If you can gain access to a south western property and like to hunt, harvesting a feral goat for your own use can be rewarding. Goat is similar in flavour to lamb but much leaner. The meat has a supple texture. Chevron is the name used when describing goat meat. The most consumed red meat in the world. Alternatively if you would like to try chevron, call into your local butcher shop. Game meats have become more popular in recent times and your butcher will certainly be able to supply or source chevron. Property owners in the western areas use the wild goat trade as a supplementary income. In times of good prices, feral goats are mustered and trucked to the meat works in Australia before been exported to Asia and the Middle East where the meat from these animals are in demand. The revenue from wild goats has helped many farmers through the droughts and bad times. There is no shortage of wild goats in south west Queensland. It is not uncommon for nannies to have twins and goat numbers can soon multiply.
We have some friends that have a property near Eulo where we have access to hunt goats. We select a young animal, around 6 to 8 months old. At this age the meat is at it’s prime, soft and tender. On our most recent trip out in the mulga it was the start of winter and the cooler weather was ideal for butchering. A young nanny was shot early one morning and hung in the shade from the branch of a mulga tree. We used a small pulley and gambrel to hoist the goat at a safe working height and kept all the meat clean and out of the dirt. I started removing the hide with a knife around the legs and punch the rest of the hide off by rolling my fist between the hide and the carcass. This is a quick and clean method of removing the skin and doesn’t damage the meat.
The hide and stomach was removed and the liver and kidney are hung in the tree from a meat hook. We like making lambs fry with the liver, usually the next morning’s breakfast. The kidney and a shoulder diced up are a good combination for a chevron stew. I used the cleaver to cut the goat in half down the middle of the back bone to allow the carcass temperature to reduce even further.
We boiled the billy and had a cup of tea. This allows the carcass to cool some more before taking it back to the homestead to be butchered, vac sealed and placed in the freezer. Goat can be cut up into portions the same as sheep with the legs as roast and the middle as chops and off cuts of meat are used in a stew. One of the dishes we made out of the goat meat was an Indonesian Goat Rendang. Have a look in recipes under game for all the details on how to prepare this beautiful dish.
