half the ducks guys shoot. I have shot thousands of them in the name of pest control or just plain old wingshooting sport. Have eaten a few, darker meat but not dark, kind of reminded me of the taste of Hun Partridge.
 
finstr said:
The pigeons I've eaten were tough and tasted kinda sour.
They were grain fed but maybe they were just really old ??
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it was probably not handled and/or cooked properly. as with any other wild game proper field care and cooking is the difference between alright meat and an excellent meal.

i ate pigeon quite a few times in my teens and it was always great when i field dressed them right after they hit the ground. not so great when i shot them and tossed them in my pack for a while without dressing first.

lay it on it's back, stand on each wing, pull on its feet, and you have a nice chunk of bone in breast meat. debone when you get home. my favorite is sliced up and fried in butter with some salt and pepper. tender, juicy, and easily cut with a fork.

a previous post was 100% correct. pigeon is faaaaaaaaaar better than many ducks that people try to choke down.
 
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