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    Home » Meat and Game

    Eating Unborn Venison: an Unusual Product of Deer Culls

    Published: Oct 30, 2021 Modified: Feb 1, 2023 by Alan Bergo This post may contain affiliate links 18 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    I've always loved Halloween, and I usually do something "seasonal" when it comes around. As a disclaimer, I have to tell you that if you're one of my vegetarian or vegan friends, you'll probably want to skip this one. If you eat meat, and you appreciate the interesting odd tidbit, you may find it interesting, as I did. 

    Pregnant_doe illustration by Xee Reiter
    A pregnant doe in a semi urban setting. A custom illustration just for this post by artist Xee Reiter. Also check her out on IG.

    Most of you will know that there are a lot of deer in America, and that human-deer conflicts from overpopulation can be an issue in some places. In a way we've created a new, almost perfect habitat for wild creatures to find food. We all know racoons are adept at opening garbage cans. Squirrels love nuts, but also don't mind a slice of old pizza.

    Bears (on my mind as I'm getting ready for an off-grid trip into the British Canadian Wilderness as I write this) are well known for being adaptive carnivores. And, as my hosta-growing neighbors can tell you, an urban garden and landscaping is a just a giant, 24-hour salad bambi bar.

    Deer in an urban setting by artist Xee Reiter
    I love the extra details Xee added to make the image feel like a wooded backyard in town.

    I'm not even going to try to tackle arguments for or against urban hunting/culling, overpopulation, or the destruction that deer can rue unchecked on local ecology (the more pressing discussion as opposed to ethics, in my mind).

    Those arguments are far too deep, sprawling, and often too opaque to cover in 1000 words or so. I do believe that the actions of man have made it so that the population needs to be kept in check, but what the most efficient and humane way to go about that is a gladiatorial arena of opinions and emotions for some.

    The reality is that plenty of urban areas have deer culls, and will continue to for the foreseeable future (one location I reference used their cull to donate 8,600 pounds of venison to food shelves-a good byproduct I think). What I'm talking about today involves something much more focused on the meat of deer itself, and the timeline at which they're harvested.

    Edible hosta shoots or urui
    Hosta shoots are one of the preferred urban snacks for deer where I live. I've seen some homeowners get pretty fired up about them.

    In Wisconsin and Minnesota, the deer season runs (roughly here, including archery) from late September to mid November. In places where urban deer culls are held, the season may not be in the fall, it might be later in the winter, or nearly spring, or, as in the case of the cull at U-M Dearborn I link to at the end of this post, over Spring break.

    Mating season of deer should be around October-Dec. When a hunter harvests a doe, the last thing they probably think about is if she'd been with a buck. If you harvest and butcher one of those does in the spring though, the butchery can be, ahem, more interesting. 

    So, just so happens I have a friend in Virginia that participates in his local urban deer cull, and it's in the spring. And, for the past few years, the does he's harvested have had some extra baggage in their unborn fetuses. So, he sent me one to cook. Thanks Mark.

    Unborn venison fetus or proto-veal

    I've always been fascinating by the odd, unusual edible, and, I'm also a passionate consumer of offal and organ meats, so, it's honestly right up my alley. What I really wanted to know though, was if there was a tradition of eating unborn animals around the world I could find. Besides a casual Reddit mention, I can't.

    Cooking smoked pigeons with young venison for Brunswick stew
    To mask the texture, you could cook proto-veal venison in small game stew. I added a couple smoked pigeons for extra meat. 

    But, humans, enterprising beings that we are, have undoubtedly eaten them, although the only historical anecdote I've come across is Indigenous people cooking buffalo fetus for the elderly who have problems chewing. At the end of the day, meat, is meat. 

    Unborn venison fetus or proto-veal
    Teeny tiny hooves.

    Unpacking the cooler my friend overnighted me, I found a little vacuum sealed bag with what looked to be a squirrel inside. For all intents and purposes, I'd assume you could cook a small fetus of similar animals of similar size as you would any small game. And small game is exactly what my unborn deer tasted like. 

    What does it taste like? 

    Unborn venison or venison fetus
    The fetus will need to be gutted like any other animal.

    The big question. If you can get past the aversion, which, is, to be blunt, an inculturalized phobia other (non-American) people around the world probably wouldn't have a problem eating, a deer fetus cooks up like a squirrel or other very small game, and tastes like meltingly tender deer veal. I found it mild, extremely tender and pleasant.

