[CoRoMo]

I haven't sampled each of these meats, much less hunted half of them, but for those who've had a dish of any number of these animals, which do you think is generally the best tasting?

How 'bout the worst of them?

[ArmedBear]

Buffalo, pig, elk, but I haven't sampled them all, either.

Pheasant is pretty big, and it's delicious.:D

[TedP]

I had fallow at a game dinner shortly after a visit to the farm that they raised it on. This was back in college and we visited the farm in upstate NY. That was pretty darned good. Although the star of that show was one of the professor's pheasant pot pie.

[CoRoMo]

I knew that if I included pork or bison in the poll, they would win hands down, so that's why I left them out.
Just the deer, goats, and sheep on this one. Oh wait... bears too. :D

I also think pheasant is excellent! Probably better tasting than any of these beasts, but the worst meat I've ever tasted was also in fact from a bird.:what:

[Arkel23]

I've only had whitetail. Didn't know people ate grizzly, just found out people ate bear not too long along. Man, I didn't know anybody ate any of that stuff of there except elk, moose, pronghorn, and whitetail

[Tim the student]

I didn't vote, as I have only had fresh venison on that list, and you can make jerky made from anything taste good.

Looking forward to reading this. Cool poll. Any chance you would want to amend it to include all game animals, and not just big game? I'd love to read a discussion of the merits of smoked coon vs some grizzly. :D

Pheasant is great, but I can't say I would take that over some doe backstraps, especially wrapped in bacon on the grill.

Man, I'm getting hungry - I'm going to have to go hunting this weekend.

[Cosmoline]

I haven't had all those, but brown bear is likely the worst of the lot. Not many people try to eat it. Black bear can be good depending on the season and what it's been eating.

[Zeke/PA]

A fellow trapper years ago, turned me on to the excellence of Beaver meat.
The hind quarters make an excellent vegetable soup and the meat texture is very much like beef.

[cat9x]

Axis deer & Scimitar Oryx

[John Peddie]

I'll second Zeke's choice of beavers, especially if we are talking about beaver kittens roasted in a red wine sauce.

[chas08]

Elk is my # 1 choice among those that I have sampled.

[Rembrandt]

Bison.....then Elk & Moose.

[CoRoMo]

Okay, I want to hear from those guys who claim the goats beat any other meat.

[Geno]

Ram or Russian boar. Oh yeah, and goat (domesticated)...fo'get about it! The stuff is a slice of paradise on earth! We ate it a lot in Chile. Grill and enjoy.

[Larry Ashcraft]

I grew up eating elk and mule deer. In fact, beef was a rarity at our house, but the best big game meat I've ever eaten was some pronghorn from a few years ago. My buddy and I each got one and neither one ever knew what hit them.

Ones that have been chased around with a pickup for a half hour before being shot are a different story though. :barf:

Birds ought to be a different thread, but I'll rate them quail, then pheasant, then blue grouse, then doves.

[Geno]

Larry:

Pheasant. Yup. My gun-fearing wife likes pheasant soooo much that years back, she asked me to buy a shotgun so I could hunt pheasants for her.

Geno

[257WM_CDL-SF]

best I have eaten is Elk was delicious 2nd is rabbit

[xmanpike]

Elk definitely of those ont he list, but my favorite and the one that blows all of these out of the water is Nilgai hands down.

[Arkansas Paul]

I've only had whitetail and elk. Love em' both, if they're cooked right. Wild game is so lean, that if you cook it too long, it's dry and terrible. You guys already knew that though.

Oh, yeah. Geno, does your wife have a sister?

[Zeke/PA]

A domesticly raised rabbit is VERY hard to beat for eating .

[Tim the student]

Okay, I want to hear from those guys who claim the goats beat any other meat.

Good luck.

I ate some domestic goats when I was in Iraq and living at patrol bases eating MRE's. It's fresh meat I guess, and it'll make dookie. I do not think I would partake of any now.

[CoRoMo]

We ate it a lot in Chile.

You mean CHILI?:D Mmmmm Goat Chili!!

