"It tastes gamey"

[mt terry d]

Out of the over probably 150 game animals I've eaten, consisting of whitetails,
mulies, antelope, elk ( cows & bulls ), bear, moose (Montana and AK) caribou,
mountain lion, and mountain goat (Montana and AK) I've had only two animals
that didn't taste good. All shot in various temperatures from @ +90 to -15 and
various levels of excitement from bedded/sleeping to full rut running for their lives.
One was a mulie buck from SD and a mulie doe about 5 miles from my house
Nothing I can point to that would contribute to the bad taste.
Some more tender or tough than others (the mountain goats were pretty tough)
and some with more or less flavor ( antelope seems quite bland compared to others)
Oh, I had one hind quarter on the first bull in rut I killed, I contaminated it
with the knife I used to skin the belly hair with. It probably didn't affect the
actual taste that much but as smell and taste are closely linked it was nasty.

So, what exactly is "gamey"? (Well, it's "game" duh.)
Is the phrase used to mean "not tasting like beef"?
If it's not used in that way like someone who regularly eats game and likes it,
shouldn't that person say "this meat is bad", which i'd bet most times can be
attributed to how it's been cared for and prepared.

 

[Ucsdryder]

Maybe I missed it in your brain damage format but do you process your own animals?

I’ve NEVER had an animal taste gamey, but I control the process from kill to table. I don’t think animals taste gamey, I think people make animals taste gamey.

 

[Big Sky Guy]

I think gamey is earthy. My wife has tried to get me to like lamb, both times she made it it tasted like the stomach/grass contents of deer and elk etc. smells. There have been a couple times when I’ve gotten stomach contents on tenderloins before doing gutless method that similar to you, not sure if it was the smell or taste but it ruined it for me. Oddly, wife didn’t notice that as much and thinks lamb tastes fine.

I’ve talked to a butcher about the lamb and he said if you don’t finish the lamb on grain that’s just what they taste like.

 

[mt100gr.]

I can only remember one older, non-typical white tailed buck that was hard to eat. (Out of more than 100 animals over the years)

I killed him late in the season, rutting hard. Nothing very out of the ordinary at all. He died quickly and I have always processed all of my own meat.

No idea what was wrong with him, but even spaghetti and tacos were rough. And the meat only smelled once we started cooking it. I never suspected anything while processing....."Gamey" would have been a generous description.

 

[mt terry d]

Maybe I missed it in your brain damage format

It one of my spiritual gifts.

but do you process your own animals?

Always. Folks did as did grandparents. I don't think I've ever eaten one that was processed other than some
meat sticks someone else had made.

 

[Pony Soldier]

Out of probably 150- 170 deer and elk, I only found one muley forky that was rank. All were processed in house under the same conditions. Why that one was rank as hell I just can't say. It didn't smell bad but the taste was bad.

 

[JRay]

My brother shot a cow moose that was rather gamey. Cool weather, quick kill and cleanly processed. She was killed during the rut, so perhaps that affected it.

 

[ddd-shooter]

Yes, I think it’s code for “this meat ACTUALLY has flavor.”
Everything at the grocer is cardboard flavored. So anything that actually has a flavor is registered to the modern palette as “abnormal” and therefore “gamey.”

I compare it to a store bought tomato and a home grown tomato. The difference is stark and if you add in a mental uncertainty about “wild game,” then the partaker assumes it’s bad.

ETA: Poorly processed meat is bad. Maybe the OP is talking about that.

 

[Steve300xcw]

Most folks bitching about gamey, dont know what that actually is. It just doesnt taste like beef...

I've had one deer that died really hard. Gamey was an understatement.

 

[grfox92]

Maybe I missed it in your brain damage format but do you process your own animals?

I’ve NEVER had an animal taste gamey, but I control the process from kill to table. I don’t think animals taste gamey, I think people make animals taste gamey.

When you say you don't think animals taste gamey, what do you mean by that? No wild game ive ever eaten taste anything like beef for example. All wild game has a distinct wild game flavor.

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[MtnHunter6]

I’ve found that spring bear can be hit or miss, probably depending on what they’ve been eating. I’d imagine it’s the ones that have rolled out of the den and found winterkill that have tasted bad.

Fall bear and and ungulates I’ve gotten have never let me down though.

