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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 29,383
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 29,383 |
Ding DIng Ding my favorite. Field preparation and processing of either specie makes up for any difference.
Last edited by Oldelkhunter; 02/03/16.
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 19,179
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 19,179 |
Most whitetails tend to hang closer to ag crops and that gives them a big edge.
?? Where ag crops are -- I'd agree. However three is a LOT of WT habitat where there are NO ag crops. As to the OP ? I've never had the opportunity to eat any deer meat except WT so I've read this thread out of curiosity. Jerry
jwall- *** 3100 guy***
A Flat Trajectory is Never a Handicap
Speed is Trajectory's Friend !!
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Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 43,901 Likes: 11
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 43,901 Likes: 11 |
We have both whitetail and mule deer here so of course I hunt both.
Pre-rut it would be a toss up for me, both are great. Whitetails on the corn and alfalfa diet are a little bland, mule deer have a little more flavor.
Rutting whitetail are okay, last rutting mule deer I shot was pretty foul.
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 17,790 Likes: 1
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 17,790 Likes: 1 |
6, Axis are great. It has been 10 years since I shot one, but they were all excellent.. I would NOT miss this hunt.. They are a beautiful animal..
Molon Labe
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 16,971 Likes: 1
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 16,971 Likes: 1 |
If I had never shot a mule deer I'd do that.
BTW if your first time on Muledeer was like mine, don't watch them bounce when they run because, 'well it's weird'.... Concentrate on shooting one.
In the wide open, when they run they tend not to stop unless the encounter a fence or get past cover.
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 115,424 Likes: 13
Campfire Sage
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Campfire Sage
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 115,424 Likes: 13 |
I've never met the person that could eat elk, whitetail, or mule deer and tell you if it was elk, whitetail, or mule deer.
If you want the best red meat, buy some cow.
Travis
Trump being classless,tasteless and clueless as usual. Sorry, trump is a no tax payin pile of shiit. My young wife decided to play the field and had moved several dudes into my house
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 57,494
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 57,494 |
I"ve shot whitetail and mule deer and Sitka blacktail.
Of the deer, I prefer the largest deer, the swamp donkey by far... LOL
We can keep Larry Root and all his idiotic blabber and user names on here, but we can't get Ralph back..... Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over....
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 4,699
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 4,699 |
I have an invite to take an axis hunt this year. I've heard they are mighty tasty. Any experience here with axis? Yes, very mild compared to other wild game. A big buck is beautiful, makes a great mount - but like others, the meat from an older buck will be more tough.
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 32,214
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 32,214 |
I'm enjoying two whitetail bucks right now killed this year....both mature and large bodied. One killed in the Maine forest,and that never saw an agricultural field,and another that lived on Kansas forbes, beets, and winter wheat.
Hard to tell which is which and both are delicious. The immediate difference that I noticed in Midwestern grain fed whitetails and northern New England whitetails is that it was uncommon for ME/NH/VT whitetails to have much, if any, marbling of fat in the meat, while the exact opposite is true of IA/NE whitetails that live in small grain farming areas. There are differences within Nebraska, in that the whitetails that I've seen come out of the cattle grazing area around Mullen, in central NE, are generally not as marbled as similar size/age whitetails from the corn/soybean growing area around Sutton, in southeastern NE.
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Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 2,062
Campfire Regular
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OP
Campfire Regular
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 2,062 |
To the one who suggested elk: yup, love it.
Not on the table for this hunt though!
We will be hunting in October, probably earlier in October (MT would be first two weeks of Oct),
Our NH whitetails feed on acorns and beechnut primarily. There is absolutely 0 marbling in the meat, just deep red color and yummy.
Either way, this should be a fun trip!
thanks for the input
Last edited by Bob_H_in_NH; 02/03/16.
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 115,424 Likes: 13
Campfire Sage
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Campfire Sage
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 115,424 Likes: 13 |
I like to tell people I made them elk, when I actually made them mule deer.