But seriously, I've heard both ways for speed goats. Either they are the best of the best or the worst of the worst. I've heard that bear meat is above all venison, but I can't imagine that to be the case.

My personal fave is elk. Mule deer is okay, but you gotta be a good cook to make it shine. No surprise that it doesn't have any votes. I usually make sausage with most of my mule deer.

Never hunted/eaten whitetail yet. I've only heard wonderful reviews from both fallow and caribou, and would love to have a taste and a wall hanger.

[Arkansas Paul]

I actually don't care for domestically raised rabbit. I love wild rabbit though. Of course no one is right or wrong here. That's what makes this thread interesting. Keep em' coming.

[Tim the student]

Of course no one is right or wrong here. That's what makes this thread interesting. Keep em' coming.

Indeed.

[dakotasin]

my favorite is moose, followed by antelope, elk, then deer (can't distinguish a difference between whitetail and mulie). pheasant, if it is allowed on this poll, would rank between antelope and elk for me...

i don't care for bear, and think caribou is ok. never eaten big horn sheep, goats, or fallow deer.

[Steve H]

Ones that have been chased around with a pickup for a half hour before being shot are a different story though.

I think that is true with just about any game animal. IMHO if they are running they build up latic acid in their meat and that will give you a bad & strong taste to it. Also proper field dressing and care of the meat plays a big factor in how good it is.

[Nathanael_Greene]

Axis venison, not only the best game I've ever eaten, but darned near the best meat of any kind I've ever had.

[Larry Ashcraft]

Bighorn sheep is OK, basically mutton. Black bear meat is interesting, but I wouldn't want to subsist on it. Oryx is excellent.

Pronghorns can be anywhere from so-so to excellent. Depends on what they've been eating, how they are taken, and how the meat is cared for. We get them field dressed, then straight to the ranch house to be skinned and washed out with cold water, then peppered down and covered to keep the flies off. Packing the chest cavity with ice also helps. Early October on the eastern Colorado plains can see a lot of warm days still...

[KINGMAX]

This Scimitar-Horned Oryx is one beautiful animal. How could anyone shoot one of those???[

[MCgunner]

Wild pig

Well, probably quail and pheasant before wild pig, but since you seem to be talkin' about big game animals......wild pig. I ate elk once, but can't remember what it tasted like. Alligator is pretty good fried up in strips. Rattle snake ain't bad deep fried, tastes like chicken...:D

[wankerjake]

I like mule deer and coues whitetail a lot, but elk burgers are hard to beat. I voted elk.

[Marlin 45 carbine]

I've eaten black bear - one that was taken nearby a farm - it had been feeding on field corn and an apple orchard, very tasty. I din't take it a buddy got him.
venison taken near farm/orchard land is mighty tasty.

[Liberty1776]

for my taste...

moose
pronghorn
bison
caribou
elk
mule deer
whitetail
bear

grocery store beef is 65 on a scale of 100. All the above game meats score above 92 on the same scale... as long as I have friends that are more successful hunters than I am, (and share) I'm happy...

[Publius1688]

I haven't had all of these, but quite a few, and the backstrap (tenderloin) of a young doe--taken legally, of course!, cut thin, floured, salted and peppered, then sauteed in butter, served up with fresh biscuits, is simply the best deer-camp breakfast.

[Tacbandit]

Whitetail continues to be my favorite...I eat the stuff year-round. Elk and pronghorn are good, mulie is ok, and black bear(once) was a little greasy, but very good.
Whitetail tenderloin and backstrap rule!!!!! IMHO....
Put some shish-ka-bobs together with some cubed venison, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, and cherry tomatos...marinated for a while...and when the kabobs hit that hot grill...M-A-N.......It's worth it just for the smell...And the taste....WOW...."That's fit to eat", as they say here in the South...

[TimboKhan]

but I'll rate them quail, then pheasant, then blue grouse, then doves.

I don't disagree that all the above are tasty, but if there is a better tasting bird than Chukkar, I don't know what it is.

