Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Mule deer meat now....any good?

Headed out on my first ever mule deer hunt this fall. From what I can tell, it’ll be pre-rut in New Mexico the week I go, November 7th- 11th.

To date, I haven’t heard from any hunting buddies that the meat is that tasty. What’s your opinion? Eaten whitetail all my life, elk , moose too. My first antelope last year was fantastic.....just wondering how mule deer compares.

Thanx in advance.

Not quite as good as elk, but very good.

I shot a rutting Mulie a few seasons ago as he was pushing some does. When butchering, there was a definite odor. Meat was still really good.

We actually had Mule deer backstrap last night.

I can't tell any difference between mule deer and anything else, myself. Even if they've been rutting, if the critter is cooled down quickly it should be OK.

Are you hunting sagebrush deer or mountain deer? Farmground? That's made a bigger flavor difference for me than anything else.

^Absolutely this.

Grew up on mulies. They are good eating.

Yep.

I have had excellent, good, bad and in between

If I kill a big buck in the rut, I try to age the meat as long as I can. They start rutting after it is cold and snowy here, so getting the meat cooled down quickly is easy. I can smell the testosterone in the meat. The longer it ages, the more that smell goes away. Then it is ready for final butchering.

I try to shoot deer before the rut gets hot and heavy now, and will kill a good meat Muley before shooting a rutty buck anymore.

I like a good fat mule deer killed before the rut better than any wild game other than moose..

Rut does make a difference, a Thanksgiving buck in full rut isn't the best venison. It also makes a difference what they eat......if you shoot a prerut buck or a doe in an alfalfa field, it will be good.

Mule deer give me buck fever more than any other big game animal (to date), and I’ve shot quite a few. It might be my favorite big game animal to hunt.

Anymore, it has to be a real big one to get me to pull the trigger. I’d much rather eat whitetail.

I canned a stinky rut buck a couple years back and it seemed to help, but I still have a few quart jars on the shelf I never seem to get to.

Big one or nothing for me. The eating is a big part of that decision.

Will be hunting mountain bucks for the most part. In the lower elevations, if I run into one there, they tend to fill up on oak brush.

Big mule deer bucks in general aren't that great to eàt. The ones I kill in Sept are ok, the rutting bucks are terrible. I don't shoot small bucks and I know they would be better,but for meat, nothing beats the whitetail does in the field. I spend all of my time hunting big mule deer,a truly big one, is the hardest trophy to get in North america, and a great challenge, so eating them is secondary.

Oh, I like mule deer meat just fine. I hunt them year after year.

Yes, some aren't the best, not up there with elk & whitetail, but it can be quite good. Sometimes I "cheat" and end up shooting one that's been feeding on alfalfa... That's not all bad.

Guy

I prefer to use them in things like sausage or jerky where I "hide" the taste a bit. Like hunting them, but they are not near the top of my list of favorite critters to chew on

I've had mulie bucks from both Alfalpha fields and sage brush flats, both very good. Take care of the meat and it will take care of you!

A big rutty one are not good eating. Last one I shot I could not finish as it was very gamey.

I think individual taste buds have a lot to do with this. As I mentioned earlier, I absolutely can't tell the difference between mule deer and elk, nor whitetail and antelope for that matter. Same for moose, caribou and whatever other wild red meat.

I know people that prefer mule deer to anything else. I also know people who won't touch whitetail, but like everything else. How it was taken care of and how it was cooked I am sure has something to do with some of this, especially with a bad taste that was etched in stone in a person's mind when trying a critter for the first time. I guess my only advice to the OP is to try it, and if it is too gamey or nasty either give it away or grind it into sausage. I think New Mexico allows game meat to be made into dog food, so that's possibly another option.

I like mule deer, and have eaten a slew of 'em. If you think it's good, then you will go apeschittttt over axis deer. Getcha some.

Godogs; I hope you and yours are doing well today. Very much like TInman i find very little difference in the flavour betwixt whitetail and mule deer. We eat a lot of mule deer the vast majority of which are shot in the SE corner of Alberta which is dry short grass prairie with lots of sage and very few acres in crop.

Have great hunt enjoy the meat and please share pictures with us.

If we get some snow in late Oct, they'll start moving in with the does. Around here, though, the snow usually comes a little later, Thanksgiving last year. Our general deer season closes Oct 31 so unless we get some early snow, they'll still be high and hard to find.
Several years ago, we had a good snow about the 25th of Oct. The bucks moved down and my partner and I both got decent ones out of herds of does. Their necks were swollen but I don't think the rut had really started yet. They were both very good eating.