Rank your meat

WildWill

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 10, 2016
Messages
3,317
Location
SE Oklahoma
So I was reading another post about how mule deer meat can be gamey some say yes others say no. I've seen similar post about antelope meat after killing my first antelope this year I was pleasantly surprised it was the best game meat I've ever had. It got me thinking how would you rate big game meat from a best to worst scale. Mine would go.

1st. Antelope
2nd. Whitetail
3rd. Elk
4th. Black bear

When my dad was stationed in California I know he killed a few blacktail but that was 20 years ago and I was a kid and not a very picky eater so can't remember that. That's all I've tried so far I hope to add mule deer and others to the list soon.
 
Interesting title............................

I was all ready to claim "#1", but I guess I have to give a little more effort on this topic.

1. Elk
2. Whitetail
3. Antelope
4. Mule deer and black bear. In their defense, I've only had when my dad has cooked it and that's not always a selling point.

2 and 3 could swap depending on the day.
 
Antelope
Elk

I’d rank everything else as about equal, some great meals and some that left me wondering. Antelope and Elk make me say giggity.
 
The only ones I've ever eaten.
1. Antelope
2. Cow elk
3. Bull elk
4. Mule deer
 
1- pronghorn
2- whitetail
3- mule deer
4- moose
---big gap---
5- elk
6- mountain goat
7- mountain lion
8- caribou
9- bighorn
10- MT black bear
---gigantic gap---
11- SE AK black bear

1-4 are my absolute favorites and I plan my hunts around them.
5-10 are plenty good, and ill gladly eat them, just not my favorite.
11 was real bad.
 
I have had just about everything from moose to mollusks. When you throw out the outliers, bigger is better.
 
I find all game meat fantastic. Probably the BEST individual game meal I’ve ever had was a black bear pot roast.

Axis Deer and Stone Sheep

Elk and Antelope

Sitka Blacktail

Moose, Elk, Caribou, Deer, Black Bear
 
1. Antelope
2. Cow Elk

3. Bull elk
4. Moose if you have jaw muscles strong enough to chew them
5. Deer (whitetail & mulies)

I find there is a huge variation among individual deer. I had an old 240 lb dressed buck I shot in a swamp in northern MN that was right up there with cow elk. I shot a doe in a corn field in southern MN the next year that I had everything I could do to choke down. Most are somewhere in between.

I’ve never had a bad antelope and every elk I’ve had tasted great, but the cows we’ve shot seem to be more tender than the bulls.

The moose we’ve shot didn’t live up to all the hype, but one was 8 years old and the other was 12 years old. They were tough.

I’ve had bear a few times, but not enough to rank them.
 
Dall sheep strap, cooked either in a elk shed camp in Moffat County Colorado or on the beach in Maui.
 
1)Elk

Not even a close second Antelope

3)Mule deer
4)Whitetail

Grouse would be near the top if small game was allowed.

I like antelope, but I don't see how it can rank ahead of elk on these lists.
 
Squirrels (fox and grey)
Moose
Antelope (close 2nd)
Pheasants, quail, grouse
Duck, geese
Iowa Whitetail
Mule deer

A week in the bush, in AK, in the rain, eating nothing but freeze dried - and then this happens. You can't understand unless you've been there...

Moose%20in%20a%20pan.jpg
 
1. Elk
2. Antelope
3. Whitetail
4. Mule deer
If buffalo counts it would be right up there with elk, but I’ve never sampled a wild one.
 
Burger at Nap's in Hamilton, Montana. mtmuley

That's not fair, I didn't know we could go prepared.

Freemans General store west of Creede Colorado during a fine high country elk hunt.

You cannot eat that burger driving down the road.
 
Last edited:
Gastro Gnome - Eat Better Wherever

Forum statistics

Threads
111,009
Messages
1,943,423
Members
34,959
Latest member
Stravic
Back
Top