Meat from Mature Rutting Buck

Am I the only one who prefers meat from a mature buck? I am not much of a trophy hunter but once in awhile the stars align and I shoot a bigger buck during the rut and I find the meat as good or better than doe or fawn meat. Just cooked up 3 steaks, one table spoon of homemade pork lard in a fry pan, sea salt and pepper, cooked on high heat to medium rare, fantastic! All of my buck meat gets labled as such and I save it for mostly when I cook for myself but when I cook it for others I have yet to hear complaints.

Not me. I've had some I didn't even like the smell of it cooking

Maybe its a handling issue? This one was shot and out of the woods gutted and skun within 2 hours, let him hang for 10 days in the garage then cut into boneless cuts and frozen.

Your gonna get tape worms and die. I think off tasting deer meat has more to do with the stress level at harvest more so than age. JMO.

have had deer meat go both ways. Young, old, buck, doe, some has been very good some I wouldn't eat. All of it more or less handled the same way.

The one thing I have noticed is any deer that is being chased by dogs or has been running through the woods for an extended period of time. They aint much for table fare. Usually tough as leather and have that strong taste/smell to them.

Older bucks are just as good as any other to me.

I prefer medium sized doe aged for 7-10 days. IMO that is the best tasting, most tender venison.

Actually, small yearlings are even better but I like a little more meat for my tag.

Big bucks are tougher and have a stronger flavor.

It's not a huge deal, you can take steps to minimize all that but given my druthers...

This buck was with a doe on the neighbors, the neighbor shot the doe then seen the buck and missed him a few times, he then chased him into the swamp were he ran about 1/4th a mile to my stand, he stopped to look back and a muzzleloader bullet him in the heart, he went 30 yards and toppled over.

He was under some stress when I took him ide say but he is still pretty good. I have heard from others that meat from animals under stress does taste "off". Recently had a angus cow fall through the swamp and die, I got her out before she froze and butchered it, so far the meat ive had off it is completely flavorless, actually pretty gross. That was just a small piece though from a bone out cut.

Ive ate my share. Thats the key. Let it hang. The meat gets a black rind on it as it dries. Seals itself up. When you butcher that rind gets trimmed off. Makes a real good dog feed.

^^^
Yep, what Danny said "let it hang". The longer the better.

I don't know mush about deer, but I much prefer march caribou to a fall, or even late summer buck.

Caribou are premium, Moose and Elk are excellent as well, wish it was more accessible to me, I have to get by on deer for most of my meat. Looking back the only wild game ive had that I have found disgusting is porcupine, we cooked it over a pine fire which probably did not help the already pine tasting meat.

I always bleed mine out, quarter it and hang the quarters for a week. It always taste pretty much the same the only difference is the texture. Young vs. older and tougher.

I have to go along with the stress issue, but that is with most meat. Even beef. JMO

I killed a mature buck during the peak of the rut one time. I cut off the neck for a roast. It smelled worse than a gut pile. I cut this deer up within one hour of killing it on a cold day.

I eat them all and dont tell a difference except for size and some tenderness. They taste the same if you have any idea what your doing. I age mine about 3 weeks in a ice chest.

I gotta agree with ya. Ate a lot of different deer harvested throughout the fall under all levels of stress. Never noticed any trends in flavor or even toughness. Still think the stress theory is baloney.

I've shot scores of blacktail bucks and two whitetail bucks, several of them while in the rut. Never had a bad tasting one.

If you don’t believe stress affects meat you haven’t experienced meat from a stressed animal. Its not a theory, its a well known fact. In the beef cutting industry its called a dark cutter, and its barely worth hamburger.
Just like all animals, each individual deer is different. I’ve killed calm animals that were really poor tasting, and animals you’d think would be stressed that were quite good. I let most hang, but the difference in taste is extremely minimal. I do it because I don’t have time to butcher every day we happen to kill a deer.

The stress issue may be true. A guy hit 2 cows right in front of my house one evening. No one wanted to claim them the cops where out there for about 2 hours before they decided th try and shoot them. Well they sucked pretty bad at hitting a cow in the head at 10 feet took a few shot but they got it. After everyone left I went to butchering on them cut the back straps out and the back hams then neck meat, well I put them in a ice chest just like I do the deer, but I only went 2 weeks with the age. That was the worst meat I have ever eat, the ground meat was tuff and I mean tuff, the steaks went worth eating at all. We eat the ground but was sure glad when it was all gone. Even my daughter was like it all the road kill cow gone yet?
I dont know if it was the fact that they got hit or layed out there suffering for 2 hours or if it was because they were just old poor Indian cows but they were awful.

We trim our steaks clean usually within a day or two of harvest I dont notice a difference in taste just tenderness and a grinder can solve that problem . A hunter shouldnt kill somthing they are not going to eat

10 days Minimum if cold weather allows.
Not uncommon to go more in later season kills.
I subscribe to the darkened rind theory.

Iv'e decided the type of deer it will be can be determined as I approach it.
A rank deer is strong meat to me.