    Imagine eating the most tender confit you've ever had. It is in no way strong tasting like organ meats or offal. I ate all of it's organs to compare them with other small game, and found them near-identical to rabbit and squirrel offal in taste, which are all mild and delicious. I often compare small game offal to poultry organs (chicken, pigeon etc) as their size and taste is pretty similar. 

    Other notes 

    The proto-skin

    Everything is mini, and in the process of being formed at this stage, including the skin, which feels a bit like a layer of translucent fat, and, although it won't render out anything noticeable, at least from my experience, seems to really insulate the meat and keep it extremely moist. it was delicious, and seemed to melt into the meat per caul fat. 

    The tiniest of bones 

    One hurdle will cooking small game is that the bones can be tiny and hard to keep track of. With rare exception, I do not like bones in my soup and I find it off-putting, as will any average dinner guest. 

    Cooking a Brunswick stew with smoked pigeons
    Adding meat to venison and smoked pigeon Brunswick stew
    Brunswick stew made from smoked pigeons and young venison

    That being said, as it was the size of a large squirrel, it wasn't going to make a huge meal. With the higher proportion of bones, barbecuing it and slapping it on a bun wasn't going to work, so I turned to a classic small game recipe: the ol' Brunswick stew.

    Brunswick stew made from smoked pigeons and young venison
    The finished stew.

    Brunswick stew is traditionally made with different types of small game, so it worked out just fine. To bulk the meat out I added 2 smoked pigeons from the freezer, rounded it with some of my favorite heirloom tepary beans from Romona Farms.

    I also replaced the now common ketchup or barbecue sauce with a dash of birch syrup and some canned tomatoes. It made for one of the most interesting meals of small game I've had to date. If I'll do it again, I don't know. 

    Brunswick stew made from smoked pigeons and young venison
    Brunswick stew made from smoked pigeons and young venison
    Print Recipe
    5 from 4 votes

    Brunswick Stew with Smoked Pigeon, Young Venison and Tepary Beans

    Thick, rich stew made with small game, tepary beans and potatoes, seasoned with birch syrup and herbs. Serves 4 with leftovers
    Prep Time1 hr
    Cook Time2 hrs
    Course: Main Course
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: Pigeon, Small game
    Servings: 4
    Author: Alan Bergo

    Ingredients

    Stew

    • 2 whole pigeons or a comparable amount of poultry, about 1 pound total
    • 1 unborn venison fetus or 1 lb or bone-in small game, such as a squirrel
    • 2 oz smoked bacon preferably in slab form, diced ¼ inch
    • 5 oz 1 medium onion, diced ½ inch
    • 2 large cloves of garlic minced or grated
    • 1 tablespoon rendered animal fat such as duck or pork
    • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
    • 2 tablespoons birch syrup
    • 8 oz diced potato rutabaga or turnip
    • Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
    • 1 large can whole peeled tomatoes
    • ½ cup dry white wine
    • 1 cup good strong meat stock

    Beans

    • ½ cup dried tepary beans or ¾ cup cooked beans
    • 1 small onion peeled, left whole, and studded with 5 cloves
    • 1 large clove garlic peeled and lightly crushed
    • 1 large dried bay leaf
    • 3 cups water

    Serving

    • Slices of good bread grilled or toasted

    Instructions

    Pigeon

    • Season the pigeons all over with salt and pepper and allow to rest for at least an hour, and preferably overnight. The next day, smoke the pigeons at 250 F for 2 hours, then cool and reserve.

    Beans

    • Bring the beans, onion, garlic, and bay leaf to a boil, then turn the heat to a simmer and cook for 3-4 hours, or until the beans are tender (tepary beans can take twice as long to cook as most beans). Allow the beans to cool in their liquid while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Reserve the bean cooking liquid just in case the pot threatens to get dry.

    Stew

    • In a dutch oven or similar pot of 3 quart capacity, render the bacon in the fat until lightly browned, then add the small game pieces, moving the bacon to one side of the pan, and brown lightly. Add the onion and garlic to the pan and cook for 5 minutes more. Add the remaining ingredients, including the cooked beans, bring to a simmer, cover, leaving the lid ajar, and simmer for 2 hours, or until the meat moves freely from the bones. Cool the stew until you can handle the meat.
    • Pick the meat from the bones, discarding the pigeon skin and bones from the small game, then add back to the pot, double check the seasoning for salt and pepper, adjust as needed, adding some of the reserved bean liquid if the liquid gets low, and serve with a good slice of crusty bread.