 

[Coveyleader]

Killed a bighorn in the first part of September, excellent eating. Killed one mid November, was excited bought all the euro spices etc, Greek style, it was inedible. The flavor of the meat was so rancid I didn’t even try to make it “edible” because it wasn’t.

 

[Ucsdryder]

When you say you don't think animals taste gamey, what do you mean by that? No wild game ive ever eaten taste anything like beef for example. All wild game has a distinct wild game flavor.

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When people say “gamey” on here, it’s usually a descriptive word to describe meat that’s soured, spoiled, or has a flavor that is abnormal for wild game.

If wild game is cooked correctly, it should taste very similar to beef and have a mild flavor. I can’t count on 2 hands how many people have said “I wouldn’t have guessed this was wild game” after trying my elk or deer steaks. Antelope they can usually differentiate because of the sage flavor, which isn’t a negative.

 

[Thess87]

I think to most it tastes different and they’re not used to it so they say games.

 

[grfox92]

When people say “gamey” on here, it’s usually a descriptive word to describe meat that’s soured, spoiled, or has a flavor that is abnormal for wild game.

If wild game is cooked correctly, it should taste very similar to beef and have a mild flavor. I can’t count on 2 hands how many people have said “I wouldn’t have guessed this was wild game” after trying my elk or deer steaks. Antelope they can usually differentiate because of the sage flavor, which isn’t a negative.

Yes perfect explanation. I would agree on everything you said except deer. I cant cook a mountain mule deer in the house without the whole thing stinking up the whole place. We are pretty meticulous with meat care too. They just dont taste good at all. I need to figure out something else to do with them, because they are my favorite animal to hunt, i just wish I enjoyed eating them more. Right now I pretty much cook all of it in a slow cooker for 8+ hours into beef stew or something similar.

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[Smokinyotes]

Marinade in something like Italian dressing and soya sauce for a few hours really improves the flavour I find.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

The story I always refer back to when a conversation about gamey meat comes up is about a guy I knew that grew up in a remote area of Alaska. He said that until he was about 16 the only red meat he had ever eaten was moose, bear, and caribou. As soon as was possible he moved to Seattle to get a job and started eating beef for the first time. He said he didn't care for it and it had an off putting taste to him.

 

[wowzers]

Had a friend give me some mule deer burger that he had shot in the Owyhee’s and it stunk my kitchen up when I cooked it. Otherwise everything has been just fine.

Did have one cow I shot and it went through rigor mortis but then had half freeze before I cut it up. When I thawed it and processed it it was fine but the cuts were impossibly tough to chew. Ended up grinding it all into burger.

 

[Howard94]

Out of the over probably 150 game animals I've eaten, consisting of whitetails,
mulies, antelope, elk ( cows & bulls ), bear, moose (Montana and AK) caribou,
mountain lion, and mountain goat (Montana and AK) I've had only two animals
that didn't taste good. All shot in various temperatures from @ +90 to -15 and
various levels of excitement from bedded/sleeping to full rut running for their lives.
One was a mulie buck from SD and a mulie doe about 5 miles from my house
Nothing I can point to that would contribute to the bad taste.
Some more tender or tough than others (the mountain goats were pretty tough)
and some with more or less flavor ( antelope seems quite bland compared to others)
Oh, I had one hind quarter on the first bull in rut I killed, I contaminated it
with the knife I used to skin the belly hair with. It probably didn't affect the
actual taste that much but as smell and taste are closely linked it was nasty.

So, what exactly is "gamey"? (Well, it's "game" duh.)
Is the phrase used to mean "not tasting like beef"?
If it's not used in that way like someone who regularly eats game and likes it,
shouldn't that person say "this meat is bad", which i'd bet most times can be
attributed to how it's been cared for and prepared.

I can only speak for Whitetails, Muleys, Antelope, and Elk. I think the only bad flavor comes from the fat and how you handle it. Keep it clean and cut the fat out.

 

[Pilsner]

Gamey meat = poorly handled meat. You aren't going to convince me otherwise after killing/butchering/eating thousands and thousands of critters over the decades.

Get it COLD, CLEAN, and DRY ASAP and you will never have "gamey" meat again. If you have to soak your meat, then you have already had a catastrophic failure somewhere along the line although sometimes it is sadly unavoidable despite our best efforts. Just know that you caused it and don't blame the critter for it.

Some morons, usually those who are used to the artificially sweetened taste of corn finished commercial beef will call the lack of that flavor "gamey". They are also wrong.