From a more exotic perspective, I have heard, but cannot personally confirm, that Giraffe is quite good. Evidently, it is a white meat similar to pork.

[t george]

always heard that orix(spelling?) was good meat!

[Weedy]

Dall sheep is the best meat of any kind I've ever had. Hard earned though.

[nathan]

Any of them as long its cooked right .

[blackops]

Caribou...I haven't had the luxury of feasting on all of these great animals, but Caribou IMO is excellent meat.

[Speedo66]

Only had whitetail, so no comparison.

Pheasant is excellent too. Rabbit is good. Nothing wrong with domestic goat either.

I've had reindeer in Sweden, didn't care for it, won't eat it again.

[CoRoMo]

This Scimitar-Horned Oryx is one beautiful animal. How could anyone shoot one of those???

Use an adequate rifle/optic, aim for the shoulder, just behind it, or even the upper neck.
Squeeze off the shot, and enjoy the eatins. It's really not that difficult.

[skiking]

Elk is my favorite followed by deer then bear and then caribou

[MCgunner]

Rabbits are "cute" and fun to shoot and good to eat. Cute never kept me from killin' it. :D If I only could shoot ugly animals, I guess I'd have to stick to hogs. No biggy as the meat is my favorite. What I really like about hogs is you can grill or BBQ and they don't turn to boot leather. Oh, I know you will say you can "grill" venison if you "do it right". IMHO, if you have to do some weird cooking routine or marinate it in some expensive french wine or something to make it palatable, it ain't the best meat. :D That said, cooked right, I like waterfowl. ROFL!

[HGUNHNTR]

I sure like goat, quail, elk, rabbit and duck. I had a delicious rabbit tagine while in Morocco, thats gotta be tops.

It kinda annoys me when folks say certain meats taste "gamey" just because it doesn't taste like beef. Thats the way its supposed to taste!

[Whitman31]

I voted for Whitetail, only because it's the only one I've eaten enough of to really know. If pheasants are being mentioned, then grouse needs to be brought up.

With the wrong person doing the cooking all can be ruined easily...

[Arkansas Paul]

Yeah, I agree with that HGUNHNTR. Some yahoo was trying to tell my dad and I the other day about some solution he soaks his deer in to get the wild taste out of it. Said it would taste just like beef. Our question was then why do you get out of bed at 4:00 am if you want beef. You can go to Wally World at high noon and get all of that you want. Of course you get all kinds of added chemical preservatives too.

[CoRoMo]

...turn to boot leather. Oh, I know you will say you can "grill" venison if you "do it right". IMHO, if you have to do some weird cooking routine or marinate it in some expensive french wine or something to make it palatable, it ain't the best meat.

Yup!

[okierifleman]

Axis deer is better than anything on the list, followed by elk, pronghorn, caribou. After I found axis, I dont eat much whitetail anymore. Good thing I have plenty of people lined up to take all the deer meat I can give them.

[Coltdriver]

I shot a pronghorn this year. It was 44 degrees out when I shot it. Within 10 minutes of shooting it I had field dressed it. Within another hour I had it skinned, quartered and on ice. Four hours later it was vacuum packed and in the freezer.

The meat is absolutely spectacular. The backstraps are like top grade fillet beef with a milder flavor. The ribs are like beef ribs just milder.

I still have the rest in the freezer. I think the gamey flavor you hear about, which I have experience as a strong liver flavor in deer, comes from not promptly processing the meat and getting it cooled.

I have had elk, deer and now pronghorn. Speed goat is for me, by far, the best so far.

[H&Hhunter]

Javalina butt! Yummy.

[Horsemany]

I may have to give pronghorn another try. The only time I had it was backstraps chopped into medallions and it tasted like sage bad.....Not good. So far fresh whitetail backstraps and bison are the best I've had. The worst is ducks especially divers. I've been soaking ducks in saltwater for a day before cooking and it's helped get rid of the liver flavor.

