Cooking South Dakota Mountain Lion 101

South Dakota Game wardens don’t think we will make the state-set quota of 100 mountain lion kills for the 2012-2013 hunting season. There are only 2 weeks left in the season. 49 lions have been harvested so far. The last one killed was on March 6 west river in Pennington County. Last year the quota was 70 and they reached it a month before the season was scheduled to end.

I have hunted Deer, Duck, Pheasant, Partridge, Rabbit, Goose, Turkey, and Squirrel. I’ve never hunted a carnivore. I’ve always subscribed to the philosophy that you eat what you kill. I was sharing this conversation on the show and we received a phone call from a listener that said he had indeed hunted Mountain Lion and he indeed ate it. My immediate thought was my wife would cook that up for me. Even if she would, there isn't enough 'Cream of Mushroom' soup to make that taste good. We'll he shared this 'Mountain Lion' recipe with us. He swore it tasted good. Not like chicken. He said it kinda tasted like pork. I said: “Are you sure your wife is cooking pork right?”

Well just in case yer wondering, here's how to cook up some tasty Mountain Lion Steak that is sure to be Gerrrrrr-ate!

1 – Procure a steak from the body of the skinned Mountain Lion.  Choose any cut of steak such as strip steak, porterhouse steak or fillet strip.

 2 – Rinse the meat thoroughly in water and rinse away any hair and excess blood from both inside and outside. Allow the Mountain Lion meat to sit and drain for five minutes to release more blood and eliminate some of the wild game taste.

3 – Place the steak into a cook pot and cover the meat in water. Boil the steak for 30 minutes and drain, removing the brown film from the water. Place the meat back on to boil, and drain again after 30 minutes.

4 – Marinate the partially-cooked Mountain Lion meat in your choice of marinade. The marinade helps to disguise the wild game taste of the meat. For a simple marinade, rub the meat with garlic powder and salt.

5 – Place the steak in a skillet with cooking oil, shortening or bacon fat. Sear both sides of the steak. Cut into the piece to ensure the meat is cooked thoroughly. Continue to cook the meat if any pinkness exists, as Mountain Lion meat is infamous for problems associated with trichinosis, an infection caused by roundworms.

6 – Consume Mountain Lion meat after the meat cooks and browns throughout. Serve the meat with earthy, green vegetables like green beans, broccoli and lots of beer.