WEBVTT - Ep. 217: THIS COUNTRY LIFE - How to Cook a Coon 0:00:05.160 --> 0:00:09.200 Welcome to This Country Life. I'm your host, Brent Reeves 0:00:09.920 --> 0:00:13.720 from coon hunting to trot lining and just general country living. 0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:16.040 I want you to stay a while as I share 0:00:16.079 --> 0:00:18.479 my stories and the country skills that will help you 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:22.360 beat the system. This Country Life is proudly presented as 0:00:22.400 --> 0:00:25.880 part of Meat Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you the best 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:29.960 outdoor podcast the airways have to offer. All right, friends, 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:33.040 pull you up a chair or drop that tailgate. I 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:34.760 think I got a thing or two. The teach you 0:00:38.360 --> 0:00:42.880 how to cook a coon. You heard me right, We're 0:00:42.880 --> 0:00:46.120 cooking a coon this week. You know, some folks eat 0:00:46.120 --> 0:00:48.879 them because they like them. Some folks eat them to 0:00:48.960 --> 0:00:52.200 support a cause one we'll talk about a little later. 0:00:52.880 --> 0:00:55.520 Back in the day, at least down here where I live, 0:00:56.200 --> 0:00:59.920 some folks ate them out of necessity. They were making 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:02.760 do with what they had, which is a subject I 0:01:02.880 --> 0:01:07.600 covered a few episodes ago that inspired This Country Life. 0:01:07.640 --> 0:01:12.199 Listener Jason Campbell sending the following story about a time 0:01:12.240 --> 0:01:15.840 in his life when he was making do. It might 0:01:15.880 --> 0:01:18.759 be a stretch to keep it on theme for an 0:01:18.800 --> 0:01:22.600 episode about cooking coons, but there's some coon hunting in it, 0:01:22.680 --> 0:01:26.400 along with a good lesson and good lessons with their 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:31.040 own theme with everything, and Jason Campbell's words in my voice, 0:01:32.000 --> 0:01:44.360 Here's the story called hanging Back. It all started about 0:01:44.360 --> 0:01:46.880 the time I thought it was all ending for me. 0:01:48.080 --> 0:01:50.880 Like most high school freshmen, I thought I had the 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:54.880 whole world figured out. I just couldn't legally drive far 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:58.720 enough to explore much of it. Everything changed in my 0:01:58.920 --> 0:02:03.200 small town world the day my lifelong bad need diagnosis 0:02:03.680 --> 0:02:09.440 got a name, nail patella syndrome. It was barely an 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:13.799 inconvenience as a small child, but at fifteen it became 0:02:13.840 --> 0:02:17.280 a daily issue, and I hit the growth spurt that 0:02:17.639 --> 0:02:20.519 seems to catch us all about that age, and things 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:23.880 kind of got out of whack that My faith was strong, 0:02:23.960 --> 0:02:27.520 but it felt like the beginning of the end. Thankfully 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:31.360 it wasn't. However, there was a slight shift in my 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:36.720 mountaintainment abilities. After major reconstructive surgery and new parts in 0:02:36.800 --> 0:02:41.360 both knees, I found myself still hungry for adventure, even 0:02:41.440 --> 0:02:45.520 more so after the struggle learning to walk again. I 0:02:45.600 --> 0:02:49.680 was so thankful and relieved as I slowly regained my mobility, 0:02:49.680 --> 0:02:51.760 and I give the Lord and the doctors my great 0:02:51.840 --> 0:02:57.200 family all the credit. Fast forward eighteen years, a few 0:02:57.240 --> 0:03:00.320 more surgeries, and I'm proud to still be working hard 0:03:00.320 --> 0:03:04.560 as a machinist, hunting, fishing, and even raising our wonderful 0:03:04.600 --> 0:03:08.280 three year old son with my awesome wife Rebecca. Now 0:03:08.280 --> 0:03:12.040 I've come to understand the