Deer game processing question

[vml]

My question is why my deer meat would taste gamie, I will give you the steps that were under my control. I have harvested a few coues deer in the past ten years mostly down south but for some reason after cooking this years deer meat it has a real gamie taste. Seriously, If anybody has any advice so this won't happen again pls advise, but it just might be, "it is what it is", maybe...thx..

 

Killed deer in 24A bottom of canyon Nov.11th.

One shot, field dressed immediately and quartered deer.

Put meat in game bag.

It took a good three plus hours to get meat to truck.

Washed off meat with water hose (first time I ever used water hose to clean off meat).

Put meat back in game bag and hung over night (padded meat somewhat dry).

Got back to Phoenix Nov 12, wrapped meat in freezer paper and stored meat in freezer.

Took meat to meat processor 2/07.

Game meat taste real gamie for some reason and the taste stays with you for a while.

 

Thanks and meat will not go to waste.

[hunter4life]

The biggest problem I see is the statement "Took meat to meat processor."

My family has been butchering our own meat for many years. Every once in a great while we don't have the time to do it ourselves and get it done by the meat processor and it is never as good as when we do it ourselves. I think the main difference is that when we do it ourselves we take the time to get off all the fat and get it really clean, where it would never be economical for a meat processing place to spend the same amount of effort unless they charged a lot more.

 

With that being said, sometimes a certain animal just tastes more "gamey" than others when the way it was handled from the time it got shot until it was packaged in the freezer was very similar to other animals that did not taste gamey. In these cases it is a mystery to me, and I just chock it up to variation between individual animals.

[COOSEFAN]

You say "One shot"..........did it drop in it's tracks or did it take awhile? This can create a difference in game meat as well. I also have heard that washing off the meat with a hose is not reccomended, it is better to just let it stay dirty and develop a crust that actually protects the meat and is easily cut off later while processing.

[azyoung]

I would agree with both hunter4life and coosefan - butcher the meat yourself cut all fat and remove the meat from the bone I also heard the same about water I have read that it will trigger bacteria. I would also suggest not freezing the meat prior to butchering. When thawed and re-freeze I think you loose some of the blood and other juices. Not sure just an opinion.

 

azyoung

[firstcoueswas80]

Things that i would have done differently"

1. i would not spray it off with water.

2. i would not have waited nearly 3 1/2 months to take it to the butcher, i usually take my deer the next day or day after if possible.

 

on the other hand, try soaking it in milk for a while before you cook your next meal of venison

[Huntn coues]

Things that i would have done differently"

1. i would not spray it off with water.

2. i would not have waited nearly 3 1/2 months to take it to the butcher, i usually take my deer the next day or day after if possible.

 

on the other hand, try soaking it in milk for a while before you cook your next meal of venison

 

 

 

I have heard the same about the milk. I have a friend who swears by it and everything he cooks is very tasty.

[DesertBull]

If the meat was cut on a band saw, it could have alot of marrow on it. I had that problem once too.

[donniedent]

In addition to everything else mentioned, make sure when you are trimming your meat right before you cook it... cut all the "silver meat" off. Its really just tendons but alot of guys call it silver meat. I've been butchering all my own meat for the last couple years and if you have the time I'd say do it yourself.

Example: We as a group took 9 animals in Wyoming this year, I myself took 2. Everyone but me took their meat to a butcher and everyone else's meat tasted very gamey. All but 2 of the animals were shot within a half mile of each other so diet wasn't a factor. I took a buck and a doe and if I hadn't labeled the packages of meat I couldn't have told you which was which. I shot those deer back in Oct. and I have no meat left. That should tell you how good it was. I've got a saying I live by "If I can do it myself, why pay someone else to do it??"

 

NOBODY will care for your game like you will.

 

Donnie

[vml]

Thanks for all the responses.

 

If I had to do it all over again I would probably not use a water hose to clean off meat.

I did take deer meat to a meat cutting school where they are being trained under the guidance of a real meat cutter. (it was packaged very nicely 39 cents a pound). "I know you get what you pay for".

I'm slowly getting around to maybe meat cutting my own game, I ordered a DVD from Colorado Game and Fish about de-boning and meat cutting. Any information or resources on game processing please pass it on.

 

I did not take the backstraps to the meat cutter so it will be interesting to see if there is a taste difference.

 

Coosefan-- One shot and the deer ran about thirty yards and fell.

 

Again thanks for responding.

[az4life]

Let us know about the backstraps. One other suggestion would be to soak the meat in apple cider and onions as a marinade before you cook it. Crock pots are great for this but marinade overnight if you plan to grill and it will do pretty well also.

[billrquimby]

I have been spraying deer, elk, antelope, bison, even turkey with water to clean it all my life, and I can guarantee you that it does not affect the taste of the meat, other than to remove the objectionable stuff that gets on it.

 

I agree with those on this thread who say you should butcher your game yourself. The fat on deer does not freeze well, and the longer you keep it the more it will spoil. When I butcher a deer, I remove every bit of fat as well as much "membrane" as I can.

