Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Favorite red meats in order

Feather weight, Look again there's alfalfa East and West of town in Meeker also North near Axel, Powell Park west of town is all alfalfa, The Mule Deer move down to the White River fields usually in October and spend the winter there. The River Mule Deer are good eating for sure. Rio7

If you kill a young mule deer in August or September I'll bet they're edible, just about all game is.
I've eaten a lot of most everything. It's been a long time since i had anything mule deer that i liked. I killed one in 1997b that my dog wouldntb even eat.
I have a deer tag for Dec 15-31 so I'll get to try mule deer yet again. If it's good i will resurrect this thread and state so.

Liked them all but here goes.

Musk Ox
Black Bear
Bison/Moose
Caribou
Mt Goat

Labia, inner and outer.
Elk
Venison
Beef

The ranch’s finished beef
Elk
Bear
Lion
Young sandhill crane.

Osky

I dud not list black bear as it they are what they eat.

Have tried beaver fed- horrible.
Grass fed- blah
Sugar fed- fantastic

I would really like to hunt a fall, blueberry fed black bear.
I think it would be fantastic.

Going back next spring on a pastrie, molasses, oat fed baited bear hunt. Really looking to forward to filling the freezer and adding bear fat to the larder.

Thank you for the info RIO7. I was there a LONG time ago, 1994 to be exact. I was Mule Deer and Elk hunting on the Keystone Ranch. I was fortunate and blessed to get a nice 3x4 Muley and a 5x5 Elk on a 5 day hunt.
I don't foresee doing this again unless my son somehow talks me into it. Who knows?

I'm much more likely to be talked into taking a pronghorn trip out west somewhere, as that is one of the game animals I'd like to take.

Again, thank you for the information.

Antelope
Beef
Whitetail early season
Mule Deer
Elk

Honestly can't tell the difference between elk and mule deer.

Thinking that was seasoned with revenge, satisfaction and maybe a little karma. Although I bet a tender black bear that was finished off on bee hives would be pretty damn tasty. I shot one two years ago that was eating berries and, apples that was pretty good and he was a 425 bruin that was chased by hounds for a couple miles.

Pronghorn
Mule Deer
young wild pig
Elk
Black Bear

I've eaten quite a few types of African antelope, Cape Buffalo etc. and all were good when prepared by the camp chef, but I haven't eaten them enough to rank them. I rarely eat beef.

Of African game, i liked most but didn't care for warthog nor wildebeest.

You might very well have had a bad cook, though there are two kinds of wildebeest and even among Africans black wildebeest are considered better eating than blue wildebeest.

Have eaten all sorts of big game around the world, and the time of year, field-care and the cook can cause all sorts of variations on taste.

One example was a female impala that I killed on my first African safari for "camp meat" 30 years ago. The PH was of British descent, and had the complete, skinned-and-dress carcass set up to be turned slowly over hardwood coals. We then left to do a little bird-shooting before dark.

When we returned the "cook" had built up the fire and turned the impala into near-jerky. This was because the cook was of Boer descent, and they tend to cook the hell out of meat, as opposed to British cooks who tend to cook game on the rare side.

Have seen the same sort of thing in various other African countries, as well as others around the world. Germans also tend to cook the hell out of game, while others don't. Have had great game meat on the rare side in countries from New Zealand to Finland.

Have also had warthog and wildebeest that turned into jerky, and were as good as any domestic pork or lean beef.

Have also served pre-rut mule deer backstrap steaks from a 400-pound muley buck taken in Alberta to dinner guests. Didn't tell them what it was, but because of the size of the steaks two assumed it was elk--and remarked they were some of the best elk steaks....

By far the finest meat I have ever eaten anywhere in my life is Scimitar Horned Oryx that I shot as a cull animal on a Texas ranch that raises them.

It is milder and more tender than the finest prime rib. They are big animals. Net weight of quarters, backstraps, and neck meat, no ribs, hanging on the hooks was 174#. So guessing live weight was around 450#.

Otherwise, we eat whitetails and wild pigs as our main meat. While time consuming, trimming off tendons, silver skin, and “gristle” makes a world of difference and turns big, old bucks into very tender meat.

I need to shoot one of those scimitar's.

Prime beef Ribeye
Bison
Warthog
Moose and venison would tie
Impala
Caribou- ok in burger, decent but moose and venison are much better
Dall sheep- ok, must be cooked super rare
Black bear? 95% are disgusting, the other 5% are edible.

Scimitars are excellent--and in my experience are all oryx. Gemsbok are bigger--the heaviest I've taken in Africa was also taken on a cull hunt, and weighed 550 whole on official scales.

But have also had gemsbok meat ruined in Africa by over-cooking....

The same cook fixed the other dishes except cheetah which he refused to cook so i fixed it myself. He was quite a good cook otherwise.

I have not yet had many western species, but here are my favorites from my limited experience:

1. Sandhill crane breasts cooked medium rare
2. Ice aged whitetail deer
3. Dry aged whitetail deer
4. Mallard duck breast cooked medium rare
5. Grocery store meat (beef, chicken, pork)

I think field care, proper aging, and not overcooking are the keys to excellent wild game.

Beef Ribeye

OP said Red Meat, so I won't start out with BBQ Wild, Feral Pork!

1. Elk ( include Red stag)
2. Oryx + Gemsbuk
3. Beef
4. Axis deer
5. Mule Deer
6. Whitetail feeding on Soy Beans.

While pronghorn have what I call "pretty meat", I can't stand the goaty things, ha. Yes, I know how to field care Game, and "still", has a "whang" I can't get past. I have it processed and then give it to friends who do love it ( and I suspect they can eat three day old road kill too! lol) But I don't eat Mutton either! Lamb chops, oh yeah! But they aren't Red meat, to me.