Nervous Deer vs. Calm Deer

[okawbow]

Gary, I'll also say that my biggest bucks were the best eating. I took a buck in December one year, with my 54 flintlock, that dressed out at over 235 pounds. Very tender and tasty. My largest buck, taken from the ground with selfbow and flinthead arrow, dressed over 300 lbs(that's right, the 300 lbs scale was bottomed out). He was slow walking and fat and produced almost 200 lbs boneless, tender and great flavored meat.

The flintlock buck dropped where he stood, and the other buck lived about 10 seconds before crashing.

 

[Vaino]

Don't doubt for one minute that some very large corn belt bucks have prime meat, but I think these bucks are corn fed and lay around all day.

Shot some very large bucks in northern Wisconsin and Minnesota and they were tough and strong tasting and as always the carcasses were properly cared for. In fact, some very large does tasted the same way.

Depends on where the deer come from.....Fred

 

[Spikebuck]

Depends on where the deer come from.....Fred

I agree...as the old saying goes..."You are what you eat!" Having done all my hunting on Whitetails in prime Ag land primary fed on corn, beans, and clover, they have all been good eating regardless of age, nervous or not, etc. I have also eaten whitetails from areas not blessed with such abundance of domestic animal feed and there was definitely a different flavor...not bad...just different and maybe not quite as tender and tasty of the Ag field venison is.

 

[hanshi]

:hmm: My experience as well.

 

[vthunter52]

All my hunting has been done in the Mountains of the North Country in the Green, White, and Adirondack Mountains. Food sources are ferns, beech nut, acorns, and hardwood browse. Not all that much large ag. areas here....and I will agree that if the deer migrate into their winter ceder swamps... they may get stronger tasting.

But in all honesty, I've never met an inedible deer!...Gary

 

[FishDFly]

A calm deer and a nervous/alert deer?

How does a deer being alert, change it's blood chemistry? Blood chemistry is a factor of diet.

If I make a noise for my dog to notice me, (ALERTNESS) does his blood chemistry change, no?

If a deer is shot and it runs a long distance, adrenalin enters the blood stream. This is what taints the meat, not being alert nor nervous at the instant of the shot, stress induced is the answer.

Just like a person being injured, they go into shock and their body chemistry is out of whack if the injury is serious. Shock is what kills on the battle field, and it does so very quickly if not handled quickly.

Diet has been mentioned, off topic, but..

Puddle ducks eat vegetation, they are edible, diving ducks eat fish and such, not-edible, diet is what was matters, but not here.

 

[vthunter52]

I will agree that if a wounded deer runs for a period of time the adeneline will effect the meat if not properly handled and aged. I have in the past autopsied hundreds of deer, some harvested from hunting, poached, hit by car, Etc, to study the structure of the muscle and it's chemistry,(graduate school!), while the jist of the study isn't applicable here in this discussion, the texture, and condition of the muscles did differ with the manner, trama, and quickness of the end.

By the way, send any diving ducks my way if you don't like them, my smoker is always available....Gary

 

[George T.]

I have noticed that deer that were on high alert were more likely to go further with a chest cavity hit.

As far as taste goes it's the weather we have to fight as it is often in the upper 70's during deer season. We skin and quarter them as fast as we can and get them on ice.

The taste of Texas hill country deer when there is a huge acorn crop requires the exotic marinates you read about. I don't know what the level of tanic acid is in their blood stream but it is high!

Geo. T.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Really? That's interesting as certain types of pork ham require the pigs to eat only acorn mast for the proper, exquisite flavor. I suppose pigs metabolize the tannins in a different manner, or maybe it's a different species of oak down in Texas?

LD