Meat Mystery Solved

VikingsGuy · Oct 12, 2018

I always found it odd that half the people I talked to said that antelope meat tasted HORRIBLE, and half said it was their favorite, even above elk. Views of elk, bison, beef and venison seem much more consistent. Why the big disparity on antelope? After a week in WY, the answer is clear. About half the guys we saw get antelope quickly quartered and got on ice, and half let the animal ride around on the back bumper all day until they dropped it off in a pile of other carcasses at the meat processor's parking lot. A pile that stayed fairly high until the 4th day after opener (including an 88 degree day).

We treated our antelope right and it tasted great on Sunday night at home, I am fairly sure those stacked up in the hot parking lot will taste a little different. As they say, "be kind to your meat, and you meat will be kind to you" (cue the clever remarks).

Cody Lightfoot · Oct 12, 2018

I shot my first antelope last december and found a backstrap that I forgot about in the freezer the other day. Cooked it up Wednesday and the wife told me last night that I need to only hunt for antelope, from now on...lol. We love it, haven't had anything even remotely "off" yet. I always get the meet in the cooler asap though and trim away anything I don't want to eat.

mtmiller · Oct 12, 2018

Cody Lightfoot said:
found a backstrap that I forgot about in the freezer the other day.

Mine rarely make it to the freezer. hahaha

Brad Daniel · Oct 12, 2018

Antelope backstrap never make it to the freezer.

Cody Lightfoot · Oct 12, 2018

mtmiller said:
Mine rarely make it to the freezer. hahaha

Brad Daniel said:
Antelope backstrap never make it to the freezer.

I was trying to not go through it all so fast, lol.

oldillini · Oct 12, 2018

My first antelope never made it to the freezer, either. Made a poor shot and gut shot it with my bow back in late Aug. After pushing it a couple times I left it overnight only to find a bear guarding it the next morning. Coyote was waiting its turn 20 yds away. Only taste I could have experienced was by licking some bones. Did get enough to mount though. LOL

dcopas78 · Oct 12, 2018

It is our favorite. We always get them gutted, skinned and cooled promptly and it turns out great. I am going to try to start incorporating a pronghorn hunt in to any Wyoming trip I take. Anywhere close to any deer or elk units I hunt that has doe tags and land to hunt is going to be open game.

406LIFE · Oct 12, 2018

My favorite and I have never had one that didn't reek when I came up on it. But skinned and cooled, it is by far the best meat I've harvested.

AZBridger · Oct 12, 2018

There is no finer table fare than a properly cared for pronghorn.

Doublecluck · Oct 12, 2018

I have done it both ways, skinned, not skinned immediately, left in the truck @ 30-35 degrees all day, completely deboned immediately, and have yet to have a bad one. My family will devour an entire lope in less than a week. My wife will not eat deer, she’s ok with elk, but loves antelope.

Gr8bawana · Oct 12, 2018

I'm among those who think antelope is #1 on the list. I've also been told by people that antelope are not edible. Psshh!

shootbrownelk · Oct 12, 2018

Gr8bawana said:
I'm among those who think antelope is #1 on the list. I've also been told by people that antelope are not edible. Psshh!

I heard that antelope aren't edible quite a few times in 40 years, mostly by old ranchers.

LCH · Oct 12, 2018

All of my pronghorn have been skinned/quartered/iced immediately, and I've found them to be very good eating. I would personally rank them a notch or 2 below elk, and a notch above whitetail and mule deer. I'll take a freezer full of any of it though.

COEngineer · Oct 12, 2018

BS. I have tried everything. It just tastes different and some guys like it. Some don't.

LuketheDog · Oct 12, 2018

Yep, sadly there are plenty of guys out there who think it's fine to stack them like firewood in the back of the pickup while the group drives around and everyone tries to get their tag filled, then they complain that it doesn't taste good. My wife is actually upset that I won't be putting any antelope in the freezer this year, I may just have to sneak up to WY for a couple days to fill my tag...you know, because "happy wife, happy life!"

wytex · Oct 13, 2018

VikingsGuy said:
I always found it odd that half the people I talked to said that antelope meat tasted HORRIBLE, and half said it was their favorite, even above elk. Views of elk, bison, beef and venison seem much more consistent. Why the big disparity on antelope? After a week in WY, the answer is clear. About half the guys we saw get antelope quickly quartered and got on ice, and half let the animal ride around on the back bumper all day until they dropped it off in a pile of other carcasses at the meat processor's parking lot. A pile that stayed fairly high until the 4th day after opener (including an 88 degree day).

We treated our antelope right and it tasted great on Sunday night at home, I am fairly sure those stacked up in the hot parking lot will taste a little different. As they say, "be kind to your meat, and you meat will be kind to you" (cue the clever remarks).

So true!!

wytex · Oct 13, 2018

COEngineer said:
BS. I have tried everything. It just tastes different and some guys like it. Some don't.

Maybe you should try a Wyoming antelope, lol.

Khunter · Oct 13, 2018

COEngineer said:
BS. I have tried everything. It just tastes different and some guys like it. Some don't.

And which of these are you? like or dislike?

Hunting Wife · Oct 13, 2018

Quackillr said:
I have done it both ways, skinned, not skinned immediately, left in the truck @ 30-35 degrees all day, completely deboned immediately, and have yet to have a bad one.

Ditto. I have always been puzzled by the extreme lengths people think are necessary to make an antelope taste good. We don’t treat them any differently than we do any other game animal- get it cooled down and keep it clean. They’ve always tasted just as good no matter how we did it. The only thing that seems to take a little more care with antelope is keeping all that damn hair off the meat.

COEngineer said:
BS. I have tried everything. It just tastes different and some guys like it. Some don't.

I agree with you 100%. I’m one of those who love antelope, but there is no denying they have a scent and flavor all their own. I just don’t think it’s everyone’s cup of tea.

VikingsGuy · Oct 13, 2018

Hunting Wife said:
. . keeping all that damn hair off the meat.

That was a complete pain in the butt in the field. It was shedding worse than our lab in July.

Meat Mystery Solved

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