value in hanging back when 0:03:12.040 --> 0:03:16.640 it comes to making tracks. I ain't that fast. I 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:19.760 can usually be found somewhere in the background, mosing alone, 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:22.680 doing the best I can, and just thankful to be 0:03:22.760 --> 0:03:25.600 doing so. I don't run like a deer, and even 0:03:25.720 --> 0:03:30.160 dragging one's difficult for me. Okay, I'm gonna get to 0:03:30.160 --> 0:03:34.880 the good part the coon hunting. This part relates to 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:38.880 fond memories, empty wallets, a lot of luck, and, as 0:03:38.920 --> 0:03:41.760 Brent loves to say, making do with what you have. 0:03:44.360 --> 0:03:46.840 Back there in high school, I had two strikes of 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:51.280 luck around the same time, passed my learners permit driver's test, 0:03:51.360 --> 0:03:56.160 and then shortly thereafter met a new friend, a kind, 0:03:56.240 --> 0:03:59.280 older gentleman at the local gas station. It had been 0:03:59.320 --> 0:04:03.360 the best breakfast for miles around, and old timer's hung 0:04:03.400 --> 0:04:06.240 out there, you know, the kind of place that feels 0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:09.600 like home to everybody that stops in every day. We 0:04:09.720 --> 0:04:12.840 struck up a conversation and he invited me on my 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:17.120 first coon hunt that night. I al withhold his name 0:04:17.160 --> 0:04:21.640 for privacy's sake, but we'll call him mister Dale. At 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:23.880 the time, I couldn't tell a good coon dog from 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:26.880 any other. But man, I'm telling you, I got a 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:31.520 great a backwoods education that night. And then a long 0:04:31.640 --> 0:04:34.760 list of things learned that stand out to me. Now 0:04:35.040 --> 0:04:40.120 here's three, in no particular order. Number one, listen to 0:04:40.200 --> 0:04:44.400 the old timers with your good ear. Number two, mister 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:48.240 Dale had some health troubles and he wasn't fast, just 0:04:48.400 --> 0:04:56.200 like me. Number three, bloodhounds are beautiful and powerful creatures. Now, honey, 0:04:56.240 --> 0:04:59.160 with mister Dale and his crew every other night that season. 0:04:59.240 --> 0:05:03.400 Sometimes we treed one, sometimes we didn't, but I always 0:05:03.440 --> 0:05:09.040 had fun just easing along talking life with mister Dale. Now. 0:05:09.040 --> 0:05:11.240 A lot of times my knees and his health meant 0:05:11.320 --> 0:05:14.480 we missed the action at the tree when the faster 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:18.400 folks got there first. Sometimes we just plumb gave out 0:05:18.400 --> 0:05:21.479 a breath and couldn't make it to the tree. It 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:24.640 never bothered me. One bid to miss it. I was 0:05:24.680 --> 0:05:31.720 just happy to be invited along season. End of day 0:05:31.800 --> 0:05:34.839 year and it's usual fashion of going out of about 0:05:34.839 --> 0:05:37.600 the time the crappie started biting in the spring. So 0:05:37.640 --> 0:05:39.760 I was back to sleeping at night and then school 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:43.520 and fishing in the evenings. Time marched on in a 0:05:43.560 --> 0:05:47.880 few months went by like short days. Then one day 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:51.000 I was out fishing at a local farm pond and 0:05:51.040 --> 0:05:54.600 I see mister Dale walking across the pasture. Now, I 0:05:54.680 --> 0:05:59.120 wonder what he's doing here? Where's his fishing pole? How 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:03.000 did he know I was? Then came the shocker, as 0:06:03.080 --> 0:06:05.680 mister Dale told me he had given up coon hunt, 0:06:06.360 --> 0:06:09.960 mostly for medical reasons, and I could see his despair 0:06:10.000 --> 0:06:13.360 and telling me about selling each of his beloved hounds 0:06:13.400 --> 0:06:16.719 one by one. I thought, surely that the last one, 0:06:17.040 --> 0:06:21.400 the only bloodhound of the bunch, and secretly, my personal favorite, 0:06:21.760 --> 0:06:26.680 was being saved as his pet just for him. Now, 0:06:26.680 --> 0:06:29.839 I have yet to find the words to describe my thoughts. 