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Lonny Offline OP
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All things equal, which do you prefer to eat?

Can you tell the difference in taste between the two?

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I don’t know that I can tell a good one of each apart, but if had far more strong flavored muleys than whitetails. Probably eaten 3-4x as many whitetail too.

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Like both but the W. Tx mule deer eat primarily sotol and taste more beef like. There is limited sage or anything to give them a bad taste and they will only eat these things in really poor years. Most hill country whitetails are excellent but some in south Texas eat Cenizo or some sage like plant and can be almost inedible especially if this coincides with the rut. So it varies.


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Originally Posted by Lonny
All things equal, which do you prefer to eat?

Can you tell the difference in taste between the two?



I have both in the freezer.....there is no discernable difference to my taste bids.

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The taste is dependent on the plants eaten by the deer. Around my home I have both Mule Deer and White Tail deer. If I kill them in the same area I can't tell any difference at all, because both eat the same things.

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have shot a few mule deer in wheat country and thought they tasted as good as whitetails.

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Sitka blacktail for the win.

It’s the dall sheep of deer.

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Lonny,

The only difference we can taste is SOMETIMES mature mule deer bucks get a little off-flavor during the latter part of the rut. This mostly settles into the connective tissue, so large cuts like hams, steaks and backstraps don't develop it much, if at all. It also seems to increase after several months in the freezer. Have noticed it after about November 15th here in Montana.

We have yet to taste any hint of that in the meat of mature rutting whitetail bucks, and we've taken them all through November not only in Montana but several other states.

As several other people noted, if whitetails and mule deer are eating the same stuff, the meat tastes very similar. Which makes sense, as they're so closely related they can interbreed--and often do.


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Thanks for the replies gents.

I haven't shot a mule deer buck in many years, but when my kids started hunting, they shot several young (2.5-3.5 year-old) mule deer bucks, usually in October, and I thought they ate just fine. Same with the mule deer does they shot. They ate fine also.

It very common here to see mule deer and whitetail feeding in the same field and inhabiting the very same area so it stands to reason they are eating pretty much the same stuff.

Funny thing is though, many older people around here, who enjoy wild game won't touch a mule deer... They say its terrible eating. The same people will claim to love whitetail. I grew up hearing how mule deer was best suited for feeding stock dogs. I haven't experienced bad mule deer, but eat 15 whitetails to every mule deer also so maybe I just haven't hit a bad one yet?

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Originally Posted by vapodog
Originally Posted by Lonny
All things equal, which do you prefer to eat?

Can you tell the difference in taste between the two?



I have both in the freezer.....there is no discernable difference to my taste bids.


This is what I have noticed and I think antelope is superior, yet you will have all sorts of guys turn their noses up at both mule deer and antelope...


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Whitey does in the ag fields will beat mule deer bucks from the mountains every time. Even early season high country bucks. We eat lots of each and their is a difference. In general, mulie s tend to be more browsers, while whitetail graze more on grass but that tends to depend on what food is available. The white tail have a milder flavor. Side note: I am very careful with all of my meat care, even in the high country. I keep it all cool and clean.

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I'll join those that suggest that what the deer eats makes more difference than being a mule deer or whitetail deer. I also agree with Shrapnel, in that I prefer antelope to either species of deer.


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Spring fed streams

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Alfalfa, beans and corn

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Abundant and quality deciduous browse.

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I take whitetail roasts, chops and hamburger to my relatives in Montana every fall when I hunt there. They all love it compared to the Mule deer that are killed in the Missouri breaks and ranch land. I have to admit I find both almost equally delicious. I do find a taste difference between mountain mulies and ranch land mulies and the same could be said of whitetail dining on non-deciduous browse and those on farm land.


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atse,

One other factor is that some hunters don't judge game-meat flavor on how "mild" it is.

I've been convinced for a number of years that because commercial meat has become milder in flavor, due to growing everything from chickens to beef cattle faster on blander feed, that most Americans aren't used to game meat that has more flavor. I'm not talking about "gamey" taste--which is mostly caused by the rut or poor field-handling--but MORE flavor.

