<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>blackbay wrote:</div>
You’ve seen Glen right? That guy would, and probably has, eaten most anything he can find.
I’ve seen Glenn and met him up front and personal and this whole thing reminded me of him right off. lol
On a real note, Rochester has a very well know archery shop owned by someone I know personally again and he and the shop hosted a crow shoot for the first time a couple years ago. At the end of the shoot they skinned crows and marinated a mess of them in various concoctions and then cooked them up on a grill or two for a “feast”. A few weeks after this affair I had the occasion to ask the owner how the feast went. He said only that it was a novel idea, but would not be re-visited, then left the topic quickly. It didn’t take a lot to get me to pass on this event and subsequent dinner.
You guys crack me up! (Warning: Long winded, conversational response)
Tom, I tend to agree with the “feast” assessment. I would never do it or promote it because it really hinges on too many psychological considerations. We’ve all met people that don’t like venison, they won’t even try venison simply because it’s a deer! Imagine setting up a squirrel and rabbit feed almost anywhere these days. Nothing’s changed in the last 100 years regarding these animals but who raises bunnies for food anymore? How many people hunt squirrel anymore? There’s been a paradigm shift in our country/society regarding the perception of almost all wild game, and why wouldn’t its shift when I’ve read that only 6% of the U.S. population still hunts? For every 6 people embracing the activity alone, there’s 94 others not participating for any reason, and not all hunters are freezer-filling consumers themselves. It’s a well documented fact that people in this country do not eat many plants and animals (and/or animal parts) that the rest of the world doesn’t think twice about, flinch, cringe, or bat an eye over. This nugget of information blends into the subject of being finnicky. Pick any food that you know is perfectly delicious, that doesn’t look as appealing as cake or ice cream, and get a kid to try it for the first time. They already “know” they hate it because of the way it looks, or the way it smells, or Jimmy and Sally don’t like it, and then we get into texture issues beyond that so the paradigms just live on. My parents, for example, will go to a restaurant of choice and order the same thing every time. They rarely try a new establishment because they know what they like, what they’re in the mood for, and it automatically cancels everything else out. Getting them to try anything new is like pulling teeth, yet they raised us kids to simply try things once and if we didn’t like it, we didn’t have to keep eating it, but we were required to try it, especially if someone went through the trouble of making it for us! I’ve asked them to compare their reluctance to something new or different to the first time they discovered a new dish or a new eatery, and they’re like, “Why would we chance disappointment when we know we like this”? To that, I question why they took the chance on “that thing” they like so much? I’m more of a cut that sees life as an adventure, as a whole. I explored and learned and discovered as a child, why would I ever stop doing that or lose touch with the thrill of discovering something new? I can go to the same restaurant 10 times and I’ll order 10 different things. “That item was good, why not try this one?”…. and even if I like a different dish better, does that make my current choice a bad experience? Rarely. It’s true, more so than ever, that even the poorest of people in this country now have the luxury of being as finnicky as they want to be. If all they want is mac and cheese or taquitos or pizza or hamburgers, the availability permits it. How many people know that sushi has nothing to do with raw meat? It translates as “vinegar rice”, which IS in all sushi vs. raw meat, that ISN’T in all sushi.
“I don’t like sushi.”
“Have you tried sushi?”
“I don’t have to try it, I don’t like raw meat or fish. I like my food cooked.”
This is the perfect paradigm example because so many believe that sushi is raw fish, but it’s not. It may include raw fish, but hundreds of varieties are made with cooked meat or fish inside and they’re amazingly tasty, yet somehow, we’ll eat chemically created foods like chips and cold cereal without hesitation.
Humans…. we really are a funny bunch. Look at the people from India that refuse to eat pork because it’s a filthy, disease ridden animal. Their cultured paradigm is that pork is terrible, it’s gross to even consider it, they’ll tell you it tastes bad, and we’re insane for eating it! It’s not considered sacred like beef, it’s just “bad”. Ask yourself, if you grew up in India “knowing” pigs are bad to eat, would you be eating bacon today or be another feathered bird in the flock?
Lastly, I wonder about this; why is it so important that somebody else likes or recommends something before we try it ourselves, or even contemplate trying it ourselves? I haven’t done it in years but in the past I’ve contributed to fish frys that combined sunnies, crappies, white bass, largemouth bass, bullheads, walleye, northern pike, perch, and sheepshead…. all mixed together across 2 to 3 platters (depending on total amount available). All I’ve said is, “There’s a variety of fish here so if you come across something you don’t like, just look for something that appears a little different and you’ll probably be okay.” Again, not that I do this all the time, but I’ve done this before and today, some of the people present at those feeds are the very same people that think sheepshead or bullheads are gross and inedible. I’ve never confessed my trickery because they don’t need to know that I know they’re full of crap…. they ate it! They ate it all and never once complained or threw anything out! But boy, if I suggest getting some sheepies or bullheads and cooking them up, they wrinkle up their noses in disgust and tell me “I can do what I want but I can leave them out of it.” It’s absolutely hilarious! And then, there’s people that know I’ve done this so now they refuse to EVER eat any cooked fish I might show up with, for fear that they’re going to eat something they “know” is gross, even if I show them all the filets are the same and it’s all walleye or all crappies. Shoot…. I can’t help but ask myself, what are they so afraid of? Are they afraid to admit they’re full of bull? Are they afraid of what their friends and peers will think of them? That they’ll become shunned like lepers, ostracized from the community, and made to eat lunch at the deplorables table at work?…. Because, I just can’t believe that anyone would be afraid of possibly liking something! I mean, it’s not a drug that causes addiction, it won’t make you fail a drug screen or jeopardize your job or ability to possesses a drivers license, it won’t remove your right to vote, you don’t have to report it to the IRS, it doesn’t qualify as grounds to be committed or have your head checked, and yeah, I could venture down this lane of silliness all day long, but the very real, underlying question that exists in our lives, and pretty much a daily basis is simply, “What are we so afraid of?”
There’s a reason I do most “game feeds”, from water or land, for mostly myself and maybe a couple others. It’s no longer popular or casually accepted. It’s become a specialized taste that dances on the edge of taboo, teeters on the winds of inexperience, and blazes on the fumes of assumption. I’m “stillakid” at heart, but I’m too old now to give a rip about unpopular opinion or mainstream perception…. unless of course, my mood changes! 
Thank you very much! I’m a single, aging man Bri…. trying new/weird foods is about the only reason I need balls anymore! 
