Is Aoudad edible?

Phantom Hunter · Mar 27, 2023

I have eaten a young ewe and it was very good. We made a raspberry chipotle sauce that went well with the meat. No experience with older ewes or rams.

JB1975 · Mar 28, 2023

I have never tried it, but been on several hunts and both guides said it was terrible. We did not eat ours for that reason. Same with wild hog here in Texas, I have never had it prepared when it was any good. Even the small pigs. Just my opinion.

Phantom Hunter · Mar 28, 2023

In my experience young feral hogs make greats chopped bbq!

travishunter3006 · Mar 28, 2023

Very good. I just killed one and am aging it for 14 days. Then everything is basically done in a slow cooker. Very tasty table fare. Guides are lazy and don’t want to do more than cut heads off. They will tell you anything to get out of work.

JB1975 · Mar 28, 2023

travishunter3006 said:
Very good. I just killed one and am aging it for 14 days. Then everything is basically done in a slow cooker. Very tasty table fare. Guides are lazy and don’t want to do more than cut heads off. They will tell you anything to get out of work.

I don't think that is necessarily true. Lots of ranches here in Texas have them and I have never met anyone that liked them. And a good chunk of those are corn and protein fed. Ours were free range out by Van Horn.

5yearcoueshunter · Mar 28, 2023

JB1975 said:
I don't think that is necessarily true. Lots of ranches here in Texas have them and I have never met anyone that liked them. And a good chunk of those are corn and protein fed. Ours were free range out by Van Horn.

Not going to question motives or reasons for leaving it, but IMO they are leaving some of the best tasting meat there is. I realize Big Rams are really tough, so just burger them.

Packsaddles · Mar 28, 2023

Having killed several aoudads, I'd compare it to a javelina. Yes, you can eat it if cooked to your liking.
Good luck

Katoom · Mar 28, 2023

It is delicious as ground meat, that I know for sure from an old trophy ram too. The guides are LYING! Take care of it and grind it all if you don’t want to worry about different cuts. But it is GOOD meat, and no hunter should intentionally waste game.

zpooch · Mar 28, 2023

Shot a mature ram in NM. Made some sausage and burger, the burger is some of my favorite. Great taste with a little bit of fat added. I'd eat it over mule deer. The backstrap was pretty tough

NMPaul · Mar 30, 2023

Absolutely fine. have eaten dozens. I prefer burger and sausage. Dont shoot them if you dont want to eat them.

NMPaul · Mar 30, 2023

JB1975 said:
I don't think that is necessarily true. Lots of ranches here in Texas have them and I have never met anyone that liked them. And a good chunk of those are corn and protein fed. Ours were free range out by Van Horn.

Unfortunately they are just justifying not paying for processing the meat and not wanting to deal with them. Have had the discussion with those types many times. they always are either going off of hearsay or thinking its gonna taste like a beef porter house. those same people would be leaving elk and deer to rot if it was not required they pack them out.

JB1975 · Mar 30, 2023

NMPaul said:
Unfortunately they are just justifying not paying for processing the meat and not wanting to deal with them. Have had the discussion with those types many times. they always are either going off of hearsay or thinking its gonna taste like a beef porter house. those same people would be leaving elk and deer to rot if it was not required they pack them out.

Have to disagree here. The folks I know that have paid $3-5k to hunt them here in Texas wouldn’t blink about $500-750 to process them. Different pocketbooks in the high fence hunting world. Some of these same guys spend $15-30k on elk and stag in Texas.
Just speaking from personal experience. I don’t think mule deer is very good either.

Clownpuncher · Mar 30, 2023

JB1975 said:
I don't think that is necessarily true. Lots of ranches here in Texas have them and I have never met anyone that liked them. And a good chunk of those are corn and protein fed. Ours were free range out by Van Horn.

I grew up in west Texas and about every mexican kitchen in the area FORBID the meat from even coming into their kitchen.

ktg · Mar 30, 2023

I remember sitting in a blind in Texas about 20 years ago and reading a pamphlet produced by their game department. It said Aoudad is so bad that dogs won't even eat it.

NMPaul · Mar 30, 2023

JB1975 said:
Have to disagree here. The folks I know that have paid $3-5k to hunt them here in Texas wouldn’t blink about $500-750 to process them. Different pocketbooks in the high fence hunting world. Some of these same guys spend $15-30k on elk and stag in Texas.
Just speaking from personal experience. I don’t think mule deer is very good either.

I was trying to be nice. Most are justifying not wanting to deal with it out of laziness. Several kinds of sausage (chorizo, breakfast, hot links, andouille, boudin) that you could make with Barbary or elk adding pork fat and you couldn't tell the difference. I have eaten and processed dozens of them. I get it if someone doesn't like venison. However, that doesn't mean you leave them to rot. You pay to process them into sausage, or snack sticks and give them away. All the rest is hearsay and excuses.

EVILNR · Mar 30, 2023

Not bad at all.
If I lived somewhere where I could hunt them regularly I would
keep some in the freezer.
They make great jerky too.

S-3 Ranch · Mar 30, 2023

travishunter3006 said:
Very good. I just killed one and am aging it for 14 days. Then everything is basically done in a slow cooker. Very tasty table fare. Guides are lazy and don’t want to do more than cut heads off. They will tell you anything to get out of work.

I Agee, some guides don’t even have a pack to get the meat out because they don’t want to spend a day packing out of a tough location, if they can’t drive and load it’s uneatable
I like it myself

Hackleback · Apr 18, 2023

Sample size of 1- flavor was good, very tough even the loins and tenderloins.

CFMuley · Apr 18, 2023

I shot a young ewe the other day. I pressure cooked and shredded the shanks. The meat was falling apart, but it was still tough. I ground the rest with a little pork, and the ground meat was great.

travishunter3006 · Apr 18, 2023

I aged my aoudad for 14 days. Meat is absolutely tender. Flavor is between a mule deer and an antelope. Not my favorite but very tender and worth eating!

txhunter58 · May 4, 2023

I just can’t shoot an animal, throw the meat away, and then have it mounted to put on my wall. So if I ever shoot one, I will eat it.

That said, I will shoot a feral pig and leave it lay. They cause so much fence/range damage, I consider them varmints. I have eaten wild pig and like it, but when I shoot 3-4 at a time, the meat isnt worth the effort to me. To each his own.

Bolt Tripper · May 11, 2023

I don’t like to eat them but spend the 50 bucks to process them and donate the meat. Same for deer. Oryx and elk spoiled me.

live4muleys · May 16, 2023

I really like the way they taste. I have 3 different mature Rams and all have tasted good. They are tough, but the ground is one of my favorite. Eat them, don't waste them. Donate them, someone will enjoy.

Tristate · May 24, 2023

never_catch · May 31, 2023

The birds won't eat them if that tells you anything lol...

elkassassin · Jun 3, 2023

Check your PM Z!

never_catch said:
The birds won't eat them if that tells you anything lol...

Servehim · Jun 13, 2023

Absolutely inexcusable to harvest a big game critter and not eat it IMHO. Make burger or sausage and mix with beef if necessary but don't leave it to rot. I've harvested and eaten a bunch of it, to have a guide tell you it's inedible is a crying shame . Good marinate , onions and seasoning definitely make audad edible.