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Originally Posted by Judman
Originally Posted by Judman
Some of the best meat there is, snap a pic, bone em out get it cooled. Nothin too it


And again



That was the ticket on our hunts in East Central New Mexico for 15 years as well. Those September hunts were usually in the 90* range most of the time. Good eating when done correctly.


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Thank you to everyone who posted. It looks like September weather which can be too warm and not processing quick enough can be the problems some have with it. I am hoping to have a hunt scheduled for 2021. I am still in the planning stages.

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Originally Posted by Jackson_Handy
Originally Posted by Judman
Originally Posted by Judman
Some of the best meat there is, snap a pic, bone em out get it cooled. Nothin too it


And again


X3


X4

Pronghorn antelope can be the best, and is actually our family favorite. Or the worst if not properly cared for, ie dumpster material.

The hottest temperature we ever shot an antelope was 96 degrees. It was skinned, quartered and into the refrigerator within the hour. I prefer to age 3-5 days before final processing.


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I think Szihn has a good point that antelope seems less forgiving than some other meats to poor care. However, One of the things I like about it is it seems to vary less by age than other animals. I have never had a really tough one but I sure have with deer.

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Originally Posted by CRS
Originally Posted by Jackson_Handy
Originally Posted by Judman
Originally Posted by Judman
Some of the best meat there is, snap a pic, bone em out get it cooled. Nothin too it


And again


X3


X4

Pronghorn antelope can be the best, and is actually our family favorite. Or the worst if not properly cared for, ie dumpster material.

The hottest temperature we ever shot an antelope was 96 degrees. It was skinned, quartered and into the refrigerator within the hour. I prefer to age 3-5 days before final processing.

Agree.

On one of our NE NM hunts a few years ago, we entered the ranch early, someone already had a Pronghorn hanging from an old front end loader farm tractor at the ranch house. We hunted, had two goats on ice by 9 AM. It was starting to get hot. As we left the ranch, that carcass was still hanging from that bucket...

They talk about "stink goats"; I guess those who say that don't know how to handle meat. Pronghorn meat needs to be cooled quickly in hot weather or it won't do well.

Us Cajuns do know how to handle game meat, and how to cook it.

Pronghorn is very good table fare, done right. I'm sure that goat carcass we saw hanging in the heat at the ranch house didn't turn out so well...

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Count me in on those who say what they've been eating makes a big difference.....Different people have different taste buds. I absolutely 100% can NOT tell the difference between antelope, mule deer or elk, but I absolutely 100% CAN tell the difference between a critter eating sagebrush and associated grasses, and one that's been eating alfalfa.

To the OP: just like many others here have said, antelope is just fine table fare. Get it cooled down and you're fine. Some people like the gamey taste and if you're one don't worry too much about getting the blood drawn out. Just get it cooled down. They don't seem to require days of aging like deer or elk often do, largely because of the collagen as mentioned above, but I think also at least partially because they're normally hunted in warmer weather which gets them aged enough, often before they're in the cooler with ice.



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Originally Posted by T_Inman
Count me in on those who say what they've been eating makes a big difference.....Different people have different taste buds. I absolutely 100% can NOT tell the difference between antelope, mule deer or elk, but I absolutely 100% CAN tell the difference between a critter eating sagebrush and associated grasses, and one that's been eating alfalfa.

To the OP: just like many others here have said, antelope is just fine table fare. Get it cooled down and you're fine. Some people like the gamey taste and if you're one don't worry too much about getting the blood drawn out. Just get it cooled down. They don't seem to require days of aging like deer or elk often do, largely because of the collagen as mentioned above, but I think also at least partially because they're normally hunted in warmer weather which gets them aged enough, often before they're in the cooler with ice.

I think the ice helps. As it melts, cold water helps leach out blood.

We open the drain, let some bloody water out, add ice. Meat can stay like that for days, if you watch the ice.

We drive back from NM, spend the night on the road, drain off some water, add ice along the way. Meat is perfect when we get it to the processsor..

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Originally Posted by Dirtfarmer

I think the ice helps. As it melts, cold water helps leach out blood.

We open the drain, let some bloody water out, add ice. Meat can stay like that for days, if you watch the ice.

We drive back from NM, spend the night on the road, drain off some water, add ice along the way. Meat is perfect when we get it to the processsor..

DF


I agree Dirtfarmer. Quite often we have to treat our deer like that, even into November as daytime temps can and sometimes get into the 80's. You're right about another thing......you cajun folks have the food cookin' deal down pat. I believe it's in your DNA. I still tell my 3 Louisiana buds that hunt with me in the TX Panhandle for whitetail that the only reason they're invited back is because of their food selection and culinary skills.


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Originally Posted by JGRaider
Originally Posted by Dirtfarmer

I think the ice helps. As it melts, cold water helps leach out blood.