I honestly believe that people who claim to have eaten "gamey" deer meat, ate meat that didn't have the glands removed when butchering.
I've talked to other guys who butcher their own who have said they never remove glands. Didn't even know what i was talking about.
We got some meat ground at a processor once because I didn't have time to do it. We opened one pack of burger that just smelled nasty....really musky and rank. I talked to one of the guys that butchers there and he said they don't take the time to remove glands and everyone's meat gets mixed together. That's the last time I had a deer butchered elsewhere.
Neck glands, shoulder glands, ham glands all have to go or you will taste them.

I've butchered my own deer for years, and some of them have been old swollen up bucks. I've dry aged and wet aged.....they all taste the same to me. I've gotten to the point I'd take my self butchered homemade deer steak over a beef steak anymore. Never thought I'd say that, but it's true.

Was watching how long before glands came up. One you picture guys could help a lot of self cutters on here.
Stress is a factor too. The domestics that refuse to go into stations many times get ground whole after being chased and field dispatched.

No thanks did tried it once shot a buck that was about ready to top a doe. Smelled bad from the get go and just got worse with age. Heard stories about it and never believed it till I tried it never ever again. It was not the preparation or handling of the meat, I have killed Im guessing over a hundred deer but never a buck that hot again ever.

We eat about 8 a year and I can't tell much difference between the bucks and doe. We are meticulous about cleaning them and usually but the meat on ice for days or hang if temps are good. They all taste good

I have never removed glands and have killed bucks in rut with swelled necks but never had one that tasted off. Can't explain it.

I have never removed glands either, I would be curious as to how to do it.

I bet you remove them if you clean up your meat well. The glands are grey and packed in white and yellow fat and nasty stuff. In the back ham and under the front shoulders

That would make sense, I do take all the fat and most tendon etc off and do bone out cuts that I keep pretty clean.

Shot 3 deer this year a Doe that laid in the corn row and never got up , A rutting buck been running with a doe that I also shot ,
I am not gonna say because I don't eat it but the guys said the old doe that never got up was as good as they have ever got ,but they like the old rutting buck too

Ditto

This year I shot a deer and skinned, gutted, washed, and hung in a walk-in cooler all within 40 minutes of leaving camp. The actual hunt took less than five minutes. I am 73 and had no help other than I used a 4-wheeler to drag her to the skinning shed. Used an electric wench in the shed to lift the deer. The walk-in is adjacent to the shed. At 4:55 I finished a book, left for a two minute walk to a baited stand. Shot a deer in the head, walked back to camp to get an ATV, drove back to the dead deer and drug it back to the skinning shed. When I dropped the guts in our gut ditch and rinsed the wheel barrow, the elapsed time was 40 minutes. Wasn’t much of a hunt.

Never done one that quickly but nearly all are finished in 60-90 minutes from being shot. I shoot mostly doe but even a rutting buck is OK if cleaned and cooled quickly. Deer that are instantly killed, shot in the head, rinsed with cold water and aged for at least a week make quality venison.

Is a fat doe better than a rutting buck? I think so, but efficient processing is the key.

We never specifically removed glands but we remove all fat and most connective tissue from our meat the glands get removed with it

+1

I have killed two bucks that were nearly inedible. One was a small basket racked 6 point, probably around 100 lbs dressed that I killed the first week of Dec and the other an older busted up 7 point I shot with a bow while he was working a scrape.

The meat tasted like an old buck smells-terribly strong. We ground both into burger mixed with a lot of pork.

We prefer does and fawns, but most bucks have been pretty good too. We eat a lot of venison and my wife labels it all so that we know what meat comes from which deer we butcher.

I've always prided myself as a good butcher from my first deer at 14 but i guess this solidifies it.

Nearly every deer we shoot is deboned and in a cooler withing an hour or so of being shot. We are very picky about removing all fat, etc. when we cut it up for wrapping or grinding.

I have shot dozens of deer and prefer mature bucks in November. They have great flavor and are easier to cut up being thinner from the rut. I always hang them 5-8 days if possible. Never had a bad one but have heard people say they have.

These western Blacktail and Mule deer in the rut are only good for dog food. A buddy of mine drought home a Whitetail cornfield 12 point Eastern Kansas Buck to Oregon with the hide still on and it's neck was as big around as a 30 gallon barrel. I laughed at him and told him it was a waste of time to skin. I was wrong it was some of the best Deer meat I have ate.

Mine are always corn or bean fed. That makes a huge difference. We pick them up with a skid steer, and wash them out thoroughly with a hose, immediately after gutting. Hang a day or two and butcher. Wonderful. 3 of us have been killing deer off of my Dad's farm for 41 years. I believe processing from the time of the kill, to the time of the knife is key.

Nice buck Donner! Congrats!

I prefer ones that are shot on the left side and run less than 10 yards. It makes the taste so much better as this means from my stand placement they are headed to the truck. Also a rising moon and only shoot one at least 15 minutes with-in the top or bottom of the hour!!! The key to a good deer meal is condiments and seasoning. Plus if the deer is dead it will taste better. Running deer are always tougher to eat then standing or lying deer. Hanging them is fine but animal rights people frown on it somewhat. If you hang them at least let them have one final cigarette !!!!!

But seriously Meat handling can make all the difference in the world

I would agree, diet is a big factor. Alot of guys in the east are eating grain fed critters. In the west everything tastes pretty gamey unless it found somebodies fields.