Seriously?

Family reunion next week. I’m going to grill 7 different kinds. (All backstrap) See who prefers which one, or even if they/we can tell the difference. No bear or lion. Wishing I had moose
 
Ill put in my 2cents having a father who was a butcher for 48 years and spent a childhood cleaning butcher shops.

Dry aging meat, game or otherwise is meant to break down the enzymes in tissue in turn adding to the tenderness and "enhancing" the flavor of the meat. Will it change the flavor, yes but by change its only bringing out the already engrained flavor. If you say aging makes it taste better, you actually like the way deer taste, stop spoiling it with in marinade. Ever had one of those big dollar aged steaks at a restaurant? Your tasting the actual flavor of the beef after the chemical breakdown process brightens it up. Its only cooked with salt and pepper so you actually taste the beef. It was most likely dry aged to a point of spoil and the outer layer cut off, much like the green stuff someone mentioned earlier. This is done at a temp that rides the line of rot and age. To be successful at aging by hanging an animal it has to be at a temp most would not be comfortable leaving an animal hanging at to actually make a diference. Hang it just above freezing for a week or three your only draining the blood. Same thing as some have said by leaving in the fringe to allow the blood to come out.

You want flavor, fat adds flavor. This is why most folks say ribeyes taste the best, its cause of the fat . Eat a NY steak, no flavor cause no fat. By fat I mean marbling, not the fat cap on the back of a big old buck ready to winter. As for the "gamey" taste its like any other cow or fish. That flavor comes from the diet. Eat a planted trout, taste like crap compared to a wild trout, why, diet. Grain fed, grass fed taste different due to the diet. Beef grading is determined off fat content (marbling) that marbling comes from a few things, mostly diet, activity and density of muscle. Why does the backstrap seem more tender, less used muscle. Animals that tend to be tough come from a few things. Muscle density, lack of marbling (lean) and effects due to stress. In game animals that stress is mainly from the adreniline that is released once shot, running and so on. Specifically, quick killed animals woud have less time to produce the reaction that contracts the muscle not allowing the chemical release to happen. Injured, multiple shot, long tracking allows that reaction to consume the muscle/meat.

Blood is a killer of taste and likly that unpleasant taste many have mentioned aside from simply not liking the taste of the animal based on the diet. That comes from the blood still in the meat or a bloodline in fish.

As for wet aging thats a whole different monster, you better be a chemist since your growing bacteria in a highway built for bad stuff to happen.

Sorry for the long winded post, been fortunate to learn a bit along the way, hopefully it helps others enjoy their meat a little more. As for the OPs question, I don't mind deer but I sure do like elk.
 
All my bucks have been small (2-pointers, up to small 3x4s). I grind all the meat up into burger myself. I add 12-15% beef fat so I can actually shape the meat into burger patties. Me and my family love the deer meat. We make burgers, tacos/burritos, use it in spaghetti, etc. Always tastes great to me.
 
My daughter loves deer meat over any other.
All my deer seem to be pretty mild. I believe it's because of how long I age it. Usually 3 to 4 weeks before it's cut up.
Wow, that interesting to me. I have aged deer before and it has always turned horrible. The quicker I can cut it up and get it in the freezer has always proved better for my taste. I know aged beef is the way to go so I tried it with wild game and had terrible luck. I heard it was something in the fat that changes it in wild game vs beef, don't know for sure though. Not saying your wrong just thought it was interesting on different styles and taste.
 
I have found for me that if I get most of the blood out by soaking in salt water a couple times, then season and cook it on the Traeger, its very tasty. Most people that I have had try it go for seconds.
 
Very true but only if you wet age it. Soaking it in ice water for several days is basically aging and removing blood at the same time.

Dry ageing in the other hand will retain the blood and make it more gamey. Just my personal experience...

Soaking in ice water does not age the meat. The enzymes break down muscle tissue and softens it. That is what aging is. Aging is really a controlled rot.

Also, it's not blood your draining either. Blood is in the circulatory system you spill and pull out if you field dress or leave intact if doing "gutless". The small residual amounts left in small veins, arteries, and capillaries is not an appreciable amount.

Blood "drains" either by gravity or capillary action because of a differential pressure from surface tension. No diff press soaking in water...
 
Yup. You have to control the temperature to allow the enzymes to break down the muscle like you said.

Soaking meat on ice is similar to putting meat in the fridge or cold storage assuming you can manage the temperature. So saying it doesn't age it isn't totally correct.

It will break down the muscle but it might not have the same taste as dry aging.

