I'm going to post this on a couple different places. I think it's worthwhile.

The moose I shot this fall was shot way late in the season (Sept 28 or 29) and was going into rut. In the round, the bull had only a slight rut musk to it. It was most properly cared for in all aspects, and the cooling/aging temps were excellent. In the butchering, the odor became more noticable. Even more so in cooking.

I'll not shoot another after the 20th, unless it is a cow, but a couple previous bulls, shot earlier in the season, also had this off flavor. They were all 3 year olds, and I have a theory that some bulls of that age just go hog wild over the breeding thing, hormones, and drinking piss, even tho they haven't a clue, and almost certainly won't be accepted by a cow. Much like some human teenagers.....

When I opened the critter up, the several gallons of blood inside really stunk, and further experience with it determined that the rutty scent was almost entirely in the blood.

The meat has a definate "tang" to it (trapped blood) - not inedible, but not all that pleasant either. Heavily spicing it doesn't handle the problem, nor does a salt water soak (just made it salty rutty!). Plain water soak helped.

Then I tried throwing some baking soda into the water I use to defrost the cuts.
Bingo! The objectionable flavor is almost entirely gone, and it seems to also serve to tenderize. Assuming the flavor is uric acid based (what it tastes like) - this makes sense. Baking soda neutralizes acids

Soak an hour or more., rinse with plain water, and cook. File this one away, if you will....

This is not to say you should go around shooting bull moose or caribou in full rut. Don't. Maybe some other species too that get rank in the rut.

I have observed for about the past 50 years, that when an animal is killed in an 'excited' state, the meat will not be as good as when you just kill 'em while they are unaware.
Back in the day when I would hunt deer with dogs, any buck killed while running from the dogs was not as tasty as one killed from a tree stand while it was just ambling along.
The build up of Uric Acid, and Adrenalin has a definite effect on the taste of the meat.

Back when we used to run dogs a lot of People soaked their meat in milk. I don't know if that is the reason or not. I was a lot younger and did not kill many in front of dogs and paid less attention how it was cooked. That is a good tip to file away. miles

Strong tasting and or smelling meat, even freezer burned meat can be repaired with the use of fresh ginger. Rub fresh grated ginger on the meat and let sit an hour or so then cook with the ginger still on. Strong taste is gone. Give it a try.

Interesting...

I have only had one strong flavoured deer. I shot him in a cedar swamp in his bed. The meat was tender as you could wish for, but while cooking it smelled just like cedar boughs when crushed through your fingers. The meat tasted just like you were eating cedar boughs. It was in the end of december with a couple feet ofsnow on the ground, he was gutted immediately and cooled right away as air temp was -5 and his chest was held open with a stick in the sternum

Randy

I typically will soak steaks etc...in cold water with salt and a bit of red wine vinegar. Soak til the water turns blood red. Then drain and repeat. After a couple of times (about 1/2 hour ea.) the meat will no longer have much blood in it, and then do what you want with it.

Long

How much baking soda are you adding? A couple tablespoons?? half a box??? etc.