[Speedo66]

I may have to give pronghorn another try. The only time I had it was backstraps chopped into medallions and it tasted like sage bad.....Not good. So far fresh whitetail backstraps and bison are the best I've had. The worst is ducks especially divers. I've been soaking ducks in saltwater for a day before cooking and it's helped get rid of the liver flavor.

Sea ducks are the worst, talk about a fishy taste!

[Skoghund]

I,ve just had a bit of moose fillet for dinner and very good it was to. Fresh from the moose heifer we shot last thursday.
Roe deer fillet is the best and smoked Roe deer is amazing. Fallow and Red deer is quite edible.
Pheasant is ok, best done as pheasant breasts in calvados. Mallard duck takes some beating.
Wild boar is good to.
All this talk of food has made me quite hungry again so its of to put the pan on again;)

[Rokman]

From what's on your list I would have to say elk. There are several that I haven't tried. I do like the bison that others have mentioned.

[ChefJeff1]

I voted elk. It's amazing and i have one mostly butchered in my garage right now.

[Jeff]

Moose. Yum.

[Girodin]

I voted elk but I actually believe it is second place to Bison which was not an option.

[Tacbandit]

Quote:
"Oh, I know you will say you can "grill" venison if you "do it right". IMHO, if you have to do some weird cooking routine or marinate it in some expensive french wine or something to make it palatable, it ain't the best meat."


Who does all that...???? I'm with ya, there...That's why I only do the
"ka-bobs" on the grill, when it comes to venison...No time at all....

[CoRoMo]

The taco meat I had last night was great. I didn't know it was elk until the wife told me so.:D
I assumed it was just some of that steer that my dad slaughtered last winter.

[sourdough44]

Moose

[memphisjim]

whitetail back strap

[Art Eatman]

I like elk, deer, antelope, javelina, buffalo, wild turkey and quail. Doves are okay, but I don't care for them as much as I like quail.

I dunno about "best". So far, doing my own cooking, they've all been good; just different. As long as you don't let the meat dry out, and don't hurry the cooking, it's really easy to have it taste good.

[H&Hhunter]

One of the very best wildlife dishes I've ever had was an ox tail soup in curry and mint done over a mopane fire with a freshly killed cape buffalo tail. It was served over rice and fried potatos with chopped onions in some kind of citrus sauce, man was that good!

Another great one was caribou chops cooked over a black spruce fire with a little oil and salt. I don't know if we were just super hungry or if it was really that good but there is something special about feasting on your fresh kill over a camp fire and while still in the moment.

[chas08]

there is something special about feasting on your fresh kill over a camp fire and while still in the moment.
"AMEN" to that. It also applies to fish caught and prepared at waters edge.

[LegalAlien]

Bone dry Kudu Biltong (jerky). It breaks like a twig when you bend it and is awesome to chew on all day long :D

[LegalAlien]

One of the very best wildlife dishes I've ever had was an ox tail soup in curry and mint done over a mopane fire with a freshly killed cape buffalo tail.

The alternative is to replace the Cape Buffalo tail with an Ostrich neck - stew it slow and long with all the other goodies in a potjie (dutch oven) and the taste and texture will even beat the buffalo tail. ALthough the buffalo tail will have more fat and gelatin that obviously also adds flavor and substance to the 'lekker sous'

[Leaky Waders]

Birds ought to be a different thread, but I'll rate them Wood Duck, quail, then pheasant, then blue grouse, then doves.

Fixed ;)

[JDGray]

I'm not to fond of venison, but elk steaks will rivel anything you can get at a Lonestar Steak House!

[wankerjake]

"All good some better"...I think it applies to game meat too!

[NJ Chris]

Oryx first, Dall Sheep second and Moose third. Only have oryx in the freezer now.

[BP44]

would rate our blacktail over elk but just slightly.

[fireman 9731]

Elk comes in first for me and Whitetail second. Backstraps from both on the grill...mmmmm.

[slvrbulit12]

Elk the best. Sheep & goat only if cooked in a pit.

[oneounceload]

Moose beats elk; elk beats antelope, antelope beats venison. Hog fits somewhere between antelope and venison.