As for blood not draining, I have no idea what you are talking about. If you put a steak on a table, you will see blood come out. If you leave 100lbs of meat in a cooler you will see blood at the bottom of the cooler. Not sure what you are saying.

The point is you want the least amount of blood in the meat. How ever you want to do it.
 
Yup. You have to control the temperature to allow the enzymes to break down the muscle like you said.

Soaking meat on ice is similar to putting meat in the fridge or cold storage assuming you can manage the temperature. So saying it doesn't age it isn't totally correct.

It will break down the muscle but it might not have the same taste as dry aging.

As for blood not draining, I have no idea what you are talking about. If you put a steak on a table, you will see blood come out. If you leave 100lbs of meat in a cooler you will see blood at the bottom of the cooler. Not sure what you are saying.

The point is you want the least amount of blood in the meat. How ever you want to do it.

You said soaking in ice water ages. It doesn't. The aging is slowing down the enzyme decomposition process. Meat packing plants will do it under a black light at 60 deg for 48 hours to get a two week age.

The blood you speak about from a steak on the table is more water than anything else that settles out. Blood on the cooler floor from hanging is from bloodshot meat and any other trauma that happened at the shot.
 
There are MANY ways to age beef. Just googled it and the standard seems to be dry aging at an average of 36 deg. F for 12 to 14 days or so.
Screenshot_20200625-194013_Chrome.jpg

I had a cold room for awhile....its no longer in service. But it kept temps at 36 to 45 degrees depending on outside temps and and humidity we hung for at least 14 days at those temps and had great results.
 
I like it, my wife likes it better than elk, she like antelope the best, I think that antelope is a bit too mild, almost no flavor. We don't buy red meat, and haven't for 30 years, unless we have a freezer mishap
What is the trick to make Antelope good. I’ve cared for their meat the best. Meat on ice after the kill. Etc...They still taste like eating sagebrush!
 
“ Blood is in the circulatory system you spill and pull out if you field dress or leave intact if doing "gutless"

Not sure what you mean here. Blood will only drain from an animal while the heart is pumping and you have a severed artery somewhere. Once the heart stops, you aren’t going to drain more blood from the muscle whether you gut them or do gutless
 
I love early August/September muley from the high country. I've shot 4th season rutting bucks in the sage and we ate it, but didn't enjoy it like we do elk, antelope, spring bear, and early deer that I take care of and cook the exact same way.
 
What is the trick to make Antelope good. I’ve cared for their meat the best. Meat on ice after the kill. Etc...They still taste like eating sagebrush!
Medium rare on the grill, hot and fast to get a good crust on the outside while keeping it medium rare inside. This really goes with any wild game, but i feel if you over cook it, you can bring out odd flavors. I’ve noticed the same with duck, if you take it past rare it starts to taste like the swamp it came out of.
 
Also, for anyone who enjoys hunting muleys but not eating them, I’ve been making summer sausage, snack sticks, jerky, breakfast sausage, hot Italian sausage, polish kielbasa, and bratwursts. Most of these things hide the taste of just about anything. Especially with a proper amount of beef fat, pork fat, and seasonings.

.... you can also bring your mule deer meat to me, I won’t complain.
 
i have killed two doe deer in 3rd rifle seasons that were the worst muleys i have killed and eaten. tough and not a great flavor. both were in sage but i don't really dislike sage-tasting.... they were tough. all got eaten by me, though!

bucks in the early seasons in the high country have been great except for the last one. he was a bit tough and not gamey but old- tasting. all got eaten by me and my family.

never had an issue with my muleys. i take care in the field, at home before butchering, butcher em myself, freezer paper, and let them age a few days while and after thawing in fridge. Jaccard blade tenderizer does a good job on the tough ones. i eat lots of deer steaks: apple cider vinegar, red wine, or some other acid for a short marinade is always good on tough ones.

if you don't like the taste of em you shouldn't be killing them in my opinion. or you better darn well have someone that will utilize all the meat.

the wife boils turkey feet down for the collagen broth, makes bone broth from deer and elk bones, uses all kinds of parts for the nutritional value you can't get anywhere else. valuable parts, it is a shame people don't realize the extra stuff you can do.
I love the ribs, shanks, bones, caul fat, heart, and other stuff folks throw away!
 
Almost all of my mule deer over the years have been good, especially early season, and I've only had 2 that were bad. Both were just after mid November, one in ID and one in MT, and were rutting hard and chasing does when I shot them. The one from MT (near White Sulphur) was a young forky but he was especially bad and I couldn't finish him - even heavily spiced jerky was just horrible. I'm pretty sure we tried to feed some of it to a dog and he rejected it. I am careful with all my game and followed my same procedures with these two raunchy bucks. Pioneer accounts both in the eastern and western US noted that summertime venison is the best - and they preferred bear when they could get it.
 