0:06:29.880 --> 0:06:32.599 As he went on to his next point and his 0:06:32.800 --> 0:06:37.000 reason for tracking me down at that pond, he described 0:06:37.040 --> 0:06:40.680 to me the multiple offers please and even downright arguments 0:06:40.720 --> 0:06:44.640 he had dismissed up to that point. Regarding the future 0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:50.159 of his beloved big red dog. He said, Son, my 0:06:50.279 --> 0:06:53.640 whole family and half of my friends are after old Betsey, 0:06:54.640 --> 0:06:57.680 but I've given a lot of thought. If you'll have 0:06:57.720 --> 0:07:00.479 her stopped by the house tomorrow, I want you to 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:03.560 take her and my dog Box two. She's a good dog, 0:07:04.000 --> 0:07:07.520 and I always appreciated you hanging back with me in 0:07:07.560 --> 0:07:10.320 the woods, even if we missed a tree or two. 0:07:11.560 --> 0:07:14.840 It was such an act of kindness on mister Dale's part. 0:07:15.560 --> 0:07:18.520 It's been almost twenty years since it happened, and I 0:07:18.560 --> 0:07:21.800 still don't have the words for it. Though Betsy has 0:07:21.880 --> 0:07:25.800 long since been ringing Heaven's hollers. The memories are with 0:07:26.000 --> 0:07:29.760 me deeper than these scars on my knees. So many 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:32.880 nights just found me and old Betsy I can still hear, 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:36.640 especially when the wind blows cold through the briar choke 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:40.560 Creek Bond just singing to my soul, just for me 0:07:41.360 --> 0:07:46.760 while I'm hanging back. Thanks mister Dale, Well, thank you 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:52.240 Jason Campbell for sharing that wonderful story of compassion, determination, 0:07:52.960 --> 0:07:58.280 faith and generosity. And according to Jason Campbell, that's just 0:07:58.360 --> 0:08:14.280 how it happened. How to cook a Coon. A short 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:18.040 while ago, my old partner Clay middle name I cheated 0:08:18.080 --> 0:08:22.000 turkey calling contest. NUKEM told you all about an event 0:08:22.040 --> 0:08:24.360 that he, his wife, Missedy, and me and my wife 0:08:24.440 --> 0:08:29.000 Alexis went to in Gillette, Arkansas, the Jillette Coon Supper. 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:33.040 It was the eightieth annual gathering of friends, family, and 0:08:33.720 --> 0:08:37.800 like minded individuals who may not agree on politics, but 0:08:37.920 --> 0:08:43.000 can all agree that education, community, and heritage is important. 0:08:44.120 --> 0:08:47.480 It was my first attendance of an Arkansas tradition that 0:08:47.559 --> 0:08:50.840 I not only was aware of, but that I supported 0:08:50.920 --> 0:08:56.360 most years by buying tickets but never attended. It wasn't 0:08:56.360 --> 0:08:58.920 because I didn't like the crowds or I was disgusted 0:08:58.960 --> 0:09:01.400 with the thought of eating an I've been eating these 0:09:01.480 --> 0:09:06.679 critters my whole life. It was all about timing. The 0:09:06.720 --> 0:09:10.560 Coon Supper takes place in January, during the most holly 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:13.160 of outdoor pursuits for a lot of our Kansas and 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:19.520 those that fancy themselves as honorary residents Duck season. Duck 0:09:19.640 --> 0:09:22.280 season had My brother Tim and I are working hard 0:09:22.440 --> 0:09:25.720 entertaining clients at our duck cap on the Arkansas River 0:09:25.760 --> 0:09:28.960 and in the small community of Raydo. Now we were 0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:31.840 hunting and whining