We open the drain, let some bloody water out, add ice. Meat can stay like that for days, if you watch the ice.

We drive back from NM, spend the night on the road, drain off some water, add ice along the way. Meat is perfect when we get it to the processsor..

DF


I agree Dirtfarmer. Quite often we have to treat our deer like that, even into November as daytime temps can and sometimes get into the 80's. You're right about another thing......you cajun folks have the food cookin' deal down pat. I believe it's in your DNA. I still tell my 3 Louisiana buds that hunt with me in the TX Panhandle for whitetail that the only reason they're invited back is because of their food selection and culinary skills.

Took my Cajun bud down to my Avoylles hunting lease (real Cajun country). He cooked greens and a lawyer from Baton Rouge cooked cracklin cornbread. Those guys went nuts over that food. And some of the hunters from Lafayette love to bring seafood, etc. So we eat well.

Guys kept asking when I was going to bring this guy back. Don't know if they missed him so mcuh, they sure missed his greens. I think they liked those green as much if not more than fancy seafood.

And, if he cooks greens that good, what you reckon he can do with Pronghorn, Elk, etc... Even Whitetail.

He even made Gar balls and they were well received, as well.

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Originally Posted by T_Inman
Count me in on those who say what they've been eating makes a big difference.....Different people have different taste buds. I absolutely 100% can NOT tell the difference between antelope, mule deer or elk, but I absolutely 100% CAN tell the difference between a critter eating sagebrush and associated grasses, and one that's been eating alfalfa.
Diet can make a huge difference. Some years ago, my BIL and I were hunting mulies in a December doe hunt in the mountains. It was close to 0 and there was 5 or 6" of snow. We got 2 does from 2 different herds. We dressed and skinned them right away. When we got home we cut them up after a few days of hanging. The meat was totally inedible. When cooking, it smelled so bad that we had to open some windows. The taste was awful. Even the dog wouldn't eat it. We ended up trashing it all.
We never figured out what they'd been eating. It wasn't sagebrush as there was very little in the area. It was brush of some kind.


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Several years ago we killed two bull elk west of Colorado Springs on what is known as Buffalo Peaks. Both bulls were inedible the meat stunk so bad and tasted awful. Both were skinned and quartered immediately and cooled out temps were in the low 40' s in the and teens at night.The following year I sent a bow hunter to the same place and he killed bull. After a few weeks he commented that the processor must have switched meat with him because it stunk when cooking and tasted horrible.

It is highly unlikely that three different bulls were mistreated when processing, The common denominator was local and their forage


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meat of the gods! love it!

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Break a stem of sagebrush...some pretty powerful chemicals will waft your nose. Far as I know, only pronghorn, mule deer and sage grouse eat it.


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My favorite game meat. The trick to having good pronghorn on the table is to handle it right in the field. We skin and ice them immediately. They have a hollow hair that really insulates well. If you just toss it in the back and the truck with the hide on and the sun beating down on it while you run around looking for another one it won't be very good. We take 2 coolers each with a couple bags of ice and don't concern looking for another one until the first is properly taken care of. Pronghorn get a bad rap because of poor field care.


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Originally Posted by MAC
My favorite game meat. The trick to having good pronghorn on the table is to handle it right in the field. We skin and ice them immediately. They have a hollow hair that really insulates well. If you just toss it in the back and the truck with the hide on and the sun beating down on it while you run around looking for another one it won't be very good. We take 2 coolers each with a couple bags of ice and don't concern looking for another one until the first is properly taken care of. Pronghorn get a bad rap because of poor field care.


MAC is right on. Take your cooler in the field with you and bone them out as soon as they hit the ground. The meat is better than elk and deer any day. Speed goats we shoot are feeding off of wheat grain piles in north central Montana. Harvest time coincides with hunting season. Good luck on your hunt.

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Headshot a spike blacktail feeding in an apple orchard. Immediately was skinned and gutted. Cool weather. Nasty tasting SOB. WTH?

I've had folks I trust swear some pronghorn were rank, even when cared for.


Surprised that folks put meat in ice melt water? In hot climes we use blocks of ice, keep meat above and dry.


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One time my partner got a deer in unusually warm weather. We ended up submerging it in a creek long enough to cool it. That won't help the bacteria count but it did cool it nicely.


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People also need to be mindful working around the scent glands while skinning out the game. Wash your knife, hands or change out your gloves. That will also contribute to the off putting taste or smells to the animal.

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I give all the ones I shoot away to others. Nobody in my family besides me likes them. Too bad though that is a lot of good meat.


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My family likes antelope meat better than elk and way better than mule deer.

I agree with others, it is important to get it cooled quickly. We get them down, hang them in the back of the truck to skin, then put them in coolers as quickly as possible.


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