Mule Deer VS White Tail - taste differences, what's better

[TauPhi111]

Just curious since I have never had mule deer meat but have eaten a ton of whitetail. To those that have had a lot of both, do the two animals taste much different, and which one is generally better eating if there is any difference at all?

 

[elkguide]

Depends on what they have been eating. A mountain whitetail tastes a lot different than a field fed deer. The same is true about mule deer except mulies tend to end up eating sage brush and that definitely makes their meat taste quiet strong.

 

[MTguy0341]

I prefer a whitetail, granted the mountain muleys I've had taste like whitetail. Plains mule deer, I don't think are too great. But I could just suck at cooking. Either way, can't go wrong with fresh venison!

 

[idelkslayer]

In my experience there is very little difference in taste between the two deer species.

One year not long ago I shot a yearling doe whitetail in the mountains of north Idaho far from any agriculture and a forky mule deer in southern Idaho sage country also far from any agriculture. Now I've killed a good mix of both over the years but this was an opportunity to compare the flavor of whitetail vs mule deer on animals of similar age killed in vastly different environments only one month apart.

My wife and I performed a blind taste test with backstrap from these two animals and the elk I shot that year all seasoned (salt and pepper) and cooked the same.

We could both identify the elk but neither of us could differentiate between the mule deer and whitetail deer.

 

[SunShine]

Far and away I’d say whitetail. Whitetail have a “sweeter” diet all around and it reflects in the meat.

You are what you eat after all. Right ?

Also, I think whitetail that eat both in the woods and on pastures or farms taste better than deer deep up high on mountains that don’t get much sweet forage like apples, corn, and grasses. Too much acorn diet I think is not so good.

Imho


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[Where's Bruce?]

In Canada the WT were considered delicious and the mulies were deemed trash.

 

[Trial153]

Menza Menza

 

[tlowell02]

I have found the couple plains and one desert mule deer I have eaten to be equal, if not better, than the many white-tailed deer I have eaten. Zero off-putting flavor and always tender.

 

[Scoony]

We eat a lot of whitetail. Folks have told me that Mule deer were not so tasty. I got to try it this year for the first time. BIL shot a young spike mule deer this year, and that deer stunk to high heaven, but I cooked up some back strap and it tasted just like white tail. There are a lot of factors such as food source, but I think the biggest factor is field care. We make it a point to get the meat cooled as soon as possible

 

[SunShine]

Menza Menza

Not many capeshe italiano


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[TauPhi111]

Not many capeshe italiano


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Oh I do lol. I understood. Thanks all for your opinions. Guess I gotta go out and slay a mulie to find out.

 

[mfllood3800]

My Wisc white tail (Northern not hay or corn fed) tasted way different than my Utah (high mountain) and Hay field lower area deer.
I like the Utah mule deer, but love the Wisc white tail.

This is no joke, I shot a small doe one year (waited 3 years to get a hunters choice) and I shot the first deer I saw. Got home, butchered it, packed it and ate the whole thing in 3 weeks basically solo.

Fried it in butter and onions- that was it.

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy mule deer too. I just cant consume a muley in 3 weeks.
lol

On average I get 3 large game animals a year, and by the next season we are worried we will run out- yep we (3) consume a lot of protein.
.

Mmmm I am hungry for some white tail- it's been 30 years. Any one want to do a trade ?

 

[Lawnboi]

I can't tell much of a difference.

This year 6 deer went in the freezer, 2 mulies and 4 whitetail. I eat a meal of venison 2-3 times a week. I haven't been able to tell much of a difference.

I will say I greatly preferred processing the mulies. Bigger animals are always easier to process.

My sample size is small though. Iv eaten lots of whitetail and not so much when it comes to mule deer

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Long story short it all eats.

I would expect a cord fed deer to taste a bit different just like grain vs grassfed beef. But I don't know that I am on board with the sage diet theory making an animal taste poorly, I don't find antelope to be off tasting and quite likely those are eating on sage. Overall we've been pretty much a game meat only family for red meat for 7yrs, some times an animal is a little stronger in flavor but nothing overpowering (cows/bulls, doe/buck mulies and antelope are the typical fare). Caveat is while I've shot mature animals I've not shot a mulie buck in full rut for instance where folks claim those are more strongly flavored so can't comment if that is a factor yet from personal experience. But proper meat care and butchering animals myself I've yet to get something I disliked eating.

 

[swampokie]

Very little difference if any on the ones I’ve eaten

 

[mmcneil]

I can't tell much difference, but the few mulies I've eaten were shot around 9,000ft. I aged them 10-15 days then processed.

 

[Tony Trietch]

A WT from northern MI that has to eat twigs, cedars and bark to make it through the winter doesn't taste as good as a WT from Iowa or KS where there is abundant food all year.
A MD in velvet doesn't taste the same as a MD in late November after the rut.
They vary so much it's hard to say for me. The best WT I have ever ate? KS for sure. Best MD I have ever ate? WY highcountry just after shedding velvet.
If I had to pick, I'd take the MD but I'd love to try a WT in velvet.

 

[Hall256]

The best venison I have had came off of guys farm that I use to hunt in North Carolina, I swear it had the best tasting WT.

Conversely the worst tasting Venison I have eaten was my first Mule deer that I ever got...it was bad.

Luckily between those two spectrums I have had many more deer, both MD and WT that taste great...plus I have been fortunate enough to put down some elk and antelope.

The thing that stands out in my mind about that first MD, that I wish I could go back and see was how I handled it and how I cooked it. This was my first deer, I was 17, and I have no doubt that I didn't use good field care...not to mention at 18 (got the deer meat after boot camp) I had not the slightest idea how to cook venison. Fast forward 20 years, I would like to think my skills in both field care and cooking have greatly improved.

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[tallbuchholz]

I usually eat about 5 WT/year, and for the most part they're delicious (North Texas, they eat mostly native grasses/browse all summer and oats/rye in the winter). But last year I shot a 7-8 year old buck in full rut, and I couldn't get anyone to eat the backstraps. We ground the rest and it was fine, but I'd never had such a tough, foul-tasting backstrap in my life. Shot 2 mulies and 2 pronghorn this year (all around 2-3 year old bucks and far from farms) and the mulies were the best venison we've ever had. Loved the pronghorn too.

 

[6mm Remington]

I've eaten way more mule deer than whitetails. I don't discern much difference in taste between the two and feel a good mule deer is every bit as good eating as a whitetail. The only thing I have noticed is that in the rut, mule deer bucks seem to be gamier smelling than a whitetail buck and the meat can be stronger tasting when they are rutting hard. Not all the time though. I shot a mule deer buck that the wildlife biologist aged at 10 1/2 years plus! He was rutting and turned out to be a wonderful eating deer. Tender and no strong flavor! Go figure.

David