Pronghorn meat care

[Slowlerner]

Antelope newbie here. I understand it's important to get a pronghorn into game bags and cooled down ASAP. But how fast are we talking? Obviously it's going to be temperature dependent. But generally speaking, are we talking every minute counts or just within the first hour of being harvested?

 

[Buffinnut]

Keep a huge cooler or a few normal size full of ice blocks or frozen milk jugs and get it in there as soon as you possibly can.

 

[fightthenoise]

Just within the hour. Pronghorn meat isn’t any different than any other meat in this regard. I think the nature of the hunts (lots of tags, lots of targets, warmer months) makes them more vulnerable to neglect, e.g. throw them in the back of the truck till all the tags are punched and we’ll clean them all at once. Then you end up with animals that sat in a truck bed for too long and folks think antelope is gross

 

[Ucsdryder]

Why mess around? Most antelope are killed fairly close to a truck. Have an ice chest with ice in it. Kill antelope, gutless method, get on ice.

 

[Trial153]

It's meat, not icecream it won't melt.
Get it broken down and chilled in a reasonable time and you will be fine.

 

[RCB]

I don't think it's the antelope, it's the heat that antelope are often hunted in. Treat it like you would any other ungulate, IMO. No need for paranoia. Disclaimer: I have only killed 1 antelope. Was a sunny day in the 60s. Meat was on ice within an hour or two. No problems.

 

[Whiskey_Fish]

I think folks also get sloppy with getting scent from the glands on their hands and onto the meat. Let's just say it's potent.


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[EdP]

I've had no issues with this method for kills within a mile of the road. Keep a cooler with about 4 bags of ice in the truck. Field dress immediately after the kill. Walk to truck and come back with cart and a couple of bags of ice. Put animal on cart with ice in the body cavity. It will be well on it's way to being cooled down by the time you get back to the truck. Use a hitch mounted game hoist to break down the animal on the spot. Put meat in cloth game bags and then in plastic bags to keep the meat dry. Put in cooler and cover with ice. This worked fine for me hunting alone. If I was with a buddy I'd have him going after the cart and ice while I was field dressing.

I have read that one difference with antelope vs other game is they have a higher body temp. That makes it a little more urgent to get them on ice. Other factors have been mentioned such as kills are often made in warm weather, plus there is unsually no where to get the downed animal out of the sun.

 

[TheCougar]

What @Trial153 said. Don’t overthink it. I kill it, take a few pictures, then quarter it and get it cooled off fairly quickly. Most of the places you find antelope, there aren’t many trees, so the meat needs your help to start cooling down. Honestly, I’m more concerned about meat cleanliness than the heat. Their hair comes out in fistfuls... I quarter a little differently for antelope. I’ll cut up the inside of the legs, make a circle cut around the knees, cut along the spine and then just pull the hide down and off the critter. The hide comes of easier than any other animal I’ve skinned and I find that pulling it off keeps the hair off the meat. Trust me, the first time you quarter an antelope you’ll remember this post when you get hair everywhere.

 

[JRMiller]

Depends on ambient.
If its 40f you got all day.
If its 90f you got an hour or two.

 

[PablitoPescador]

My grandpa and I each shot a doe a couple years ago on an 80 degree day. Luckily we were close to the road and had some shade to work with. We got them broke down and on ice very quickly. Meat turned out excellent. Last year a buddy and I shot three antelope on a 70 degree day that had been pushed to us and had been running. We broke them down and had them on ice in about the same time frame as the does but they just didn’t turn out quite as good. There’s a lot of factors but I think a stressed antelope and a calm antelope are gonna taste a lot different

 

[HiMtnHntr]

After a few decades of antelope hunting every year I can say that gutless quartering in the field and into a cooler within a reasonable time has worked just fine. I start saving milk jugs over the summer and go into the season in August with half dozen or more to put in 120 qt cooler. Tip: put a towel or blanket in the bottom on the cooler to protect it from bouncing ice jugs!

 

[Coveyleader]

My only tip is keep it out of the wind and sun. Don't take a quarter off and keep it exposed to air flow for very long. Antelope more than any animal I know will dry out fast. They are already small, avoid dried out meat to avoid less finished product.

 

[Rich307]

Elk, deer, or antelope, I've never seen a reason why an antelope needs to get cooled down any quicker...

 

[theddguide]

I've only shot one and the meat tasted like how the antelope smelled. Only thing I could figure is either I didn't get the hide off soon enough or it's from having the head and cape in the same cooler. Nonetheless, I never got sick from it, just tasted funky.

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[NDGuy]

I've only shot one and the meat tasted like how the antelope smelled. Only thing I could figure is either I didn't get the hide off soon enough or it's from having the head and cape in the same cooler. Nonetheless, I never got sick from it, just tasted funky.

Another thing is you could have accidentally touched the scent gland with your knife or hands.

That is the #1 thing I have read that will ruin your meat on a Speed Goat. I must have done it on mine last year. All the meat I ate was amazing except for 1 piece that must have brushed against the gland at some point. Tasted horrible!

 

[rclouse79]

Last season I bought different sized water bottles and froze them. I played Tetris filling up the cooler without any spaces and then put a towel over the top of the ice inside the cooler. I am confident the ice would keep longer than I would be able to get away and hunt. I have killed five antelope. I have always done the gutless method and put the meat on ice as fast as I could. I scratch my head when people say they don’t care for it. Antelope meat is a favorite for my family.

 

[Joshk358]

Honestly, Antelope meat is one of my favorites. Last one I shot was a few years ago. Had it quartered and in the cooler on ice within 1.5 hrs. Good stuff, don't let it go to waste. Proper meat care goes a long way as mentioned.

 

[Slowlerner]

Thanks for all of the feedback! Gutless method, get it on ice as quickly as possible, avoid the sent glands. Got it!

 

[2ski]

I've only shot one and the meat tasted like how the antelope smelled. Only thing I could figure is either I didn't get the hide off soon enough or it's from having the head and cape in the same cooler. Nonetheless, I never got sick from it, just tasted funky.

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I shot one this last year and the meat tastes like it smelled. In years past, the antelope I've shot have tasted far better. Just think I got one this year that was older or ate more sage.