I started reading through the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources regulation book on spearing, netting and bait harvest regulations not because I love reading state regulations, but I remember camping in mid-Northern Wisconsin as a kid and every year there was this huge celebration and everyone ate turtles. Turtle soup was the main dish and fried turtle for snacks. I was little so I thought it was just a tall-tale that those beer-drinking, grown-ups would actually eat those little cuties that I would bring home for a pet.
So here it is, lots of years later and I am seeking the truth. While hunting and fishing are my favorite past times, I often run into massive snapping turtles (20 inches or more front to back) in one of my regural fishing holes. At least in Wisconsin, turtle season starts on July 15th and runs through November 30th. Soup? Really?? And how exactly do you capture and kill a 50 pound mass with jaws of steel!? Hook and line, yes. Hoop trap, yes. Netting, yes. I personally would NOT net one of these buggers and throw them in my boat without a very good plan of action.
What do they taste like? I have read everything from "It tastes like chicken, or fish or turkey" but my favorite remains... it tastes like turtle. If you venture out to the lakes and ponds into the doldrums of the summer heat after the 4th of July celebrations have ceased and want to have a unique snack, you guessed it; fried turtle and turtle soup recipes can be found on Mother Earth News and some step by step cooking and cleaning instruction can be found on Instructables.com . (Caution: preparing the turtle to eat is not for the weak stomach.)
As for this Outdoor Tomboy, I am going to catch one of these and see how it goes. After all, there are 7 different kinds of meat on one turtle; I am bound to like one of them!
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