Question for you Mule deer Guys

[baldopepper]

We used to get a lot of those old "barrell necked"  mulies during the late Utah hunts and they were always very, very gammie eating.  I grew up eating vension 5-6 times a week and we always saved those late hunt mulies untill everything else was gone.  I don't think the hang time had a lot to do with it with temps what they are that late in the year, those big old late rut bucks just don't eat all that great.  I suppose theres a scientific reason behind it, but I guarantee that those late bucks eat a lot different than the early hunt bucks. We shot deer in the same area during the earlly hunts and you could easily tell them from deer from the same area taken during the late hunts.

[Smokepole]

My dad killed a mule deer buck way up in the snow balls on South Navarre back in the 60's.  It was so gamy, he couldn't eat it.  The dog wouldn't even eat it.  Since then not him or any of us has ever killed a mule deer that wasn't exceptional meat.  We try to hang for a week or 10.  Trim all the fat.  It's good.

I've killed some swollen up bucks and they always taste great.  The worst tasting deer I've ever killed was a 2 pt. blacktail buck.  Not sure why.  He was hung and butchered to perfection, but he didn't taste as good as the muleys.  A little tough, too.

I have some mule deer in the freezer right now that is dynamite good. 

[Alan K]

To me, whitetail is the best tasting deer hands down. Seeing as that's what you've eaten all your life maybe to your palate muley meat just doesn't taste as good.  We shoot whitetails out of state every year, and that gets made into our burger while the blacktail is processed into sausages. 

[RB]

As others have stated about them being on alert or full of adrenaline, I shot a nice three point about 15 years ago that I could not eat unless it was ground up. Toughest meat I have ever had literally like boot leather. I was able to get him cooled and hung for a couple days in cold weather then had to take the steaks I had and have them ground into burger and pepperoni.

Only stinky Deer I had was a little web fork Blacktail late buck like has been said separate knives for the glands and gutting/skinning and his meat still stunk when it was cooked.

[JackOfAllTrades]

I think every deer is different. Texture to taste. But as said, handling and the process of the kill has the most influence on taste that is controllable by us. The food intake for each is pretty much the same. Even a farm area deer is still going to browse non-farmland forage. I've killed and eaten both.  I HAVE NEVER hung a deer for two weeks. If it was in a cooler, (I hope so), that might be acceptable. But most of use don't have access to hang/age meat in a cooler. I'd wonder if the temperature wasn't cold enough that may have had an effect on the meat. Venison is leaner than beef. Drying out meat in that amount of time will affect texture and likely taste.

That said, a buck in full rut that's just been run off, won a fight or just bread will have adrenaline in the blood stream. That takes some time to balance out. I have never and will never shoot a running deer that's been spooked. I am a meat hunter before I am a trophy hunter. I just had some roast tonight from my elderly buck that was obviously starting to rut late in modern season. (grouped with six does) He tastes great! But he didn't know I was there when I shot him.  A double lung or kidney shot is not my preference. A destroyed heart, spine or head shot is the quickest kill and doesn't generally allow a massive release of adrenaline to the blood stream.  Two knives? Nonsense.. Knowing where you're touching, avoiding touching metatarsal glands and any bile if present are keys. The contents of the bladder are actually sterile, and while I wouldn't suggest a nick where things get wet, that meat tainted would only be an end of a roast if you put the head of the deer up hill and let things drain down. Not to affect the whole lot of deer meat. An older buck does taste a bit different than a spike, some not as tender either. But I've had both that make my mouth water for the next bite.

-Steve

[MtnMuley]

I'm not a fan of washing down wild game with a hose. I don't know if that has anything to do with gamey meat, though. Possibly.  I take a bucket of water with a couple wash cloths and soak/ring out then wipe off all blood and hair. When I process I remove the entire outer layer of "dry" skin before I begin deboning the quarter.

Hose washed each and every deer myself and family have shot. Back in the day when all my 5 daughters were hunting we ate only deer meat. Now that most of them are out of the house they call and ask for deer meat. The butcher washes beef w/a hose why not on deer?

Sounds like you got er all dialed in. No need for me to waste my time here.

[PA BEN]

I think every deer is different. Texture to taste. But as said, handling and the process of the kill has the most influence on taste that is controllable by us. The food intake for each is pretty much the same. Even a farm area deer is still going to browse non-farmland forage. I've killed and eaten both.  I HAVE NEVER hung a deer for two weeks. If it was in a cooler, (I hope so), that might be acceptable. But most of use don't have access to hang/age meat in a cooler. I'd wonder if the temperature wasn't cold enough that may have had an effect on the meat. Venison is leaner than beef. Drying out meat in that amount of time will affect texture and likely taste.