    Further Reading 

    VA Urban Archery Season 

    Deer Culling in Philadelphia 

    Spring Break Deer Cull 

    « The Salt Cellar's Beef Burgundy with Honey Mushrooms
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. James

      November 01, 2021 at 8:40 pm

      I vaguely recall seeing something about fetal goat being a delicacy in Goa.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        November 03, 2021 at 10:57 am

        Thanks James, going to look that up.

        Reply
    2. Artem

      November 06, 2021 at 9:51 am

      5 stars
      Very interesting! Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        November 06, 2021 at 10:21 am

        Thanks, I was a little nervous and saw a lot of people unsubscribe after this post went out, but I am here to be a standard bearer of the arcane, so....it is what it is. 🙂 Thanks for keeping an open mind.

        Reply
    3. Linda Bryan

      November 06, 2021 at 1:24 pm

      For what it's worth, in the fur trade era before Minn. and Wisc. Territories, a "fawnskin" was a unit of measurement. Traders purchased fawnskins of wild rice from local harvesters or accepted them in payment to zero out a purchase made on credit.
      Linda Bryan, member of LaCompagnie HSP, an organization of fur trade reenactors.

      Reply
    4. lisa

      November 06, 2021 at 9:25 pm

      I do not understand its feet! That's what underdeveloped split hooves look like??? I'd swear I see claws in that photo.

      Reply
      • Gene

        November 07, 2021 at 5:12 am

        Agree, not a deer. Perhaps the squirrel that was referenced.

        Reply
        • Alan Bergo

          November 07, 2021 at 7:56 am

          You're right, that picture wasn't of a deer! I feel silly. Here's what happened: I originally tested out the proportions with a squirrel and took images just in case I didn't care for the deer. I don't know how I got those mixed up, but I mistakenly chose the wrong images, so I probably saved the real ones in another folder by accident. I replaced the squirrel with a low res version of the real deal, I have the actual images up once I find them in a day or two. You will see visible mini-hooves.

          Reply
    5. Hyde

      November 07, 2021 at 4:44 am

      5 stars
      I actually don't like venison, but if we became a dystopian society where everyone becomes hunters/gatherers again, then yes, I'd think I would partake some Brunswick Stew in a heartbeat. More importantly, kudos to you and your friend who sent the deer fetus, at least your using all of the carcass, which is more than most people can say.
      I do recall seeing some Russian Tuvans eating the eyeballs of a large yak on some documentary, so I bet they don't waste much either.

      Reply
    6. Marge

      November 22, 2021 at 7:51 pm

      5 stars
      Very interesting! I am a nose-to-tail eater, and if I had ever gotten a pregnant deer, I would have to try it! But I have not... Yet... I am also curious about the uterus (is it like muscle meat?) and placenta. (Yes, I know many of my friends and family would find my interest ghoulish)

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        November 23, 2021 at 8:05 am

        Marge, I wasn't sent the placenta or uterus so I can't speak to that. As for the balut, that's a good parallel I hadn't thought of. As the undeveloped bones are consumed, I didn't really care for them when I tried them. Acquired tastes.

        Reply
    7. Marge

      November 22, 2021 at 7:54 pm

      As to other cultures and fetal animals, what about bulgogi? It is a developing egg, so not from an internal pregnancy, but still similar.

      Reply
    8. Marge

      November 22, 2021 at 7:56 pm

      Oops! I meant balut...

      Reply
    9. sarahspectacular

      April 21, 2022 at 9:15 pm

      There is a lamb fetus and millet porridge recipe in 'The Book of Jook' by Bob Flaws. This is a book of medicinal porridges from Chinese medicine. It is indicated for a type of chronic asthma with particular other symptoms. It is not for general consumption but for sick people only. That said, it would not be harmful to eat for a regular person, but definitely not something to eat regularly. The difficulty in sourcing the ingredient alone would be prohibitive for most. My masters degree is in Chinese medicine.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        April 22, 2022 at 3:31 pm

        This is great Sarah. Thanks for sharing. Not a lot of people who can chime in on something like this!

        Reply
        • sarahspectacular

          April 23, 2022 at 2:30 pm

          Happy to share. I've learned a lot from reading your blog so it's only fair.

          Reply
    10. Matthew Kaney

      April 24, 2022 at 7:40 pm

      I am too much of a sap to do this. I even feel bad eating veal and lamb (ultimately it doesn't stop me though lol). This is not a judgement though, as your arguments are sound. My view is not rational, it's just emotional. Little baba too cute 😀

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        April 25, 2022 at 11:26 am

        Yeah I feel ya. To be honest, I had to butcher an ewe that was having pregnancy issues on Easter (of all the days) this year. I didn't keep the fetus. Once was probably enough for me.

        Reply

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