My Aoudad hunt

[Shō[t]gun]

How much of that is due to everyone down their telling them to do that? I was on a hunt once and all the TX residents there were bad mouthing barbary (including a wildlife officer) and were amazed I packed meat out. When you drill into it with them most admitted they don't think it tastes bad its just tough... talk about lazy minds. Jerky/grinder/cooking methods all address that.

Never been on an Audad hunt but that’s the overwhelming majority of what I’ve heard from media/podcasts as well. Aron Snyder talks about how he just grids it all up for his dogs. I doubt it’s that bad but the reputation is terrible unfortunately.
Curious to hear more about it though.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Never been on an Audad hunt but that’s the overwhelming majority of what I’ve heard from media/podcasts as well. Aron Snyder talks about how he just grids it all up for his dogs. I doubt it’s that bad but the reputation is terrible unfortunately.
Curious to hear more about it though.

It IS a dense meat and as I was commenting on before its crazy how hard their hide clings to their flesh, IE you aren't peeling back by hand like a deer, you will be cutting for almost every inch you uncover. But it doesn't taste bad imho (caveat I haven't taken anything during the rut or 30+ inches). But I use a fair bit of grind meat in general due to cooking for kids, rarely prepare a steak so it never was big issue to me. Braise/pressure cooker/slow cooker will break down whole muscle stuff, you can make jerky from whole muscles, and anything that goes through a 1/8" grinder plate isn't tough anymore.

 

[S-3 ranch]

How much of that is due to everyone down their telling them to do that? I was on a hunt once and all the TX residents there were bad mouthing barbary (including a wildlife officer) and were amazed I packed meat out. When you drill into it with them most admitted they don't think it tastes bad its just tough... talk about lazy minds. Jerky/grinder/cooking methods all address that.

Yeah, it’s a gross misconception aoudad is inedible, now a old rutting ram definitely is tougher and stronger then a ewe or lamb as table fare
a ram just needs more imagination and time when cooking
now that the cost of a hunt has blown up to sky high prices, most people don’t want to harvest the meat sized animals ewes
and the country is very rough for packing so lots of people just harvest the head and a small amount of meat and call it bad table fare to ease their mind

 

[The_Whitetail_Kid]

Awesome ram and write up!

 

[Reddirtrifleman]

How much of that is due to everyone down their telling them to do that? I was on a hunt once and all the TX residents there were bad mouthing barbary (including a wildlife officer) and were amazed I packed meat out. When you drill into it with them most admitted they don't think it tastes bad its just tough... talk about lazy minds. Jerky/grinder/cooking methods all address that.

I wonder if a lot of people are also killing rams in hot weather and not handling them properly. I know a few Oklahoma hunters that say pronghorn tastes awful. Turns out they don’t know how to field dress an animal quickly. They shoot it in August but treat it like November whitetail and haul the whole carcass home before they start cutting.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

I wonder if a lot of people are also killing rams in hot weather and not handling them properly. I know a few Oklahoma hunters that say pronghorn tastes awful. Turns out they don’t know how to field dress an animal quickly. They shoot it in August but treat it like November whitetail and haul the whole carcass home before they start cutting.

Weird how those same folks say pronghorn tastes bad too…

 

[Brickshot]

Nice ram, Congrats on a great hunt.

 

[Papa Scott]

Great motivation to just do it!
started looking this spring, but was looking at NM draws but looks like Texas is the way to go.

 

[tkat]

That’s awesome congrats, I’ll be down that way next year in November trying to do the same.

 

[JDOCUSMC]

Very nice

 

[silasbowhunter]

Great write up, amazing experience and memory, and superb ram! Thank you for sharing.

 

[bpitcher]

Great ram!

I've not eaten one, but the ewes are fantastic in my opinion. I hope to kill a few more this year.