I just finished cutting up the loins and a rear quarter off of an antique bull elk my dad killed last Saturday. He was huge bodied and obviously old judging by his teeth. We quartered him using the gutless method like we usually do about 30 minutes after he died. Hung everything in the barn in the shade but with the door open so air could circulate. Temps have been in the teens or 20s at night and up into the 40s to low 60s during the day. Everything has a good hard crust and no mold.
I was worried a little since the first backstrap I cut into steaks had a faint “bully” smell. Hard to describe but just a little bit musky. But I put one steak in a blazing hot skillet with a pat of butter and a little salt and pepper turning it once and pulling it out to rest for a couple minutes at medium rare. Turns out I was needlessly worried as it was great, a little tougher than the small bull I killed this fall but pretty tender and not the least bit gamey.
Now the only problem is that this bull is a full %30 larger than the raghorn I killed last month. We’re about 1/3 done cutting and wrapping and it seems like it’s going to take forever! I’m sure we’ll manage though.
