Wild Emu at the ranch!!!

Ok, so I know that in the late 80's/early 90's there was a short-lived interest in people raising Emus in Texas. One of the neighbors near our place gave my grandfather some Emu meat and a pair of Emus when the market tanked, when a breeding pair of Emus went from $45k to less than $200. It was general more expensive to raise them than what they were worth. I heard some people let them go wild. Not sure what my grandfather did with his and he's passed on, so no way to know. I was checking my game trail pics when this guy pops up:



This may be a descendant of some of those let out in the wild some 20-25 years ago. My uncle said he's been turkey hunting a few times in the last 5-10 years when he looked up to see one of these passing through our place. Thought he was seeing the world record turkey until he realized what the heck it was.

Not sure if we'll ever see one in person again. I never have...

What would you do it you saw this? Let it walk, or shoot it? Or try to saddle it??? Could be a great pet for the kids, right? (Kidding)

I remember some TASTY emu burgers being served at a little burger shack back in the day. I say shoot. THINK ABOUT THE DRUMSTICKS!

I bet it is fun field dressing one of those....That being said, I'd hate to corner one, those birds are huge.

Most of the meat is in the legs an thighs, but does make for some good burgers.

NOT A GOOD PET, SniperRAB's Emu story at this LINK

We chased one down on my families place in Oklahoma. Me being young and dumb reached out the passenger window and grabbed by the neck while it was running and the truck was moving. This birds are crazy strong. I don't recommend trying to catch it, but kill it and eat it. We did, and it wasn't as bad as people say

I laughed until my sides hurt on that one. Missed the post the first time thanks kmon.

Funniest part:

"If we had that on video, I promise we would never work another day in our Life...We never said two words on the drive back to Ft Worth, he pulled up and I just got out and walked away and never looked back like we just left a Crime Scene. Its still hard to talk about.. "

We have made some great chili using emu meat. Used to see some southwest of town years ago, it has to be 20 or 30 years since I last saw one running loose.

If you shoot them in the head they'll run around like a chicken for a minute or so.

Had a neighbor that raised them and we always enjoyed the meat when he gave us some.

I would love to come across one for the meat.

Pretty cool. I'd heard the same thing about the great Emu bust. Texas author John Graves has an emu story that I always liked, and a little Texas history to boot, in this video... John Graves on his Ranch

that is hilarious. thanks for throwing that in the thread.

several yrs ago there was one that hung out between Bastrop & Cedar Creek on Hwy 21

I helped kill an even 2 dozen of those one morning. Actually, it took all dang day. They are tough, DO NOT make good pets, and the best way to kill one, we found, is to get it to a stump, chop his head off, and run like hades! They can tear crap up...quick.

When I was about 14 I was sitting on a fence line at our ranch in Pleasanton. I saw something coming in at a trot but couldn't make out what it was. As it got closer I realized it was a dang Emu... Had no idea people raised them or even kept them as pets so I was pretty confused. Didn't even think about shooting it.. Just watched in amazement thinking no one would ever believe me. The cows turned out to be just as confused and they spent a good amount of time chasing it around the place.

Lol, I've got some emu stories, we hunted In hondo for about 10 years and when we got on the place around 96 or so the rancher had mentioned that every now and then they have seen some emus out there and they weren't the friendliest of critters so be careful. The first encounter that we had I was in the truck with my dad behind a guy on a 4 wheeler and that guy was opening the gate for us and out of the brush pops out this velociraptor with feathers lmao. He came out all puffed up and mad and came at that guy and started runnin him in circles around that 4 wheeler lol, it was the funniest thing to watch but kinda scary cuz he could of messed him up pretty good but I wasn't much more than about 12 and me and my dad were laughin so hard I think I peed my pants. He had a pistol in his bag on the 4 wheeler but he couldn't get to it, finally after a couple minutes they kinda had a square off and he pulled that pistol and unloaded on him lol. Greasy bird to say the least like oily all over em. But through the years the same guy shot another one from the stand under the feeder and another guy shot one that was in the road kinda of doin another stand off kinda thing, but after seein that one try to stomp that old boy we decided to shoot the ones we saw. Classic

We had tracks on our old place in Montague. I would shoot it in a heart beat for the good red meat. Just aim towards the front of the body for shot placement. Head shot would be really hard on those things with a rifle.

Lmao I just read snipers story and I think he wins, lmao that's funny

kmon1 - that's a wonderful link to share, thanks! Still laughing!

B_Rod - thanks for sharing the link, as well. Cool clip!

Colt45 - we are pretty close to that area, actually.

Still hard to Talk about to this day


Every time I see that guy we just stare and we both know the other wants to bring it up but we will stare at our Boots and say...


Wife and Kids okay...Yes Sir... You...Yes Sir, Take Care Amigo...

OMG!! I haven't laughed that hard in a LONG time.. Pure GREATNESS!!! LMAO

I would kill it on site. I had 2 of them on my lease. They get used to coming to the feeders like clockwork and the deer DO NOT like them around. If they showed, deer would bolt, hunt was over.

A friend and I once had a freezer full of emu. I'd shoot it and eat it.

Where would you guys place your shot? In the neck? If it is near one of the feeders, It would likely be a 100+ yard shot with a deer rifle.

Tap him in the Dome George from a safe distance

Don't TRUST them they are like a Hornet, they WILL know where the shot came from

The heart lung area is towards the front portion of the body, right in the middle part of the front of the chest. If you hit middle body or back, you will hit meat.

My uncle was on a lease between Brackettville and Del Rio and they had a large number of wild birds on their place. I hunted an all white one for nearly a full week straight with my bow and never got a shot. Ended up killing one with a .243.

They can't fly but they will cross a river and never slow down!

Pretty neat find. A friend used to raise them and gave me some meat. Steaked and chicken fried, it was great.