Worst deer I ever tried to eat was a fourth season Colorado buck. Dog wouldn’t eat it. Some of the best I’ve had has been late season doe. Some delicious. Some ok.

Most doesn’t compare to sheep, elk or bear though!
 
Talks with meat scientist, pretty interesting discussion on how’s and whys of meat care

 
Ass n feet... Mule deer are nasty stinky ... Dont matter what the eat or how fast its on ice... Just plain eww.... Guess its like s&!"÷% vodka... An acquired taste...
 
That's the problem for some of us. The natural taste of mule deer is what we don't like. It's probably wrong to call a gamey taste. It has nothing to do with whether the meat was taken care of, or aged. It's just how they taste. Add in some sage flavor and it's not something I want to eat.
BS is all I get out of these hate deer meat whines. Shoot them before the rut, Skin them and get them cooled off fast. Hang them in camp whole a couple days in the shade in cool daytime temperatures. Wrapped in a cotton deer bag. Debone cut grind wrap all the cuts and grind. Place it in a non frost free freezer set at -10deg or lower for 1 month. Then cook some up. Process it yourself. Good meat takes work. Lazy guys seem to be the most avid whiners. Pull your pants up and do the job.
 
BS is all I get out of these hate deer meat whines. Shoot them before the rut, Skin them and get them cooled off fast. Hang them in camp whole a couple days in the shade in cool daytime temperatures. Wrapped in a cotton deer bag. Debone cut grind wrap all the cuts and grind. Place it in a non frost free freezer set at -10deg or lower for 1 month. Then cook some up. Process it yourself. Good meat takes work. Lazy guys seem to be the most avid whiners. Pull your pants up and do the job.

Quite certain this post is not the case across the board...
 
BS is all I get out of these hate deer meat whines. Shoot them before the rut, Skin them and get them cooled off fast. Hang them in camp whole a couple days in the shade in cool daytime temperatures. Wrapped in a cotton deer bag. Debone cut grind wrap all the cuts and grind. Place it in a non frost free freezer set at -10deg or lower for 1 month. Then cook some up. Process it yourself. Good meat takes work. Lazy guys seem to be the most avid whiners. Pull your pants up and do the job.

I have to agree with Baltz526. I've eaten many whiteys and mule deer and have had some excellent mule deer, with two exceptions liked I described above.
 
I used to think it mattered what the animals ate. Whitetails generally being around farm land should taste better. Where as a desert muley shot down by the Idaho/ Nevada border with nothing but sagebrush to see for miles should be gamey. But have never found that to be true. It's all about the field prep. I have cooked bear,elk,deer,and antelope at the same time, same cuts of meat, seasoned with olive oil, salt,and pepper. Antelope was the favorite bear second (and it was a fall bear which is supposed to be worse than spring bears) deer and elk everyone said was the same. Most of them where not hunters and not used to eating wild meat. I have done this little experiment multiple times always with the same outcome.
So the only conclusion I can come to is it's all in the field prep after the animal is down. I do like elk for the sheer volume of meat!
 
I prefer mule deer to elk, I like to dry age my meat when temperatures allow. Antelope is my absolute favorite. A couple of years back I killed a big mature mountain buck here in Idaho, then went to Montana in December and shot 2 muley does and a 1 1/2 yr old whitetail buck that were all living in and around farm country. I like to do 1st in 1st out so I ran out of my Idaho muley, then ate on those deer from Montana the rest of the year, those Montana deer were mild and flavorless and at the end of the year I found one package of my Idaho buck that had gotten mixed in with the others, after eating bland flavorless deer for 6 months, when I cooked that meat up it was amazing. I prefer a hint of sagey taste to my meat though and I don’t really like eating beef all that much so take my opinions for what they’re worth
 
Talks with meat scientist, pretty interesting discussion on how’s and whys of meat care


Everyone should listen to this - lots of great info from an expert on aging, tenderness, strong flavor, packaging, etc.
 
I prefer deer that has been tenderized and been laying on the side of the highway for 3 days dry aging with the guts in, that seems to get rid of that nasty sage taste
 
Generally speaking, those rutting stinky muley bucks often find their way down to the REZ or the Amish community. The whitey does on alfalfa all fall near the river often go in the freezer. That's how we roll. Each to their own!
 
If you all want to taste the very best game meat take a trip to Africa and shoot some plains game. Oryx is amazing, Kudu and Eland are better than any elk, deer or antelope. Hartebeest, Impala, and Springbuck are also very good. Of course you can't bring any of it home so you have to stay long enough to enjoy some of it.
 
