Seriously?

Muley

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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.
 
What states?

My CO buck from last year is terrible.

My Oregon and Nevada bucks have always been great. Montana Muleys and Whitetail were just ok.
 
My montana mule deer last year was absolutely delicious. He had plenty of alfalfa and water tho, im sure that helped. Off the grill it was right there with any beef steak. Eastern whitetail is another story.
 
I’m like Mr. Muley. I’ve never had a good tasting sagebrush mule deer. I don’t even like smelling it while it is cooking. I’ve always had good tasting elk. I’ve had other hunters’ non sagebrush area deer and it has been pretty good. I think what the animal eats makes all the difference.
 
I have killed 2 mule deer that I liked the taste of (and my wife too). 1 was killed at 11,000 ft on Sept 4th early rifle season. That buck was still in velvet. The other one I killed in eastern Colorado last December (rutting buck). Both tasted great. All others killed in Colorado were not good tasting to me. And it certainly has to do with what they eat. Most of the ones I didn’t like tasted like sage ?

if any one know how to remove the sage flavor let me know!
 
Try a pressure cooker. I use it with all my ducks and it's great.

Just use your favorite stew recipe. Meat, vegetables, and seasonings in the coker and it's quickly ready.

Any wild game is also good canned.
 
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
 
Nothing to do with this post, but Devob, is that a king snake choking down a rattler in your ID pic?
 
I'll do an experiment this year. I have two doe tags. That will take the rutting buck part out of it. One tag is muzzy season (mid Sept) The other doe tag is 3rd rifle season First week in Nov.

I'll hunt the Sept hunt at 11,000ft and the 3rd season lower at 8000 ft where I know it will be eating sage. I don't think the higher altitude will be eating sage.

I'll cook them the same and see which one taste better. Maybe they'll taste the same. If they do for sure it's going to be just elk from now on. I've killed at both altitudes before but never paid attention if they tasted different. I can't ever remember it tasted so good that I can remember it. This may be a lost cause for me and i'm not going to like muley for supper.

My friend told me if I want really good meat to go shoot an elk calf. Not sure I can do that but it sure would be easier getting the meat out for my old bones.
 
It's all about what they eat! I killed a muley in Kansas in 2017 that rivaled any elk I've ever eaten. Grain( corn mostly) fed. Killed a Colorado muley last year that was laying in the middle of a cut wheat field every day like a fat slob. Every day we saw him and passed because one side was weird. His luck ran out the last minutes of the last day. He was so fat his meat was marbled. Wheat fed mostly. Very good eating. Both of those bucks were killed during rut.
 
I'll do an experiment this year. I have two doe tags. That will take the rutting buck part out of it. One tag is muzzy season (mid Sept) The other doe tag is 3rd rifle season First week in Nov.

I'll hunt the Sept hunt at 11,000ft and the 3rd season lower at 8000 ft where I know it will be eating sage. I don't think the higher altitude will be eating sage.

I'll cook them the same and see which one taste better. Maybe they'll taste the same. If they do for sure it's going to be just elk from now on. I've killed at both altitudes before but never paid attention if they tasted different. I can't ever remember it tasted so good that I can remember it. This may be a lost cause for me and i'm not going to like muley for supper.

My friend told me if I want really good meat to go shoot an elk calf. Not sure I can do that but it sure would be easier getting the meat out for my old bones.

Let us know how that turns out. You should do a blind taste test. One person prepares them and doesn’t let the other know which is which. I would wager that you will know which is from lower altitude.
 
I prefer early (August and September) bucks.

I shot an old doe in October several years ago and OMG. It was nasty. I have since sworn off hunting mule deer does.

The latest I will deer hunt is mid October anymore. And I have no issue shooting a young buck because I am a meat hunter.

A meat hunter in the sense that I like game meat, and fish, and beef and pork and lamb and chicken. Heck, we even are beginning to raise geese and will see how they taste.

My favorites are mountain lion and the desert bighorn ewe my daughter killed last year.

I cannot keep game jerky out of my daughters hands.

We have a batch of fresh caught trout brining in the fridge right now to be smoked tomorrow.
 
I love my deer meat, I like elk too, but I like deer more.

One of the best tasting bucks I ever had was an old buck that lived in the Arizona desert. Actually killed a small yearling buck a few days before in Utah on the last day I had to hunt that had lived in grass and alfalfa fields his entire life and that old desert buck was definitely better tasting. Didn't taste like sage at all.

