What's the worst-tasting game animal you've eaten?

People cooking can screw up any given meat that exists, but duck seems to be hard to get right. Bad duck is awful. Good duck is an unexpected treat.
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There is no such thing as "Duck" when describing the taste. As I posted, each species tastes different. If you ate a Bufflehead, I guarantee a bad, if not memorable experience. If you roast a Wood duck with bread stuffing, it is very good. You cannot just say "duck" does not taste good unless you have tried every available species.
 
Beaver Tail:

When I was a kid I use to read trapper/mountain man books about how great beaver tail was.

So I gave it a try, best described as NASTY.

Taste like cotton soaked in fish oil.
 
I go along with meat handling and preparation go a long way.Necks,shins,shanks,braised lowand slow,can be good.

A good example many of us have experienced is beef brisket.Go ahead,sear the outside and serve it medium rare.I doubt anyone will finish their serving.

But it can be superb.

I had to learn about antelope.I did a couple on my own in high school.I had some to learn,and those lived up to antelope's reputation for skunky poor eating.I then learned to empty my refrigerator before opening day.
Tag filled,gut immediately,bladder intact.Oh yeah,lung shoot them.
Then peel them immediately.Get the hide off.Get it cool.
Then I drive the meat home,quarter,and put it in my empty refrigerator.
Next,I drive back out to the ranch,enjoy the company,enjoy glassing and watching the rest of the hunt.Watch for coyotes,and at night,watch thesky and listen to coyotes.
Antelope tastes remarkably "normal" if you do that.I have not been eating veal,but I imagine antelope is veal-like.Just flour and brown in garlic butter.

I have eaten mountain lion.It was very good.I don't hunt them,but,it was offered.
Staying with the idea that handling iscritical,I may have a candidate for "bad".I did not shoot or dress these,they were given to me.
Little Brown Crane.I tried.but,as I was chewing,nausea began.Could not do it.It had aleachfield/sewage sort of flavor that seemed to emerge and grow as I chewed.
 
I popped a field mouse one time,,,
Gutted it, stuck it on a stick, roasted it and ate it.
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Reminds me of the movie "Never Cry Wolf" based on the Farley Mowat book. The protagonist tries to live on a diet of mice as an experiment. Funny scene.
 
I assure you I tried it, twice. Same coyote, two different meals
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My hat is off to you! I am the kind of person that will try about anything and have ate some fairly unbelievable things in different parts of the world. But after hunting and skinning coyotes I think you might have found the line I will not cross. Dog on the other hand is quite good, if handled properly, so maybe there is hope for coyote.
 
But after hunting and skinning coyotes I think you might have found the line I will not cross.
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Yeah, coyotes stink. The one I ate was a very mild-smelling one.

The stinkiest animal I've ever encountered however was the lion I just killed. That thing's ass end was the most powerful and rank smell I've ever experienced. I'd say his last meal was a skunk (his body did not smell, it was coming from under his tail), and combine that smell and potency with cat crap and that's what he smelled like. Horrible. Skinning and butchering that animal was not pleasant and to be honest if I hadn't heard soooo many good things about lion meat and been looking forward to trying it I don't know if I'd have kept it. Very glad I did, it is truly excellent meat.
 
Easy answer Woodchuck
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LOL Reminded me of when I was in college, and a friend and I knew this one old guy (I think everybody knows someone like that) that had a recipe for just about everything. We tried his recipe for coot (nasty, even the cat wouldn't eat it), coyote (not too bad, but stringy), pigeons (very good, actually) and of course rockchuck. We marinated it and seasoned it, but when we tried to roast it, it dripped grease and caught fire and burned like a candle. Just tasted like a grease fire after that. Never tried it again, it might be good.
 
I've eaten just about everything that inhabits the woods in Northern MN. But one animal I tasted long ~long ago that stuck in memory. >Roast of porcupine. :(
 
I've eaten a lot and they all take the cake.

first I remember was an old mule deer with just about no teeth left, it was estimated to be 14 years old. he was disgusting and I have been pretty leery of eating mule deer since.

then there was buffalo, I've eaten a lot of bison and it's all been really tough, and somewhat gamey. I'm not a big bison fan anymore.

most recent was a spring black bear. we cooked some up immediately to make sure it was even edible before butchering the whole thing. it tasted alright but every subsequent pack we cooked up was so disgusting that after 5 failed meals of the stuff we cooked the rest and gave it to the dogs.
 
I like venison, but....

One of my brothers shot an old moss back mulie in Northwest Colorado years ago. Gutted it and took it to the butcher shop. First meal that Mom made used some of the burger. The house stunk like heck. We (Dad, my brother and I) couldn't get it down. Dog wouldn't touch it. Mom couldn't smell, and didn't understand the situation, so she took it personally. Poor lady, got really upset. We tried again and the roast she cooked went out with the trash too.

We ate other deer from that same area a few other times that was great. Just that one old buck was bad.
 
Crow was pretty bad. I have had different quality of duck, some is decent and some is extremely bad. But the worst of all was sage brush raised antelope I swore Id never eat another one.
 
I do not doubt your experience with antelope,
But pretty much all pronghorn antelope is sage fed.sage is their primary forage.It makes up the bulk of the diet of just about every pronghorn.

And that includes all the fine,tasty antelope I have eaten.

My experience with antelope:Properly handled,sage eating antelope has no "odd" or "gamy" taste.
It just tastes like meat.
And my favorite way to cook it,stew meat size pieces from shoulder or anything on the main carcass,seasoned,floured,and just browned in garlic butter.Leave a little pink in it.Simple.

No need to stomp it with golf shoes,marinate it in pine sol,etc.

But,whatever is true for you.
 
I've killed several antelope and hands down best game animal I've ever had. I assumed there would be a lot of "antelope is terrible" posts on here and I've never quite figured out its reputation as having a nasty taste. Even my wife loves antelope and she is very picky.

All that said, I only keep the loins and backstraps. I have the rest ground and have a little beef suet added. Makes it cook up nicely and has a great taste.
 
Pronghorn only eat Sage if all the grass is gone. In spring, they eat a little of the buds, but by hunting season, they are have been eating grass for months. They don't like it either.:eek:

If you run them or do not get them cooled fast, that is when they are bad.
 
Only had Pronghorn a few times but it's been good every time. Couple from AZ and one from New Mexico. Never had a bad bite but again not many samples. Maybe 3 different animals.

I'll second the notion that a lot of bad meat is the result of bad meat-handling, either by the hunter or the butcher. I've heard too many horror stories of people getting bad meat, even from people who I know take care of the carcass before it goes to the butcher. I have, however, seen some stuff hanging in the cold room at the butcher that I could not believe. Some looked like they had been quartered and drug to the truck (with the hide off). No doubt THAT meat tasted like crap and if that gets mixed into your lot, accidentily or otherwise, you're in for a treat.

If your deer/elk/antelope chronically taste like garbage, I'd re-assess how you are caring for the carcass. Needs to be kept clean and cold.
 
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