It magically becomes the "Best meat we've ever had."
Travis
Trump being classless,tasteless and clueless as usual. Sorry, trump is a no tax payin pile of shiit. My young wife decided to play the field and had moved several dudes into my house
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 78,300 Likes: 1
Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 78,300 Likes: 1 |
I have an invite to take an axis hunt this year. I've heard they are mighty tasty. Any experience here with axis? Axis are excellent. No 'deer' taste to them. Ive shot a few and will never go back to mule deer,and it'll take a suicide whitetail to get me to kill one of those.....though I think whitetail is better than mule deer.
"...the left considers you vermin, and they'll kill you given the chance..." Bristoe
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 15,648
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 15,648 |
- Greg
Success is found at the intersection of planning, hard work, and stubbornness.
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Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 10,653
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 10,653 |
Moose...grin... Regarding mule deer vs whitetail, the meat "is like a box of chocolates, you never know what your gonna get." Diet, age, stress all flavor factors. Stress example...I wouldn't chase a beef around, shoot it in the head or poleaxe it then expect fine dining.
You're Welcome At My Fire Anytime
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Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 17,822
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 17,822 |
I have had both whitetail and mule deer and prefer whitetail. Long ago I had some mule deer that had been feeding on sage and it was hardly fit to eat. Also had a whitetail that had eaten something pretty foul, the meat did not taste all that bad but the odor when you were cooking it would run you out of the house. Shot a couple of young pronghorns that had been feeding on grass from atop one of the high mesas in Colorado, they were some of the best game meat I've ever had. As regards elk I've never been fooled into thinking some other game meat was elk. The elk I've killed have had a distinctive enough taste to be able to tell it from whitetail.
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 28,259 Likes: 6
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 28,259 Likes: 6 |
Axis is great, but at the risk of being scolded for hijacking......hopefully someday you will get the chance to taste eland or gemsbok.... We've shot some knarly old muley bucks that live on shinoak, forbes, and mesquite beans. I've never had a bad one.
It is irrelevant what you think. What matters is the TRUTH.
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 15,648
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 15,648 |
I've had a bunch of nilgai. I'd say it's better than elk or the small bull I had damn near was.
Mesquite bean sandhill mule deer are good...
- Greg
Success is found at the intersection of planning, hard work, and stubbornness.
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 32,214
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 32,214 |
To the one who suggested elk: yup, love it.
Not on the table for this hunt though!
We will be hunting in October, probably earlier in October (MT would be first two weeks of Oct),
Our NH whitetails feed on acorns and beechnut primarily. There is absolutely 0 marbling in the meat, just deep red color and yummy.
Either way, this should be a fun trip!
thanks for the input Less fat = less flavor and a tougher cut of meat. We call deer like that "stew" and "burger". I've eaten my share of NH deer, mostly from Belknap, Carroll, Coos, Grafton, and Sullivan Counties. Also a few ME deer from Cumberland, Oxford, and Someret Counties. And a few more VT deer from Caledonia, Essex, Orange, Rutland, and Windsor Counties. Most of the Essex county deer were shot from across the Connecticut River in Monroe, NH. 300+/- yard across the river, but about a 25 mile drive in those days before cellular phones.
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 19,546 Likes: 1
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 19,546 Likes: 1 |
If in the same area, from what I've eaten I prefer mule deer. Both are good, and if seasoned and grilled I probably couldn't tell you the difference, depending on what I had to drink while burning it. But I can tell you hands down, when I pull the meat from the freezer and thaw/unwrap it the last couple whitetails I had smelled far far more gamey.
I love venison, but I hate the gamey smell.
MAGA
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Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 966
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 966 |
I have an old mule deer buck in the freezer that tastes very good, and is not any tougher than usual. This buck was old enough that he had lost one of his front teeth. He was taken early October, 50 miles east of Sheridan, in an area with only range lands. As good as any deer I've ever had.
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