Of course, a lot depends on how it was handled in the field, the way it was butchered, and how it was cooked. I've had antelope fondue in a teriyaki oil that was superb

[LEVRLOVR]

I need a good recipe for Javalina.

Going after some with a crossbow this year.

[wankerjake]

I need a good recipe for Javalina.
First dig a hole in the ground. Insert pig. Bury it. Then forget where you buried it:)

Ok, we've all heard that one. To be honest, javelina isn't bad. It really gets a bum wrap. I heard the key was to skin them imediately because they have glands in the hide that taint the meat as the glands leak into the meat after the animal dies. I've only eaten two, but we skinned them immediately and then quatered them into roasts and crock potted them. Both were pretty good, especially the yearling I got. It's the same as anything, take care of the meat and it'll taste good.

I'd like to add another meat to the all time favorite list: squirrel. Man, young squirell browned then baked, with mashed potatoes and squirell gravy...priceless. Definetely one of my all time favorite meals. Every bit as good as elk. There's no other reason to shoot them.

Another one: Coues whitetail. The fat is every bit as good as bit as beef. Very delicate flavor, outstanding. And way more fun to get than beef. Problem is, not much on 'em. They're a miniature deer, the one i got this year was 2 1/2 years old, and I got around 40lbs of meat.

[d2wing]

I like moose best lean and dark meat. Elk is really good. I don't like bear meat but some do. The last deer I shot was really good even though he was a big old woods buck.

[millertyme]

IIRC, moose was pretty dang good. Elk is good, and the whitetail back east were pretty good. Mule deer not so much. I've heard caribou is pretty tasty, antelope is pretty wild tasting, and bear of any kind is pretty greasy. Never heard much about goat, but one thing not on this list is Dall sheep and I have heard that is one of the best tasting wild game from up north.

[tango2echo]

I don't share Elk Backstrap or Tenderloins with ANYONE.....

With that said, that deer stew last night was pretty darn tasty...

[Gatorbait]

I don't have the opportunity very often to eat game. My father, however, was an anthropologist who spent quite a few years with an island tribe in the southwestern Pacific before I came along and spoiled his racket. He was especially partial to long pig. I don't think we have that species here in the States, but it was quite common there.

[sdhunter]

well i have ate white tails, mule deer, antelope, wild ferol hogs, and after 8 years of applying for a south dakota elk tag, this year i have finally got to taste a south dakota bull elk, it was worth the 8 years. ;)

[Big Bill]

American Bison is the best! On the poll, I voted for moose. My father went to Canada and got one when I was in HS. I've never been lucky enough to have a tag myself, even though there is actually a season on them here in Idaho.

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

I can't vote; haven't tried most. Interesting poll, though.

[Dr.Rob]

Field preparation is everything. You shoot it clean, it will taste better. You clean it and pepper it and get it cooled down quick it will taste better.

Antelope can be prepped even on a HOT day with a just a few gallons of water and a large cooler. Antelope makes some fantastic meat, though the cuts are small say compared to elk. But pronghorn and elk are definitely my favorites.

I've heard of all the African game that gemsbok is supposed to be really good.

[rondog]

I'm not a hunter nowadays, and apparently I've never experienced any wild game that was prepared by someone who knew what they were doing. I can't recall ANY wild meat that really tripped my trigger, but I'd have to say elk in a restaurant is the best I've tried. Well, I do recall some very good whitetail grilled with peppers and onions at a party once. Duck and goose are among the most disgusting things I've ever tried. Seems like all the family cooks of my youth thought the wild meat needed to be killed twice, I guess.

[tommyintx]

elk is pretty much amazing.

[CoRoMo]

I can't vote; haven't tried most.

There's no requirement here. Of those that you've tried, which did you find to be the best?

Antelope makes some fantastic meat

I've always heard that, but never believed it until I read enough accounts here that I now have to get me one of those goats!

[Art Eatman]

Gatorbait: "Long pig"? Long pig is people, as in cannabalism. :)

[pwillie]

Goat can be very tasty! Down south,the summer BBQ is sometimes done with a young goat,slow cooked.