Antelope field care

[western406]

With antelope season in full swing across most western states I wanted to pick the brains of some fellow roksliders. We’ve all seen the flatbed with a nice antelope buck on the back posted up in front of a small town cafe or bar. I personally think antelope is either the best wild game to eat or it’s gonna be the worst. So once that speed goat hits the ground what do you do to ensure you’re getting the best table fare possible? I like to skin and quarter it all in the field, much like you’d do an elk in the backcountry. That way I also don’t have much a carcass to dispose of. Once back at the pickup I have a cooler full of frozen plastic bottles. Everything goes in there until I get home. I’ve had fairly good results with this method. What does everyone else do?

 

[Duh]

Skin it immediately and get it on ice. I’ve noticed they get a little more goaty when they run, so I try to kill them where they are.

 

[go_deep]

Skin and debone it right where it dies.

 

[RSather528]

Skinned, quartered, then into the ice cold cooler. Wife filled her doe tag a few years back on the first day so we had time to do some of the processing in the hotel parking lot.

 

[EdP]

My DIY pronghorn kills were on small Walk-in Areas in eastern Wy so I was never far from my truck. I immediately field dressed and then headed to the truck for my deer cart and an ice bag or two. 45 min later the pronghorn would be on the cart with ice in the body cavity and headed to the truck. By the time I was back at the truck things were already cooling nicely and I moved on to skinning and breaking down right there using a hitch mounted hoist.

 

[Mt Al]

Same as most previous posters: skin and quarter in the field, all quarters/backstraps in game bags and have a cooler with ice in the truck. Has worked well and nothing compares to antelope meat IMHO!

 

[CobraChicken]

My wife and I have shot 8 goats in the last two years. Some in August archery heat, others in late September.

Same rule applies, dress it immediately. Get that hide off and quartered out and put it in bags and on ice.

Never aged it and it hits the processing table as soon as I get home. Never had a bad tasting antelope. Even ones that I had to track and stick a second arrow in. Best meat imo

 

[wytx]

Gut it and lay it up on a sage bush while you go get your cart or pack. Even a slight breeze will start the cooling process. We then get it o the truck and skin, quarter, bag and put it in the cooler with ice jugs.
No issues ever.
Dragging will lead to a hair explosion and big rubbed spots, cart or a couple of deer drags to carry it to the truck.
Just getting it up off the ground and on even a short sage bush really helps start cooling it down.

 

[eaglemountainman]

Field dress it immediately. Ideally, try to pull the hide and get it under refrigeration within an hour. Certainly no more than 2 hrs.

 

[Rich M]

I shot one at first light and cleaned it within say 30 minutes, game bag (pillow case) hung in tree cause partner didn't show up until dark. Meat was fine. Temps were 50-60s. Shot one later in day -cleaned & hung that one too.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Pretty much exactly what the OP does. It is critical to get them out of the hide as soon as possible. I like field butchering as then I can get a whole critter out on my own in one trip.

 

[Caseknife]

My hunting partner and I would each carry a game bag in our pack. Can either do the gutless method or gut them, skin and quarter and put in the game bag that is sitting on a clump of sagebrush for air flow. Take care to keep the hair off the meat. Throw it on your back and head to the truck. Get to camp and put it on ice in a cooler. If it is cool enough at night, you can hang it in the breeze and then put back in the cooler in the morning.

 

[WCB]

IMO I do not think getting the hide off immediately etc is always the case for good meat...If it is 40 degrees and you get it gutted out and out of the sun etc I think you would be hard pressed to tell the difference from one with the skin removed immediately if everything else is done the same.

Most Antelope are shot when it is hot out just the simple fact. So deer shot during the same time I would handle exactly the same. IMO, poor tasting pronghorn is more attributed to getting hair and touching the meat to the hair if that makes sense. The whole "it ran so it taste bad" again in my opinion is false. Ate plenty of goats that were hard core dogging does in the heat that tasted fantastic.

I personally get them deboned at the kill site and in coolers quick because it is the quickest, cleanest way in my opinion if you include eventually having to debone them at home etc. No bones or carcass to dispose of. and realistically backstraps get cooked everything else gets the grind anyways.

 

[David Gough]

Same as above. Field dress ASAP (gutless or gutted). Get back to transportation and into the cooler the meat goes. IF there's a breeze or wind I'll do my best to get a slight crust on the meat before putting into the cooler. I prefer to use frozen gallon jugs to keep the meat as dry as possible. I keep additional frozen gallon jugs in the freezer at home and let the meat age in the same cooler for 5-8 days before butchering. I usually get 1- 2 cups of blood out of the meat during that process.

If you cape it for taxidermy I try to get as much blood/dirt off of the hair and around the head. Then I pat it dry with paper towel before the hide goes into a separate cooler with frozen gallons jugs.

 

[MTWop]

Agree with above. Don’t be the guy driving down the interstate with them riding in 70 degree weather baling in the sun with the hide one. You’ll see plenty of this. Keep the hair out of the meat as much as you can and bring a tarp or some other way of keeping the meat clean until you get it in game bags. I keep coolers full of frozen water jugs. Have fun!

 

[TaperPin]

Theres not a lot of meat on a goat - if you skin it, don’t let it dry out much or it makes a difference in the amount in the freezer.