Mule deer meat smells

[Popcan]

We just harvested our first mule deer bucks.
It struck us immediately that the meat is very strong smelling of garlic. All of our animals, 3, were quartered immediately, gutless, and in a cooler. We used an outfitter in Wheatland Wyoming.
We do our own butchering back home in Wisconsin on our whitetails and never ran into this even on rutting bucks. Is it just that strong from sage or prairie grass?

I noticed mine smells a lot like sage. I didn't get the garlic smell though. Just curious if any of the guts or stomach were damaged by the shot or knife?

 

[Buckshot85]

No. Clean shot, gutless and quartered after pics.

 

[Braaap]

Like others already said mule deer have a funky smell but I think they’re delicious. The meat should taste better than it smells raw.

 

[manitou1]

I haven't noticed them smelling very different than whitetail bucks. Taste similar to me also. I have butchered and eaten a LOT of whitetail. In our state, whitetail season is during the middle of the rut, so I feel that the whitetails smell stronger than the mule deer I take in October in WY.

 

[Rich M]

I shot my first muley last year. He's stronger than any whitetail I've had. The cube steaks were great tho.

The meat has an odor. Just cleaned a couple WTs and there was essentially no odor. Go figure.

 

[Buckshot85]

That’s my experience. Our whitetail has virtually no smell. In rut you smell the tarsal glands while skinning and that’s it.