Meat Taste from Rut??

[Larry Bartlett]

depends on the individual animal's rut behavior as to how much (if any) urine a male consumes during rut periods. Also, like humans, metabolic health, genetics and personal tolerances play a role in how the animal's liver and digestive organs filter out urine toxins. Meat only gets "rutty" if the system is overloaded and saturates the bloodstream and filters through meat.

Many Alaska bull moose smell rutty AF when field butchering but the meat doesn't always smell like the hide...sometimes though...it does and is hard to eat.

 

[fatlander]

That off tastes comes from people using the same knife they stuck through rut pissed stained tarsal glands and hide to cut meat off the bone.


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[ckleeves]

Like I said, I’m way more careful with November mulies then September ones. It has nothing to do with sticking knives thru tarsal glands. I’m not even sure why this would be happening in the first place let alone when you know where the stinky parts
are and are staying far away.

I have worn gloves and changed them after touching any hair/hide, changed havalon blades numerous times, never even cut into meat in the field (getting them out whole). It’s not that every single deer is rank, had some that were fine even if they weren’t up to par with a September buck.

 

[fatlander]

Like I said, I’m way more careful with November mulies then September ones. It has nothing to do with sticking knives thru tarsal glands. I’m not even sure why this would be happening in the first place let alone when you know where the stinky parts
are and are staying far away.

I have worn gloves and changed them after touching any hair/hide, changed havalon blades numerous times, never even cut into meat in the field (getting them out whole). It’s not that every single deer is rank, had some that were fine even if they weren’t up to par with a September buck.

I’m guessing you’ve never hung a deer with a gambrel? I’ve witnessed hundreds of occurrences back east where a guy will stick a knife right through the middle of the tarsal gland to open a hole for the gambrel then proceed to skin and remove all the meat with the same knife.

During and leading up to the rut, most of the bucks I’ve killed had pretty much their entire inside of the hind leg from mid quarter down covered in piss/tarsal gland secretions. Touching the lower part of that leg while manipulating quarters, cutting through that portion of hide, then touching that blade and your hands to the meat has an effect.

I’ve done it myself when I was ignorant to the effect it had. I thought that’s just what you did because that’s what was taught to me. The meat always tasted like shit. You had to marinate it to the point you couldn’t taste the meat or grind it. Along came YouTube and I was enlightened to how it’s supposed to be done and how great properly cared for venison is on the table.


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[actionshooter]

I guess some guys just haven't come across rutted up mule deer bucks like others have who are commenting here.... The folks that think the rank only comes from improper meat handling just hasn't experienced a mature nasty old rutted up Muley..... (lol).. Even with proper meat handling, they are not all the same. I will say I have never noticed stanky meat with rutting Elk...

I think @Larry Bartlett nailed it... I have never figured out why some are fine and others aren't, but I watched an old Caribou bull drink piss right out the back of a cow like a fountain. Shortly there after I shot that bull and between my buddy and I we filled three more tags... That bull couldn't be eaten, when we figured out how bad it was I turned it into peperoni... no one would eat that either. The other 3 caribou.. from the same herd, same 4 days, were great.

 

[ProStaffSteve]

I guess some guys just haven't come across rutted up mule deer bucks like others have who are commenting here.... The folks that think the rank only comes from improper meat handling just hasn't experienced a mature nasty old rutted up Muley..... (lol).. Even with proper meat handling, they are not all the same. I will say I have never noticed stanky meat with rutting Elk...

I think @Larry Bartlett nailed it... I have never figured out why some are fine and others aren't, but I watched an old Caribou bull drink piss right out the back of a cow like a fountain. Shortly there after I shot that bull and between my buddy and I we filled three more tags... That bull couldn't be eaten, when we figured out how bad it was I turned it into peperoni... no one would eat that either. The other 3 caribou.. from the same herd, same 4 days, were great.

Spit water reading this are you telling me I’ve been eating doe piss meat?

 

[Montucky]

Gutless method, get quarters or boned meat on ice, use separate knife for removing hide & leg on hind quarters (scent gland). Never had an issue, texture can be tough on bucks over 3yrs old so my wife pressure cans them into jars of delicious tender meat……

 

[WCB]

I guess some guys just haven't come across rutted up mule deer bucks like others have who are commenting here.... The folks that think the rank only comes from improper meat handling just hasn't experienced a mature nasty old rutted up Muley..... (lol).. Even with proper meat handling, they are not all the same. I will say I have never noticed stanky meat with rutting Elk...

Have I had individual animals that are better or worse than others?...sure. But to say that Mule Deer bucks during the rut are bad tasting is just false. Same with Antelope and people who think you need to drop them in their tracks or they are undeible.

I would put money that the vast majority of people who state these false hoods either 1, are just shitty cooks. Or 2, don't generally handle game well. Again of course you can have the odd example but I have had that with early season animals and late season well away from the rut.

 

[Geewhiz]

I would put money that the vast majority of people who state these false hoods either 1, are just shitty cooks. Or 2, don't generally handle game well. Again of course you can have the odd example but I have had that with early season animals and late season well away from the rut.

Thats quite the opinion you've got there.

Ive had good ones and I've had bad ones. I shot one that smelled like a trailer house full of chain smokers when I walked up to it. Nastiest smelling deer and nastiest tasting meat I've ever had. And yes it was cold and cooled properly and yes I know how to process meat and yes I know to avoid the glands. When you are processing meat (cleanly skinned) and your hands reek of heinous smells I dont think it has anything to do with the way it is cooked.

That being said, never had a bad elk.

