What are the best tasting muleys eating?

[204guy]

Gonna come down to individual animal as much as about anything. I now label everything deer1, 2 or elk 1, 2, etc. Everything handled the same as much as possible and individual animals will vary. I don't buy into old, rutting blah, blah, generally they all eat pretty well.

I'd be more concerned with how you're going to obtain a tag to hunt high country deer than how they eat.

 

[Newtosavage]

I think it's mostly just taking good care of the meat and not being psychologically predisposed to thinking mule deer meat isn't good. I've had some excellent mule deer steaks from high elevation timber/sage country and low elevation desert sage.

I haven't shot a buck rutting in November so I don't have any opinion on that.

Thanks for the replies so far.

1) I know how to take care of deer meat.

Keep in mind, the same guy (me) who took care of all those whitetails my wife and kids and I have eaten over the past 30+ years, also took the same care of the one muley I've killed to date. I didn't do anything different. So that right there rules out "meat care" as the reason my wife didn't care for that mule deer, hence the question.

2) As for cooking, she and I have been cooking whitetail venison (and a few other species like javelina, mouflon, rabbit, dove, etc) for 30+ years as well. Granted, those aren't mule deer, so if there is something unique to how you prepare mule deer to make it as edible as whitetail for my wife, please share.

3) Why are folks bringing up corn-fed beef? We're used to wild whitetail (not corn fed) deer. I've hunted mostly public land and if anything, they are acorn-fed when I take them in the fall. But it's not like I've been shooting and cooking corn fed beef or whitetails.

When I shot my mouflon sheep, I pretty much had to eat the whole thing myself. She took one bite and said no thanks. Kids did the same. I made my son eat some because he was on the hunt with me. LOL

I didn't intend this to become a mule deer vs. corn fed whitetail or corn-fed beef debate. Just looking for others' experiences with muleys. Sounds like a few guys have had similar experiences. If it really is luck of the draw, then I won't worry about it and just "try again" and see what I get.

 

[Oregon]

This is one of those topics where there is no right answer. I’d hedge my bets on mulies eating corn and alfalfa way better than sage country.
Taste buds differ. I love slow roasted mallards. Others can’t stand a slow roasted mallard.

With all that said, I’ve never once said “my goodness, that mule deer meat is amazing”

I’ve said that about Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin and South Dakota whitetail.
I’ve said that about Alaska blacktails.

Mule deer, not so much. I’ve shot a pile of mulies in numerous environments. Cut most of it with 20% chuck roast for burger.

 

[DenverCountryBoy]

Got this muley doe in November and she has been fantastic eating. She was in the low alpine.

Young, tender, rich flavor but not gamey.

The family really likes the meat too. My wife is excited for me to go hunting this fall and bring home more meat.

 

[MuleyFever]

I just cannot relate to these kinds of threads. I grew up on deer meat in WI and have killed mule deer from Alberta to Southern Utah. Never have I had an issue with any of them.

Antelope I had one that was not good but there was a lot involved in getting that animal to my plate that was not ideal.

 

[lif]

I think your wife would probably prefer lobster.

 

[Blockcaver]

Colorado bucks from above treeline...+11,500' have all been good. Sage brush bucks have all been marginal. Note bucks all taken no later than Oct 22 or so by wife (first rifle) or in Sept bow season by me. None were rutting, but sage deer were the worst by far.

 

[Newtosavage]

I think your wife would probably prefer lobster.

Wow, that's helpful. Thanks.

 

[realunlucky]

Pressure cooker can tame any toughness. I've had elk that it's was the only way to make it chewable. I've been loving the insta pot does simplify things.
I shot this buck during the rut and worried about how the table fare was going to be. Even the wife commented on how tasty the meat was. Guess you never really know till you take a bite.

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[Newtosavage]

Colorado bucks from above treeline...+11,500' have all been good. Sage brush bucks have all been marginal. Note bucks all taken no later than Oct 22 or so by wife (first rifle) or in Sept bow season by me. None were rutting, but sage deer were the worst by far.

Good to know. And thanks for not being a smarta$$ or telling me my wife is the problem. LOL

 

[Newtosavage]

Pressure cooker can tame any toughness. I've had elk that it's was the only way to make it chewable. I've been loving the insta pot does simplify things.
I shot this buck during the rut and worried about how the table fare was going to be. Even the wife commented on how tasty the meat was. Guess you never really know till you take a bite.

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I don't think it was the tenderness or lack of, but the flavor. I can recall we both remarked how different the meat smelled than the whitetail we were used to. Our oldest daughter said the same (she was 8 at the time).

