Bob H;
Good morning to you sir, I trust this first Saturday of the second month of the year finds you and yours well.
This is, as you can imagine, a hotly debated topic most anywhere folks who hunt and eat venison gather to discuss table fare, so for whatever it's worth here's our observations.
I grew up eating Saskatchewan moose with a smattering of whitetail thrown into the mix, the whitetails added when we were first married and still on the farm there.
Since moving to the BC interior we've eaten local mulie and whitetail bucks as well as local moose, elk and Columbia Blacktail from the BC coastal area as well as Sitka Blacktail from what was then called the Queen Charlottes.
Overall it's our impression that the less stress caused by seasonal conditions an animal experiences, the more tender it's meat is. That's a broad statement to be sure and there's been exceptions too, but that's what we've found.
So the Sitka deer on the Charlottes never have winter really and maintain good body condition year round. They're grand eating in our experience.
Likewise the Blacktail from our coast seldom see snow or any lack of good forage to speak of and were pretty tasty to us.
Locally the whitetail we hunt most never see an agricultural field and early in season one would be hard pressed to tell the difference between a steak from a whitetail or mulie buck of similar age class taken from the same mountain.
We have noted a few interesting trends in flavor, such as mulie bucks from a valley to the west have a bit more of a tangy flavor - perhaps more sage up there? We're not sure.
There's been a couple instances where we've noticed a bit more gamey flavor in late season mulie bucks than whitetails in the rut, but it's certainly not the case in all or even most of them.
Lastly, we used to cook up side by side steaks from whitetail and mulies to see if anyone could tell the difference and nobody who we did the test with ever could - not once.
Anyway sir, hopefully that was useful to you or someone out there. Good luck on your hunts this fall and good eating afterward.
Dwayne
