Antelope tastes better in different regions??

[TRG65]

I agree with some of the others about the sage. I hunted antelope about 12 years ago in western South Dakota. Between 3 of us we got 5 antelope. All of the were dressed out as soon as possible after being shot. It was a few hours then until they were skinned. I ended up with most of the meat. It was very sagey and salty. We ended up stewing it almost all of it with potatoes or something else to pull out the salt, and we certainly didn't use any other seasonings. I would like to take my boys antelope hunting for the experience, but I'm not looking forward to the meat.

Now cohunt is absolutely correct, the CO elk I got was equally miserable...ummm no I can't even say that as sarcasm. Elk is delicious.

 

[Gunship Guy]

Can't agree, cohunt. I hunt pasture land near Limon, CO, and the numerous antelope I've harvested have always tasted great. Concur with all above said about cooling and proper meat care/processing. Definitely much better than any of the eastern CO whitetail I've harvested.

 

[cohunt]

Can't agree, cohunt. I hunt pasture land near Limon, CO, and the numerous antelope I've harvested have always tasted great. Concur with all above said about cooling and proper meat care/processing. Definitely much better than any of the eastern CO whitetail I've harvested.

you saw the smiley/winking face right? you have a sense of humor, right?--- now ssshhhh, keep it quiet, more for you and me if we tell them it tastes bad--right? pretty sure everyone else got the sarcasm

 

[Gater]

I shot my Antelope just outside Riverton WY one shot dropped him right there cleaned and on ice immediately it was the worst tasting animal I have ever eaten and haven't shot another since

 

[Gunship Guy]

you saw the smiley/winking face right? you have a sense of humor, right?--- now ssshhhh, keep it quiet, more for you and me if we tell them it tastes bad--right? pretty sure everyone else got the sarcasm

Guess I got locked in to all the earlier comments and just scanned past the winkie! I'll keep our secret!

 

[LongProng]

It is completely dependent on what they eat and how quick you cool them down - also don't run them. I've harvested 10 or so over the last 5-6 years in Wyoming. If they spend at least part of their feeding time in cultivated fields they will be delicious, almost like veal. If they spend their entire life in sage, yuck. Also, if you gut shot one, do a gutless quarter and run far away.

 

[codyadams]

Between myself, my wife, my sisters, dad, nieces, cousin, and friends that hunt with us, we take out 15 to 20 pronghorn a year for about the last 5 years. I have one rifle that, on its own, is responsible for around 50 goats in the last 5 years, it is the main long range loaner rifle. Before that, we killed 4-8 goats a year, for the previous 25 years.

We have yet to have a bad tasting goat.

Shot in alfalfa, sage, doesn't matter much. Running doesn't matter terrible much either, as goats have two speeds, standing still and running. Unless they are stressed from hunters pushing them, running goats are not a big deal.

What makes a big difference is how fast you cool them down. When we go pronghorn shopping, if we are farther than a 15 minute drive from home, we take ice chests with ice usually. The goal is to have them cooling down fast on ice or skinned and cooling with the hose within 20 minutes of being shot. Soon as they are cleaned off, we have a butcher table by our hanging trees, we start cutting them down and rinsing mors, to cool off more. Once boned out and all the muscle groups cut into roasts to be sealed or cut into steaks (takes about 20 minutes) we start vaccum sealing, and putting in the freezer, or fridge if we are making some burger out of it. Last year we timed it, one specific goat shot close to home took under 2 hours from time it was shot to the time it was fully processed, sealed and in the fridge/freezer. That makes good goat meat!!

 

[Bobcape]

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.

Wow! I have had the exact opposite results. Definitely not denying your experiences, just that I've had such different results here in SD. You probably remember back in the 90's, when every year you could get 2 tags for antelope season and also 2 doe antelope tags to use during deer season. I've been able to hunt antelope a lot here in SD. My now ex-wife hated wild game until she tried antelope. The same with my daughter.

I've mainly hunted - Harding, Butte, Meade and Pennington counties. I have taken 50+ antelope here in SD and zero have had sage or gamey flavor. I've also been hunting in WY around the Douglas area for the last 10 years. Again, no bad tasting antelope. I prefer antelope meat over deer or elk personally.

I am curious why the different outcomes. I hope your SD antelope take a change for the better for you. Best of luck!