Here he is.
IMG_20151027_091036.jpeg


My colorado buck from this year also tastes great, another big old buck that lived in the sage his entire life.
IMG_20191026_174742_661.jpg


I really like my deer steaks, Hopefully get a couple more this year as I am almost out of my Colorado buck.
 
Years ago I shot a 9 year old 4x4. Probably the biggest bodied deer I have ever seen. I took him in November in the Bookcliffs (sage brush diet) and he had started to rut. My initial thought was that he was not going to be good
to eat. I was Wrong! because the temperature in vernal didn’t get above freezing I left him hanging for 3 weeks then butchered him myself. Everyone liked the meat and many said it was better than the spike elk that I shot that same year. Because I was able to let it hang that long the meat wasn’t tough either
 
So riddle me this, I killed 3 elk last year, a September 6x6 rutted up bull in the Arizona pinon/ juniper country, an October spike in Unitas of Utah, and a Utah November Cow in the high sage/aspens. Which would you think would be the better tasting of the three?????

I would eat my Arizona bull over the other two any day, and the spike over the cow, the cow tastes good, but she is a fair amount tougher than the other two. But the Arizona bull defiantly tastes the best.

Part of me wonders if it has to to with how I have taken care of them after the hunt, The 6x6 bull was quartered up and packed into coolers with ice for about a week, I kept the water drained off at all times and made sure to keep Ice on it the whole time. The other two were taken to a meat locker and hung for about a week before processing, the spike was quartered and the cow was taken in whole.

All of my Arizona animals deer and elk are taken care of this same way (packed into a cooler with ice) for at least a few days up to about a week depending on when I head home, and I am always very satisfied with the taste of the meat. I am beginning to wonder if packing them with Ice for a period of time is improving the flavor.

Thinking I may try it on some more game this year even if its not necessary.
 
I always brought home the oldest, biggest animal I could find, we would make steaks and burger, it always seamed I was the only one that really ate much of it. My wife and daughters started hunting and killing cow Elk, those yearling cows are hard to beat. Those big old bucks make dam good jerky.
 
Those of us that taste the sage and dont like it can’t be dreaming. Must be “different strokes” for taste buds too Just like different people like certain tastes and spices in other foods. I didnt tell anything to I my wife about this last buck and she said: “wow, how come this buck tastes so much better?”

I can see that aging would make meat more tender but not sure how it would change the taste. I have been wrong once I my life though ?
 
Txhunter beat me to it: It’s a matter of taste. One of my hunting buddies loves eating sagebrush mule deer. Another friend is like me and dislikes it. Consider the herb cilantro. A person either likes it or absolutely hates it. I like cilantro in salsas, ceviche, salads, etc. and have friends that can’t stand it in anything. It’s not about right or wrong or can or can’t cook, it’s all about taste.
 
Anything that is 5 years old is like chewing a boot. The forkies are for eating. The ones here taste like apples and corn. :)

The worst thing I ever ate was a caribou from the Yukon, followed by a sagebrush antelope.
 
I have only had on Muley buck that wasn't great eating, he was old and rutting, mid November. I made sure to marinate the meat and it was fine that way.
Other than him, I actually prefer deer over elk.
 
For those of you who don’t like eating them, maybe stop killing them. ?. Our herds numbers are already heading south across the west and some of us do love eating them. “Never kill anything you’re not going to eat.” - A quote from Everyone’s Dad growing up
 
So riddle me this, I killed 3 elk last year, a September 6x6 rutted up bull in the Arizona pinon/ juniper country, an October spike in Unitas of Utah, and a Utah November Cow in the high sage/aspens. Which would you think would be the better tasting of the three?????

I would eat my Arizona bull over the other two any day, and the spike over the cow, the cow tastes good, but she is a fair amount tougher than the other two. But the Arizona bull defiantly tastes the best.

Part of me wonders if it has to to with how I have taken care of them after the hunt, The 6x6 bull was quartered up and packed into coolers with ice for about a week, I kept the water drained off at all times and made sure to keep Ice on it the whole time. The other two were taken to a meat locker and hung for about a week before processing, the spike was quartered and the cow was taken in whole.

All of my Arizona animals deer and elk are taken care of this same way (packed into a cooler with ice) for at least a few days up to about a week depending on when I head home, and I am always very satisfied with the taste of the meat. I am beginning to wonder if packing them with Ice for a period of time is improving the flavor.

