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I have foud that some elk that have the "liverish taste " has to do with what they were doing right previous to the kill. ie, lounging about vs traveling a distance at more than a walk.

Prettty hard to quantify though as no one can shoot that many elk to gain meaningful statsistics.
I do know a big bull I killed in 2009 is lasting a lot longer in the freezer because he is so tough. Old guy 12-13 years.

I have all that meat,about 40 lbs left, in an onion sack in the freezer.I take some out every once in awile and grind a pound or two of steaks in a little Kitchen Aid grinder for that days use. I swear,even the ground meat is tough. Crock pot doesn't help. Might try a pressure cooker some day.


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Nobody's mentioned bulls right after the rut. I've eaten meat off of quite a few raghorns killed the last week of October, and it's been a real crap shoot and how they taste. Most of them have been so skinny from the rut and they've been pretty tough.

In comparison my wife killed a seven year old bull in January one year that tasted wonderful, I figured he had plenty of time to fatten back up again.

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Same thing with muley's.


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The first elk my dad killed in 58 was a Roosevelt, and a mature 6 Point several years old. The bullets preformed poorly, flatening out against the front shoulder blade. The chase lasted several hours, several miles, and several more shots before he was on the ground. Undoubtdly the toughest elk I have ever eaten. Mom would tenderize the steaks, marinate them, and then cook them. I think shoe leather would have be easier to chew. The second worst was a (lead) cow killed in a farmers field near Elgin Oregon. One shot dead right there, dressed and quartered within the hour. Thats the year I learned not to shoot the cow in front. Not as bad the bull, but a challenge just the same.

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Gary O: I had occassion a few weeks ago to take some fresh 5 point Bull Elk Filet Mignon (the tenderest most forward cuts of the true tenderloin!) out to the west coast and prepare an evening meal for my mother, brother and oldest son.
They simply raved about the taste and tenderness of that recently harvested meat!
I was impressed myself.
It seems this Elk was one of the multitudes who due to Wolf predation and the incredible over-abundance of Wolves of recent had taken up residence on a cultivated pasture belonging to a huge ranch complex.
According to my friend the ranch manager the Elk had been there all fall and had been feeding predominantly on alfalfa stubble.
I have been eating wild game for over 50 years now, most of which I harvested myself, and I previously held the opinion that Cow Elk noticeably taste better than Bull Elk - but now I am of the opinion that under certain circumstances and times of the year that the meat from Bull Elk can equal or very nearly equal that of Cow Elk meat.
If, harvested correctly, cared for properly and not over cooked.
There is simply NO portion or cut of meat on an Elk that is better eating than the Filet Mignon!
I am making myself hungry just thinking about some filet.
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Originally Posted by VarmintGuy

It seems this Elk was one of the multitudes who due to Wolf predation and the incredible over-abundance of Wolves of recent had taken up residence on a cultivated pasture belonging to a huge ranch complex.

VarmintGuy


Couldn't have had anything to do with the extreme drought huh?

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The drought certainly displaced a bunch of game (not just elk) this past year.

Not so oddly, I have also noticed elk hanging out on ranch pastures and hayfields for as long as I can remember. In fact there's a ranch nearby where they've shown up every year for the 20-some years I've lived here.

One recent interesting piece of elk behavior observed here in Montana by both hunters and reseachers is that elk are often willing to tolerate wolves on unhunted or lightly-hunted private land far more than the intense human hunting pressure on nearby public land.


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Amazing!


Originally Posted by captain seafire
I replace valve cover gaskets every 50K, if they don't need them sooner...
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My post was supposed to be sarcastic.

Wolves go where the elk go, regardless of who owns it. The idea that wolves push elk on to private land has always made me scratch my head.

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Here in Colorado,there too are ranch hay fields that elk have been on for years as winter pasture.However this year we have seen them in early to mid October, whereas in past years typically they don't show up until late November-early December.

The 2nd rifle season which was mid October, the elk in the Gunnison valley were already on the hay fields at night and then retreated to nearby timber during the day.

Except for those elk on the hay fields on private land,this was the first year in about 20 that during ten days of elk hunting I never saw one elk during the rifle season. We hunted in a 10 mile circle from 7000 ftto 11,500 ft in elevation. In ML season when there was still some water about and some green forage, I did kill a cow elk.

Last edited by saddlesore; 12/30/12.

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This is just me but I feel that the elk are hitting the hay fields and getting away from the hunters and dealing with the wolves cause for one thing they get away from the hunters. Plus they've been doing this forever for good feed.

And, they get the wolves more out in the open where they feel like they can see them more so than in the hills.

Make any sense?

Dober


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does to me.


Originally Posted by captain seafire
I replace valve cover gaskets every 50K, if they don't need them sooner...
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Originally Posted by smokepole
I used to let the dogs eat the shanks until I slow-cooked some (low heat, 8-10 hrs.) in the oven. The meat slid off the bone and was very tender and tasted great. Now I cook shanks and other gristly cuts in a crock pot.


You got any recipies you can share on these methods of cookery? Especially how you did the slow cooked shanks that made you a convert?

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Originally Posted by Toolelk
Yes. Backstraps and tenderloins. Nothing better....


I do love this list. And I think I know what backstraps are, after John Knowles, PH in Zambia, said we weren't going to waste the ones in my cape buffalo on lion bait and cut them out for our dinner that evening. Delicious, as was the ox tail soup.


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Last night my wife cooked a couple of very nice elk tenderloin chops. I have some animal breeding experience. I wonder what it would take to breed an elk that's all tenderloin.


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Rock Chuck,
Don't they raise those elk tenderloins by you in Filer?

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rl11,

My response was supposed to be to VarmintGuy, not you. That's who I clicked on "reply" to. Dunno why my post ended up to you.


“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.”
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