What's the worst-tasting game animal you've eaten?
- Thread starter DennisCA
- Start date
I know Colorado and Wyoming have sagebrush ..... miles upon miles of the stuff. Nebraska's Sandhills, not so much. We do have antelope there. I doubt they send out for the stuff.
Precisely why I do all of my own processing now, including grinding the burger. I used to pay a few pennies a pound to have it ground with 10% beef tallow added at our local butcher. After having some difficulty with them getting my meat back after a week, they just wheeled out a cart with several hundred one pound packages marked "Ground Venison" and counted out the weight of my order ......
Hi.Markco,
I have been shooting,eating,and watching pronghorn since the 60's.At ne point,I bought a book that was some scientific study of the species.
This was not a hunters book,it was a "science" book.I loaned it out and it never came back.
That book said sage is the preferred forage,makes up about 80% of their diet.
The oily nature of sage makes it a high energy fuel,and the antelope liver has special characteristics that metabolize the alkaloids in sage.
I agree,they will munch on nice grass or alfalfa...matter of fact,some cottonwoods watching over a patch of alfalfa was a pretty reliable stand.
There is only one reason I am bothering to argue,because,other than that,I really do not care about a difference of opinion.You are free to disagree.
Its not the sage diet that makes them taste bad.Period.
Bad antelope is bad antelope because ,if the hunter will accept there is something new to learn about handling,bad antelope can become good antelope.
Blaming it on sage is not the answer.
I can tell you a few things that make bad antelope.
If you can't identify the bladder and do whatever is necessary to keep from bathing the inside of the carcass with antelope urine,odds are good you will taste bad antelope.
I have met plenty of folks all proud of dumping a gut pile in under five minutes,but they cant tell you where the bladder is,"Oh,its that wrinkly little EMPTY blue thing? Duh...
And antelope season is warm.Often over 40 deg f for 24 hrs a day.So nomatter where you hang it,unrefrigerated,its at spoilage temperature.Yup,antelope that's been at 55 deg f to78 deg f for three days migt taste bad.
And I believe a certain flavor will migrate from hide to meat.I skin them while still warm and the skin is loose.Leave the hide on while it hangs,or till you take it to a taxeidermist or processor,yup,its going to taste bad.
One more way to make it taste bad is band saw through the bones,smearing the bone chips and marrow across the chops.
If any of those things happened to te meat,oh,along with running the animals,gut shooting them,or having to shoot them seventimes around ghe edges because everyone can hit an antelope at 700 yds,noproblem,especially if they are moving away..
Yeah,a lot of ways tomake antelope taste bad.
Its not the sage.
I have been shooting,eating,and watching pronghorn since the 60's.At ne point,I bought a book that was some scientific study of the species.
This was not a hunters book,it was a "science" book.I loaned it out and it never came back.
That book said sage is the preferred forage,makes up about 80% of their diet.
The oily nature of sage makes it a high energy fuel,and the antelope liver has special characteristics that metabolize the alkaloids in sage.
I agree,they will munch on nice grass or alfalfa...matter of fact,some cottonwoods watching over a patch of alfalfa was a pretty reliable stand.
There is only one reason I am bothering to argue,because,other than that,I really do not care about a difference of opinion.You are free to disagree.
Its not the sage diet that makes them taste bad.Period.
Bad antelope is bad antelope because ,if the hunter will accept there is something new to learn about handling,bad antelope can become good antelope.
Blaming it on sage is not the answer.
I can tell you a few things that make bad antelope.
If you can't identify the bladder and do whatever is necessary to keep from bathing the inside of the carcass with antelope urine,odds are good you will taste bad antelope.
I have met plenty of folks all proud of dumping a gut pile in under five minutes,but they cant tell you where the bladder is,"Oh,its that wrinkly little EMPTY blue thing? Duh...
And antelope season is warm.Often over 40 deg f for 24 hrs a day.So nomatter where you hang it,unrefrigerated,its at spoilage temperature.Yup,antelope that's been at 55 deg f to78 deg f for three days migt taste bad.
And I believe a certain flavor will migrate from hide to meat.I skin them while still warm and the skin is loose.Leave the hide on while it hangs,or till you take it to a taxeidermist or processor,yup,its going to taste bad.
One more way to make it taste bad is band saw through the bones,smearing the bone chips and marrow across the chops.
If any of those things happened to te meat,oh,along with running the animals,gut shooting them,or having to shoot them seventimes around ghe edges because everyone can hit an antelope at 700 yds,noproblem,especially if they are moving away..
Yeah,a lot of ways tomake antelope taste bad.
Its not the sage.
Coot.
Back when such things did not draw attention, a friend and I hunted duck on San Diego Bay at the south end of the Silver Strand before going to school (guns and all.) We quickly learned that only the earliest ducks of the season were worthwhile. Freshly arrived from the stubble fields of the central valley, they were tasty. After a few days feeding on the vegetation available on hydrogen sulfide mudflats, they were foul.
