Pronghorn meat

[alsatian]

My son and I each took a pronghorn last October. My son took a buck, I took a doe. The doe has a milder flavor than the buck. The buck has a strong flavor which is unfamiliar to me. Right off, let me say "strong" doesn't mean unpleasant or spoiled or wrong. To those unfamiliar with the flavor, commercial lamb has a strong flavor. Also let me note that the meat of both animals was properly cared for by me and that the weather was cool when we hunted in mid-October, highs in the mid-50s.

The meat smells like and tastes like the animal smelled when I cut it up. I have a hard time describing the flavor of the meat. It seems sweet. It also has an herbal flavor, a zingeyness. I have heard people talk about pronghorn tasting of sage as a result of eating lots of sagebrush, and I'm tempted to call this distinctive flavor a sage flavor, but it is kind of an indefinite term. I raise sage in my own backyard, and the flavor is not exactly like that flavor of sage, which is not a big surprise.

My wife likes this pronghorn meat A LOT and thinks it tastes substantially better than venison. I cook it in exactly the same way I cook venison. I coat in seasonings including 4 crushed juniper berries, 1/2 teaspoon marjoram, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, 1/2 bay leaf crumbled, salt, fresh ground pepper. I sear it on all sides in a heavy casserole. I pour about a cup of water into the casserole and bring to the boil. I then cover the casserole and put in the oven for 3 hours at 330 degrees, turning the meat in the liquid every half hour. If needed, I add extra water. At the end, I thicken the liquid with a cooked mixture of butter and flour.

Can anyone comment on this distinctive, very different flavor? Is this the reputed sage flavor I have read about?

It seems that this special flavor cries out for some distinctive cooking preparation, something particularly suited to pronghorn meat. Any ideas? I have thought maybe grilling a pronghorn roast over a hickory fire, maybe with the coals excluded from the middle of the grill where the meat will sit to avoid excessive direct heat, basting frequently with olive oil, maybe with minced garlic in the olive oil.

 

[RIMROCK338]

Usually the bad sage taste comes from the antelope eating sage that a coyote just pissed on...
Try putting the meat in a crockpot with a packet of Lipton onion soup mix and a can of cream of mushroom soup with milk and cook about six hours or so. That mellows out the taste.
RIMROCK

<IF IT BLEEDS WE CAN KILL IT>

 

[338boy]

Jerk it .
The best jerky I ever made was antigoat!!

338boy

 

[sprayer]

I don't know but reading your post made me #@$%*&^ hungry!!! Please come and cook me some steaks.

 

[BeanMan]

I was thinking the same thing. Pronghorn is my favorite game meat. Your idea of garlic and olive oil over hickory wood sound really good. Man I hope I draw a goat this year.

BeanMan

 

[RACKMASTER]

LAST EDITED ON Feb-06-05 AT 03:38PM (MST)[p]I hunted south west WY for goats when I can draw and
to be honest it was a better meat then venison!
It may be the kill was not clean! or it was to warm and the meat was not cooled right or fast enough or the butcher sucked! do not get grind(burger)have it made to saugages!
My best is lope roast in dutchoven hash!
I brown a shoulder roast in oil that has been rolled in spiced flour(salt,fresh pepper,garilc powder,onion powder,pinch of sage
and a smaller pinch of cumin)! brown all sides put in dutchoven with an small whole onion and a can of beef broth and some salt and fresh pepper over fire cook slowly about 45min coals on top and bottom med heat!
Remove let cool so you can handle it! Remove onion use half cut however you like it
peel 8 med golden potatoes and cut into small pieces(3/8" sq)
add to pot add half an can of beef broth us other half to mixin 3tbs of flour add to pot
remove string if any and cut the roast( some meat still should be raw)into same size as potatoes add to the pot! May need a little more salt and pepper! cook slowly like 3 hours over low heat (small fire a few coals on top!)
The last two times I made this at deer camp I did not get any and had a fight break out over it last time! (I was not involved)!lol
I was also cooking a PEACH COBBLER and their for missed the
hash that last time also!
YES I LOVE TO COOK! love the antelope to cook with like that!
nothing is better than BBQ tnderloin of elk!
rackmaster

 

[WyoAces]

lopes are great for two things....sausage and jerky

 

[Chef]

I grilled some antelope round steaks several weeks ago. This was the first time I tried it. Since I didn't know what to expect, I used my tried and true method of using Turkish/Lebanese seasoning. It masks a lot of gaminess and makes for some good eating.

