Trapping for food

Setting aside the legality and ethics (for the cider press), if one is trapping for food, how does one make sure the animals are in a state that’s wholesome and good for eating? How long in what sort of weather can one wait, for instance?

We do wildlife management and take care of our game by furnishing food, water and shelter.

Just like with farm animals I would look for signs of disease.

From my experience most wildlife are healthy.

It might be wise to check with wildlife authorities as to what disease might be in your area.

My area of Texas is having a New Screw Worm epidemic so I would look for maggots or larva.

We also have a disease called Wasting Disease where the wildlife are thin or wasting.

I trap a few beaver every year - very good eating. Muskrat as well. Mammals that live in water have a lot of subcutaneous fat, which is high in calories. These are focused, targeted catches, where we're trying to catch specific animals. Ironic as I was having this conversation earlier today in real life (not online). To trap legally in Maine (all laws are state by state), you have to check your traps every day. And you want to, so you can process anything you catch right away. The difference between great meat and tastes kind of off is only a few hours of exposure to heat. Trapping season is during the colder part of the year here (with the exception of nuisance beaver), so caught animals are often dead and cold when we get to them. But it is all about getting the animal cold, fast, if the weather is warmer, to get good tasting meat.

If meat tastes a bit gamey, a good fix is to soak it in salted water overnight before cooking.

As far as the health of the animal, I agree that most wild animals are very healthy. As the other poster mentioned, it is a good idea to check with local fish and game to learn about any diseases in the area and what to look for.