That is because a buildup of Lactic Acid Bear. A relaxed animal has very little, if any, built up in it's muscle tissue. Lactic Acid is what that "gamey" taste is. It's why soaking it in milk helps relieve that taste. The milk neutralizes the acid. It's also partly why rutted up Bucks taste "gamey" as hell too. No matter if they were dead right there or not. They have a Lactic Acid buildup most all the time during the rut. Not to mention all the other "glandular action" going on.

Ok, thank you for the answer! I knew it was something like that but I figured it had to be adrenaline.

Did you reload or bought factory ammo.
I think only problem is there. 7mm is more than enough for anything and Barnes TTSX as well. Great combo you have there.
Anything i hit with Barnes at good spot never went further than maybe 50 ft max.

I'm late to the game, but I'll chime in. I've owned my 7mm mag for 20+years now. Great accuracy, especially after I ditched the Simmons scope, and it got even better when I start making my own ammo. I've shot 160gr Nosler Partitions almost exclusively out of this thing. On one deer, I shot him a second time to make sure he was dead, but all the rest, one shot kills, and no tracking. Shoulder shots on all but two of them, one of those was a head shot on a doe, and the other was a frontal shot. It has plenty of power, but it's up to the shooter to do his or her job. More range time, good glass on it, and maybe a different type of bullet, and it should work fine. It's still one of my go to rifles. My wife loves to shoot the thing, even if the trigger hasn't been tuned ever.

200 yards from a 7 mag 4 rounds "com on man"

Old post here and Im aware of that..however 7mag is all I use these days and its plenty. A well placed shot will drop a deer with .243, and darn sure will with a 7mm rem cannon.

Update: I am the OP and am thankful for the positive responses. I used the same gun and bullet combo this year on my biggest whitetail to date and had good results. My gun loves the round and I like the idea of all copper bullets, so I needed to try it again. I anchored the whitetail at 326 yds, which is very near the maximum range I will shoot. The bullet entered behind the shoulder and exited through the front of the other and I was able to see the deer go down through the scope. I have never had my skills and patience tested so much for a clear shot. The wound channel wasn't ridiculous, but I can't argue with the results.

Unlike its antlers, the mule deer I shot last year had an enormous body. This coupled with possible/probable operator error may have resulted in the delayed kill, which was the subject of the original post. I may never know why that didn't quite go as planned. Thanks again to everyone having good input.

Lol... Getting ready to head my field stand hear in Pa... Tote in my Browning A-Bolt 7mag with a 150gr power point... I got money saying DRT 200 yards