and dining and folks and just couldn't 0:09:31.840 --> 0:09:34.680 fit the event into our schedule, even though it took 0:09:34.720 --> 0:09:38.719 place less than thirty minutes from our camp. We never 0:09:38.760 --> 0:09:40.960 knew how many people we would have, and let's face it, 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:45.000 not everyone, even hunters, get real excited about gnawing on 0:09:45.040 --> 0:09:48.560 the ham of a ProCon loader, the trash panda, the 0:09:48.600 --> 0:09:54.040 mass bandido, a river bottomed coon. So we would usually 0:09:54.040 --> 0:09:56.280 buy tickets from a friend of ours who sold them 0:09:56.760 --> 0:09:59.960 just to support the scholarship program that they've vent funded. 0:10:01.320 --> 0:10:05.360 We guided professionally for twenty six years. We missed twenty 0:10:05.400 --> 0:10:09.360 six coon sumpers. We retired from guiding a dozen years ago. 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:13.559 That's thirty eight coon suppers that I didn't attend. Then 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:17.080 came twenty twenty four, and my friend Austin Booth, the 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:20.880 director of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, invited Clay 0:10:20.880 --> 0:10:24.520 and I and our wives. To look on my wife 0:10:24.559 --> 0:10:28.400 Alexi's face when I said, Austin's invited us and Clay 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:30.400 ad missed it to the coon supper next week and 0:10:30.480 --> 0:10:36.200 to let it was not astonishment or horror. It was 0:10:36.280 --> 0:10:40.360 supportive and agreeable, with only one caveat. I'm not eating 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:43.160 any and I'll be glad to go with you, she said, 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:47.320 And that Gal's my best friend and I can always 0:10:47.400 --> 0:10:51.880 count on her. Support. However, eating fur bearing creatures is 0:10:51.920 --> 0:10:55.480 about where she draws the line. I've eaten them forever 0:10:55.559 --> 0:10:58.040 and usually either like them baked with sweet potatoes or 0:10:58.080 --> 0:11:02.560 barbecue like them cooked that way, but neither way stood 0:11:02.600 --> 0:11:05.160 out really from any other wild game I've ever read. 0:11:05.280 --> 0:11:08.160 To be honest, the most significant or intriguing factor of 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:10.320 eating a cooked coon was the fact that you were 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:14.040 eating a cooked coon. It became a staple of country 0:11:14.080 --> 0:11:17.400 folks during hard times, but the outside of the coon 0:11:17.679 --> 0:11:22.560 was historically more valuable than the meat found inside until 0:11:22.559 --> 0:11:25.800 the fall of the fur market. Now, when the fur 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:29.120 market crashed in the late eighties, the way coons were 0:11:29.200 --> 0:11:32.520 valued changed with it, and people no longer trapped air 0:11:32.600 --> 0:11:35.040 hunting and killed them for the fur, and there were 0:11:35.160 --> 0:11:39.319 never very many hunting them just for their meat alone. 0:11:39.480 --> 0:11:43.120 It's too easy to fill your freezer full of deer meat, ducks, 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:47.320 and fish, and those were always more appealing to folks 0:11:47.320 --> 0:11:50.600 with less of a conviction for eating wild game than 0:11:50.640 --> 0:11:55.200 a coon. The older fancies of the meat died out slowly, 0:11:55.240 --> 0:11:59.520 with only regional peel from specific communities keeping the flame 0:11:59.600 --> 0:12:04.360 burning for a stupot full of cooked coon. Except Gillette 0:12:05.200 --> 0:12:08.000 folks down at Gillette were keeping on keeping on. And 0:12:08.040 --> 0:12:10.480 while the amount of meat cooked through the years may 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:14.240 have gone down and the alternative domestic choice has gone 0:12:14.320 --> 0:12:18.360 up during that event, the quality of this Southern delicacy 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:22.000 