Mule Deer vs. Whitetail Flavor

[BigMiss]

I live in the midwest. We eat anywhere from 2-3 whitetails per year. Last year, I shot my first MD buck. As I've eaten down the freezer in the past few weeks getting ready for this season, I've noticed that the flavor of my MD buck varies from package to package. I've had a number of backstrap chunks that tasted pretty sagey, but the last package I ate had zero sage/gamey flavor to it. I'm wondering if the sagey flavor I experienced in some of this deer's cuts was due to my meat handling. For reference, when I shot my buck last year it was about 40°. We got it fully quartered in about 90 minutes from the shot, and had roughly two hours packing it the 4 miles back to the truck. We drove 45min to our coolers, where it got on ice. I am wondering if the cooler was too full, which caused warm pockets to be sustained? The deer sat on ice in a cool garage for max 36 hours (including the drive back home) till I cut it up and packaged it. I've never had a cut-to-cut flavor difference in a deer before, and for the first half dozen meals we had of it, I just assumed the flavor was standard for a rutting mule deer. I've stuffed a lot of whitetail quarters in coolers with ice in the past, and am scratching my head. The deer was still great, but I am just confused by the flavor difference I've seen between packages of backstraps. Thoughts from more experienced folks?

 

[TradLife406]

Depends where the mulie was at. Sage brush mulies are gross if they never had any aug fields to feed in. But aug mulies that share the landscape with whitetails seem to taste the same as WT.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Depends on what their feeding on and how the meat is taken care of.

I've shot mulies and whitetails from the same hay field in Wyoming and they taste no different. I've shot a mule deer 2 or 3 mile away in the sage in the same area and they taste the same. I have shot mulies here in Colorado that are not around ag fields and some are great and some are a little sagey, which I don't mind.

 

[BigMiss]

This was a sage country deer. The closest field was between 3 and 4 miles from where I harvested him. I don't know enough about them to know whether they would travel there in their normal range. I thought the deer was great, I was just confused by the flavor difference between individual pieces of backstrap.

 

[robby denning]

I live in the midwest. We eat anywhere from 2-3 whitetails per year. Last year, I shot my first MD buck. As I've eaten down the freezer in the past few weeks getting ready for this season, I've noticed that the flavor of my MD buck varies from package to package. I've had a number of backstrap chunks that tasted pretty sagey, but the last package I ate had zero sage/gamey flavor to it. I'm wondering if the sagey flavor I experienced in some of this deer's cuts was due to my meat handling. For reference, when I shot my buck last year it was about 40°. We got it fully quartered in about 90 minutes from the shot, and had roughly two hours packing it the 4 miles back to the truck. We drove 45min to our coolers, where it got on ice. I am wondering if the cooler was too full, which caused warm pockets to be sustained? The deer sat on ice in a cool garage for max 36 hours (including the drive back home) till I cut it up and packaged it. I've never had a cut-to-cut flavor difference in a deer before, and for the first half dozen meals we had of it, I just assumed the flavor was standard for a rutting mule deer. I've stuffed a lot of whitetail quarters in coolers with ice in the past, and am scratching my head. The deer was still great, but I am just confused by the flavor difference I've seen between packages of backstraps. Thoughts from more experienced folks?

probably handling IMHO

But if you're not dry-aging those rutting bucks (or any buck for that matter), for 14 days (25+ better) IMHO you're not getting the best flavor and tenderness

right @VANDAL ?

 

[BigMiss]

probably handling IMHO

But if you're not dry-aging those rutting bucks (or any buck for that matter), for 14 days (25+ better) IMHO you're not getting the best flavor and tenderness

right @VANDAL ?

For years now I've been "wet aging." I cut my deer up then either wrap tight in saran wrap, or vac seal then toss in the fridge for 7 days. I don't have a way to regulate temps outside of my fridge, so hanging is not an option. This process came to me from a good friend who has been a butcher for the better part of 25 years, and I've been pleased with the results.