There's a limit to just how good wild game can taste. A poster above pointed it out and it's all about fat. Fat is flavor. Why do you think good wagyu beef costs so much? It's not because it's as lean as an elk or deer backstrap.

I eat a lot of deer, elk, and antelope every year. I enjoy it. Backstraps get made into steaks and the rest is better meat for burger or pepperoni. If I want a truly GREAT steak, it's a ribeye or NY out of a fat beef cow every time.
 
Surprisingly the biggest old 220" mule deer I shot in Dec in Co was one of the most mild good tasting deer I have ever eaten. In the top few of any wild game I have ever eaten
Scott has those special corn fields! Congratulations and good luck on your next adventure with CWO............
 
The only deer that I have not liked was commercially processed and had fat and bone and silver skin (basically cut like a beef) and was terrible. I process my own. I actually prefer mule deer, my wife likes elk. My kids and their families like both also
This is the key, no silver skin and definitely not cut bone. Every muley except one that I have shot have been excellent, that one that was off was processed like a cow.
 
All that silver skin and membranes disappear when you can the meat.

They disappear into the best wild game broth while the meat just falls apart.
 
I have heard this before elk are for eating and mule deer are for hunting... Ill eat a whitetail any day of the week and twice on Sunday... Our freezer is empty of elk for the first time and a long time and its not good.....
 
Don’t know if it’s been mentioned but trim that fat off and most of the gamey flavor disappears. I process my own deer and haven’t had any that tasted bad. Wife and kid eat it too without complaint.
 
We are very meticulous about how we treat our meat after the kill and during the butcher process. No fascia or fat is left on big game.
I have never been able to tell the difference between a yearling doe and a mature buck once on the plate.
Likewise, we have never had a bad tasting piece of whitetail, mule deer, elk or antelope... or have we ever had company or co-workers turn their nose up at it.
The only bad deer meat I have had was due to being butchered commercially... the reason we do all our own meat processing. Early on, in the 70s when I was new at it and overcooked most wild game, it was not near as good as it is today when prepared correctly.
I couldn't begin to estimate the amount of wild game we have eaten, but it has been a lot over the past 50+ years.
 
You guys need to start bottling your deer meat! Takes all the gamey taste away--turns muley meat delicious and oh so tender! Throw some onions and a jalapeno in your bottle and it doesn't get any better. Stores for years without requiring a freezer, great food storage item. Use wide mouth quart bottles in your pressure cooker. It may be intimidating up front but is so easy when ya do it, just requires some attention to detail so ya don't blow yourself up--a lot like reloading!
 
You guys need to start bottling your deer meat! Takes all the gamey taste away--turns muley meat delicious and oh so tender! Throw some onions and a jalapeno in your bottle and it doesn't get any better. Stores for years without requiring a freezer, great food storage item. Use wide mouth quart bottles in your pressure cooker. It may be intimidating up front but is so easy when ya do it, just requires some attention to detail so ya don't blow yourself up--a lot like reloading!
 
I agree with those who have said that it is all about field care and not what the animals eat.

A few years ago I killed a spike elk, spike whitetail, and forky mule deer in the same year. The mule deer came from sage country in southern Idaho, the whitetail came from the forested mountains of north Idaho (no farm fields anywhere close). The spike elk was also from north Idaho.

In a blind taste test my wife and I could distinguish the elk from the deer but we could not tell the whitetail from the mule deer.

I've never had a bad mule deer, or a bad whitetail. The older animals have been tougher, but the flavor was always good.

Good field care, attention to temperatures while aging and butcher it yourself. Cook to medium or medium rare.
 
Everyone’s taste buds are different. I process my own and treat them all the same. Both my wife and I can taste the difference of a mule deer taken that was eating sage. You and your wife obviously can’t taste that. I believe you. Some people can and some can’t. But it has happened too many times with us to be coincidence.
 
Everyone’s taste buds are different. I process my own and treat them all the same. Both my wife and I can taste the difference of a mule deer taken that was eating sage. You and your wife obviously can’t taste that. I believe you. Some people can and some can’t. But it has happened too many times with us to be coincidence.
Do you dislike the sage flavor of a mule deer? I personally think it adds to the taste rather than detracting from it
 
Both my wife and I dislike it.

But then I like sardines whereas others do not. I love mushrooms, others do not.......
 
August-Early October bucks are really good. Late October on, they start getting gamey. I really don't like to hunt late season for just that reason.
 
