What have you tried and/or liked/disliked?

515034s10ring

So far for me i've had:

Whitetail
Moose
Elk
Bear-7 good 3 bad tasting
Squirrel
Wabbit
Phesent
Woodcock
Grouse
Duck
Goose
And some others i'm probably forgetting. Confused

I like them all except for goose (just couldn't aquire a taste fo it), and i have had 7 different African game meats that an old customer of mine gave to me to try (which were great!), but with no labels and him passing on, i didn't get a chance to find out. Sad

DallanC · Site Admin Joined: Jan 18, 2005 Posts: 3572 Location: Utah

I've tried:

Mule Deer, liked
Elk, liked
Moose, Liked
Bison, Liked
Whitetail deer, liked
Caribou, really liked
Pheasant, liked
Grouse, Liked
Doves, LOVE
Swan, liked
Goose, Liked
Duck, hated

Really hope my wife draws her Mt Goat tag in the next year or two, I'd really like to try that.

-DallanC

squirrelbait

This all assumes proper cooking techniques(no over/under cooked, etc)

whitetail deer: great
blacktail deer: pretty good
caribou: great
moose: great
Iowa red (fox) squirrel: great
NH gray squirrel: pretty good
rabbit-cotton tail: great
rabbit-western Jack: ok
rabbit-eastern snow shoe: pretty good
bob-white quail: great
california quail: great
pheasant: great
allegator: pretty good
duck: pretty good
goose: pretty good

sniper

Mule Deer: Good
Elk: Really good!
Antelope: Good
Quail: Super good! It takes a lot of 'em, though.
Alligator: So-so; really greasy.
Bear: O.K.
Snook: Best fish; dredged in cornmeal, and fried in bacon grease.
Bluefish: Second best.
Barracuda: Nothing to write home about.
Boar Hog barbecue: Words fail me. GOOOOOOD!

Woops! Almost forgot the Wabbit. Tastes like chicken, and I don't like chicken much, except my mom's fried chicken or the Colonel's. ( You think I got enough "chicken" in that sentence? Smile

515034s10ring

Ok, i remembered the ones i forgot Cool

Gator-like, caribou-great, and bison-liked

mikekuzara

Again this is assuming that these are properly cooked

Mule Deer-good

White Tail Deer-very good

Elk-verygood

Moose-very good

Big Horn Sheep-good (tastes a lot like lamb, go figure)

Antelope-good

Bear-okay( very greasy)

Buffalo-excellent

Beefalo-very good

Rabbit(cotton tail and snowshoe)-very good

Rabbit(jack)-okay(stringy)

Game Birds(Pheasant/grouse/dove/etc)-excellent

Waterfowl-okay(greasy and fishy tasting)

Brook Trout, cleaned, rolled in corn meal, and cooked over an open fire within 2 hours of being caught- nothing better on earth

Rainbow Trout-why bother, it really doesn't taste like anything at all

Cutthroat/Brown/Lake trout-very good

Rattlesnake- okay

squirrelbait

Really didn't think about fish.
Fresh trout; brookies, rainbow, any, cooked at the camp site--anyway you can, the best I agree.
largemouth bass--ok
panfish--pretty good

515034s10ring

Yeah i didn't hink about fish either.... Smile

All fresh caught though!

Trout: Rainbow, steelhead, brook, brown, splake..... i like them all and lake trout is too greesy and fishy everytime i've had it.

Salmon: Coho, chinook (king), atlantic, pink, pinook..... i like all these as well.

Walleye, sauger and saugeye...like.

Yellow perch, bluegill, pumpkinseed, crappie, sunfish (all species).....like. All bass i don't like.

Northern pike, channel catfish, lake herring......like. Muske dislike (way fishy taste)!

For saltwater i haven't had many compared to fresh Michigan fish but what i did have is:

Yellow fin tuna, orange roughy, sword fish, mahi.... like.

longwalker

whitetail deer: SD white tails are better than the PA. deer.
Mule Deer still better than PA. deer
Antelope very good
(fox) squirrel: great
PA, CT, NY, gray squirrel: pretty good
rabbit-cotton tail: great
Ruffed Grouse OK
Woodcock OK
Pheasants Great
raccoon better be a small one
wild Boar good
duck: great
goose: pretty good

My only qualifier is they are all good when prepared the right way, and field preparation is very important. Getting the heat out of the birds or animals seems to make the biggest difference.

longwalker

coyotehunter_1

When youâ€™re really, really, really hungry almost anything tastes good... Shocked