Thinking I may try it on some more game this year even if its not necessary.

It was because you drained the blood from the meat while soaking it in ice water.

The wild/gamey taste is in the blood. So by putting it on ice for a few days and draining the water out you basically drained out the blood.

I do this to all my wild game. Makes a huge difference in taste.

Also, those who are "aging" it is only making it worse in terms of wild/gamey taste. Might be more tender but man it makes it MUCH more gamey tasting.
 
It was because you drained the blood from the meat while soaking it in ice water.

The wild/gamey taste is in the blood. So by putting it on ice for a few days and draining the water out you basically drained out the blood.

I do this to all my wild game. Makes a huge difference in taste.

Also, those who are "aging" it is only making it worse in terms of wild/gamey taste. Might be more tender but man it makes it MUCH more gamey tasting.

Glad you said that. I figured i'd get jumped on if I said it. I never age anything. I mostly slow cook game meat in stews. Except for the loins and backstraps. I'll eat those as steaks and that's when I can taste what the meat is like.

Like I posted earlier. I knew a lot of guys would say they love muley. I'm thinking those who say that like a bit of a gamey taste. I can't imagine anybody saying they like deer more than elk unless they think elk is too bland and like the gamey taste of deer better. Elk is just like really good beef. They graze like beef. They eat grass. The meat will have no gamey taste unless not cared for. Some people don't like that. Gamey meat taste like liver to me. I hate liver.

It was good for me to talk this out. It might be best for me to not hunt for deer anymore. I've been hunting them since I was 8 years old. That's 69 years of deer hunting. It's time to leave them alone. I can always hunt for bear and it's a 30-day hunt instead of 9 days for deer. I'll try for a leftover elk tag but i'll get a bear tag too.

Thanks for all the posts guys. I should have done this decades ago. I can be pretty stubborn sometimes.
 
It was because you drained the blood from the meat while soaking it in ice water.



Also, those who are "aging" it is only making it worse in terms of wild/gamey taste. Might be more tender but man it makes it MUCH more gamey tasting.

I call BS on this statement. Aging definably takes out the "gamey" taste. There's been research on it. I have tasted a huge difference in how mild my deer taste after they are aged more than 3 weeks. No matter the age or elevation they were killed.
 
I call BS on this statement. Aging definably takes out the "gamey" taste. There's been research on it. I have tasted a huge difference in how mild my deer taste after they are aged more than 3 weeks. No matter the age or elevation they were killed.

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...
 
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...
I've read while meat is dry aged the enzymes break down and it will both make the meat more tender and take some of the gamey taste out.
When I thaw out my meat before cooking, a lot of blood comes out onto the dish it's thawing on and I dump that down the sink. That probably helps and goes along with your idea of draining the blood to get out the gamey taste.
 
I guess it's considered aging since anything I kill stays on ice/refrigerator 3-7 days before it's processed and frozen.

The worst game meat I had was a young cow elk's heart. We had that heart sliced, battered, and fried within 2 hours of killing her. We couldn't eat it and I usually love fried heart. The tenderloin we fried with her heart was excellent along with the rest of her.

I know a few guys that carry the dead deer in their truck all day long that complain about venison tasting bad. I guess deer doesn't keep well on those 70 degree November days in Texas :)
 
I would rather eat mule deer than elk or blacktails. It does have a more gamey flavor to me for sure but that is why my family prefers it.

We also love waterfowl but we age it in the fridge in saltwater.

I age deer and elk as long as I can up to and a bit over 2 weeks. We have a pretty high moisture in the air and it usually doesnt get below 45 or so but will age them in an old fridge when we only have one deer at a time to age. Aging makes all the difference in the world for tenderness and taste IMO.

Old or young deer makes no difference in my experience nor does the rut if you are careful in the way you process it. We leave zero fat or silver skin and remove all damaged meat from the shot. These things dont even make it in my burger pile.

I think those that dont like it just dont like the gamier flavor of mule deer.

Bill
 
I think it’s all about how quickly you kill them and get them on ice, how well you skin and process them, and cooking them well. I’ve had people who “hate” mule deer that love the meat I have prepared. I take a lot of pride into my meat though, and with that comes extra time. It’s worth it for me though. Some of the best meat I’ve ever eaten has come from big rutting bulls or bucks.
 
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.
 
