Emu info.

Tom

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San Antonio, Texas, USA
There was an interesting article in the San Antonio paper yesterday. People in Europe are ordering lots of Emu from the Texas Emu Association. They will not get hoof and mouth disease, like cattle, sheep, and deer and their meat is good in most beef recipes.
Not to many years ago these things were like $5,000 here, then they were worthless, people couldn't afford to feed them, now they may have value again. The ostrich is a big one, the emu is a medium one, and the rhea is a smaller one. Still bigger than a turkey. I've eaten emu burgers at a local barbeque place. Anybody ever hunted one?
 
I've never shot one. I usually skin birds and cook them slow or baste them to keep them moist. I have a friend who plucks even doves and his wife has a good recipe and the skin helps keep them moist. I know two guys who shot an emu in my hunting club, but I never knew what they did with them. We think they escaped from a wildlife refuge a few miles away and came accross our hunting lease. I liked the emu burger, but it was expensive back then when I ate it.
 
My buddy lives in the Apple Valley-Victorville area of the high desert out here, and there are quite a few places raising ostriches. A lot of the restaurants and burger places offer ostrich burgers. I haven't had the chance to try one yet, though.
 
Tom.. A few years Ago I almost jumped on that Ostrich/emu/reah BAn wagon... I'm glad I didn't


No, I never hunted them.. But if I was in Africa and One came up.... HUmmmm One would probably not have to ask me twice :D

PS, YYou keeping those Rams ready for me down there ?!?!?!
 
Here's an Emu story for ya! My buddies in Nebraska were hunting deer in the muzzleloader season this last fall and jumped an Emu from a thicket. They didn't know what the H... they were looking at, but it was BIG!
They got to talking to one of the neighbors and learned that there was an Emu farm a couple miles a way from them. They went and talked to the owner and he said that the Emu was loose for a month and he could not get it caught. Aapparently they are real sensitive to being rasseled around. So, he said shoot it and eat it! They went back and foung the bird and shot it. Now they are standing over it and wondering how in the heck do you field dress an Emu!
They finally got the chore done and cut some steaks out of the bigger sections and ground the rest to hamburger.
They report it to be pretty tough but decent tasting.

Westman
 
I was coming home from town one day several years ago and saw my buddies truck parked behind a deputy sherriff’s cruiser at the end of a row of houses on the highway. I slowed down to see what was going on and saw Jeff and the deputy running around the house towards the vehicles with an emu chasing them. The deputy had his sidearm out and was pointing it towards the emu while running for his car. When they got close to the cars the emu stayed on the deputy until he jumped into his car. The emu then turned his attention to Jeff who by now was standing beside his truck. As the emu approached he pulled about a 4’ piece of 2” sched. 40 pvc from the bed and did his best Babe Ruth on the emu’s head. We now have one very pissed off emu, Jeff jumped into the bed of his truck about 6” in front of the emu. By this time I am rolling with laughter. I drove right at it to get it away from Jeff’s truck and when I pulled up beside it he got in with me. Our friend’s sister had called him and said the emu wouldn’t let her out of the house to go to work, so he called Jeff to help and she ended up calling the sherriff. I rolled up to the deputy and asked if he wanted me to shoot it and he said that we couldn’t because it wasn’t causing any danger now. (Which I thought was incredible restraint on his part) While we were talking the emu wandered out toward the road. A Schwan’s frozen food truck came by and we guessed the emu saw the swan on the side and took off after it. The deputy said now he can shoot it because it was on the highway and was a road hazard. The chase was on, we took off after it and after about a half a mile it gave up and walked into a field so we parked beside it and got out. The deputy got his shotgun out of the trunk and waited. The emu saw him and charged. The edge of the field where we stopped had 3 or 4 trees with vines between them and the feathered menace got tangled in them when he charged. The deputy panicked and fired wildly twice, missing both times. When the emu broke through the deputy fired again at about 10’ and hit him right in the chest, dropping him. He then fumbled and dropped his lighter twice as he tried to light a cigarette. I don’t know if I’ve ever laughed harder.

I swear every word of this is true, if I would have filmed it I would be a you tube millionaire.
 
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Ostrich, Emu, and Rhea don't have any breast meat at all. They are a big sack of guts with giant drumsticks.
 
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Do you skin it or pluck it?

I don't think my oven is big enough to bake one any way.....JK

John
Can you imagine plucking that B! My buddy and I shot 4 turkey in the same draw last year and we plucked them right there. Looked like a bird nuke had went off.
 
I forgot to add that the people who owned the emu sued the sherriff’s dep’t. for $10000 and lost. Probably because all of their animals are constantly out.
 
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