has remained. Now, I'm going to tell you how they 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:33.160 cook it. Cole Counts is in the agrive business and 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:35.560 as a young man compared to a lot of those 0:12:35.600 --> 0:12:39.680 associated with the Coon Supper, but he's also a get 0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:44.080 alumnist who is helping maintain the tradition and supporting the 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:49.000 legacy by volunteering every year. Cole sees the importance of 0:12:49.000 --> 0:12:54.000 the mission by bringing the community together in support of education. Now, 0:12:54.040 --> 0:12:58.079 Cole himself was a recipient of the scholarship and stewards 0:12:58.080 --> 0:13:02.360 the benevolence he received by working in agriculture and giving 0:13:02.520 --> 0:13:06.000 back to his community along with a whole bunch of 0:13:06.040 --> 0:13:09.920 other folks. He's quick to downplay his role in the 0:13:09.960 --> 0:13:12.680 preparation and pushes the attention to the men and women 0:13:12.720 --> 0:13:15.400 who've been there way longer than him. I get it. 0:13:16.160 --> 0:13:19.559 They should be recognized and have been as recently as 0:13:19.640 --> 0:13:23.640 Clay's Bear Grease episode number two fourteen. If you had 0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:26.320 listened to that one, get your hind end over there 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:30.160 now and listen. He dives deep into the history and 0:13:30.200 --> 0:13:33.560 the politics and the highlights some of the OG's that 0:13:33.600 --> 0:13:37.160 have been instrumental in fanning the flames of that event 0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:41.040 for the last eighty years. Now, you folks have my 0:13:41.400 --> 0:13:45.760 unwavering gratitude and appreciation for staying the course and keeping 0:13:45.800 --> 0:13:51.440 the mission of the event alive and well education and family. 0:13:52.880 --> 0:13:55.320 But someone has to be reaching for the torch when 0:13:55.400 --> 0:13:58.160 the time is right to pass it on. That's why 0:13:58.200 --> 0:14:00.760 people like Cole and the others who come in now 0:14:01.080 --> 0:14:05.160 are so important. Alexis and I sat beside a couple 0:14:05.160 --> 0:14:08.640 who have been coming for sixty one years. He told 0:14:08.640 --> 0:14:11.280 me he was a graduate of Gillette and had never 0:14:11.360 --> 0:14:14.040 missed one. He lives in a little rock now and 0:14:14.080 --> 0:14:17.280 he and his wife travel every year to support the 0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:22.280 community and the students scholarships. The good Lord Willing I 0:14:22.320 --> 0:14:27.480 won't miss anymore. Now, let's cook this thing. A coon 0:14:27.600 --> 0:14:30.080 has four sets of glads that need to be removed 0:14:30.120 --> 0:14:33.280 before cooking. Failing to do so will give the meat 0:14:33.320 --> 0:14:37.720 the very undesirable flavor. It's simple, and with a little practice, 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:40.520 you can have that rascal ready for the bully pot 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:43.440 in less than a minute after you snatched his hind 0:14:43.440 --> 0:14:46.680 and off. The glass resemble a bean in shape and 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:50.479 size and vary in color with subtle shades of grape. 0:14:50.560 --> 0:14:53.680 They're found in between muscles on each side of the neck, 0:14:54.440 --> 0:14:57.280 the joints between the thigh and the lower hind legs 0:14:57.880 --> 0:15:01.040 both sides of the rear part of the backstrap, and 0:15:01.120 --> 0:15:04.760 the joint between the body front legs between the muscles. 0:15:05.080 --> 0:15:08.920 Once that's done, the meat is cutting quartered into serving pieces. 