Where to Buy Exotic Game Meats


“A happy hunter. Bear hunting is an important recreational sport on the refuge”
 11 May 1957 US Fish and Wildlife Service, National Digital Library
Exotic game meats were once  much more commonly available in New York City than they are today.  Below, a few suggestions on where to get your own hands on a serving of bear, moose, or beaver (although you won’t be able to find moose mouffle anywhere).
Go  hunting.  New Jersey has a five-day hunting season for black bear, which usually falls in early December.  The Division of Fish and Wildlife posts on it annually here.  Read tips on how to cook the bear once you’ve bagged it here.
A whole raccoon, cooked by the the French Culinary Insitute blog.

Order from Czimer’s Butcher Shop, in Illinois.  I found out about this place from Cooking Issues: the French Culinary Insitute blog who ordered up and cooked beaver,  yak, a whole raccoon, some bear, and a lion steak.   We both went “bonkers” for beaver; read my write-up on eating beaver here.

Dinner at Henry’s EndElk chop, venison sausage, and wild boar belly.

Dine at Henry’s End, a restaurant in Brooklyn Heights, who have an annual winter “Wild Game Festival.”  The menu is generally available October through early spring and currently includes Turtle Soup, Elk Chops, Wild Boar Ragout, Buffalo Hangar Steak, and Kangaroo.  I’ve eaten there; read about it here.

All game meats sold in shops and restaurants in the United States is farmed, not wild.  Wild meats do not comply with FDA regulations.  I find store bought meat to be generally milder than the real wild stuff, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Does anyone know any other game meat resources?

14 thoughts on “Where to Buy Exotic Game Meats

  1. Looks like you can’t buy moose anywhere period. You’re so lucky to have a BFF in Alaska.

  2. Savenor’s Market in Boston (and Cambridge) is my local source for game and “exotic” meat. Their website is lacking in game, but they always have boar, elk, & venison in their shops and usually have a pretty good selection of other things like python, pheasant, quail, bear, yak, etc. (albeit they are a bit pricey): https://www.savenorsmarket.com/web/

    For dining, The Student Prince in Springfield, MA, dedicates each February to game: http://www.studentprince.com/

  3. Last summer I was in a thrift store and wound up buying a cookbook of hillbilly recipes, which included recipes for raccoon and other wild creatures. But I can’t try them even if I get the nerve, since don’t live in the right part of the country for raccoons (I could maybe cook a prairie dog or a coyote.)

  4. Has anyone a clue about swan? (Of course…shipping to Europe may be tricky?) We’ve been wanting swan for so long. Preferably WITH the feathers. They’re everywhere, but seem to be protected.

  5. We are a USDA approved processing plant that carries wild boar and ostrich grass fed beef and red wattle pigs so if you need these products and want the best prices by buying direct from the plant drop me a line or call the plant at 254-584-0115 ask for Ty

  6. Need raccoon meat to do a tribute/memorial to Dr. John’s fav! Raccoon Stew! I’m in Brooklyn, so Piasano’s was my first stop but they don’t have it. Came across this post and reached out to Czimers but it’s not on their site and the phone lines are disconnected or reach an Identity Protection company’s call center in India(!). Any ideas? THANK YOU!

  7. Pingback: Dr. John Tribute: A Multi-sensory Experience Including Raccoon Stew, Lotsa Tunes, a Second Line Parade and More… – Cultures Capsules

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