Elk loin question

[LostArra]

I always cut my elk backstraps into four pieces (8 total). I like grilling larger pieces to keep things medium rare/rare on the inside.
My question is regarding the location of each loin section related to tenderness.
Would it be reasonable to think the loin sections found closer to the pelvis would be more tender than those located by the front shoulder?

I usually shoot cows but this season I somehow drew an Any Elk tag (1.8% odds) and came home with a bull. This was a satellite bull who had obviously been a fighter with multiple broken tines. I don't know if fighting affects meat. The conditions for field dressing were perfect. High 30's snow on the ground so the meat cooled quickly. The first loin section I grilled was a little tougher than any of my previous cows but it got me thinking about front-to back differences within the loin. Or it could just be asskicked bull vs cow.

 

[tdhanses]

Hmm never really thought about as it’s all usually tender but i think bulls tend to not be as tender as cows.

 

[5MilesBack]

I shot a 6x6 a few years ago that was obviously a fighter. He was aggressive, wouldn't shut up, tore up a tree in front of me, and then I found a big abscess on his forehead under his hide. I could smell that bull long before I saw him. Breaking him down was probably the easiest and cleanest I've ever done.....but he did smell. We couldn't even chew his backstraps cooked rare. He stunk too.......while cooking. He smelled and tasted like a gamey old bull.

 

[Indian Summer]

How quickly did the bull die after you shot him?

 

[Wrench]

I am a hang till they mold and let steaks sit in johnny or montreal for at least one day before cooking to rare/medium rare.

I've yet to have a tough steak from the straps that wasn't overcooked. I cut 1 25" steaks.

If I have to rush the process or soak time, I will smack it with a jaccard before cooking.

 

[LostArra]

How quickly did the bull die after you shot him?

Stood, three steps, face plant. Less than 15 seconds.

 

[Indian Summer]

Stood, three steps, face plant. Less than 15 seconds.

Hmm. Can’t get a whole lot better than that. To me there’s no rhyme or reason to the tenderness of elk meat. I do think elk that run off for a mile before they die tend to be tougher. But I’ve killed bulls where I was surprised at how good and tender every cut was and younger cows that I thought about making a pair of boots out of the round steaks and wondered why the heck that was. I’ve never seriously aged my meat but I want to and I think it would really help with any elk.

 

[isItFallYet]

When did you kill? I think killing a bull in peak rut definitely affects the taste. Here is an excerpt from Alaska’s Wolf Man, referring to bull moose.
“Walking time lasts from the middle of September until breeding starts about the last week of the month. I have been within 25 yards of cows when a bull reaches them during this period. The bull runs to a cow and starts licking her body all over. Soon the cow urinates. Immediately the bull stops licking and starts to swallow her urine. I have found two or three gallons of cow urine and little else in the stomach of a breeding bull. Naturally, urine flavors the meat strongly. The liver swells and becomes light-brown, and almost like a honeycomb. I’ve offered such livers to my sled dogs, and they wouldn’t eat it. I didn’t blame them. “Gamey” flavor! I call it spoiled meat. If you try to cook it, the unpleasant odor will drive you out of the house.
Two-year-old bulls killed as late as October first are as fine eating as prime beef, but I won’t even consider shooting a full-grown bull after mid-September.”

Excerpt From
Alaska's Wolf Man
Jim Rearden

 

[LostArra]

October
No gamey flavor and the meat isn't TOUGH its just different than the last few cows (Sept kills)
Stomach full of grass with some sage just like every elk I've killed in this area

 

[GringoBling]

I would recommend trying to cook the straps using the sous vide method. I set mine to 132 degrees and and then sear in hot butter to get whatever size piece of meat perfectly cooked all the way through every single time. No guesswork or thermometer probes needed. Anova Culinary has a Cyber Monday sale right now- base model is just $99 or the more powerful unit is just $139. It's one of the best kitchen gadgets you can buy.

