muscles will still relax after rigor whether they're on the bone or not... doesn't seem to make a difference in my experience. The real difference in flavor and texture of the meat comes in aging. Of course the absolute biggest difference it the tenderness of the meat has to do with the animal itself.
The only non-edible portions of the animal I'll pack out of the backcountry on my back are the thin fascial membranes separating muscle groups.