0:15:09.320 --> 0:15:14.080 Front legs, hind legs, and a backbone. Pieces are placing 0:15:14.080 --> 0:15:17.520 in salt water baths of brine overnight. The brine can 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:21.280 simply be water and salt and that works great. You 0:15:21.280 --> 0:15:25.320 can also use pre made flavor infused brines that have 0:15:25.480 --> 0:15:28.800 sugar and other spices added to create some unique flavor 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:32.200 of yol. Turkey brins have been used by friends of 0:15:32.200 --> 0:15:35.040 mine and they say it's a great way to enjoy it. Now. 0:15:35.080 --> 0:15:38.800 I haven't tried it yet, but I will. The function 0:15:38.880 --> 0:15:41.400 of the brine is to infuse flavor and to tenderize 0:15:41.400 --> 0:15:44.800 and moisturize the meat. Brin a turkey, brin, a coon, 0:15:45.120 --> 0:15:48.160 it's all the same thing. Now in a big pot 0:15:48.160 --> 0:15:50.720 of water. I use a thirty quart the same part 0:15:50.800 --> 0:15:53.640 of brin am in. I just wrenched the pot out 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:56.800 in the coon off before following coals directions, and I 0:15:56.840 --> 0:16:00.920 added four carrots and four onions, four bell peppers, six 0:16:01.040 --> 0:16:03.680 or eight stalks of celery night, cut up a couple 0:16:03.760 --> 0:16:07.000 of limon and then I went out on my own 0:16:07.080 --> 0:16:09.600 and I added a couple of bay leaves and a 0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:13.000 cap full of liquid crawfish ball to mix and I 0:16:13.080 --> 0:16:16.960 let it slow bowls for about two hours. Now, once 0:16:17.040 --> 0:16:20.680 that's done, the coon is cooked. But there's one more step. 0:16:20.720 --> 0:16:24.320 We need to amp up the taste even more. It's 0:16:24.360 --> 0:16:35.880 time to fire up the smoker. Any residual fat that's 0:16:35.960 --> 0:16:38.920 left should be removed before placing it in the smoker. 0:16:39.640 --> 0:16:41.720 I removed the coon from the pot, took off any 0:16:41.760 --> 0:16:44.640 fat that was left, and put the five pieces of 0:16:44.680 --> 0:16:48.520 bone in backstrap, both shoulder and both hams into an 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:53.760 aluminum pan. Now, I have a camp chef pellet grill 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:56.520 and set the temp at two twenty five in high smoke, 0:16:57.160 --> 0:17:00.200 and I let it sit in for about two hours 0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:03.280 an hour and the cook I turned the meat once. Now, 0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:05.919 once that was done, I took the pan off the 0:17:05.960 --> 0:17:09.399 smoker and immediately covered it with aluminum fall and I 0:17:09.480 --> 0:17:13.400 let it rest thirty minutes on the stove. If you're 0:17:13.400 --> 0:17:16.520 going to add any barbecue sauce, anything else like that, 0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:20.560 now's the time to do it. I didn't. That's up 0:17:20.560 --> 0:17:24.159 to you. Now allow me to do you another solid 0:17:24.160 --> 0:17:28.000 while I'm at it. Everybody knows that biscuits go with gravy, 0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:33.200 corn bread goes with beans, but for the uninitiated, sweet 0:17:33.240 --> 0:17:35.960 tateres go with coon. Now. I whipped up a batch 0:17:36.000 --> 0:17:38.920 of cream sweet potatoes while Coon was in the last 0:17:38.960 --> 0:17:42.000 stage of smoking, and they were ready to go when 0:17:42.080 --> 0:17:45.720 it was time to uncover the pan. Hot dog tastes 0:17:45.760 --> 0:17:48.320 better at the ball game. All my kids, from the 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:51.720 oldest to my youngest, Amy, Hunter, and Bailey will testify 0:17:51.840 --> 0:17:55.880 to that there's a legitimate link between place and taste. 