That said, a buck in full rut that's just been run off, won a fight or just bread will have adrenaline in the blood stream. That takes some time to balance out. I have never and will never shoot a running deer that's been spooked. I am a meat hunter before I am a trophy hunter. I just had some roast tonight from my elderly buck that was obviously starting to rut late in modern season. (grouped with six does) He tastes great! But he didn't know I was there when I shot him.  A double lung or kidney shot is not my preference. A destroyed heart, spine or head shot is the quickest kill and doesn't generally allow a massive release of adrenaline to the blood stream.  Two knives? Nonsense.. Knowing where you're touching, avoiding touching metatarsal glands and any bile if present are keys. The contents of the bladder are actually sterile, and while I wouldn't suggest a nick where things get wet, that meat tainted would only be an end of a roast if you put the head of the deer up hill and let things drain down. Not to affect the whole lot of deer meat. An older buck does taste a bit different than a spike, some not as tender either. But I've had both that make my mouth water for the next bite.

-Steve

This buck didn't know I was there. I have shot a lot of spooked deer, it happens a lot with w/t's, all have been good eating. As far as your nonsense about two knives, what's the problem using one knife to cut metatarsal glans and the balls off with. I see a lot of hunters leave the glans on, just one thing I do to help not taint the meat. O, I guess I should have said it's nonsense to use one knife. I also use two knives on elk, a bull in the rut pisses all over hes belly hair, I use one knife and skinn a wide path off his belly before I gut. Lots of good info here without the jabs. One thing I have gotten from this topic is some big old mule's are good eating and some are not. 

[boneaddict]

Sounds to me you just got a stinky one.   Be thankful it wasn't a moose.  Less to eat.

[zwickeyman]

Like every one is saying, there could be a lot of reasons. I've killed a few nice bucks that time of year and all have been good, it's a little after the peak. The only strong buck I have ever eaten was a buck my son shot on 11/11 in Swakane. 7 1/2 or 8 1/2 roman nose, huge body and full rut. We ate him but I could tell when he was cooking which deer it was. 

[Elkrunner]

We used to get a lot of those old "barrell necked"  mulies during the late Utah hunts and they were always very, very gammie eating.  I grew up eating vension 5-6 times a week and we always saved those late hunt mulies untill everything else was gone.  I don't think the hang time had a lot to do with it with temps what they are that late in the year, those big old late rut bucks just don't eat all that great.  I suppose theres a scientific reason behind it, but I guarantee that those late bucks eat a lot different than the early hunt bucks. We shot deer in the same area during the earlly hunts and you could easily tell them from deer from the same area taken during the late hunts.

I grew up in Utah and the mulies always tasted more gamie than any mule deer I have ate from this state.  I believe it has to do with there diet.  A lot of the Utah deer eat sage all the time.

[MooseZ25]

I shot my mule deer Nov. 14 this year on the top of the mountain.  He was with several doe.  Good clean kill and I use the hose water on him when I got it home.  The buck taste great! Just tougher than old boot leather.  I just think you can get a bad one every once in awhile.

[Karl Blanchard]

I've shot a lot of mule deer, not as many as some but more than most.  I bone them in the field and process them as soon as I can.  I have shot them standing, walking running, bedded, and everything in between.  Early season, Oct., pre rut, rut, post rut.  Never had a bad one.  Had one from Montana that was ancient and tough as boot leather but not gamie.  I will say though, my Colorado buck from this year stunk!  The meat smelled like a sent gland, but it tastes like all the other deer in the freezer.  We live 100% on wild game and like was said before, some are a bit different than others but none have been bad.  I will say, in my opinion, whitetails are better table fair.  Sounds like you need to shoot another big ol muley as a test subject  

[PA BEN]

Sounds to me you just got a stinky one.   Be thankful it wasn't a moose.  Less to eat.

[Gobble]

I've shot a lot of mule deer, not as many as some but more than most.  I bone them in the field and process them as soon as I can.  I have shot them standing, walking running, bedded, and everything in between.  Early season, Oct., pre rut, rut, post rut.  Never had a bad one.  Had one from Montana that was ancient and tough as boot leather but not gamie.  I will say though, my Colorado buck from this year stunk!  The meat smelled like a sent gland, but it tastes like all the other deer in the freezer.  We live 100% on wild game and like was said before, some are a bit different than others but none have been bad.  I will say, in my opinion, whitetails are better table fair.  Sounds like you need to shoot another big ol muley as a test subject

The mule deer bucks we have killed in Montana have all been tough, but the Does have been good tender. I have had to cube all my buck steaks from MT in order to make them edible, we assume its from the rut and all the ground they are covering during that time, every buck we see is on the move looking for does

[The scout]

the first year we hunted Montana my uncle shot a super stinky buck the first day we were there, on our way home we called our buddy who is a butcher and asked the best way to take care of the stinker, he said get it off the bone as soon as possible, oops its already hung for a week. the meat worked well for Christmas gifts. we have killed lots of rutted up muleys since with no problem