Affiliate disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy.
Can you eat coyote meat? Yes! Do people eat coyote? Not that often, but with more hunters adopting a no waste creed, coyote is on the menu more often than you’d think.
One cool fall evening, when I was in my early 20s, I found myself sitting around a fire with a group of new friends. We were gathered around a small, makeshift home, built right into the hillside with mud, leaves, and straw woven into a stick framework. The scene felt straight out of a survivalist’s dream, and I could hardly believe what I was about to experience.
In total, it was perhaps 10×10 on the outside, and the ceiling on the inside was no more than 4 feet at its highest point. That was Max’s house, where he’d already lived for 2 full years, even though some of the coldest Vermont winters on record.
Max was what you might call a “primitivist”—someone who rejects modern conveniences in favor of living off the land. He made everything he needed to survive with his own two hands, from his clothes, fashioned from roadkill buckskin, to his tools, which were crafted from stone and wood.
He was wearing all roadkill buckskin, from deer he’s salvaged throughout the year, with wood and antler buttons.
His meals were all food he’d foraged and included a lot of scavenged roadkill.
On this particular evening, the meal was roadkill coyote with acorn polenta.
I’d never had roadkill, or coyote, but I wasn’t about to turn down a meal from a friend who I knew had spent literally that entire day foraging and preparing it. Max wasn’t used to company for meals, and was obviously a bit self-conscious.
Imagine the trepidation of hosting a dinner party for new friends, and then add to it the fact that your home is made out of mud and you’ll be serving them roadkill coyote.
None the less, he was an impeccable host. That day he’d also taken the time to find birch bark sheets for plates for his guests.
The coyote meat on my birch bark plate was moist and fatty but surprisingly tough. Each bite required a fair amount of effort, as the meat didn’t give way easily. I found myself tearing off small chunks with my teeth, chewing slowly, trying to make the most of each piece, which was tougher than I had imagined.
So what does coyote meat taste like?
What does Coyote Meat Taste Like?
As for the flavor, I can’t say it tasted like much of anything—neither good nor bad. It was somewhat bland, which I chalked up to the lack of salt or seasoning. Still, the richness of the fat helped to make it more satisfying than I expected.
The guys in this video do a much more careful job roasting a coyote, and they describe it as a fatty rich meat, that you’d have trouble telling apart from pork in a pulled coyote meat sandwich.
It wasn’t the most flavorful meat, but it was protein, which made it satisfying, especially after hiking in to get to Max’s house. It provided the sustenance I needed, and there’s something undeniably rewarding about eating a meal that you know has been sourced from nature. I’d definitely eat it again if I were hungry, though I’m not sure I’d seek it out as a regular part of my diet.
Can You Get Rabies from Eating Roadkill?
After I got back home and did a bit of research, I learned that as long as the meat is thoroughly cooked, it’s generally safe to eat. This is a reassuring fact when it comes to foraging and eating wild or scavenged animals. Rabies and other pathogens, though a concern, are destroyed during cooking. However, if you’re processing raw meat, there are risks associated with handling certain parts of the animal, like its spinal fluid or salivary glands.
Rabies and other pathogens are rare, and as long as the meat is thoroughly cooked, they are destroyed. The real risk lies in handling raw meat, particularly the spinal fluid and salivary glands, which can carry pathogens. So, if you’re processing roadkill, be cautious—but cooking it properly makes it safe to eat.
You can read more about that from the Louisiana Department of Health or the New York Department of Fish and Game.
Both state that rabies is completely destroyed by cooking, and that processing the animal and coming into contact with the raw tissue, especially spinal fluid and salivary glands, is the main risk.
In Vermont, modern primitivism is taking hold, and I’ve found more and more of my friends taking to the woods for a rather extreme break from modern society.
As a way to spend a misspent youth, primitivism beats just about any type of rebellion urban teenagers might dream up in my opinion.
Would you try coyote meat if given the chance, or is the idea of eating roadkill just too far out of your comfort zone? It’s an ethical and experiential question that gets at the heart of our relationship with food. I’d love to hear your thoughts—leave a comment below and let’s discuss the reality of eating wild, scavenged meat.
Beyond Eating Coyote Meat
Looking for more obscure wild game stores & recipes?
