Getting the birds yourself could be far cheaper than having to buy ready-to-cook birds at the grocery store.
The other day Mike stopped at the grocery store and went inside, leaving me alone in the truck — again. Why can’t I go inside? I promise not to graze on too many groceries, har har!
When he returned I noticed a note he placed on the console, and so I started reading. Wow, it was a list of birds with numbers beside those. Was Mike going to stop hunting and buy birds to eat from the grocery store? No, he has way too much gear, he’ll keep hunting — forever.
Anyway, I memorized the note and numbers on Mike’s paper about the price of birds in the super market. When we returned home, I crept into Mike’s office, found his calculator and started adding. Hmm, goose = $105 each; quail = $20 each; ducks = $35 each; turkey legs = $20/pair and on and on. The calculator was smoking as I added up the number of grouse, ducks, geese, doves, quail and other birds I have fetched back. Each bird had a price per the local market. Soon the smoke cleared and I could see the value of the birds I have brought to Mike since we began hunting together about seven years ago.
My estimate on the value of the birds I have fetched to Mike is $483,075, give or take $100K, har har! The number would be much higher if Mike hadn’t missed so many birds over the years. Wow, ok those prices on the birds is true based on Mike’s startling discovery in the grocery meat department. My estimates are only slightly exaggerated because, like all dogs, I never forget anything. Ever. Like that time Mike was feeding me bacon and slipped an orange peel into my mouth. Ugh, disgusting and I had to run to my bowl of water and wash my tongue. Yuck, no oranges for me, har har!
Well, if you need a reason to keep hunting just look in the frozen bird meat section in your local super market and you’ll see many reasons to buy a new hunting truck, a new shotgun, plus some hunting gear. Getting the birds yourself could be far cheaper than having to buy ready-to-cook birds at the grocery store.
Now is a great time to show Mike my calculations and talk to him about a raise, and to include an increased treat allowance, har har! His other option is buying birds to eat. I think he would need to take out a loan at the bank if he goes that route. —Cameron
Fishing for Chickens is a well-seasoned blend of memoir and cookbook. It offers the perspective of a Bryson City, North Carolina, native on a particular portion of southern Appalachia―the Smokies. Casada serves up a detailed description of the folkways of food as they existed in the Smokies over a span of three generations, beginning early in the twentieth century. Buy Now