 

[Lytro]

Outside of improper handling when processing, I think it has more to do with the animal's health and diet than it does with the time of year they are killed.

The worst tasting deer I ever killed was a velvet whitetail I killed on 4 September two years ago. I had it quartered out and on ice within an hour of releasing the arrow. It was so bad that the backstrap was even inedible. I ended up grinding the entire deer and making snack sticks. The year prior I killed a muley in the same area in December that had similar taste, but much more mild. This past season I killed a whitetail on 11 September in the same area that tasted completely normal.

I also killed a young 5 point bull in mid October years back that had a distinct piss taste throughout all meat cuts. Neck shot instant kill and processed no different than numerous other elk that had no similar taste.

 

[Ucsdryder]

I've seen or heard a few people here and there say that mule deer venison taken during the rut "isn't any good"... can anyone share a little compare and contrast between it and muley venison taken at other times of the year?

If there is much truth to this, does anyone have any tips on how to prepare it that can make a difference?

Nope. Last year my buck stunk so bad Stevie wonder could have found him with his nose. He’s a great eating deer! I ice aged for 10-12 days.

 

[actionshooter]

Have I had individual animals that are better or worse than others?...sure. But to say that Mule Deer bucks during the rut are bad tasting is just false. Same with Antelope and people who think you need to drop them in their tracks or they are undeible.

I would put money that the vast majority of people who state these false hoods either 1, are just shitty cooks. Or 2, don't generally handle game well. Again of course you can have the odd example but I have had that with early season animals and late season well away from the rut.

If you're going to quote me, don't cherry pick just what makes your point ...use the whole post... the 2nd part clearly said only some, not all rutty animals are bad and I have never been able to figure out why some are rank and some aren't. NO WHERE did I say all rutty mule deer are bad, but it does happen, apparently hasn't happened to you.

 

[WCB]

Thats quite the opinion you've got there.

Ive had good ones and I've had bad ones. I shot one that smelled like a trailer house full of chain smokers when I walked up to it. Nastiest smelling deer and nastiest tasting meat I've ever had. And yes it was cold and cooled properly and yes I know how to process meat and yes I know to avoid the glands. When you are processing meat (cleanly skinned) and your hands reek of heinous smells I dont think it has anything to do with the way it is cooked.

That being said, never had a bad elk.

What? That most guys aren't great at preparing wild game or most guys are not great at handling game meat in the field? Go have the average guy cook a wild game meal for random people that don't regularly eat it. You think the AVERAGE hunter is going to put out a well prepared product. Have you seen how the majority of guys handle game...Outside of this forum or maybe your group of hunting buddies the norm is not to be concerned with meat care and food prep. Also never stated individual animals can't be off but not ALL rutted up MD taste bad as a rule and in my experience it is the extreme exception.

If you're going to quote me, don't cherry pick just what makes your point ...use the whole post... the 2nd part clearly said only some, not all rutty animals are bad and I have never been able to figure out why some are rank and some

I didn't miss quote you. And using context clues you would see that I agreed with you that I have also had individuals for one reason or another tasted bad. BUT to the OPs question as a blanket statement/question...Is Mule deer venison taken during the rut is all bad? No. Individual deer are different.

I followed this up that my belief is the vast majority (not all) people who blanket state the above are bad at preparing it or handling it.

 

[seacow]

Wear gloves when working around the glands and then remove before handling meat. Clean/ replace knives and blades.

 

[EvanG17]

Same as others. Here in MI it all taste good if you dont run it through the glands and process it

 

[NRA4LIFE]

One of the best tasting muley bucks I ever got was taken on Nov. 17th, in SE MT, probably the peak of the rut. Had to get him out of the hide quickly as the temps were dipping to -15 at night. Got him quartered and in the cooler where everything froze solid. Hauled him back to Western WA, let it thaw, butchered and vacuum sealed and refroze.

 

[Shō[t]gun]

I've eaten plenty of delicious does, bucks, cows, and bulls deep into and past the rut. Some had run themselves down to zero fat, some were injured after rut battles, some didn't die right away and had time to potentially build up lactic acid and adrenaline. I am very careful butchering and cooling down the meat, the only difference I could tell between most of them was age leading to some extra toughness. One young 3x3 mule deer in MT was rutting late in the season and was killed in seconds, he tasted like absolute garbage. It was a strong goaty/musty odor on every cut of meat, both raw and cooked. We watched him for two days licking every rear-end in the county before pulling the trigger. I'd never heard of the urine theory before this thread but I'm pretty convinced after that experience.

 

[MattB]

One November and within a couple of days, I killed 2 bucks on Kodiak. They were processed in the field the same, aged the same, and processed by the same butcher. One of those buck smelled strongly of tarsal gland when we recovered him and the cuts smelled/tasted just like he did - absolutely disgusting. Stunk up the whole house when we cooked it. The cuts from the other one were great.

I have since killed another buck on Kodiak that was likewise terrible. Very similar taste/smell. Every other buck I killed on Kodiak in years before and after were excellent.

People can write it off to how the deer were handled, but there was functionally no difference between any of them. Two were just gross. I have taken to saving a small piece of meat and cooking it up the night of the kill to see how it tastes, which dictates how I handle the meat.

 

[Firestone]

I don't notice it, but my wife sure does. She swares she can even taste it in taco meat

 

[Pony Soldier]

We have processed over 150 mulies from western montana. In the rut, out of the rut - no special handling. There is a unique taste to them but not bad except---. My son killed a forky mid- november that was distinctly just too bad to eat. Nothing differant from any other but we suffered through about half and finally agreed to defeat. Some things just happen.