 

Even so, some deer are "gamey," while others are not. After eating a whole lot of deer (all of them delicious) from the Texas Hill Country where they eat a lot of cattle feed, I believe the difference between the taste of deer has a lot to do with what they've been eating.

 

In your case, though, I would bet that freezing and defrosting and freezing again -- as well as not removing the fat -- contributed to "gameyness."

[CouesWhitetail]

I think the meat processor just gave you back mule deer meat.....

[More D]

Our family has always processed our own game meet and we have not had any issues as of yet. The only thing that stands out is a young fork coues buck that my cousin took about four years ago. We all had high hopes for some great meat from this tender young buck but it came out gamie. The only thing that was done differently was that my cousin ran home from 36C and skinned him and froze the quarters bone-in. Since it was warm as usual but was still in a hurry to get back to camp he did not do the normal routine of butchering "in-shop." The loins were enjoyed that night and were great, the rest of the meat was not.

The second is the Elk chorizo that my wife made back in November. I still have about 3 pounds left and it does not taste gamie but rather spoiled. The ground Elk is fine and so are the loins. I think that the canola oil that was used to prepare the chorizo was already used or just plain old. It makes me want to cry to have to toss that chorizo out. Besides that every thing else was great, especially the tamales.

 

 

Don't kill it if you are not going to eat it(except for coyotes) and bucher your own if you want to eat the game you took!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[.270]

Our family has always processed our own game meet and we have not had any issues as of yet. The only thing that stands out is a young fork coues buck that my cousin took about four years ago. We all had high hopes for some great meat from this tender young buck but it came out gamie. The only thing that was done differently was that my cousin ran home from 36C and skinned him and froze the quarters bone-in. Since it was warm as usual but was still in a hurry to get back to camp he did not do the normal routine of butchering "in-shop." The loins were enjoyed that night and were great, the rest of the meat was not.

The second is the Elk chorizo that my wife made back in November. I still have about 3 pounds left and it does not taste gamie but rather spoiled. The ground Elk is fine and so are the loins. I think that the canola oil that was used to prepare the chorizo was already used or just plain old. It makes me want to cry to have to toss that chorizo out. Besides that every thing else was great, especially the tamales.

 

 

Don't kill it if you are not going to eat it(except for coyotes) and bucher your own if you want to eat the game you took!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[.270]

been so long since i've done anything here i forgot how. don't know what i did on that last post there. anyway, take it from a guy who has killed more animals than bovine tuberculosis. a water hose is your best friend. whoever told you fellers not to wash down meat is just plain wrong. in the first place, nothing takes the heat out of meat and starts it cooling like water. you can get all the blood and hair and dirt off of it. you can wash out all the blood from bullet wounds. it is just a good practice when it is available. why would letting dirty meat dry out be a good thing? main thing is to gut it immediatley, not in awhile, right now, and skin it asap. i carry a saw with me and always and split the brisket through the last rib. i know the taxidermist don't like ya to, but if he's worth a dang, he can fix a cut in the cape a few inches long. don't load it in the truck and drive around town for 6 hours. don't wait until the next day, like you see all them know-nothin' foney huntin' show jerks do. deer are a little more forgiving, but still need quick attention. when i get an elk, i head to the closest tree and hang it up and get the hide off. if i have a chain saw, i split it. if i don't have a way to get it up a tree, i skin it on the ground and cut it up to where i can handle it. if you don't at least split the neck and shoulders to the spine with a knife, there is a good chance it will sour. even if it's real cold. keep it as clean as you can. if you get a little dirt on it, or even some gutshot fluid or poke a hole in the bladder, wash it off if you can right then, but if you can't then do it when you get close to a hose. main thing is to take good care of it. if it's warm weather, get it in an icechest with some ice, take it to the locker, do something to cool it off. if you're hanging meat in warm weather, hang it out at night and take it down in the morning and put it in the coolest place available and cover it up with blankets, sleeping bags, whatever you have, and then hang it back up at night. you hafta be vigilant. if your meat turns out bad, it is probably your fault. i have my own grinder and usually take care of em myself. mainly because i like deer and elk cut up thin and i can control how big the packages are and get the right amount of beef tallow in the burger. (pig is just too greasy) but i've taken a lot of em to the locker over the years and they've always done an ok job. just not quite as picky as i am. between me and my kin, we've killed hundreds of deer and i've been in on probably well over 100, maybe 200, elk kills, and in all that i remember 2 deer that were rank. and they were killed in the same place a year apart and we always figgerd it had someting to do with diet. all the other meat i've seen that was bad was the fault of the guy taking care of it. if you don't trust a locker plant, then learn how to cut it up yourself. you can get a decent grinder for 3 or 4 hunnerd bucks. learn how to bone one out in the field so that you can do a good job of butchering it at home. a good one for about $700. and they'll last forever. main thing is to not be lazy and take good care of it. that is 'cept for javelinas. they are just bad. Lark.