I WAS WONDERING HOW MANY HUNTERS WHO ARE HUNTING TO FILL THERE FREEZERS LOOK AT THE ANIMALS CONFORMATION AND CONDITIONING BEFORE HARVESTING AND HOW MANY DO NOT.

AS A CHEF I LOOK FOR THE BEST TASTING ANIMAL THAT I CAN FIND BEFORE SHOOTING. I HAVE PASSED UP MANY ANIMALS BECAUSE THEY DID NOT HAVE THE CHARACTERISTICS THAT I LOOK FOR IN A ANIMAL.

I LOOK FOR A STURDY FRAME, WELL MUSSLED ANIMAL. THE HIND QUARTER SHOULD BE BALANCED WITHOUT THE ABUNDANCE OF FAT. I LOOK TO SEE THE TOP PORTION OF THE RIBS. THERE SHOULD BE A VERY MINIMAL PILLOWING EFFECT IN THE STOMACH AREA. I DO NOT LIKE FAT DEER.

CALL ME CRAZY I JUST FEEL LIKE THIS CRITERIA HAS PLACED FAR ABOVE EXCELLENT VENISON ON MY TABLE.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS. DOES ANYONE KNOW IF THERE HAS EVER BEEN A STANDARD WRITTEN TO CHARACTERIZE DEER?

HUNT ON HUNT HARD EAT WELL

Interesting thought.

Admittedly, I've never looked for such things. I'm generally just happy as heck to even have a deer within shooting range. I've never had a deer that I thought tasted BAD either. The first doe I got this year was a hefty gal...lots of fat.

-Mike

To me they are all tasty. Of course I am not a professional chef, but I do prefer a younger deer for better eating. I am not really picky in the woods though. I usually try to fill my freezer with a doe, and then hunt my buck, but I also enjoy eating the buck as well. As far as portioning deer as far as size and fat, never even thought about it. I am not very picky. When that deer comes under my stand I generally dont have enough time to check out his or her characteristics, just to many other things to worry about for me. Shot-placement, shot opportunity, wind, distance, set up, draw bow back, just to busy concentrating on making that shot count. Just my opinion

As far as eating quality, I have found the two main factors in determining edability are age and sex, younger deer are far more tender, doe are the best, old bucks the worst, but they all taste good if cooked right.

The Tazman aka Martin Price
Founder and President of
Virginia Disabled Outdoorsmen Club

There are standards given to beef; Grade A, Choice, Prime, etc. I read these in a book on butchering various animal years ago and am sorry I can not remember the title or author.

Before I go any further, I am NOT comparing venison to beef. There is no comparison, VENISON wins out as far as I am concerned. I just believe the different age and sex of the venison can be classified in categories just as beef, pork, whatever.

My opinion on the taste and eating qualities:

Young (yearling) deer = veal. Very tender but lacking taste.

Does that have dropped fawns = choice beef from cows. Much tastier.

Older does that have dropped fawns for more than 1 year = prime. It doesn't get any better than this.

Young bucks (1.5 - 2.5yr) = I have not noticed any difference in meat qualities as compared to older does provided the bucks are not heavily in the rut and their bodies have not began consuming their fat due to lack of browsing.

Older bucks in rut = Can be a little gamy but if allowed to hang in the proper conditions, temp and time, they can still be good table fare if prepared right.

As for condition, if the deer does not exhibit any abnormal behaviour or "look" then I do not hesitate to harvest the animal if given the opportunity.



Shoot often - Hunt always

I don't go that far. I feel the most important thing is how well you care for the deer once it's down. I gut it a soon as possible. I like to get the meat cooled down fast as well. I rarely hang a deer as the weather isn't useually cold enough. When I butcher I cut all the fat off, as well as the " silver skin" and anything that doesn't look good. It takes time, but my venison is almost always excellent. One more thing, never never never ever over cook it. pink in the middle makes for some excellent steaks and roasts!

TAKE YOUR KIDS HUNTING AND YOU WON'T BE HUNTING FOR YOUR KIDS

Darn thing can test like Sh&t on a shingle as long as he has a nice rack. When I have guests over for a venison dinner, and they have to spit it into there napkin after chewing it for 10 min. - Thats when I know I shot a good one<img src=icon_smile_tongue.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

LMAO at Rackattack! I hear ya buddy. But I agree with the other posts. The best tasting deer to me are the yearlings and small does. They are also the most plentiful. When I was gun hunting years ago, I would always save 1 tag for the &quot;BIG&quot; one, but the other tag was always for a nice doe for the table. The big bucks I always use the meat to make sausage or jerky out of. Here now in Southwest Iowa, as a landowner I can take 2 deer, and then buy antlerless tags for a special late season hunt in January. We can buy as many tage then as we want (up to 400 for this county) because we have an overpopulation of does. Too bad I found out by flesh wounding a small 8 point that my bow is cow dodo. Oh well, there's always next year. Good post.

I do not like deer inless it is hamburger, jerkey, ot tenderloin wrapped in bacon cooked on the grill. i love the small ones just lost their spots (just kidding) I ate some of the buck I shot friday and it was a little gamy, but the doe I got was very tastey

Evan
Archery Accessories
301-872-0110

Generally &quot;Gamey Tasting&quot; meat is a result of processing and handling. I learned from an old Ohio Pro in 1963 during my early years of bowhunting. I have NEVER had &quot;Gamey Tasting&quot; meat even an old 4X5 Blacktail [heavily in the rut]. A small amount of it was a little tough but VERY good.

I don't waste anything. I grind the shanks and scraps [no fat added] and divide it between ground and smoked sausage. A couple tenderloin roasts and the rest into steaks[3/4' thick]. As far as cooking, &quot;If it ain't movin . . . its overcooked.&quot;

Dick