- Eating Crow (Literally)
- Eating Mice (and Rats)
- 40+ Squirrel Recipes
- How to Clean a Squirrel in Under a Minute
- How to Render Squirrel Fat (for Cookies!)
- Traditional Brunswick Stew (Squirrel Stew)
- Fried Squirrel with Biscuits and Gravy
- How to Clean a Groundhog (woodchuck)
- Buttermilk Fried Groundhog
I have lived off the woods for about years. In northern part of New Mexico. So I have tried everything I could get my hands on. But I’ve never ate a coyote but I’ve ate skunk, coon, rats, etc the only think was bad meat was the skunks. God bless you Chaplain Dale Stearns
Coyote is a good meat. I tend to put meats I’m not sure of into a stew, which helps blend the flavors and tenderize the meat. If I can identify any of the scent glands i cut those away. The hardest meat to eat that I have tried was in Palau, where we were served fruit bat, also know as flying foxes. This was prepared by boiling in coconut milk, with the innards in place and the fur still on. The body was the size of a large fox squirrel, and smelled musky like a ferret.One of the locals disjointed the critter and I slid the skin off before eating the meat. We had asked our hosts for local food, so eating this was a point of honor. It sounds like eating the coyote was the same for you. Over the decades I have tried every thing that walks, crawls or flies, some by necessity and some for respectful reasons. None were horrible except for the fermented duck embryos in the Philippines. Just could not get those down.
I have never eaten coyote before but I have eaten many other animals. I would eat it if fresh, I grew up poor in the woods so I’m not particular about what the animal is. Toughness can be dealt with by stewing, marinating, or slow roasting. Good article, I really enjoyed reading it.
Thank you!
coyote tastes same as dog meat not half bad when done right
Growing up my father frequently stopped on the side of the road for various animals. I’ve helped clean many to eat, but we never did try a coyote. I’m looking into to hunting them so hopefully I will give it a taste soon.
I’ve eaten it. I shot a young female coyote on a cold Texas afternoon. I skinned it and left it hanging until morning. It certainly looked like good meat so I grilled it. Excellent, a lot better flavored than the whitetails on my ranch. There’s no secret. Shoot a young animal during cool weather and process it reasonably soon. I’ve cooked bobcat gumbo, too. Terrific. Possum? I tried it twice. The first one tasted like sweet, tender, overly fat pork. The second possum was so awful, I’ve never tried it, again.
I have gone hungry as a child so you bet I would. My husband likely would not unless terribly hungry. I made sure I can hunt, forage and make fire as a result of my childhood and also the hurricane Harvey over 2 years ago.
My nephew hid a coyote with his pick up very healthy looking and fresh I had never eaten coyote never thought about it so I went on line and found recipes wow so cooked a little back strap just see to me it tast a lot like beef not pork if I were lost in the wilderness would eat Coyote yes but hunt it for food if I were hungry yes other wise I’ll stick to deer lol
I would definitely try im always open to new food sources
Here is my only qualm …How long as the carcass been laying there? Not to mention if it near a populated area, what has that dog been eating? But if it was far enough out in the sticks and obviously fresh then I am more comfortable with the idea….there is a third issue with road kill and that is the adrenaline released when the animal is hit …I might have suffered for hours and what doe THAT add to the mix? ….. You know how people worry about antibiotics and steroids in store bought meat? When a mammal suffers trauma/shock how corticosteroids (cortisol?) floods it’s system and tissues? Likely WAY WAY more than ever would be in grocery store meat …I’m just saying
Good points all around. At this point in my life, I’m only comfortable eating road kill that I saw get hit. I want to know it’s fresh, and that it was a clean kill precisely to avoid the issues you mention. After the apocalypse, I’d be less picky…
Well I’ve never eaten coyote before but I have eaten fox & roadkill on many occasions. The fox was tough but edible and I’d eat coyotes no problem. Roadkill as long as it’s fresh, well I don’t have a problem with that either.
I would definitely try coyote, or roadkill. (Depending on what creature). My concern would be the judgment of the person who prepared the animal. Things like dead too long, insect contamination, predator contamination ect. I have been told that some animals are not good to eat when roadkill due to the processes that take place in the body when killed by a speeding vehicle. (Not dangerous just not good). I do not know if this is true. Roadkill could be a source of perfectly good free food.