Here are some Iâ€™ve had in the past:
Elk
Black Bear
Wild boar
Whitetail deer
Fallow deer
Goat (tame, young)
Buffalo
Reindeer (Alaska)
Moose (Alaska)
Big horn sheep
Corsica sheep
Fresh water turtle (soft shell & snapper)
Alligator (tail)
Rattlesnake
Beaver
Groundhog
Cottontail rabbit
Squirrel (gray & fox)
Wild turkey
Ostridge (Ostrich)
Ringneck pheasant
Grouse
Bobwhite quail
Dove
Wilson snipe
Mallard duck
Canadian goose
Possum
Mountain oysters (not really considered prime meat but can be quite delicious and noâ€¦ they donâ€˜t taste like chicken). Laughing

I agree with longwalker, preparation is a key factor as is age of the animal.

mikekuzara

Don't forget that shot placement has a lot to do with taste. I have had deer and elk (at a friends or neighbors house for dinner) that were gut shot or limb shot and ran for quite a while before they were put down for good. The meat was some of the most godawful stuff I have ever had.

Also, antelope that has gotten hair on the meat and contaminated it with the lanolin from the hide. Nothing like meat that tastes like hand lotion.

Mentioning cooling out, my sister works at the locker plant in Dubois Wyoming. She had a guy bring two deer in that they slung over the hood of the car for the hour an a half drive to the plant. They got about 15 pounds of meat out of each deer because the rest had soured from the heat of the engine. If the temperature is over 65 I take along a cooler full of ice, dry or cubed. If you have a long way to go to get home, it sure helps to cool down the body cavity.

SakoL61R

blacktails
whitetails
muleys
elk
moose
feral hogs
ducks
geese
quail
pheasants
dove
grouse
All are excellent, depending on what they've been eating, how the meat was taken care of and method of cooking.

As for adrenaline charged game.....

Here in Georgia, shooting deer that have been chased out of the thick stuff with hounds is legal and common. Weapon of choice is a shotgun with buckshot.
I participated once a long time ago (was invited) and didn't shoot. I was given a hind quarter off a doe that day.

Absolutely the foulest, worst tasting meat I've ever tried to eat.
Never again,
Sako

Handloader

Most game properly shot and prepared has been excellent. EXCEPT for Javelina.

Now, there are those that believe Javelina is good stuff and anxiously await their next hunt. These are usually those that would prefer Kerry for President and higher taxes. They often drive Hondas while using their cell phones and wear their baseball caps backwards. Javelina, indeed!

delboy

Vermin pie does it for me! One rabbit, two pairs of squirrel legs and four pigeon breasts (all deboned) simmered together in vegetable stock until tender. Drain meat and place in shortcrust pie bottom. Cover with puff pastry and cook for half an hour @ 400f. or until pie browns. Mix gelatin in with a cup of leftover stock, make a hole in the middle of pie and pour in when pie has cooled. Place pie in fridge and eat cold. Go shoot more vermin.......:)

Flint54

Ive been very fortunate in that I have been to many placed outside the USA and have been able to sample some very exotic (strange) gastronomical morsels. As everyone else has stated, proper preperation and care is vital to the end taste as is the method of cooking.

I cannot give you what the best is as there are too many to choose from. Those I donâ€™t like are at the end.

Whitetail
Mule
Elk
Caribou
Bison/Buffalo
Beefalo
Pronghorn
Wild Hog
Black Bear
Beluga Wale
Nar Wale
Sperm Wale
Various Seals
Monkey â€“ didnâ€™t know at the time, but very good
Dog â€“ a bit stringy
Rabbit â€“ Cottontail & Snowshoe very good, keep the rest!
Squirrel
Possum
Armidillo
Muskrat
Beaver
Woodchuck

Pheasant
Ruffled Grouse, Sharptail, Blue, Spruce, Ptargiman
Wild Turkey â€“ the birds not the bottle!
Ostrich
Emu
Dove
Quail
Peacock
Mallard
Teal
Wood Duck
Pintail
Redhead
Canadian Goose
Snow Goose
Trumpeter Swan â€“ Drawing in NC
Pigeon

Many various panfish, Crappie, Sunfish, yellow perch, white perch etc.
Walley, Sauger
Northern Pike
Red, Pink, Silver, King Salmon â€“ also the eggs scrambled with bacon/butter drippings over the fire â€“ WOW!
Baracuda
Dolphin â€“ the fish
Various Snapper, Red, Yellow Tail etc
King & Spanish Mackrell
Snook
Blue Fish
Tuna â€“ Yellow Fin, Big Eye, Bluefin
Wahoo
Shark
Squid
Octopus
Abelone
Conch
Lobster - all
Crab - all
Crawfish, Shrimp, Prawns from all over the world
Snapping Turtle
Sea Turtle â€“ raised in the Caribbian like we raise cattle
Clams, Oysters

Things I did not like!!

Brown Bear
Racoon
Musk Ox
Ballutes
Sea Urchin
Carp
Sturgeon
Lutafisk

As you see, some are quite exotic to say the least. There are a lot more things out there that I look forward to try when I get the chance. Party