Terrible tasting deer steak

[twoSevenO]

Venison fat is disgusting.

But also, deer steaks taste like shit compared to elk or moose so theres that too.

[mpotzold]

Venison fat is disgusting.

But also, deer steaks taste like shit compared to elk or moose so theres that too.

Agree with the fat part.

Re: steak
It depends on the age, sex, time of the year, proper cleaning & hanging the deer.

I used to visit a good SFU friend's family ranch/farm in Pemberton in the 60's. His Swiss mom made deer roast & steak that were something to die for. 10 out of 10.Every time.

[twoSevenO]

Agree with the fat part.

Re: steak
It depends on the age, sex, time of the year, proper cleaning & hanging the deer.

I used to visit a good SFU friend's family ranch/farm in Pemberton in the 60's. His Swiss mom made deer roast & steak that were something to die for. 10 out of 10.Every time.

Sure, but my point is you dont need a special swiss mom to cook a good elk or moose steak or roast. Anyone can do it and it will taste awesome

[finngun]

Dash,,,was it whitetale or muley...they have diff.rut time..

[Wild one]

Dash,,,was it whitetale or muley...they have diff.rut time..

Slightly different start to the rut but not much. There is also a part of the population that starts earlier and later then majority of the deer in the area. This goes for all three species of deer

You can get a stinky buck of all species in BC from late October till into late season December

[dodge456]

Fully agree with you and Gun Dog.
Had a similar experience many years ago when the buck deer steak was good except for the little bit of side fat. It was so bad I had to immediately spit it out & clean my mouth.
The fat was tough & tasted rancid. At other times it was edible in very small quantities.

Absolutely agree with this. Deer fat is one of the most horrid things I've tasted. I once had jerky done at a butcher and there were bits of fat attached, even that was putrid. On a steak without being cured its much worse. I butcher my own now and do not leave a stitch of fat anywhere at all on the meat when I'm cutting. I'd take a look at that next time, before you cook it check for bits of fat and trim it off.

[twoSevenO]

Absolutely agree with this. Deer fat is one of the most horrid things I've tasted. I once had jerky done at a butcher and there were bits of fat attached, even that was putrid. On a steak without being cured its much worse. I butcher my own now and do not leave a stitch of fat anywhere at all on the meat when I'm cutting. I'd take a look at that next time, before you cook it check for bits of fat and trim it off.

I look at my own trim junk pipe and others call that the grind pile. Wtf. Even meat I grind up I dont let an ounce of fat get into.

Grest way to turn others off game meat too is to serve them some gross fatty venison. Yuck

[Bugle M In]

I have just found that it depends from one creature to the next as to how good the meat is, be it tender or taste.
Deer meat isn't on my high list, compared to elk by a long shot.
We had a friend who was a butcher and owned a Deli and did our meat for us for years till his passing.
We had one bull elk that was really old (teeth worn right out!) and yet it was one of the few times where our friend took some meat for himself, as it was the most tender and tasty.
(tender might have been due to the fact that it was deboned immediately, and then hung at a cooler where it was left until we got a call to
pick up the meat as it was "starting to turn"...meaning just starting to smell a little ripe?)
It was awesome.

I agree with the fat not being all that tasty on deer, and that video about removing those glands.
So many factors, such as feed and timing.
Remove any bad blood shot meat right away, get the hair off and meat cooled as quick as possible.
That is all you can do and watch out for those glands and where you touch and where you grab to handle while gutting/processing.

We took 2 WT once at the same time (side by side), they were the same age and size, taken in late September, long before the rut.
One was great and on we had to give to the OWL society.
The one buck I took went down quick, while my buddies buck didn't and we suspect that one was the one that wasn't that good.
(we had split the meat and didn't bother to process one before the other, so meat was mixed, but we always knew when we had a bad piece on the dinner table).
My Dads latest buck will most likely be stew and pepperoni.
Deer meat can be hit and miss, atleast in our experience.

[guest]

Unfortunately it sounds tough for you to determine the actual cause but.......in nearly 50 years of too many Deer harvests to count of all types of BC deer, I must admit Ive never experienced what you describe.
Deer shot early on season openers to the last day of the season in Rut or not......never any issue with Rut flavour, scent gland flavour, never piss flavoured, never gut flavoured.

Yes Ive had stronger flavours in a few, more with Mulies than WT.
BTs can have a stronger flavour specially in Rut but never described as so foul tasting.
Yes I trim all fat off. I butcher my own and have for years, I also package with no bone and cook with all meat deboned.

Stronger flavours certainly come from fat and bone IMO.

Even Bucks Rut stupid and Stinking up the surrounding hills have been some of my better eating deer.

Field dressed properly including piss bags, scent glands removed, skinned and cooled asap.....
Deer is terrific when cooked properly.
Do not overcook, at least a slight juicy pink appearance on your steak or roast is a must.
I hope your healing well and get out for another buck soon Dash.
Good luck to you. CT

[Dash]

Thank you all so much for the feedback and well wishes in regards to my recovery! I'm almost feeling 100% and hoping to get back out there for a while yet this season!

Just to answer a few questions I saw being asked:

- It was a mule deer
- It only ran about 20 feet when shot
- It was field dressed within 30 minutes of being down
- I took out the bladder intact and didn't get any feces in the cavity
- It was a boiler room shot but it did nick the very top of the stomach as it had a really small hole. It was thoroughly cleaned however and very minimal mess
- The hide was taken off within a couple hours
- I can't remember the exact temperatures but I know it was fairly cool, as it was below freezing that evening
- Most the time I trim the fat off the carcass but I didn't this time. The butcher however said he trims a lot of the fat (pleasantly surprised by that)
- Fat and silver skin were trimmed off the steak prior to cooking
- We got the tenderloins and backstraps in steaks, some minimal ground, pepperoni and garlic sausage. These were the first steaks we've had off this deer but we've had some pepperoni and garlic sausage so far and it's been great

As usual I've learned a ton from everyone's feedback and it's incredibly appreciated. I'm going to chop this up to probably my own mishandling in my rush with the possibility maybe the butcher cut a gland or maybe mixed up a steak. They've been amazing and were full but accommodated me this time even though they were insanely busy so I wouldn't hold it against them in the slightest if that did happen. Their meat to date has also been top notch.

I'm really hoping I get the opportunity to try my hand at butchering my own deer still this season! Here's to hoping!

My sincere thanks again everyone. Enjoy the rest of your season!!

Tracy