 

[WCB]

I have not noticed a different between the front or back of the straps. Try covering in lemon or lime juice and putting in the fridge for a couple hours. Also take out the old meat hammer and give them a good pounding once they get to room temp. You don't need to flatten them just whack them a few good times.

I have taken animals and done this if I cooked a section of straps and they seemed "tougher" than normal. Always seemed to help.

 

[Marble]

I shot a 6x6 a few years ago that was obviously a fighter. He was aggressive, wouldn't shut up, tore up a tree in front of me, and then I found a big abscess on his forehead under his hide. I could smell that bull long before I saw him. Breaking him down was probably the easiest and cleanest I've ever done.....but he did smell. We couldn't even chew his backstraps cooked rare. He stunk too.......while cooking. He smelled and tasted like a gamey old bull.

How disappinting...

Out of all the elk I've killed the only one that was tough was a really old herd bull that took all day to track and kill. Heartbreaking hunt.

He was still good and very edible, but not like my other bulls.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

 

[Idaho4x4Bronco]

I shot a 6x6 a few years ago that was obviously a fighter. He was aggressive, wouldn't shut up, tore up a tree in front of me, and then I found a big abscess on his forehead under his hide. I could smell that bull long before I saw him. Breaking him down was probably the easiest and cleanest I've ever done.....but he did smell. We couldn't even chew his backstraps cooked rare. He stunk too.......while cooking. He smelled and tasted like a gamey old bull.

Lol yesssssss sirrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Every time I read one of these I ALWAYS think back to my herd bull pack out and at the truck when I offered to split meat up for helping pack out, no one wanted any.

 

[JPeters218]

The first bull I shot was an old 5x5. He was the herd bull, I shot him 20 minutes after shooting light on opening day first rifle. But that was the 3rd time I had seen him that morning. The herd kept bumping into hunters and running. The kill was quick. 1 shot to the shoulder and 2 through the lungs. He never took a step and was dead in 10 seconds. But you could not bite through his meat it was so tough. I always assumed it was from adrenaline. But it was also and old bull. And it was also a late rut year so they were actively rutting/ bugling. I don’t know what the answer is to why it was so tough, but that is the only elk I’ve ever had be tough (out of probably 30 in my family over the years).

 

[Zappaman]

Hmm. Can’t get a whole lot better than that. To me there’s no rhyme or reason to the tenderness of elk meat. I do think elk that run off for a mile before they die tend to be tougher. But I’ve killed bulls where I was surprised at how good and tender every cut was and younger cows that I thought about making a pair of boots out of the round steaks and wondered why the heck that was. I’ve never seriously aged my meat but I want to and I think it would really help with any elk.

Like cattle, tenderness is mostly genetic in game meat too.

Diet factors little it turns out; and feed lot cattle just have more (omega 6) fat, but don't "taste" any better than (much higher Omega 3) field finished beef (according to Jim Mayo who has done extensive research in this field). And... yes Omega 3 is better for we humans than Omega 6 meat. But the "bi-product market" keeps fed lots in biz- for now. I eat little of it (as I put up 4 deer + many pigs and other game each year eating mostly game meat year round). I am a former cattle rancher BTW. Weird market lately for sure.

Anyway... my first bull elk (365 Boone and Crockett) killed in western MN (unit 16e) had backstrap meat that tasted like USDA Prime. While my last 2 year old cow elk (shot laying down on "Elk Mountain" in Wyoming) had backstrap that tasted (chewed) like rump steak- toughest animal I ever shot (ate). Ended up grinding the rest of her

The top of the loin is usually a tad tougher, but I've had a few exceptions to this too. After about 150 deer and 25 or so elk-- I let my knife tell me when I butcher the animal. I "grade" the meat while I cut it down. There are surprises though... I've had the "round" on some deer end up as tender as the sirloin (here in Kansas where they are ALL corn fed). That's when I toss it IN the "sirloin" bag and call it tender!