My old buck don't taste like my brothers doe

[Jeffrey]

Rances at Logansport?

Been there, done that, worst deer I have ever had, never again !!!!

Took my buck to Archer this year. They had me take it into a refrigerator unit with a bunch of other deer and "throw it as far as I could into the back" because the other guys were "getting lazy". I will not be taking another one there. It was actually pretty sad to see all of those beautiful animals end up heaped in that room like that. Have not tried this deer yet to determine taste, but was less than impressed with their operation. Would love to try to process my own next time.

 

[trophy hunter]

wife and i kill 4-5 a yr.. i can`t tell the bucks from the does... guess i`m doing something right..

 

[Hoosierbuck]

I would love to process it myself. I would literally have to quarter it in the field and transport in coolers home. I live in a subdivision...no go on the hanging or place to dispose of carcass. Bummer

I live in a subdivision, too. Hang them from the rafters in the garage (through the garage attic opening), butcher in the garage, and take the carcasses down the road to a farm where a dairy farmer dumps all his manure from the feedlot.

My immediate neighbors are really cool, and when they see the pickup backed into the garage they come looking to see what I shot.

It can be done if you try hard enough.

 

[grunt soldier]

Interesting comment, my buck was void of a majority of his teeth as well.

your buck was probably very old then. when they get old like that and have no teeth, they have to eat anything they can get down and it won't be corn, feed, acorns ect. it will probably be the stuff out of the wetlands and it gives them a swampy taste i believe. this is all my guess/hypothesis but its the one thing i have noticed that is different between all the deer i/we have shot. who knows i may be completely off but my dad and his dad had also noticed they same thing. we came to this because we have all shot bucks during the rut and they tasted fine (does, buttons,spikes and fawns are all more tender and a bit tastier imo) but we have all shot one really old buck with no teeth and they tasted horrible. my neighbor shot one last year and it had no teeth either and he says its the nastiest venison he has ever tasted. said he can't even eat the chili he made with it. who knows

 

[clfergus]

Took my buck to Archer this year. They had me take it into a refrigerator unit with a bunch of other deer and "throw it as far as I could into the back" because the other guys were "getting lazy". I will not be taking another one there. It was actually pretty sad to see all of those beautiful animals end up heaped in that room like that. Have not tried this deer yet to determine taste, but was less than impressed with their operation. Would love to try to process my own next time.

I second this. When I went they had them stacked in parking lot and one guy starting to process right there in the lot. It was second weekend of gun so it wasn't hot but it wasn't cold either. I had already driven it from Bloomington so I really didnt know of another place to take it so I left it.

Who know how long they kept him outside. I do know my tag was in my box when I picked it up but it could have been mixed meat.

Well this year was a learning experience for sure.

 

[paperboy]

I would love to process it myself. I would literally have to quarter it in the field and transport in coolers home. I live in a subdivision...no go on the hanging or place to dispose of carcass. Bummer

Go ahead and take it home and hang it from the garage rafters with a tarp underneath. If your garage ceiling is drywalled, put an eye hook up. You can get it skinned and quarter it and put it in the fridge or keep ice in the coolers. I have a sink setup in my garage with a butcher table and it works great. My processing area/equipment only set me back about $100 and that is with the electric grinder. If you want I can give you ideas on how to set up a processing area that you could even "fold away" when not in use. Guaranteed that the initial setup cost will pay for itself in one season.

 

[Thumper]

The carcass makes great coyote bait.

 

[ironjaw]

The carcass makes great coyote bait.

so do the steaming inards too!

 

[Buckhunter]

I let mine hang for quite a while to bleed out and stretch. Helps with the gamey taste.

I process all my own deer and big bucks = burger

 

[randyb]

As others have mentioned age, rut, diet, processing, and how quickly they are killed all influence the flavor of the meat. As a rule my are gutted where they fell. Then quickly hauled to be tagged and either iced or hung.

 

[JBob77]

Can one be quartered, then the quarters hung for a few days to allow to break down before processing? I have an idea that involves a farmer that doesn't hunt, who can get depredation permits, but can't find anyone who wants to keep the deer. If quartering , then hanging is feasible, I may try to work something out.