Basically, make a mix of dry spices then make a rub/paste with it and a little olive oil. Rub onto the meat and grill over some hot coals. I ended up making tacos out of the grilled meat with small flour tortillas and the meat was excellent. So good I took a three hour trip to Yuma to take my friend Dave some frozen steaks. He hadn't tried pronghorn before so I knew he was "game".

Garlic powder
Onion Powder
Allspice (just a touch)
Paprika (plenty)
Cracked black pepper
Sea Salt

Git er Dun!

Chef
"I Love Animals...They're Delicious!"

 

[alsatian]

LAST EDITED ON Feb-07-05 AT 11:03AM (MST)[p]Rackmaster:

The kill was clean and fast. The buck did not move more than 20 feet after it died. It remained on its feet, turned around and walked a little ways, stood stock still, its legs got all jiggly-like, and then it fell down. .25-06 117 grain from 150 yards, determined by pacing to the kill, bullet exited off-side, broadside shot just a little behind the shoulder. The animal was skinned, quartered, and on ice within four hours, maybe less. After field dressing 15 minutes after the kill, we took the animal to the taxidermist to cape and remove the head. We had the animal back and hanging in a covered shed on a gambrel in less than 1.5 hours after the kill. The weather was cool, in the low 50s, maybe in the high 40s. I really don't think the meat is tainted in anyway.

Also, I butchered the meat myself, and there weren't any mistakes made in that process, other than cutting the hell out of my finger when the well sharpened knife slipped off a chunk of meat I was deboning and hacked into the top of my left index finger! Crikkey! As I say, the meat was cut into quarters and on ice until I butchered it. After cutting into meal sized pieces, wrapping twice in plastic wrap, wrapping tightly in plastic coated freezer paper, the meat was put in the cooler with dry ice. For two pronghorn, 10 LBS of dry ice on the bottom, about 1/4" of newspaper on top of the ice, the meat packages on top of the newspapers, another 1/4" of newspaper, and another 10 LBS of dry ice on top. I sealed the lip of the cooler well with duct tape (I've been told one can become asphixiated from the CO2 fumes in a closed vehicle on a long road trip -- old wives tale or not, this is what I did, and it couldn't have hurt keeping the meat cold). The ice was rock solid when I got it into my freezer at home. I may even have used 40 LBS of dry ice, I don't remember any more. I just remember it pulled the meat temperature down, froze it rock solid, and thin wafers of dry ice were still left when I unpacked the meat at home. My first time using dry ice and I loved it! It costs a little money, but it gets the job done!

 

[Hoosierbuck]

How long did you travel that meat like that? Sounds like you took excellent care of the meat.
HB

 

[RACKMASTER]

LAST EDITED ON Feb-11-05 AT 05:06PM (MST)[p]SOUNDS GREAT! I shot mine and did every thing but cut
it up like your self! And drove from the Rocksprings WY to
home in the San Francisco bay area(ca)with them on ice!! Then to
my butcher in MODESTO,(another 72mi).
I guess you can never tell!
RM

 

[BOBCATBEST]

Maaaaan,

Sounds like you have perfected that 27 step method for cooking speed goat!!!! This cat doesn't have the IQ or patience to go through all of that! I think I would stick with elk steak and jerkey the goat!

The only bobcat who dropped out of CHEF school!!!!

 

[RACKMASTER]

All you "cats" only stick with what you can catch!
lol,
jack

 

[alsatian]

Hoosierbuck:

I took some liberty in my story earlier to make things simple. I'll give you the complete truth now, while it doesn't change the gist of the story.

I packed the meat in dry ice about 11 PM on a Monday as described. I traveled from Gillette, WY, to Mountain View, WY, in the SE corner of the state the next day, Tuesday. Visited folks and fished the next day Wednesday. Drove the following day Thursday to Durango, CO, where I checked the ice at night. Meat frozen rock solid with thin wafers of dry ice left over -- after about three days. I replenished the dry ice -- either 10 LBS total or 20 LBS total, I don't remember which now -- and resealed the cooler. I left Durango, CO, the next day Friday and drove to the Black Mesa area in the pan handle of Oklahoma where we stayed overnight. The next day Saturday I drove home to just north of Dallas. When I unpacked the cooler at abut 7 PM the meat was frozen rock solid and there were a few thin wafers of dry ice left over -- after about 2 days.

