Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Your wild game dining preference?

We grew up on grass fed beef and small game (squirrels, rabbits, dove and ducks). I have also had raccoon that tasted like roast beef when cooked like a pot roast with onions, carrots and potatoes. To me, all the WT, MD and elk taste like grass fed beef when properly cared for and prepared. Springbuck and eland were the top meets we had in Namibia but oryx was not far behind.

Early sitka blacktail, dink sitka blacktail, late sitka blacktail. I can't stand rut sitka blacktail on a medium aged or mature sitka blacktail.

Moose is really good. Caribou is also really good.

Wait, I know you've never shot a dink. Must of been those bucks you let your foster kids shoot.

I've had decent peak-of-the-rut blacktail bucks. Any fat left on the meat will give it a rank flavor.

I noticed a lot of folks dissed muley. The one I shot in Nevada (1st week in Nov) was pretty darn good. All the steaks I've had so far (and these are the choicest cuts) were very good - rivaling our blacktails. They get a good soak in marinade and then grilling. One thing I noticed with this deer is it didn't stink with deer musk. Every deer that stinks of "rut perfume" is gonna taste rank.

With 5 tags, dinks hit the dirt. I can't go eat dinner at most folks houses, if they serve venison. I don't know how they do it, but they manage to make the best tasting deer meat taste like dog [bleep]. It's got to be in how they take care of it. Burger, forget about it. I think they grind up every last tendon and all the fat to make the gamiest tasting hamburger. I can't do it. Same as fish... you'd think you couldn't screw up halibut, but I've had some gut wrenching halibut brought to potlucks and such.

Muleys get a bad rep for the same reason pronghorn do IMO. Most of the deer you see are hauled around for days,or hung in the sun. Guys treat wild game like hell and expect it to taste excellent.

You can get bad ones of course, had several muleys/elk that were terrible, but only one pronghorn. The lope was a mystery, shot literally in his bed during a snow storm by my hunting pard, same area i took mine in the day before,skinned and on its way to ambient temp (around 30 deg) within an hour, and never hung in temps above 40 while aging. It was the most rank tasting meat ever..Still dont know why.

My preference

Pronghorn
Bison
Elk
Moose
Deer

If all the elk were young cows/bulls, then they would tie with pronghorn..IME elk are the most unpredictable in what you will get taste/tenderness wise. although I havent had enough moose or wild bison to have too strong of an opinion.

Moose
Wild Turkey
Axis
Caribou
Fallow
Whitetail
Rabbit
Chukar
Grouse
Pheasant

Raccoon and bear is pretty good barbequed in a smoker...

Can't remember all the wild game I've consumed, but includes

Impala
Hartebeeste
Warthog
Rabbit
Pheasant
Quail
Springbok
Gemsbok
Caribou
Doves
Elk
Bison
Kudu
Mule Deer
Feral Hog
Elk
Bison
Pronghorn

Undoubtedly others if I reflected on it for a bit.

Favorites are elk and bison. Least favorite pronghorn.

Elk, deer, turkey, duck breasts (filleted, brined and circled with a piece of bacon like a fillet mignon), wabbit , quail, dove and squirrel.

Elk hands down, wild pork loin is a favorite too, I'll be tasting bison come the first of Feb, have heard it's very good too.

Nyala has been my favorite.

For American game, I like elk, pronghorn, venison, and wild hog. I shot my first pronghorn this year, and I'm not sure it hasn't edged out elk in my book. Every cut is so tender, and the flavor is fantastic. Too bad I have to travel so far to find them!

Oryx and Nilgai are the best wild game I've ever ate! Axis would be my 3rd choice
And I also love wild Pheasant.

I won't eat ducks. Always give them to my hunting buddies.

Will eat Bison, but it always tastes too "sweet" to me, as compared to beef.

My favorite, though is still US aged Beef. Prefer registered Angus.

I have eaten a lot of wild game (including Axis which many people rave about) as I suspected many of the previous posters have. We all are going to have favorites pending our personal taste.

But IMO still hard to beat a corn, soybean, alfalfa, acorn and grass fed Pa. whitetail.

When it comes to birds:

Hard to beat a grilled barely cooked morning dove wrapped in bacon.

Feathered: Chukkar or Pheasant

small game: squirrel

Big game: smaller(<150lb) wild hog. By far my favorite wild big game meat. After that elk, deer. I've tried black bear twice, both times it was terrible.

My favorite so far was a yearling bison.
Worst: My first duck hunt, I killed a coot. I tried to eat it... I really tried.

WT deer is my favorite...cooked in a mushroom, burgundy wine, and mushroom sauce. Or grilled. Or fried.

Haven't had opportunity to taste elk, but hoping to change that this year.

I like Pronghorn...kind of a sharper flavor?

Mule deer venison has good flavor.

Doves and quail grilled simply with a butter and lemon juice baste is stupid good.

Just finished over a Lb of whitetail doe liver with onions and brown gravey.

My favorite is

Whitetail
Wild boar (Russian)
Muley
Antelope
Squirrel
Wabbit
Pheasant
Elk
Caribou
I've eaten many african Plaines game and Kudu blackstrap grilled to medium rare is very good. Reh bok is also very good.

Pronghorn, Wild Turkey and Canada goose. Deer has become so
commonplace over the decades, that I just don't like it as
much as I used to.

Coues whitetail.

Moose was really good too. Liked wild hog.

Cow elk was better than bull elk.

Mule deer and pronghorn were next after elk.

Last place was javalina. Took quite a bunch of beer to help get it eaten.

Eland
Oryx
Wild Boar
Bushbuck
Springbok
Whitetail

Do well with most meats, but I've had one mule deer that had it not been for neighbors dogs, would have been a complete throw away.

For our domestic north American stuff, I put pronghorn on the top.