Most delicious big game meat?

[CoRoMo]

I haven't sampled each of these meats, much less hunted half of them, but for those who've had a dish of any number of these animals, which do you think is generally the best tasting?

How 'bout the worst of them?

 

[ArmedBear]

Buffalo, pig, elk, but I haven't sampled them all, either.

Pheasant is pretty big, and it's delicious.

 

[TedP]

I had fallow at a game dinner shortly after a visit to the farm that they raised it on. This was back in college and we visited the farm in upstate NY. That was pretty darned good. Although the star of that show was one of the professor's pheasant pot pie.

 

[CoRoMo]

I knew that if I included pork or bison in the poll, they would win hands down, so that's why I left them out.
Just the deer, goats, and sheep on this one. Oh wait... bears too.

I also think pheasant is excellent! Probably better tasting than any of these beasts, but the worst meat I've ever tasted was also in fact from a bird.

 

[Arkel23]

I've only had whitetail. Didn't know people ate grizzly, just found out people ate bear not too long along. Man, I didn't know anybody ate any of that stuff of there except elk, moose, pronghorn, and whitetail

 

[Tim the student]

I didn't vote, as I have only had fresh venison on that list, and you can make jerky made from anything taste good.

Looking forward to reading this. Cool poll. Any chance you would want to amend it to include all game animals, and not just big game? I'd love to read a discussion of the merits of smoked coon vs some grizzly.

Pheasant is great, but I can't say I would take that over some doe backstraps, especially wrapped in bacon on the grill.

Man, I'm getting hungry - I'm going to have to go hunting this weekend.

 

[Cosmoline]

I haven't had all those, but brown bear is likely the worst of the lot. Not many people try to eat it. Black bear can be good depending on the season and what it's been eating.

 

[Zeke/PA]

A fellow trapper years ago, turned me on to the excellence of Beaver meat.
The hind quarters make an excellent vegetable soup and the meat texture is very much like beef.

 

[cat9x]

Axis deer & Scimitar Oryx

 

[John Peddie]

I'll second Zeke's choice of beavers, especially if we are talking about beaver kittens roasted in a red wine sauce.

 

[chas08]

Elk is my # 1 choice among those that I have sampled.

 

[Rembrandt]

Bison.....then Elk & Moose.

 

[CoRoMo]

Okay, I want to hear from those guys who claim the goats beat any other meat.

 

[Geno]

Ram or Russian boar. Oh yeah, and goat (domesticated)...fo'get about it! The stuff is a slice of paradise on earth! We ate it a lot in Chile. Grill and enjoy.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

I grew up eating elk and mule deer. In fact, beef was a rarity at our house, but the best big game meat I've ever eaten was some pronghorn from a few years ago. My buddy and I each got one and neither one ever knew what hit them.

Ones that have been chased around with a pickup for a half hour before being shot are a different story though.

Birds ought to be a different thread, but I'll rate them quail, then pheasant, then blue grouse, then doves.

 

[Geno]

Larry:

Pheasant. Yup. My gun-fearing wife likes pheasant soooo much that years back, she asked me to buy a shotgun so I could hunt pheasants for her.

Geno

 

[257WM_CDL-SF]

best I have eaten is Elk was delicious 2nd is rabbit

 

[xmanpike]

Elk definitely of those ont he list, but my favorite and the one that blows all of these out of the water is Nilgai hands down.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I've only had whitetail and elk. Love em' both, if they're cooked right. Wild game is so lean, that if you cook it too long, it's dry and terrible. You guys already knew that though.

Oh, yeah. Geno, does your wife have a sister?

 

[Zeke/PA]

A domesticly raised rabbit is VERY hard to beat for eating .

 

[Tim the student]

Okay, I want to hear from those guys who claim the goats beat any other meat.

Good luck.

I ate some domestic goats when I was in Iraq and living at patrol bases eating MRE's. It's fresh meat I guess, and it'll make dookie. I do not think I would partake of any now.

 

[CoRoMo]

We ate it a lot in Chile.

You mean CHILI? Mmmmm Goat Chili!!

But seriously, I've heard both ways for speed goats. Either they are the best of the best or the worst of the worst. I've heard that bear meat is above all venison, but I can't imagine that to be the case.

My personal fave is elk. Mule deer is okay, but you gotta be a good cook to make it shine. No surprise that it doesn't have any votes. I usually make sausage with most of my mule deer.

Never hunted/eaten whitetail yet. I've only heard wonderful reviews from both fallow and caribou, and would love to have a taste and a wall hanger.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I actually don't care for domestically raised rabbit. I love wild rabbit though. Of course no one is right or wrong here. That's what makes this thread interesting. Keep em' coming.

 

[Tim the student]

Of course no one is right or wrong here. That's what makes this thread interesting. Keep em' coming.

Indeed.

 

[dakotasin]

my favorite is moose, followed by antelope, elk, then deer (can't distinguish a difference between whitetail and mulie). pheasant, if it is allowed on this poll, would rank between antelope and elk for me...

i don't care for bear, and think caribou is ok. never eaten big horn sheep, goats, or fallow deer.