Taste of deer
#11
Typical Buck
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Northern WI
Posts: 853
My bad tasting deer . . .
- Were eating much of their diet in a Minnesota cedar swamp. This was just a little gamey, but not all that bad.
- Was gut shot and meat was contaminated. Clearly had a bad taste, but we made a lot of spaghetti sauce with it and managed.
- Was shot in hot summer weather by a neighbor with an ag-damage permit and given to me. It stunk so bad I did not even try to eat it.
#12
Typical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Indiana
Posts: 585
You mentioned the back strap but did not mention what cut of meat you compared it to and how it was cooked. I have had back strap from small deer and large rutting bucks. That is a good cut of meat. I usually take the loins and back strap out of the large bucks and the rest goes to sausage.
#14
Lots of factors. Diet is huge. Take a corn fed deer vs a mtn laurel deer... night and day. All the other factors do play a part...but in my experience, if all things are similar - diet is the main difference.
#16
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: North Idaho
Posts: 1,071
improper handling could affect the deer meat but if its not handled correctly..ie gutted asap, let hang overnight at least...then take to the butcher/processor you could run into problems. Also depending on outside temps...most places now leaving a deer overnight isn't going to hurt the meat. In early season...you better recover it gut, get it in a cooler asap...
#17
too many variables. I know that when antelope hunting, antelope that have been running taste horrible. Id guess the same goes for deer as well as lactic acid builds up in the muscle.
Also, diet is huge. I hunt both eastern and western Nebraska. An eastern deer that ate corn all summer and fall, compared to a sandhills deer on grass is night and day.
Also, diet is huge. I hunt both eastern and western Nebraska. An eastern deer that ate corn all summer and fall, compared to a sandhills deer on grass is night and day.
#18
Most all good answers. The most controllable factors are:
*Shot placement
*Handling after the shot.
*Cooling the meat
Down here it is almost always too hot to let a deer hang. We get them to camp, quarter them out and put them in ice chests. Sometimes for several days. Just drain the water and keep adding ice daily. I have never had a "gamey tasting deer" since doing this!
*Shot placement
*Handling after the shot.
*Cooling the meat
Down here it is almost always too hot to let a deer hang. We get them to camp, quarter them out and put them in ice chests. Sometimes for several days. Just drain the water and keep adding ice daily. I have never had a "gamey tasting deer" since doing this!