Sodak, I am at least three generations removed from the farm, No one else in at least two generations cares for anything outdoors except the view from a car or resort patio. Fishing was a forbidden topic and hunting condemned as the worst kind of unspeakable sin.

As a result I have been re-learning a little of the education you may take for granted. Fishing is second nature now, foraging for edible and useful plants getting more comfortable all the time, but for me hunting is still very new and "using everything but the squeal" is yet to be experienced.

Gradually fishing became acceptable when I brought home neatly sealed fillets of trout, striped bass, and salmon. My gun ownership and hunting for birds, and various kinds of target shooting, have remained secrets from my family to this day.

So my question has been, what is the fullest use of mammals? I am doing my homework online and intend to get bloody and stinky (and probably throw up a couple times) later this year under the guidance of a couple classes I found and some new friends I am making who hunt. As yet, I have not run into anyone who makes an effort to use all of an animal, outside the classes; most want nothing to do with anything but the meat.

So that's my deal.