Do different species of deer taste different?

[ajr5406]

Finally got all my ducks in a row and hoping to shoot a deer or two next season.

Two questions:
1. Do different species of deer taste different?
2. Does deer taste different at different times of the season?

cheers.

["No Choke"Lord Walsingham]

Deer tastes different dependent upon how you handle it, primarily. Of course, Deer tastes different dependent upon whom you ask. I suppose most folks say yes, Whitetail will display a difference in taste when compared to Blacktail, for example.

The thing of it is - Handle your Game correctly and you will be in for great eating (speaking of which, instead of merely getting them in a row so to speak, shoot some Ducks, too! They are delicious).

Lots 'O Luck this season.

[Ride Red]

You'll definitely taste the difference between a deer from the grain fields vs one from the mountains. I prefer to get all the fat off and bones out, seems to taste better that way. But like No Choke said, it's all in how well you take care of any game.

[Big Lew]

I handle all my deer the same way. Both my wife and I rate our 3 mainstream species as:-
whitetail is usually the mildest, mule deer second, and coastal blacktail the strongest tasting.
I personally believe it has a lot to do with the type of foods they eat.
Grouse are the same but their taste is even much more related to what they have been eating.

[markomoose]

I handle all my deer the same way. Both my wife and I rate our 3 mainstream species as:-
whitetail is usually the mildest, mule deer second, and coastal blacktail the strongest tasting.
I personally believe it has a lot to do with the type of foods they eat.
Grouse are the same but their taste is even much more related to what they have been eating.I agree with what Big Lew says but you can alter the flavour with any great marinade.

[t-rexer]

My take is that mule deer are the most gamey followed by black tail and white tail is the best. Can't speak for fallow deer as I've never had it

[ajr5406]

Interesting... Makes total sense...

What about taste at different times of the season?

[jtred]

If you get the meat cooled down quickly and keep it clean will ensure good quality meat. As for difference in taste as others mentioned what they eat will affect taste. I find white tail tastes somewhat like lamb where as mule deer, pre-rut is very neutral(during rut can be pretty strong tasting you have to be really careful handling rutting mule deer no meat should come into contact with that stinky hair). Elk tastes good always as long as it gets cooled down quickly the same for moose(larger animals are susceptible to bone sour if not cooled quickly). I've never had blacktail so I can't comment there. Also I find does or cows to generally be better tasting and more tender. The same goes for a young buck or bull they will taste better than that massive hoary old buck/bull. Cool it quickly, keep it clean, get the fat off and you are in for some of the best meat in the world.

[zippermouth]

ive shot lots of mule deer in the rut,, they are strong smelling but the meat is fine. sometimes I think the rut will make the meat tougher but if you take your time and are careful they wont be gamey. I tend to have had better tasting wt over the years than mule deer but I've also had some pretty awesome mule deer. early season deer are definitely favorable.

[Big Lew]

ive shot lots of mule deer in the rut,, they are strong smelling but the meat is fine. sometimes I think the rut will make the meat tougher but if you take your time and are careful they wont be gamey. I tend to have had better tasting wt over the years than mule deer but I've also had some pretty awesome mule deer. early season deer are definitely favorable.

Yes, I agree....I was a teenager the first time I went hunting without a parent away from home and I shot a large mule deer buck on December 3 in Savona. I was hunting some canyons and frequently could smell him long before finding him. When gutting him he stunk really bad, but I followed my dad's earlier suggestions about keeping anything from touching the meat and it turned out to be delicious. It certainly helped that it was cold outside so it cooled off quickly. I also shot a doe that was with him and although it was more tender, there really wasn't much difference in the meat.

[Apolonius]

Taste is mostly related to what they eat.Age adds to a tougher meat to chew.Time of the year relates also that a deer in the fall will have more fat content and more flavour .Also a buck it is different than a female,must be the hormone thing.And during the rut it is much easier to contaminate the meat.Clean your animal and cool it down fast.Also personally i found that bones left in ,give it a taste.And like others say a good marinade works.

[Lucky77_]

I'm surprised to hear from other members the they feel the blacktail is the strongest. I feel the opposite.
blacktail being the best followed by whitetail with mule deer coming up last.
My wife and I love our costal deer meat, even more so than elk. I always debone all meat and remove all fat leaving only the lease amount of connective tissues. Cook it rare! Otherwise it will be like chewing on seasoned cardboard.


Just my 2 cents

[REMINGTON JIM]

I handle all my deer the same way. Both my wife and I rate our 3 mainstream species as:-
whitetail is usually the mildest, mule deer second, and coastal blacktail the strongest tasting.
I personally believe it has a lot to do with the type of foods they eat.
Grouse are the same but their taste is even much more related to what they have been eating.

I agree Big Lew - and grain fed Whitetail is simply the BEST there is JMO as for grouse Willow grouse have white meat while Fool-Spruce & Blue grouse are dark meat - taste totally different - much stronger flavour in the dark meat - jmo RJ

[Brez]

Finally got all my ducks in a row and hoping to shoot a deer or two next season.

Two questions:
1. Do different species of deer taste different?............Yes.
2. Does deer taste different at different times of the season?........Yes cheers.