Bob

 

[cmwilliams]

I hunted Antelope in WY near Lance Creek. SAGE, and that's how they tasted. That is what I told my partner when he cooked up some tenderloins that night. They tasted just how they smelled. However, after saying all that, a little marinade took care of most of the sage to make it really delicious after the meat was processed. Moreover, my partner had the majority of it made into summer sausage. Apparently he knew something I didn't. That sausage was off the chain good. So unless you really mess up the care of the meat no worries.

 

[SavageHunter11]

Wow! I have had the exact opposite results. Definitely not denying your experiences, just that I've had such different results here in SD. You probably remember back in the 90's, when every year you could get 2 tags for antelope season and also 2 doe antelope tags to use during deer season. I've been able to hunt antelope a lot here in SD. My now ex-wife hated wild game until she tried antelope. The same with my daughter.

I've mainly hunted - Harding, Butte, Meade and Pennington counties. I have taken 50+ antelope here in SD and zero have had sage or gamey flavor. I've also been hunting in WY around the Douglas area for the last 10 years. Again, no bad tasting antelope. I prefer antelope meat over deer or elk personally.

I am curious why the different outcomes. I hope your SD antelope take a change for the better for you. Best of luck!

Bob

I was a bit too young to be applying for tags in the 90's so unfortunately don't remember that. Maybe I've just had improperly harvested SD antelope. I see a lot of people here stressing that antelope needs to be skinned and cooled ASAP and I've also heard if you don't drop them dead-to-rights they secrete so much adrenaline that it ruins the meat's flavor as well. I know most hunters in my state shoot the animal, wait 30-60 minutes before finding it and drag it all the way back to the truck before ever thinking about gutting or capeing the animal.

 

[Bobcape]

I agree with immediate field care for all game, but especially antelope! Their hair is very brittle so I take great care to keep it off the meat. We've been fortunate with being able to gut our antelope almost immediately.

Don't give up on our SD antelope. There are some good ones out there.

Bob

 

[WahooYahoo]

I've taken them in various parts of Wyoming. Some in sage flats, some in alfalfa fields and I haven't had a bad bite. It stays tender even on the grill. I suppose there is something that makes some of them takes bad but I haven't experienced it. I haven't had one take a step after being shot so that might have something to do with it. I also get em out of their skin and air cooled immediately. Pronghorn is without a doubt one my favorite wild game meats along with Axis, nilgai, oryx. Just about any antelope ( even though pronghorn is not really Antelope). Treat it right, get it out of its skin immediately and cooled off. It's good stuff

 

[cynjon]

Wow! I have had the exact opposite results. Definitely not denying your experiences, just that I've had such different results here in SD. You probably remember back in the 90's, when every year you could get 2 tags for antelope season and also 2 doe antelope tags to use during deer season. I've been able to hunt antelope a lot here in SD. My now ex-wife hated wild game until she tried antelope. The same with my daughter.

I've mainly hunted - Harding, Butte, Meade and Pennington counties. I have taken 50+ antelope here in SD and zero have had sage or gamey flavor. I've also been hunting in WY around the Douglas area for the last 10 years. Again, no bad tasting antelope. I prefer antelope meat over deer or elk personally.

I am curious why the different outcomes. I hope your SD antelope take a change for the better for you. Best of luck!

Bob

Same here...I hunt mostly in SD's Harding County for antelope but shot one in Pennington County last fall and they've all been delicious. In fact, my wife prefers antelope to venison (whitetail OR mule deer). What I've learned over the years is this:

1: Field dressing/meat care is everything. Get the hide off of it immediately, and get the meat cool. Antelope have some of the thickest fur I've ever seen and it insulates so well it's almost impossible to get it cooled off properly with the hide on it. One of the biggest challenges of hunting antelope in SD is that the season is in October and +80F days can really make it challenging to get your meat cooled down quickly.
2: Don't shoot antelope that have been run hard. As mentioned earlier, the adrenaline and lactic acid will adversely affect the taste of the meat. Antelope aren't hard to kill if you make a decent shot. The vast majority I've shot have dropped in their tracks.
3: Don't overdo the seasoning. The antelope in SD do eat their fair share of sage, but it depends on where you're hunting. Overcooking any game animal is bad, but it seems like antelope in particular needs to be cooked as rare as you care to eat it. It's a unique flavor and has become one of our favorites over the years.

This was one of the backstraps from this year's speed goat. Bacon wrapped, seasoned with salt and pepper, and cooked on the Traeger. It was fantastic!

 

[jd palmer]

Havent heard a word about aging yet.Is it not done with speed goats.