Do you all really like the taste of muley venison? I find it hard to take after eating so much elk. I use deer as a fill in when I don't get an elk tag but i'm at the point of not having a fill-in. Elk or nothing.

I've eaten muley for many decades and have tolerated it. It sure took me a long time to say I really don't like it.

I know some of you love it but some love liver and it gags me.
I love it. Can't develop a taste for elk even after trying many times.
 
For the last two years I have killed a rutting buck in December in eastern Colorado. Both were with a harem of does. Both bucks tasted great. No sage out there

In western Colorado, bucks stay up high until October and in later seasons move down to lower country, where sage is. Not saying that is the only difference, but is definitely one of them
 
Only had one deer that was almost too rank to eat. Muley buck shot in California. Mostly fed on apples in people's back yard and bitterbrush.

Had a horrible piece of elk, cow from Nevada that was bigger bodies that both bulls shot that hunt.

Antelope is excellent.

Bear ain't worth a darn to eat.
 
Haven't needed to hunt deer here in A zone (California) since every deer I ever killed tasted like sh!t. I don't like jerky that much so killing one for that just isn't worth it. I have lots of breakfast sausage, Italian sausage, etc with some of my elk and out of state deer so can't kill a Cali deer for that.
I don't believe I have killed a deer in any other state that was bad tasting.
 
I have taken mule deer in Washington, Colorado, Wyoming, nevada, and idaho. They all taste great to me. I like elk better though, and I cant convince myself to eat antelope. I took my first antelope in Wyoming and cant figure out a way to make it taste good.
I ate my antelope last year right after I ran out of elk. I thought it gave elk a run for it's money. I put in for a doe this year strictly for meat.
I make a ton of jerky because I make really good jerky and it's my preferred way to eat wild game next to steaks. So deer, no matter the taste, makes no difference.
 
Last summer at a family reunion I put on a wild game taste off. Mule deer, whitetail, elk, antelope, fallow deer, blackbuck antelope and Oryx. All backstrap, all brushed with soy sauce and lightly sprinkled with onion and garlic powder and pepper. Grilled to medium/medium rare (l cooked a bunch of chicken breasts just in case someone whined). Everyone liked all the different kinds. The oryx was a favorite of some. My 8 year old grandson ate 4 pieces of elk and announced that elk is his favorite of all foods. Several said that they were surprised how good the antelope was. Fun times
 
Maybe we should have a contest with Judges to see who makes the best Jerky, mine is the best you will ever have.
 
Everyone will have a different opinion. Some will like it and some will not.
How you cook it and what it was eating Im sure will play a big part in all of that.
That fact that any of us get out in the wild and hunt is the best part. The meat is a bonus in my opinion. As long as it doesn't taste like ass I'm enjoying it. Part of the experience.
 
elk and mule deer seasoned properly, and cooked medium to medium rare tastes pretty good. if its over cooked not so good.
 
Rutting bucks have a stronger wild taste so you have to age them properly
Last 2 mature bucks I shot were mid to late November, both definitely rutting hard and they were both cooled down quickly and butchered within 2 days and taste awesome, no strong wild or sage taste in either. I think quality might have more to do with adrenaline/stress and what the animal is eating.
 
I much preferer elk.

That being said my Muley from Dillon, Montana (back in the day) was very good table fair. A December Cow elk killed on a New Mexico Res. in 2017 was surprisingly very tough. Flavorful, but tough! An Idaho bull killed in the Middle Fork was by far the best. The processer hung the quarters chilled for nearly 2 weeks before he slaughtered the meat. Was expensive to ship, but by far the best I've ever tasted.

LaGriz
 
It's all field and kitchen preparation disciplines. Most people don't have the foundational understandings of how to do the basics correctly and consistently - even with normal cooking.

Everything tastes great if you have the disciplines and knowledge
 
This thread inspired me to try my hand at jerky because I have a buck in the freezer that isn't my favorite tasting deer. I followed this recipe relatively closely but did make a few small changes:


I let the meat sit in the marinade for three days instead of two, and I used an electric smoker instead of a dehydrator. Maintained around 165-170 for about 6 hours. Really love how it turned out! Will be making more!
IMG_4183.jpg
 
Love deer meat if handled correctly, aged properly, de-boned and de-fatted. Love spike elk more than deer.
Big bull elk or antelope - find someone to give it too. Yuck!
 
Nothing to do with this post, but Devob, is that a king snake choking down a rattler in your ID pic?
yes it is! Got to watch it in person while out hiking, the rattler was just about as long as the King, and a bit thicker, he got it almost all the way down and just stopped looked pretty uncomfortable, HA, I left after that so not sure what the end result was.
 

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