Buck edibility

[Bubblehide]

I have been harvesting deer for over 40 years. I have found that ALL the gameness is in the fat, sheath and sinew. I remove it all, and in doing so, my table fare has been nothing short of excellent despite the age of the animal, in rut or not.

 

[SD Hunter]

I think it is more important on how the meat is cared for then what stage of the rut it was shot in.

 

[Mike Islander]

People saying their rutty buck is tough or inedible may just be coincidence. Since the mature bucks are rarely on their feet in daylight outside the rut, they're most likely killed during the rut. So it may be more age related than rut phase related.

Only tough buck I have eaten was an older deer in his twilight years. Also a bit gamier, or maybe I would describe it as not quite as delicious? So I am thinking age is more important than rut, but my experience is limited. Just wanted to agree that for me, my oldest deer was the least tasty...but still delicious. And tough.

 

[jspradley]

I've eaten them from 50lb fawns to 212lb 6.5 year old bucks, the ONLY whitetail I have ever had that wasn't delicious has been either overcooked, freezerburned or meat that had been processed by someone else.

I wouldn't worry about it too much, they are all good if you handle the meat and cook it properly!

 

[ChrisS]

the ONLY whitetail I have ever had that wasn't delicious has been either overcooked ...

I stopped worrying about people saying that venison (or any other food) tastes terrible when I started figuring out that are a lot of people who are horrible cooks and/or don't have a preference for the same flavors that I do.

Once, my brother cooked a beef roast in a smoker to the point of inedibility. Then I bought him a meat thermometer for his birthday.

 

[TexBiologist]

Having shot several hundred deer and eaten a good many of those, and I know MANY will argue this, if the meat is properly taken care of and aged for 2-3 days (either in a walk in cooler preferably or on ice with the water draining off), a 7 year old buck shot post rut can taste just as good as a 2 year old shot in October.

But it all boils down to the care of the animal. If you shoot a 2/3/4 year old buck during bow season, make a shot you’re not sure of, wait 3 hours to go look for him, and then find him 45 yards from where you shot him and proceed to cut him up right away and get the meat deboned, he’s not going to taste very good, it’s just science.

Muscle fibers start changing immediately when blood stops pumping and the faster you cool them off while leaving them on the bone, the better quality the meat will be.

Shoot a mature buck at the end of the rut but drop him in his tracks, get him back to camp, gut, skin and in a walk in cooler and leave him for 3 days before breaking him down and the meat will be far better than the one from September.

All this being said, if you can tell me the county you’re hunting in I can tell you when the first and second ruts should peak if you’d care to hunt a particular time frame.

 

[Texasbuckeye]

What do you think is the point of leaving the meat on the bone vs early deboning?
This year I switched to gutless method and almost immediate processing of the meat to get the deboned meat in cooler and then let that age some in cooler, take home for final processing and more aging in the fridge, before final freeze.
how would you keep back straps and tenders on the bone? Just curious the point behind that part

 

[WCB]

What do you think is the point of leaving the meat on the bone vs early deboning?
This year I switched to gutless method and almost immediate processing of the meat to get the deboned meat in cooler and then let that age some in cooler, take home for final processing and more aging in the fridge, before final freeze.
how would you keep back straps and tenders on the bone? Just curious the point behind that part

Two reason I can see to leave meat on bone is if you are going to hang the meat it makes it easier. Leaving on the bone also keeps surface area lower so you get less of that dried crust on the outside to remove.

That said I debone my meat ASAP and either age in a cooler with ice or weather permitting just on wire racks. If I'm going to quarter it I'm half way there might as well debone. less to carry out and less for me to do later and fit way better in coolers.

 

[TexBiologist]

What do you think is the point of leaving the meat on the bone vs early deboning?
This year I switched to gutless method and almost immediate processing of the meat to get the deboned meat in cooler and then let that age some in cooler, take home for final processing and more aging in the fridge, before final freeze.
how would you keep back straps and tenders on the bone? Just curious the point behind that part

The muscle fibers shrink up considerably when they go through rigor mortis, which makes the meat very tough if you take it off the bone right away. Beef packing houses will gut, skin, and split carcasses in half and then put them in giant coolers until the rigor subsides. Some are left in there for a long time to age, but most are just for a couple of days before making final cuts

 

[Elkhntr08]

That's really interesting, why do you think there's a difference in taste based on region, is the foliage that different?

Absolutely you can. A corn, acorn feed buck from Illinois will taste different from one that eats cotton and pine cones from Mississippi.