Depends on what they are eating, depends on how old they are, depends on if they are in rut, depends on how they die, depends on how they are handled after they die.
A few years ago I was completely surprised at how good a couple of young 4-point muleys tasted that we'd shot in October. I would say that I have not had any better whitetail - and I've had great whitetail from Alberta.
All you can do is make a quick clean kill and dress it quickly and cleanly and cool it down.
Good luck.

[IronNoggin]

My take is that mule deer are the most gamey followed by black tail and white tail is the best. Can't speak for fallow deer as I've never had it

I would tend to agree with that assessment.

Fallow btw can be as good (or even better) than whitetail - depending on where / when it was taken. For instance: I got in on the last of the LEH Fallow hunts on Sidney. The animals I took there were good eating, but definitely had a little taste of the game in them - likely due to the fact they had pretty well eaten everything green from as high as a man stands on down. On the other end of the scale, I was involved with a farm cull, and those well fed deer were perhaps the Best venison we've ever had.

Younger deer are almost always more tender and very good table fare. The Biggies... not so much. That said, we've taken the odd Big Boy that was just fine. And some of the "Revert" bucks we've taken that did not participate in the rut were excellent eating.

Time of year does play an influence. This is due to the type and state of the vegetation they are eating. Early season critters are generally better all round.

In the case of all game, a great deal depends on your care in the field and after getting it home.

Cheers,
Nog

[ajr5406]

Thanks guys... Most helpful!

[hoochie]

I took an Island deer once. handled it the same as I do with WT. Damned stinky deer and the meat didn't taste very nice. I have never shot a "trophy" buck, but had some one phrase it to me like this " would you rather eat an old cow, or some tender veil?" It made me rethink trying to hunt the biggest largest deer, and settle for a decent body size.. not a grampa deer.
and a female white tail? DOE-LICIOUS!

[M.Dean]

If you enjoy eating a Rutt'in Buck's scent glands, try "Fallow Deer"!!! Real glad it was back in my drink'in days, cuz straight whiskey was the only think that'd get that taste out of my mouth!!! A nice young Mule deer tastes good, a "Any age" White tail tastes great!!!

[HarryToolips]

The ones I shot in the rut/pre-rut tasted the same as the ones I shot in September to me...all tasted good as I took my time on butchering the meat and getting all silver skin etc off..

[Ranger95]

Fallow btw can be as good (or even batter) than whitetail - depending on where / when it was taken.



I agree Nog, Fallow is by far the best deer venison - whitetail, black tail and mule deer, make great jerky and sausage!

[ratherbefishin]

Worst tasting deer I ever had should have been the best,I shot a nice fat fork blacktail buck early in the morning on opening day in September,but went back to get my wife to help me drag it back up to the road.The kids were still sleeping so by the time we got them up,fed them breakfast and the went back to get my buck,a couple of hours had passed.

The buck had just started to bloat a bit and I cleaned it and got it back to the truck....by this time it was getting quite warm outside.Seeing some huckleberries,we stopped to pick them and finally got home after lunch,where I hung the deer and then butchered it. That was the worst,strongest tasting buck I ever had,and it should have been prime-had I gutted it right away,kept it cool and got the hide off as soon as possible(which is what I do now)But I was a young guy ,hadn't shot a ot of deer and unlike most of the bucks I shot later in the season when it was cooler didn't realize how important it was to get them bled,cleaned cooled down and get the hide off when it was warm.

funny,one of the best tasting deer we ever had was a big 4 point muley in full rut,shot him up in Savona in November , he stank something awful,but it was cold,snow on the ground,I gutted and hung him in a tree for a couple of days then drove back home to the island,hung him for about 10 days(it was cold) and then butchered him- best venison we ever had...

[ajr5406]

Worst tasting deer I ever had should have been the best,I shot a nice fat fork blacktail buck early in the morning on opening day in September,but went back to get my wife to help me drag it back up to the road.The kids were still sleeping so by the time we got them up,fed them breakfast and the went back to get my buck,a couple of hours had passed.

The buck had just started to bloat a bit and I cleaned it and got it back to the truck....by this time it was getting quite warm outside.Seeing some huckleberries,we stopped to pick them and finally got home after lunch,where I hung the deer and then butchered it. That was the worst,strongest tasting buck I ever had,and it should have been prime-had I gutted it right away,kept it cool and got the hide off as soon as possible(which is what I do now)But I was a young guy ,hadn't shot a ot of deer and unlike most of the bucks I shot later in the season when it was cooler didn't realize how important it was to get them bled,cleaned cooled down and get the hide off when it was warm.

funny,one of the best tasting deer we ever had was a big 4 point muley in full rut,shot him up in Savona in November , he stank something awful,but it was cold,snow on the ground,I gutted and hung him in a tree for a couple of days then drove back home to the island,hung him for about 10 days(it was cold) and then butchered him- best venison we ever had...


Interesting... I guess the take home point is to gut, and cool the animal ASAP. Seems to be the most important thing from what everyone has said.

Thanks for the info!

[ratherbefishin]

I 've only had a couple of mule deer,the rest were Blacktails.I've never had a whitetail,but we're going to try to get one next season

[SeaScene]

Gutless field dressing... (search that on youtube). Fast, cooled quickly by this method and just the meat comes home never a problem.