So, in my mind substantially the same story -- the meat was frozen and kept well frozen thereafter until placed in my freezer. I think I would feel confident keeping the meat in the portable cooler indefinitely, so long as I kept the dry ice replenished. So long as there is any dry ice present, it is pulling down the temperature of the contents of the cooler and keeping it frozen solid. I understand the temperature of dry ice is about -100 degrees F!!! Cold enough. If the meat is not frozen, some of the dry ice will be consumed merely pulling the temperature of the meat. Once the meat is frozen solid, less dry ice will suffice to keep it cold. Again, I think it helps keep things cold longer if the lip of the cooler is sealed with duct tape, but this is just my guess.

 

[alsatian]

BOBCATBEST: Send me about 50 LBS of Elk steaks and I'll follow your advice! The folks we visited in Mountain View, WY, generously gave us several packages of elk steaks -- one of which remains in my freezer right now! -- which have been very tastey indeed! That is some good meat, and I hope to do a cow elk hunt in SW Colorado (near Durango -- the reason we swung past their on our way home from our pronghorn hunt was to scout some, but alas a snow storm caused us to scuttle our scouting plans!) in the not too distant future, perhaps 2006. That would be my first elk hunt of any sort, seems hunting cows is as good a way to learn this new hunting as hunting bulls. I have no place to put an elk head mount anyway, and cows probably taste better.

 

[Chef]

Alsatian,

Durango is in unit 75. San Juan/Missionarry Ridge area. The first rifle hunt should be an either sex tag. Hope you draw, that way you can practice on the bulls too!!

Chef
"I Love Animals...They're Delicious!"

 

[alsatian]

Yes, the first rifle season is either sex. I'm planning on the second rifle season with a cow tag. The cow tag is cheaper and the drawing odds are better. What I read says odds of bagging an elk is about 25%. Supposing this is an accurate figure, this means I have a 75% chance of not bagging an animal. I would rather spend less money for not bagging a cow than to spend twice as much moeny for not bagging an either sex animal. Further, my plan is for a self-guided backpack hunt. If I had my retirement well salted away and my three kids's college education sitting in the bank, I would lay out several thousand dollars to do a nice 10 day pack-in guided hunt with an outfitter in a trophy area. As my funds are limited, however, this is the way I'm planning on doing it. I'm prepared to strike-out, but my wager is I can learn something about elk hunting that will improve my odds the next time around. If the ante for an elk hunt is $3500 -- not counting equipment and travel costs -- then it just isn't something I can do. I can do a self-guided hunt. When hunting becomes a sport that only the rich can participate in, I'll be on the sidelines, and I'll also wager that with substantially reduced numbers of hunters the laws will change to largely ban hunting -- just my forecast of the politics that are liable to ensue when the critical mass of hunters grows too small and the sport becomes too elite.

 

[Chef]

I see your point but, with you willing to backpack in, your odds are better. The Missionary Ridge area suffered a severe burn a few years back and they just opened the main road up this past year. The little dirt roads that "road hunters" so love in the area have been closed since the burn and it is my understanding that they will remain closed for several more years.

What does this mean? Well, the animals in the unit haven't had very much (as is customary in Colorado) hunting pressure. Get in deep, and your odds are even better. The early rifle hunt last year still heard bugles.

I know it all comes down to money and how much we can all afford. In the long run, it's all about being out in the woods. It is beautiful country up there.

Chef
"I Love Animals...They're Delicious!"

 

[alsatian]

Chef:

Good information. You are discussing precisely the area I am looking at. I know about the burn and the road closures. I didn't know this would tend to keep out road hunters, so this is welcome information. My plan is to drive up to the boundary of the Weminuche Wilderness area, park, and backpack into the wilderness a couple of miles. From this camp hunt still further back in, specifically targeting two or three drainages at or just below treeline. Frankly, the cost difference between the cow and the bull tag is not substantial with respect to the total cost of the hunt -- gasoline, food, hotels for two or three nights, dry ice for meat, etc. Having a bull head mounted, however, would make a big price difference. The drawing odds may be a lot different, however, between a cow permit and an any sex permit.

Anyway, thanks for the information. I just want to get out and do an elk hunt -- any elk hunt. I love the mountains. I like backpacking (and backpacked a week in the Weminuche, which is how I got the idea to try to hunt elk there). Having read folks talking about Elk hunting, I really want to do it.