Anybody that has never had a great tasting back from Colorado you’re invited to my house and I will show you what good taste is.
Like ruger said it is all about how you take care of it in the field and letting it age properly.
I let all of my deer and Elk hang in a cool to cold shed for 10 to 14 days and it makes a huge difference
 
To me Elk is the best meat on the planet. How you take care of the meat does make a big difference. If you make jerk or bologna you can make them all good.
 
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I can’t stand deer. It tastes just like their gut pile smells. I’m glad there are people that like it though so I have someone to donate it to.
 
I'll throw out a couple of my thoughts.
1. What they eat is huge in how good they taste. Sage diet = sage taste.
2. I always cut up my own meat. Cutting out any bone or tendons. I basically separate each quarter into individually muscles. Having a processor just band saw straight through taints great meat with bone marrow and junk.
3. I soak my meat in milk overnight which helps a lot.
4. My daughter and I tag team on steak fingers. 1/4 strips(cut cross grain) dipped in egg then coat with flour. Season with Montreal steak seasoning....it is
da bomb. Maybe its cooking with my daughter that gives them that extra delicious flavor.

HOWEVER, Elk is better.
 
I think there is some confusion on definitions.
a “gamey” taste me is when any animal is not cared for properly. (Not gutted right away, not kept clean, not cooled quickly). What that does is allow some bacteria to grow on/ in the meat and “spoil”’it a little. You may be able to prepare it so that the bacteria is killed and it is edible or prepare it on a way to cover up the taste, but the damage is done

what I think we are discussing here is the actual flavor of mule deer no matter who kills it or how it is cared for. To me, that seems to be related to what they eat because I can absolutely taste sage in most deer and I dont like it. Making sausage or hamburger seems to hide the flavor enough to tolerate it but It is still there.

I always age my animals 3-5 days (longer for really old ones) and feel like that does a decent job on tenderness, but has never changed the taste. But now I am wondering if aging longer would. May have to experiment.
 
I think most of you that don't like Deer probably road it around with the hide on in your truck for a week. If skinned, cooled, cleaned, and processed properly there is nothing better. I will take a fat Mule Deer buck over an old Bull Elk anyday. I butcher all my game myself this makes a huge difference. The only Deer I didn't like was commercially processed, those guys just don't care.
 
I always take care of my meat properly and process them myself. They never have a “gamey” taste. But I just don’t like the taste of most mule deer. I never have a problem with whitetail and, as I said, the mature buck I killed in eastern Colorado last year tastes great. No sage out there!
 
I think most of you that don't like Deer probably road it around with the hide on in your truck for a week. If skinned, cooled, cleaned, and processed properly there is nothing better. I will take a fat Mule Deer buck over an old Bull Elk anyday. I butcher all my game myself this makes a huge difference. The only Deer I didn't like was commercially processed, those guys just don't care.

Wrong! A big assumption on your part.
 
Tomorrow, i'll give up my deer tags.

If I can't get a leftover elk tag i'll buy an elk OTC 2nd season tag. My Lakota friend will do the same. He hunts with a self made longbow and I use an old flintlock. That should get some chuckles in rifle season. A real longshot but at least we both like the meat if we get a bull. He refuses to hunt for deer too.
 
I have always thought of gamey as the slightly stronger taste of wild red meat over a store bought beef steak.

Txhunters definition may be more accurate, IDK. But it is not mine.

Some mule deer I have killed are slightly stronger and it probably has to do with feed. But to me they all have really close to the same flavor and are all delicious.
 
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.
 
It really depends on the individual deer. I think the animals diet and how the meat is cared for are the two big factors. The coues deer I've had are fantastic and killed in the same area as some muleys that were not as good. I turn the less desirable deer into jerky but always give the back straps a try. Switching to processing my own meat has also improved the quality.
I generally prefer elk over mule deer. I've also found pronghorn to be great meat.
 
I'm sure not taken care of the meat adds a flavor of its own. That can be done with any game meat. Someone who doesn't take care of the meat has no business complaining about the taste of it. I also feel if you don't butcher the meat yourself you never know what you're going to get.

What the muley eats i'm sure has something to do with it too. There's no crops around here. Too much altitude. A muley pretty much always taste the same to me. Not so bad that it kept me from eating it for decades. I guess i've gotten pickier as I got older.
 
You could be right Jake I have never ate Bear Tacos.
But I have a bunch of deer one's. I like Whitetail corn feed one's the best.
 
We eat our elk and love it. Deer meat goes to Lacorti’s in Kanab! He makes it into jerky, meat sticks, brats . I have to hide it from the kids after he works his magic.
 