0:17:56.160 --> 0:17:59.040 Fish tastes better on the river, so it only stands 0:17:59.040 --> 0:18:01.760 to reason that coon would taste better in the environment 0:18:01.800 --> 0:18:06.200 of where it celebrated most. Let you let coon soper. However, 0:18:07.080 --> 0:18:10.600 there was no loss of flavor or enjoyment of eating 0:18:10.600 --> 0:18:13.200 it when I prepared my plate and set at our 0:18:13.280 --> 0:18:18.000 family table with Alexis and Bailey. Alexis and Bailey both 0:18:18.040 --> 0:18:21.399 had some If a bike can be counted as some bailey, 0:18:21.880 --> 0:18:24.200 she didn't care for it. Now, this is the girl 0:18:24.200 --> 0:18:26.720 that would rather eat barre chilla than ice cream. Remember 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:30.480 that's probably a slight exaggeration on my part, I'll admit, 0:18:30.960 --> 0:18:34.600 but she loves wild game coon. It wasn't for her. 0:18:35.720 --> 0:18:39.680 Alexis the poster child for city girls who voluntarily jumped 0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:42.240 into this country life of mine with an open mind 0:18:42.280 --> 0:18:46.000 and a sparkly pair of uggs many many years ago. 0:18:46.119 --> 0:18:49.239 Try to bite and she said, I couldn't tell you 0:18:49.280 --> 0:18:52.560 that that wasn't beef. I just ate it has the 0:18:52.600 --> 0:18:56.119 same consistency as roast. It's just the thought of it 0:18:56.240 --> 0:19:00.040 being a coon that has me not wanting another bite. 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:02.640 I love you, Brent, and I ain't eating any more 0:19:02.640 --> 0:19:06.280 of that. I like the way she always says she 0:19:06.440 --> 0:19:09.760 loves me, right before she adds she ain't about something 0:19:09.800 --> 0:19:14.600 I am. Everybody needs a cheerleader, a companion, a godly 0:19:14.680 --> 0:19:18.719 spouse who supports them in whatever they do. That's good, 0:19:19.000 --> 0:19:25.480 even though that may not wish to participate. Alexis is mine, 0:19:25.640 --> 0:19:27.720 and I'm sure there are just as many ways to 0:19:27.800 --> 0:19:30.800 cook coon as there is to cook anything else. This 0:19:30.960 --> 0:19:33.919 is just one way. The way I chose to do 0:19:33.960 --> 0:19:37.000 it was this one, with some help from my buddy Cole. 0:19:38.160 --> 0:19:40.919 I thought it was fantastic and will absolutely do it 0:19:40.960 --> 0:19:45.120 again this fall. Someone like my friend Jason Ellsworth, who 0:19:45.200 --> 0:19:48.159 is they show enough wild game chef, a man who 0:19:48.200 --> 0:19:51.240 could make a feast out of butterflies and haystring. There's 0:19:51.240 --> 0:19:53.760 no telling them what that rascal could contract with a 0:19:53.800 --> 0:19:57.679 skin coon. Check him out over at Ellsworth dot cooks 0:19:57.680 --> 0:20:01.040 on Instagram. If you don't believe me, now, I've been 0:20:01.440 --> 0:20:05.240 talking about frying catfish in the past, and now how 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:07.080 I like to cook a coon. And if you like 0:20:07.160 --> 0:20:09.439 these episodes, let us know and maybe we'll do some 0:20:09.480 --> 0:20:11.840 more in the future. We've got a lot of stuff 0:20:11.840 --> 0:20:13.920 to talk about in this country life, and we'll take 0:20:13.960 --> 0:20:17.920 suggestions from everyone, even the guy that left a one 0:20:18.000 --> 0:20:21.879 star review saying I don't listen to the ex cop 0:20:21.960 --> 0:20:25.560 turned country boy who is talking about only god knows 0:20:25.600 --> 0:20:31.399 what every week. Well, mister, I was a country boy 0:20:31.520 --> 0:20:35.439 before I was a police officer. Maybe you were listening 0:20:35.480 --> 0:20:39.000 to it backwards. I don't know. Maybe you should try 0:20:39.040 --> 0:20:43.800 the Meat Eater podcast, Cutting the Distance, Foundations, Wired to Hunt, 0:20:43.880 --> 0:20:48.640 Bear Grease, Cows. We can review God's Country or The Element. 0:20:49.320 --> 0:20:53.040 They're all meat eater podcasts, and surely you'll find something 0:20:53.600 --> 0:20:55.879 one of them that won't make you so angry. J 0:20:56.119 --> 0:21:04.200 Cody J. Finishing this up in Manitoba, Canada. I've been 0:21:04.280 --> 0:21:07.000 up here getting ready to chase black Bears with old 0:21:07.040 --> 0:21:10.280 friends and new friends. And we'll visit about that later. 0:21:11.280 --> 0:21:14.600 Something else we'll be talking about very soon is some 0:21:14.880 --> 0:21:18.159 This country life of barrel gonna hang on just a 0:21:18.160 --> 0:21:22.399 little longer. I think you're gonna like it. Time to 0:21:22.440 --> 0:21:25.159 get ready to hit the woods until next week. This 0:21:25.280 --> 0:21:28.880 is Brent Reeves signing off. Y'all be careful.