A classic Aussie recipe for pink and grey galah, a cockatoo that reaches pest proportions, is to find a stone of about the same weight as the galah. Put the stone in the oven with the bird and roast. When the stone is done, the bird is done, throw away the bird and eat the stone.
Back when such things did not draw attention, a friend and I hunted duck on San Diego Bay at the south end of the Silver Strand before going to school (guns and all.) We quickly learned that only the earliest ducks of the season were worthwhile. Freshly arrived from the stubble fields of the central valley, they were tasty. After a few days feeding on the vegetation available on hydrogen sulfide mudflats, they were foul.
A classic Aussie recipe for pink and grey galah, a cockatoo that reaches pest proportions, is to find a stone of about the same weight as the galah. Put the stone in the oven with the bird and roast. When the stone is done, the bird is done, throw away the bird and eat the stone.
I have to agree with HiBC on the antelope handling. I have shot a bunch of antelope in NM and got to where I preferred the taste over a lot of other animals. If they are running..just let them go...heated up antelope just about guarantees bad taste. I've heard rumors of lactic acid released into the muscles after a hard run, but don't know if there is any truth to that.
Open them up immediately, do proper cleaning and cool as fast as possible and you have some good eating.
I've shot some ducks out of the California bay area salt marshes that were beyond being called palatable.
Open them up immediately, do proper cleaning and cool as fast as possible and you have some good eating.
I've shot some ducks out of the California bay area salt marshes that were beyond being called palatable.
Possibly with a few exceptions, the worst game is the game ill prepared from the kill to cooking.
I with my guests kill in excess of 200 ducks and 200 geese per year. I breast out all of mine for the obvious reason and despite what was previously said they cook, and smoke up deliciously without any skin.
It's all about how you do it.
Some of the exceptions I have eaten; mergansers, coot, and any game overcooked. UGH!
I with my guests kill in excess of 200 ducks and 200 geese per year. I breast out all of mine for the obvious reason and despite what was previously said they cook, and smoke up deliciously without any skin.
It's all about how you do it.
Some of the exceptions I have eaten; mergansers, coot, and any game overcooked. UGH!
jersurf101
New member
Swan.
Awful fishy taste.
Awful fishy taste.
HiBC, I agree that the handling is the biggest issue.
You have about 20 years on me, however, talking to the game biologists they have told me more than once, that summer is almost all grasses, sage buds in the spring. Only in the winter do Pronghorn revert to eating the sage in any significant amounts. When we hunt in October, they have been on mostly grass for at least 5 or 6 months.
I've watched herds for a full day and only saw a few nibbles of sage. Having shot a bunch, I have seen the stomach contents a few times...almost all grass.
You have about 20 years on me, however, talking to the game biologists they have told me more than once, that summer is almost all grasses, sage buds in the spring. Only in the winter do Pronghorn revert to eating the sage in any significant amounts. When we hunt in October, they have been on mostly grass for at least 5 or 6 months.
I've watched herds for a full day and only saw a few nibbles of sage. Having shot a bunch, I have seen the stomach contents a few times...almost all grass.
If fish counts as game. A big bluefish is about as bad as it gets no matter how you cook it. I've eaten about everything that's swims,walks or Flys at one time or another. If it was bad I think it's usually the way it was cooked and not the game Itself. The exception might be diving ducks.
jersurf101
New member
I used too saute fresh bluefish fillets with a touch of lemon and butter and serve it to the neighbor's skinny cat. Thats about the only use I have had for it.
The bad:
Duck, Elk, Squirel, and poorly prepared venison
Venison in 80% of the cases tasted like liver.
The Squirel was too much work to clean
The good?
Cotton tail rabbit, Grouse, quail, buffalo, and pheasant
Wild pig (sow) back strap........
Wild Grouse IMHO is the best wild game I have ever eaten...
Duck, Elk, Squirel, and poorly prepared venison
Venison in 80% of the cases tasted like liver.
The Squirel was too much work to clean
The good?
Cotton tail rabbit, Grouse, quail, buffalo, and pheasant
Wild pig (sow) back strap........
Wild Grouse IMHO is the best wild game I have ever eaten...
AirForceShooter
New member
Water Buffalo.
Nasty
AFS
Nasty
AFS
Microgunner
New member
Bull moose. Very gamey.
Blindstitch
New member
Dogfish/bowfin. The meat starts out looking good but if it contacts water it starts degrading and goes into a gel like state. The taste itself was horrible and I can't explain it.
A few recipes I have have seen for it involve cooking it with other items lime mashpotatoes like 90% potatoes.
Another way to do it is to cut it in nickle size chunks and it should only taste like whatever seasoning you deepfry it with.
A few recipes I have have seen for it involve cooking it with other items lime mashpotatoes like 90% potatoes.
Another way to do it is to cut it in nickle size chunks and it should only taste like whatever seasoning you deepfry it with.