Buck vs doe

[Pierre du Plessis]

Hey there,

I am a meat hunter as opposed to a trophy hunter, and was wondering if you all have found noticeable difference in the taste of the meat between a buck and a doe - especially in the early season?

Last season I downed a large-sized doe with my .50 Jacob Dickert rifle, and the meat was excellent. Will be out there again soon, and just wanted to tap into your all's wealth of experience.

Many thanks!!

 

[Vaino]

I've found that area is more important than whether it's a buck or doe. Agricultural areas produce deer that are better eating and whether buck or doe, the meat is tender and delicious.

Northern Wisconsin is wild country and the snowfall is deep....so, only the big deer survive. Have shot forks to 10 point bucks and very huge does in these remote areas and the meat was only "fit" for sausages. Even the younger deer aren't as tender and tasty as the deer in ag areas.......Fred

 

[daniel collums]

older, bigger, the tougher meet and stronger the flavor. as a rule of thumb a young doe or buck is about the same. bucks in rut have a taste of their own, as do doe's that are in heat. a ice cooler will tame most of them down in a week or two, just keep ice on them and keep the water drained off daily.

 

[robinsroost]

I think fleh20 is spot on with his advice. Deer that have access to agriculture crops to supplement their wild foods, like acorns, definitely taste better than those that do not. That being said, I think does are more tender than bucks, and that is what I seek. Keep yer powder dry.......Robin :wink:

 

[Pierre du Plessis]

Thanks all of you!! This makes a lot of sense...

Reason I was asking is we also raise meat sheep, and the meat from intact rams is almost inedible. Didn't want to risk it with deer :grin: ...

Anyways, again - this is very helpful! Will post photos of any successful hunts :wink:!

 

[silly goose]

Diet definitely means a lot. That being said, I've only taken one decent buck, and he was rutting. OMG the smell, and he tasted like he smelled. I'm quite happy putting does in the freezer. Yummy.

 

[Katahdin]

The bucks are running and gunning, so eating is the last thing on his mine..That and as was pointed out,he is pumped put and his body chemistry is all messed up...By the end of the rut he is skin and bones,, dog won't eat him.

 

[Patocazador]

I think a young buck not in rut tastes the same as a doe. Old deer of both sexes are tougher on the teeth and rutting bucks are pretty raunchy when they're "stinking" bad.

One thing that makes it easy to decide whether to eat a buck or give it to the guy who is always mooching everything is to look at the color of the fat. White fat is the sign of a deer who is putting on weight and is healthy. Pink fat is a sign that the deer is utilizing his stored fat for energy and is going downhill weight-wise.

 

[Joshsimonswvu]

I try and "knock the spots off". Youngins eat the best. My buddies rib me for shooting babies. But they are tender and easier to drag. We have a very liberal doe season. The meat is kinda pink rather than maroonish colored. I try and let bucks hang on a gambrel a couple 3 days if cool enough outside. Rut is wild tasting.

 

[Sean Gadhar]

Not much I can add to what has been said, so just a tiny bit ff

Care of the game means a lot! I want my animal gutted skinned & cooling ASAP but once cooled I will let it hang dependent on the game shot. That is to say I would want an old cow elk to hang days more then a yearling cow or spike.

And dang near anything can be eaten & enjoyed if proper care was taken & some thought is put into how it is prepared. Old buck pronghorn that was running just before being shot is way up there on the rank scale :barf: But cool it quick, hang it 4-5 days, then smoke the hams & shoulders.

Serve the smoked meat with a bold mustard, onion & pepper relish, rye bread & dark beer. You can't keep people away from it.

 

[Jim Vatt]

Many of these points have already been made, but the sex of the animal has far less to do with the taste than how it was fed, harvested, cared for after the shot and processed.

I've always heard age makes them tougher, but last December my father shot a really old buck that dwarfed my seven point hanging side by side. His venison was fine and not tough at all...despite all of the sneers and jeers a couple folks made when they saw its size and worn down teeth!

 

[jackpine54]

I agree with Sean Gadhar, take care of the meat and it all tastes good.

We try to have our dear skinned and hanging as quickly as possible and they all taste fine. We let them hang for a day or even 4-5 days if the weather works out. You gotta get them cooled off quick!

 

[Grumpa]

My first buck, when I was 14, was big bodied, with a small rack, and teeth worn way down.
The meat could be cut with a fork, and tasty, too.