It was a high desert/foothills SE New Mexico 2 1/2 year old buck.

Hopefully the next one will eat better. Just in case, I'd better shoot a decent one right? LOL

 

[realunlucky]

I don't think it was the tenderness or lack of, but the flavor. I can recall we both remarked how different the meat smelled than the whitetail we were used to. Our oldest daughter said the same (she was 8 at the time).

It was a high desert/foothills SE New Mexico 2 1/2 year old buck.

Hopefully the next one will eat better. Just in case, I'd better shoot a decent one right? LOL

Yes I can relate to the smell of sage while cooking sometimes which isn't my favorite either. Pressure cooker will also eliminate that just use beef broth for the liquid.
I eat about 4 deer a year most are whitetails but sometimes even I draw a mule deer tag. Most of those live in the sage brush but usually don't have a smell when cooking not sure what's the difference.

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[ckleeves]

Colorado bucks from above treeline...+11,500' have all been good. Sage brush bucks have all been marginal. Note bucks all taken no later than Oct 22 or so by wife (first rifle) or in Sept bow season by me. None were rutting, but sage deer were the worst by far.

Truth right there. Timberline bucks before shedding velvet are a completely different animal taste wise then a November sage buck. What’s crazy is it’s the exact same deer just 2 months and a few thousand feet lower but they change quick.

I like pretty much all muley meat but will take a fat timberline buck over even a young cow elk it’s that good.


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[idahohikker]

The alpine deer eat grasses and forbs into early fall so I think that's why many prefer them to lower sage mulies.

 

[Andrew12gauge]

I’m not gonna lie, I think my favorite thing about mule deer is the hint of sagey flavor in the meat. I had a whitetail and a mule deer last year, muley was first into the freezer and I rotated when I put the whitetail in. Finished the mule deer, switched to whitetail. It was really mild eating and then I found one last package from the muley that didn’t get rotated. I cooked up those steaks and took a bite and all I could think was wow that is some good venison, it had a hint of sage to it and just tasted different but in a really good way. Most people don’t like “gamey” meat, I prefer a little gamey flavor to it. I don’t want my game to taste like beef


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[lif]

No offense OP. Just making a joke I should rephrase. All wives would prefer lobster. Hard to please them in general. Don’t forget you asked for advice on this. Don’t take offense to suggestions. If you follow my reply’s on here I have been offering the little info I’ve still got in my head. Just trying to help and have fun at the same time. Smile. Your on rokslide talking about hunting.

 

[idahohikker]

Iif, I took it as a joke and a good one at that. I think the OP has been a little intense about jokes or comments he doesn't like. I recall having good experiences with him on here before so maybe it's just the day.

 

[dirtytough]

I killed a mature Colorado high country buck in 2016. 2 days later I dropped it at a butcher in Idaho since I was heading in to help on an elk hunt. Besides boning it in the field I spent about 30 minutes checking it for hair/dirt. Picked it up when I was headed home and I have never had a better tasting deer. I figured the butcher gave me the wrong animal. Fast forward to this year and I killed another high country buck in Colorado. It was just as good as the 2016 buck. I also eat mule deer from here in North Dakota and there is a definite difference in taste between the high country deer and the ND deer.

 

[swampokie]

I’ve had many white tails and mulies. They were all great. Any deer that didn’t taste right was due to improper meat handling by myself or processor. I can’t tell a whole lot of difference between whitetail and mule deer. Fawn or buck. Maybe buck is tougher but tastes the same.

 

[Wrench]

As a guy who's eaten a bunch of mule deer, whitetails and elk from seasons in September through December, things that make more difference to meat flavor and tenderness IME are;

How much lactic acid build up from exertion.

General meat field care...open and cooled quickly etc.

Aging!

Anything other than meat...in your meat.

Freezer life. (You can't pay me to keep meat in a frost free for any length of time. )

Seasoning choices. I have found that the right blends of seasoning can make a huge difference. Don't be afraid to saturate the steaks and let them go for a few days in the fridge. I've used Pepsi and milk in the past to draw the blood out of meats that had odd or stronger flavors....with good success.

How it's cooked. If you cook it beyond capacity, it'll be horrible.

This year my daughter killed a whitetail in the mountains, Mrs killed a muley in sage/ponderosa and I killed a muley in the timber. We didn't label any of them with anything other than my stamp that says "deer, steak, date".....we can't tell any difference. I can see the color difference, but it's flavor is too close to call.