I prefer early (August and September) bucks.

I shot an old doe in October several years ago and OMG. It was nasty. I have since sworn off hunting mule deer does.

The latest I will deer hunt is mid October anymore. And I have no issue shooting a young buck because I am a meat hunter.

A meat hunter in the sense that I like game meat, and fish, and beef and pork and lamb and chicken. Heck, we even are beginning to raise geese and will see how they taste.

My favorites are mountain lion and the desert bighorn ewe my daughter killed last year.

I cannot keep game jerky out of my daughters hands.

We have a batch of fresh caught trout brining in the fridge right now to be smoked tomorrow.
Mountain Lion how does that taste I have not heard of anyone eating mountain lion
 
I actually like sage. I prefer Chukars over pheasants because of it. But I’ll agree with the chorus, we use deer as fillers. But I could jerk a deer herd and it would last 3days, so it’s not an issue around here
 
October November Gunnnison mule deer. Are not MEAT hunts. If we truly were meat hunters the only season we would have in Western Colorado would be July 20th to the 25th OTC any buck.....If your going to give me a welfare voucher because my family got here a long time ago....let me kill him in July!!!!! Raised on it!
 
Colorado muleys on my part of the state taste like crap compares to the other tasty critters running these hills. Deer in our house becomes sausage. We throw in extra pork too and still taste rough. Best we've been able to do is add some apple chunks when grinding the sausage and that seems to counter the strong flavor.
 
I put in for a bear tag. I'll turn in the deer tag when it comes.

btw..Has anybody got their deer tags in the mail yet? I forgot when they're mailed out.
 
Didn't read everything but my deer meat is always really good. Starts with processing. I skin them, bag them, then let them hang for a 5 days at least. Obviously in a cool place if possible with air movement. My dad used to let them hang till they started getting a green patina on them. That meant the flesh was breaking down, getting more tender. He would Slice off that green and then Butcher, wrap and freeze. Mine don't get green. I process before that. When ready to eat, thaw and let them sit for a day or so in the fridge before cooking. Lets the rest of the blood out and that is where the gaminess is. Season and enjoy.

Do check out this killer site for game recipes. Some really good stuff on here.

https://nevadafoodies.com/
 
I have a new plan. I just talked to the mission and they'd love the meat. They make a spicy stew and said most who come here will eat it.
So, i'll go ahead and use my deer tag and donate the meat.
 
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...
Don't agree with this at all. Hanging and aging improves the flavor. Part of it is how you handle the quarters or meat before it gets hung up to age.
 
Depends what "improves" is? For beef, it "intensify" the flavor. So in venison it will have the same effect. Meaning if it's gamey tasting before aging it will be even more gamey tasting after aging.

But best way to do this is to try it out. Try aging your venison for 10 days and let us know.
 
Depends what "improves" is? For beef, it "intensify" the flavor. So in venison it will have the same effect. Meaning if it's gamey tasting before aging it will be even more gamey tasting after aging.

But best way to do this is to try it out. Try aging your venison for 10 days and let us know.

I do it with most of my deer unless temperature or moisture is an issue. Doesn't change the flavor to me, just the texture of the meat and it becomes more tender. That said I am already on record here saying I love deer meat so maybe there is a subtle difference I'm not noticing.
 
I have killed one mule deer that was inedible. Big old mule deer buck in Nevada. Wish I would have had him aged. He was a nasty old warrior, and it stunk just to cook him. Cold beers and sauces helped me eat all of him. mtmuley
 
There is no way I am soaking any meat in ice water for several days

We soak our ducks and geese in salt water brine for 3 to 7 days in the fridge. Pulls the blood out comes out much more mild.

Baking soda does even better to mellow the flavor but also makes it rubbery. I dont use it unless the birds are eating mostly bugs in the gravel or fish etc.

I have used a salt brine on tenderloins and a few times on chunks of meat that I wasnt able to clean all the blood etc from around a wound, works great.

Bill
 
I have killed one mule deer that was inedible. Big old mule deer buck in Nevada. Wish I would have had him aged. He was a nasty old warrior, and it stunk just to cook him. Cold beers and sauces helped me eat all of him. mtmuley

If you use enough hot sauce you definitely won’t taste the meat
 
The old timers would take the gamey taste out of mule deer by soaking the steaks in milk before cooking it. I remember another old gal soaking the meat in Italian salad dressing. The liver is a filter
 

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