 

[tenngun]

One of the old sayings was to 'know fat cow from poor bull".I like small does most, but I like venison, just find bucks a might chewier. One thing to note is its can be a matter of taste. In the mountians of present day Iran the butchered remains of bulls 4-7 years olds are most common in refuse piles. Seems that those people were selectivly hunting older tougher bulls over younger fatter and more tender cows. Was it bull magic, or did they prefer the stonger flavor.I dont find moose as good as elk, but do like ferrel pig more then bear :idunno:

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I too am a meat hunter, and the deer in my area are hitting the corn and the soybeans pretty hard...plus the hostas, boxwoods, azaleas, roses, and other ornamental plants from the estates situated among the farms.

I'm pretty close to you and the deer over here in Maryland are in full rut right now...last night while driving home I saw two bucks with huge racks moving out in the open in fields...not caring what was happening on the roadway...ya don't see them doing that at any other time than the rut.

I try not to shoot the big buck on the farm if I have a choice between him and a doe, or a young buck. He's the daddy of all the nice young does and young bucks, and I'd like him to make lots more... plus he likes the farm and keeps the does in the area. If I drop him the buck who replaces him might have different habits, and make my hunting harder next year.

I found that an older animal, especially if shot when adrenalin is flowing, is tough, and may not taste too good. I've never been good at "aging" meat, so I'd try to avoid that. For example, my boss brought in some venison from a buck that he shot right after it had finished fighting another buck during the rut...he shot the loser... very tough meat.

Finally, there are lots of different ways of cooking up venison, and I'd recommend that IF you get some that's very tough you try a recipe designed for cooking tough beef...slow cooker recipes tend to be such...and they should work for tough venison too.

As for very "strong" flavor...it could've been improperly processed, or maybe it's just from an animal that has had a poor diet. Curry is one way to "dress gamey meat"...and Ted Nugent in his book Killit & Grill It has a ginger based recipe for strong tasting meat. Mr. Nugent writes that if that recipe doesn't make the meat edible, it was never going to be edible...

LD

 

[Vaino]

To make a comparison.....my son shot a huge 10 pointer in Douglas County which is nearly as far north as one can go in Wisconsin and as usual the deer was properly cared for and the temps were in the single digits. The food supply is mainly scrub browse and cedars. The meat had a purplish color and after braising a couple of steaks, my son decided that all the meat was going into sausage.

Last year my son shot an 11 pointer in an ag area and again a couple of steaks were braised and the decision was made to use the meat for general use and every cut off this deer was tasty and tender.

The live weights of both deer were estimated at approx. 260-275 lbs so both were mature bucks, but the meat quality was miles apart....all due to very different areas and forage.

By the way....the main method we use for cooking venison and elk is by braising or "wet cooking" which supplies excellent gravy. Once in awhile we marinade and grill......Fred

 

[Joshsimonswvu]

Most deer in Wv are fat from those little yellow acorns (corn). I've noticed a difference of taste between deer with corn in their gut vs acorns and green briar for sure. My buddy grows corn and makes a good living off people filling feeders. People have gotten lazy hunting. A deer drive is prehistoric. Lol

 

[BrownBear]

Our season is looooong, with does legal for the last three months. Up until about now, mid-November, you don't really notice any difference in the meat. But for the month, six weeks, after the rut, you really don't want to shoot bigger bucks.

They go into the rut nice and fat, but between the hormones, dashing around being stupid, and basically not feeding, they use up most of their fat. What little remains ranges from pink to almost red, it's so infused with blood. And foul. Trim it as you can, the meat beneath also has a foul taste to it. Meanwhile the does and even the smaller bucks are still fat and prime.

You really have to watch yourself come December, too. Our deer drop their racks earlier than most places, and being heavy, the biggest racks drop first. So that "doe" you shot could very well turn out to be a big, rank buck without a rack. Lotta studying and looking at heads, trying to spot the scars from rack drop, before you make smoke.

 

[biliff]

My mule deer hunts for the last 15 years have been pre rut (late September to Mid October) on the same ranch which is a mix of alfalfa, wheat and sage. Age seems to make the most difference vice sex. Basically the younger the better.

 

[nhmoose]

Here in the White Mountains of NH an early doe tastes way better than a late buck!

However an early taken buck 2-3 year old will be just as good as long as neither have been eating the hemlock yet.