hm 1996…I have a question

hunt0168

hunt0168

Well-known member
Clarence, you post so many amazing pictures of nice whitetails, exotics, birds and wildlife of all shapes and sizes. I have seen your harvest pictures of some of the exotics as well. I’m going to assume that you have eaten or at least tried eating quite a few of them. Can you elaborate on which animals you think make the best table fare? And conversely, which have you tried and disliked and for what reason? That is, if there is one or two that you disliked of course.

I apologize if this has already been discussed.
 
Bob, I apologize that I missed your question.
Short answer is, all of the exotics I have shot are of the antelope family and they are all excellent eating, resembling lean beef. If I had to rate them, I'd have to say, the Eland bull was the best. Gemsbok bull would be almost identical to Eland and not much difference between Gemsbok and Scimitar Horned Oryx. I really can't tell the difference between Gemsbok, Scimitar and Nilgai, but my wife says the Nilgai has a slight odor when cooking. (I worked in a chemical plant and smelled up all the spare acid fumes for 20 years, so I cannot vouch for that one way or the other.)
I never shot a Zebra, but the ranch foreman gave me a Zebra backstrap and I was never as surprise in my life. It was excellent!
I will say that I prefer any of the exotics to whitetail deer. The exotics I've eaten are more tender and there is no "wild" taste to the exotics. The Eland and Gemsbok were both bulls, the Oryx and nilgai were all cows.
From 2003, when I started hunting exotics, until a couple of years ago, the only beef we ever bought was cheap hamburger meat to mix w/the exotic hamburger which is too lean to cook without sticking to the pan without added fat.
Another great thing about the eland is the size. Had to buy a 2nd freezer for that one; live weight was 2000#.
 
Thanks for your thoughts, Clarence. And no apologies needed.

Interesting that there isn’t much difference in the flavor between them. Also interesting about the Zebra!

Of the deer family I have eaten, I would put both Moose and Elk above “most” Whitetail that I have eaten. Now I thoroughly enjoy most of the Whitetail I harvest, but some just taste better than others. Farmland deer munching corn and beans generally eat better than big woods deer eating twigs and cedars! Lol. It may just be that the small amount of Moose and Elk I have tried were good ones as well?

I just had some whitetail steaks from last years 4.5 year old 10 point actually. I’d give him a 6-6.5 out of 10 for table fare because I cooked it. My wife would push him up a point or two if she got involved! ;)

Thanks again, Clarence
 
Having only ever eaten western game (elk, muledeer, antelope), I need to find someone to swap with for some whitetail or exotics. But of the western game, I liked antelope the best followed by elk (preferably cow) and muledeer last.
I know, no one asked me. 🤪

Now mt lion wasn't bad, taste wise but tough and dry as all get out. Javelina wasn't bad but only ever cooked it shake&bake style. Bobcat was descent. Moose by far was my all time favorite.
 
There seems to be more of a difference from one deer to the next to me, than from one exotic to the next. All have been free ranging w/o any artificial feeding. I only shot one or two deer in cedar country, boy you can tell if they have eaten cedar!

Never had pronghorn antelope, elk or moose. Did have bear once and never had an "opportunity" to try again. :D Javelina, well, I did have some tamales made from javelina and they were good, but.........
 
I've had both the pleasure, and displeasure of eating bear meat. Some are phenominal, while others aren't suitable for buzzard food! Just my opinion of course, and none of them were my own personal harvests, so field care was completely unknown. If game isn't treated well from the get go, it doesn't get better downstream!
 
wildcat18 said:
Are these better than coyote ?
Click to expand...
IDK, never been that hungry or curious. Only oddball things I've eaten is rattlesnake it's good, tastes like froglegs. Only tried armadillo once; it is pretty good until I learned they can carry leprosy. Tastes a bit like pork. Really upsets the inspector when they find one in the mess hall oven, too.😲
 
I prefer elk to deer. Antelope is good. Many years ago a farmer friend shot a 1.5 yo whitetail buck in Sept with his bow. He was combining corn and the buck was hanging around the field end. I went and found it in the uncut corn. He tagged it and we registered it. A friend had a larger freezer so I gutted skinned it and we froze it whole in a bike bag. At new years we decided to roast it whole in a borrowed hog roaster. I wrapped it in chicken wire after filling cavity with fruits/vegetables (wired it shut). After meat started sweating in roaster, I covered it with curing salt. Than honey glazed it after a crust formed. Bear hams were cooked in the roaster also(than finished in oven with bbq). NO ONE at the party had a clue it was wild game, all guessed hog and beef.
I would go hunt Africa, for antelope (so I could eat)and see the big 5.
 
Would love to have tried those dishes from your borrowed hog roaster, Mike. Sounds delicious.
My son just returned from his 6th or 7th safari; the last two or three to Tanzania. He has tried many different animals and I can't remember any complaints. Of course he loves all the antelope. He's taken four of the five, but, of course not a rhino; his favorite to hunt is Buffalo and the thing that he mentions most is ox tail soup.
I've never had the opportunity to try elk or pronghorn and only shot one mule deer; can't remember it tasting any different than whitetail
 
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