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Favorite Game Meat

5K views 63 replies 27 participants last post by  Klickrolf 
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#1 ·
I decided I'd make a new post instead of derailing the brown bear thread even further.

It was there that two posts, one about bear meat and one about hackle roosters got me to thinking about my favorite wild game meats.

By far my favorite meat I've experienced is Montana pronghorn antelope. It can be pretty tough and has an intense herbal flavor. I prefer it dredged in flour, salt, pepper and pan fried. I generally eat it medium if I'm cooking for myself and nobody else.

I love pheasant. Even when it has been stringy and chewy, I've enjoyed it.

I'll never turn down deer and elk, but they are second tier below antelope.

The wild boar I've had has been great, but every time I've eaten it was at restaurants and there were sauces on it...not conducive to tasting the actual flavor.

The bison I've had was among the worst culinary experiences I remember--expensive and bland.

I won't eat bear or any other scavenger/predatory mammal. Yes, I realize that boar are pretty much omnivorous.

Alligator has been hit-and-miss.

What are your favorites?
 
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#3 ·
Buffalo ranks right up on top with me. While most of the meat is really lean, adding a bit of fat helps a lot, along with some salt and pepper. The best cuts are from the hump across the shoulders, the liver, and tongue. The hump meat is really fatty, and even after trimming is juicy and flavorful.

Second on the list is Elk. I do love a good Elk steak, along with smoked ribs.

Roast pheasant is good, rabbit can be tasty, squirrel is fine on it's own. A great meal is a stew made up of all three. Had that once in PA while hunting with a friend about 40 years ago. I can still remember the taste.

My wife swears by Chukkar, roasted or fried, though I have no experience with that bird.

I ate so much venison, duck and goose as a kid I lost my taste for it.
 
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#5 ·
I only hunt birds, so I've developed a fondness of upland game. Pheasant, quail, etc. But I have eaten deer, elk, and moose that my buddies have shot. All pretty tasty, but they have all been with sauces/seasoning so I can't honestly say which was better and why. I've also had store bought bison a few times which I enjoyed. I bet wild boar is really good.
 
#8 ·
Buffalo ranks #1, alfala-fed Whitetail Deer is awfully good, then Moose & Elk. Pheasant & Grouse tie for 2nd behind Doves. I also thought Mountain Goat was delicious, possibly because I worked so hard to get one & packed it out for almost 8 miles. But in my old age, I'll take a tender rib-eye or grilled tri-tip over any other red meat.
 
#17 ·
In order of perference

North American animals:

Calf elk
Calf moose
Fawn whietail
Yearling antelope
Young feral hog
White front geese
Pheasant or ruffed grouse breast cooked lightly, quickly
Quail cooked the same as pheasant
Duck and goose sausage made at NW Sausage in Centralia
Dove breast medallions with sliced jalapeño pepper sandwiched inside, wrapped with bacon and just seared barely

Duck/ Canada goose breat medallions cooked rare with raspberry sauce

Cotton tailed rabbit
Common snapping turtle, bullfrog legs, soft shelled turtle

I didn't shoot the calves, a Canadian friend did. I did shoot two whitetail fawns one day in grad school, it was legal in Georgia on either sex days. Being poor and hungry will do that. Damn good eating.

African game
Any of it, it was all far superior to any of the game listed above. Either their animals just taste better or they know how to cook a hell of a lot better than we do.
 
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#20 ·
In order of perference

North American animals:

Calf elk
Calf moose
Fawn whietail
Yearling antelope
Young feral hog
White front geese
Pheasant or ruffed grouse breast cooked lightly, quickly
Quail cooked the same as pheasant
Duck and goose sausage made at NW Sausage in Centralia
Dove breast medallions with sliced jalapeño pepper sandwiched inside, wrapped with bacon and just seared barely

Duck/ Canada goose breat medallions cooked rare with raspberry sauce

Cotton tailed rabbit
Common snapping turtle, bullfrog legs, soft shelled turtle

I didn't shoot the calves, a Canadian friend did. I did shoot two whitetail fawns one day in grad school, it was legal in Georgia on either sex days. Being poor and hungry will do that. Damn good eating.

African game
Any of it, it was all far superior to any of the game listed above. Either their animals just taste better or they know how to cook a hell of a lot better than we do.
You've had more varieties than I, by far.

As for the African game being better...I wonder if it had something to do with the experience making the food seem better? Presentation and situation can often affect perception.
 
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#22 ·
Elk, particlarly young, ie spikes, yearling cows, calf elk is like veal.
Moose, slow pressure cooked to an internal temp of ~ 140
Dall sheep tenderloins, griddle fried with minced garlic, shallots, and morrells. Sante Fe oven baked spuds and slaw on the side.
Slow cooked caribou stew.
Fresh halibut in a cajun beer batter.
Fresh from the ocean steamed dunginess crab

You can have the speed goats unless it's smoked and turned into summer sausage. I ate too much as a kid.
 
#25 ·
calf m0ose
yearling elk
3 year old or younger adult moose
3 year old or less adult elk
eastern WA mallard, pintail or gadwall eating grain, western WA ducks not so much
quail, ruffed grouse, dove and huns in no particular order
young pheasant, old pheasant not so much
young blacktail taken well before rut, after rut starts forget it
if I never chew on spring bear again that is fine with me, though spring bear sausage can be pretty good, fall bear forget it

Dave
 
#37 ·
So many good choices. Having lived in several parts of this country I have noticed major differences in taste of game, and as stated due to diet--especially with deer and elk. Az bear that feast on juniper berries was one of the best. Never had a good bite of Wa. bear. Many wild creatures I would occasionally eat in younger days I would not eat now. Fresh King salmon is hard to beat.

Tin Ingredient Drink Terrestrial animal Metal
 
#40 ·
If you can kill it, I'll eat it. I've tried some nasty things. By far the worst was Marrmot! Nothing but grease and gristle. Porcupine comes in a close second.

Best? Beefalo. Buffalo are too lean, Beef has been over bred.

My step-dad had a buffalo ranch in eastern Washington. We ate a lot of buffalo! You needed to add fat to the meat.

He also had some Beefalo. Best damn steaks I ever had.
 
#41 ·
Sure, clams count. I was intending it to be less commercially available proteins, but all is good.

I do love clams.
I vote "no" on clams as hunted game. A shovel by any other name is still a damn shovel. They are shellFISH, one doesn't hunt shellFISH, one digs, dips or nets shellFISH. To hunt, one must use a knife, a slingshot, a spear, a bow/arrow, or a firearm to take mammals, birds, reptiles or amphibians. :D

I vote "no" on beefalo, too. That would be the same as farm raised, genetically altered Atlantic salmon.;)
 
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