Antelope tastes better in different regions??

[dubs chops]

I Have been told that antelope from norther states has a strong game taste. However when I went hunting Prongs in NM I had it processed and it was one of the best tasting game meats I have tried! However I have never tasted one from up in the northern states. Can anyone tell me if they have a gamey taste up there? If they do I'll stick with the NM prongs.

 

[Jlusk]

Never had a bad tasting one in WY, but we are always good about getting them quartered and on ice pretty quick though.

 

[J E Custom]

Properly processing has the most effect on game. the quicker you can get it on ice and the better you drain the blood the better it will taste.

The best tasting ones are in my freezer.

J E CUSTOM

 

[flyguy1]

If you shoot an antelope that some dude has run for 10 miles in a pickup and the muscles are full of lactic acid it tastes awful. If you spot and stalk it tastes wonderful. Never had a bad one.

 

[Doublezranch]

The kids and I have shot many antelope in North Dakota and in Wyoming. They all have been excellent table fare. Have not had a bad one yet. Sweet delicious red meat.
I believe the key is taking care of you're animal immediately upon harvest. I have found that skinning the animal quickly removes the potential for the glands to secrete into the meat. Marking sure the meat gets cooled down quickly and efficiently. Hard to beat a goat steak cooked to your liking.

 

[HARPERC]

They are what they eat. Alfalfa, and grain fed better than others. Clean kills, proper care, good kitchen skills, and they are fine.

 

[dubs chops]

Well Good to hear, I may head north for a hunt sometime then!

 

[Triple BB]

Compared to deer and elk, they're gamey. Don't know how many I've shot over the years, but I'm glad my friends have lost more taste buds than myself...

 

[daerhldgs2]

Antelope love sage and it imparts a strong taste, I never hunt them where there is sage and they are the best tasting wild game period, also the tenderest meat.

 

[MaineMike]

I've noticed that after some particularly trying hunting excursions, my meals taste curiously like Big Macs and french fries...

 

[SavageHunter11]

I Have been told that antelope from norther states has a strong game taste. However when I went hunting Prongs in NM I had it processed and it was one of the best tasting game meats I have tried! However I have never tasted one from up in the northern states. Can anyone tell me if they have a gamey taste up there? If they do I'll stick with the NM prongs.

I can attest to that. Every antelope I've ever had harvested in my state (SD) tasted awful. All they do is eat sage and you taste it in the meat. It wasn't until I had one harvested from Wyoming that my brother shot that I changed my tune on eating Antelope.

 

[CastleRocker]

I agree with others that say they are what they eat, and cool them out ASAP! We shot some in northern Montana that were so good, my wife dug each package back out of the freezer and wrote, "not for company" on each and every one. Both years we went, it was far and away the best game meat we'd ever eaten. Also, we had a freezer with a generator in the back of the truck, and the animals were packed out, skinned, broke down and froze as fast as fast as possible. Also, they were living in the sage/wheat stubble/alfalfa so they were well fed.

My inlaws went to Wyoming, and hunted the sagebrush. Don't know how soon or how fast they cooled them out, but that meat tasted like a complete different species of animal than ours. They went to sausage/pepperoni.

 

[ajkellerusmc]

Never had a bad tasting one in WY, but we are always good about getting them quartered and on ice pretty quick though.

I have used the alaskan method to field cool game meat and have never had a bad batch of meat in 25 years. The old BS about hanging the carcass is just that BS. Get the meat temperature down immediately which means getting the hide off so the heat can escape is what is needed. Using the Alaskan method I have not gut an animal in those 25 years.

Even here in AZ we take Javelina with bow and rifle, once down we hang them in the nearest mesquite tree and pull the hide off, debone and carry home a bag of meat in an ice chest. friends and people who would never eat such a critter are dumfounded when they try it.

Gamey taste comes from bone sour or heat in the meat plain and simple. The last bad deer I had was because my guide wanted to take a boatload of pics of the animal and the deer lay there for 2 hours before we opened it up. The meat was sour.

 

[cohunt]

They taste horrible in CO, I'd go anywhere else but CO to hunt-- that holds true for all big game in CO