Raw Wild Game

[technosmith]

Hey,

I have just found a local butchers that sells game. I asked him what they sell, and he said "Pheasant, Partridge, Grouse, Rabbit, Woodpigeon, Wild boar, Venison".

Which of these would people recommend?

Anything I need to check with the butcher prior to buying for eating raw?

He also said that I could request something and he would try and get it in. So any other recommendations for wild game?

Which is the best value for money?

Thanks,

Phil

[djr_81]

I would think your best bang for your buck would be small to medium animals with all of their organs included. This would include the birds and the rabbit. If you are eating lower carbs you'll have to supplement with some extra fat. If you're eating with moderate or higher carb amounts you should be fine.
Alternately you could buy organs from the larger animals separately and eat those and some of the muscle meat. Fresh venison tastes very rich and full of nutrients to me so I definitely support that meat.

[TylerDurden]

Hmm, the only wild game butchers I have come across were hideously expensive. Which is why I only buy raw wild game from farmers' markets. Farmers routinely hunt wild game and sell it off cheaply. Buying direct from the farm or via farmer's markets avoids having retail-costs added onto the base-cost of wild game.

If you can only get wild game from a wild game butcher, and can afford the cost, though, that's fine. Try to get raw wild hare, I highly recommend it. Wild birds and rabbits don't have as much meat on them as I would like. If you can get genuinely pastured venison(as opposed to grainfed venison), that would be a good idea, too.

As for checking, no need. I've eaten raw wild game for almost a decade without issues.

Recommendations:- afaik, wild boar can only be gotten farmed(ie plenty of grainfeeding like standard pigs). Genuinely wild boar does exist(ever since those wonderful animal-rights people helped some farmed boars to escape into the wild) but it's pretty rare(less than a thousand such boars in the whole of the UK).

[Hannibal]

Wild boar meat is IMO very good; if it is wild of course.
The one that I buy has got flavour of acorns and nuts. Very pleasant

[technosmith]

So could there be the possibility that not all the wild game sold is actually wild (referring to Tyler's mention of grainfed venison)?

i assumed wild meant wild! (Tyler mentions Wild boar can only be got farmed)

Is there any of the options I mentioned that are definitely going to be wild and have eaten a natural diet?

[TylerDurden]

Things like raw wild rabbit and raw wild hare are genuinely wild as they are still plentiful in the wild. Deer is commonly farmed, but some farms will just leave deer to graze on their own without mass feeding of grains, so you would have to ask the farmers re this. Wild birds like woodpigeon are, I believe, usually wild. Some might be fed on grains(pheasants?) but only a few.

Same applies to raw seafood. Certain species like swordfish are always wild, while salmon is almost always farmed. One can usually tell the difference as the genuine raw wild game has a richer taste.