Good examples are lamb, or domestic ducks and geese. The demand for all has gone downhill in recent decades because so many Americans think all poultry or mammal meat should be very mild, like 6-8 week old chickens or corn-fed 2-year-old steers. God forbid any chicken should have more flavor than a McNugget, or anybody eat lamb, which these days has more far more flavor than grocery-store or average-restaurant beef.

I have many friends who claim they shoot deer fawns and calf elk because they "taste better." I even had somebody semi-chastise me and Eileen last year when she shot the biggest cow elk either of us have ever taken, because "calves and young cows taste better." But we have taken not only fawns of several species, but both elk and moose calves, and find them bland. We much prefer more mature animals, whether female or male, because they have more good (not "gamey") flavor, and we know how to age or prepare game meat so even older animals are plenty tender.

If you prefer the mildest-flavored game meat possible, then that's your choice. We don't. Our favorite gamebirds to eat are Hungarian partridge, which have a flavor that combines white and dark meat, but even "mild" flavored ruffed and blue grouse beat the hell out of today's commercial chicken. We also prefer more mature big game to younger animals, because like mature grass-fed steers have more flavor than younger corn-fed beef.


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I've shot far more mule deer than whitetail, but I honestly can't tell a difference. Mountain, prairie, or wheat field; mature or young; buck or doe; whitetail or mule deer....I can't differentiate the taste.

I know folks who turn their noses up at whitetail, of any age/sex and much prefer mule deer. I know people who claim the opposite. Lots of people I know can't stand antelope, but like deer. I can't tell antelope from deer either (or elk for that matter).

Lots of variables that have been discussed already can be a factor, but individual taste buds are a biggie, I guess. This is assuming those folks don't just "hate" a specie's taste because they had it force fed to them as a kid or improperly cooked once...



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Huns roasted are hard to beat. Sharptails close second

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Originally Posted by Mule Deer
atse,

One other factor is that some hunters don't judge game-meat flavor on how "mild" it is.

I've been convinced for a number of years that because commercial meat has become milder in flavor, due to growing everything from chickens to beef cattle faster on blander feed, that most Americans aren't used to game meat that has more flavor. I'm not talking about "gamey" taste--which is mostly caused by the rut or poor field-handling--but MORE flavor.

Good examples are lamb, or domestic ducks and geese. The demand for all has gone downhill in recent decades because so many Americans think all poultry or mammal meat should be very mild, like 6-8 week old chickens or corn-fed 2-year-old steers. God forbid any chicken should have more flavor than a McNugget, or anybody eat lamb, which these days has more far more flavor than grocery-store or average-restaurant beef.

I have many friends who claim they shoot deer fawns and calf elk because they "taste better." I even had somebody semi-chastise me and Eileen last year when she shot the biggest cow elk either of us have ever taken, because "calves and young cows taste better." But we have taken not only fawns of several species, but both elk and moose calves, and find them bland. We much prefer more mature animals, whether female or male, because they have more good (not "gamey") flavor, and we know how to age or prepare game meat so even older animals are plenty tender.

If you prefer the mildest-flavored game meat possible, then that's your choice. We don't. Our favorite gamebirds to eat are Hungarian partridge, which have a flavor that combines white and dark meat, but even "mild" flavored ruffed and blue grouse beat the hell out of today's commercial chicken. We also prefer more mature big game to younger animals, because like mature grass-fed steers have more flavor than younger corn-fed beef.


Probably the case.I like milder meat, wild and domestic. We raise and butcher our beef at about 900lbs. Less than 2 years old. Don't much care for lamb or mutton. Don't care for wild duck or geese either. Grouse is my favorite. It likely depends on what you are used to eating and develop a taste for. Time of year and food sources will affect deers flavor. Mule deer living in and eating sagebrush tend to be stronger flavored an example.

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The best meat I get every year is elk tenderloin and blue or ruffed grouse. Until you have tried these, everything else is just food...


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Corn fed whitetail beats any mule deer any time.


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Mule deer that have fed on sage brush can have an objectionable taste. My BIL shot a whitetail buck several years ago that the meat had a distinct odor, venison tasted fine it just smelled different than any other whitetail. My wife didn't want to be around it whenever I prepared it or ate it. It came from a wooded area so who knows what it might have been feeding on.

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