im just getting in to bowfishing seems like it will be awsome but dumb question what are yall doin with all those big ass carp and gar? they cant be good eating? but i wouldn't know haven't got out there yet and any time i catch them regular fishin i just turn them into catfish bait lol enlighten me please. i
Cook up the gar for sure, they are good eatin. I couldnt tell ya about the carp though, never ate one
Carp that are In that 2 to 5 pound range I like to smoke In the smoker. Anything bigger and their a pain In the butt to smoke. It's been years since I've went out and shot carp and smoked them. I so need to get back Into this.
Don't forget to check with the DNR on any consumption advisories where you get your fish. There are severl rivers around here that have advisories. I would never eat a common carp or gar that came from them. Bighead or Silvers feed differently and should be fine to eat. The Illinois Bowfishers site has directions for cleaning both carp and gar. Mike, while we'd love to utilize all the fish we take as food, we shoot way too many to do that. Most of ours go into the garden. And we have a BIG garden.
how do you use them in your garden? i know as a fertilizer but whats the process involved? i know indians would just bury the whole fish and plant overtop, but how do you do it?
At our tournament last weekend a guy from the state of Wyoming took our fish (a few barrels worth) to use as bear bait. Planting fish.... The squash. Another hole (in Sept.) Covered. Normally we try to put them a bit deeper but we have very few critters to dig them up. (the coyotes eat more of my corn and apples than carp) Carp turned to tastier stuff. Kabocha squash Sunshine squash We try to have a bunch of holes dug out or a trench so that as we get fish we can toss them in the hole and then just fill it in. After bowfishing all night, it's a bit much to have to dig the hole too. :D
so in your garden, you just did large holes through out your garden dump a pile of fish in and cover? i was thinkin about grinding all the fish up and spreading fish bits somewhat evenly through out my fields tilling the hell out of it with my tractor to mix the fish bits into the soil and planting into that? i know its alot of work but work dont scare me if the pay off is worth it. do you think i would benafit from the extra work or would i just be wasting time?
hell i'll use my bowfishing kills to fert a deer food plot, grow healthier bigger deer then take the deer with the same bow i used to shoot the fish, the circle of life to feed this bowhunter and family lol
