Advice: Love hunting; don't like the meat

[Norcal18]

I think it comes down to finding a way you like to eat it. Growing up deer was always done in a mold bath, floured and fried- good but not great. Kinda made me not hunt because I didn’t wanna waste the meat. Now in my 30s I’ve got back into it and love it. Cooked the backstraps on the smoker, delicious. Shot my first bear and had half made into jalapeño cheddar summer sausage. Again great and I give those sticks to neighbors and friends who love it. I also do burger since you can season it and it’s not different. Actually had bear smash burgers and my wife made beef ones. I liked the bear better. Also you can just to jerky, my family loves that. As long as it gets eaten I don’t care how it gets cut or ground up. Just gotta find what you like.

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

@Qmandan You're not alone. Had the same moral dilemma for years. I think most of the game meat sucks. I watched so many kids/dude all through my life from High School to current...."Dude...is that venison....fuk yea.....gimme that"

Think a lot is bravado in kids. I gigged frogs as a kid and ate them. My mom "Baked" in an over every critter I ever shot. Most was horrible.

I take very good care of the game I harvest and process my own. No hair, no questionable quality cuts, dirt etc.

The whole kitchen smells of Goat when I cook. And I simply do the best I can to choke it down.

How many influencers, podcasters, etc preach "High quality, low fat, organic meat".....then tell you "We add 68 pounds of pork fat" or tallow, or beef or whatever else?? You just took a shit in your soup!

I've been a die hard waterfowler. When I met my wife that was her rule (anti Hunter then) "You shoot it....you eat it". Plugging my nose trying to consume an entire limit of mallards and widgeon. Buried in whatever type of red vinegar, Brazilian marinade or what have you...to bury the funk. Pretty shitty.

This is your own moral issue. But as long as you are not wanton waste.....I don't think you're a POS.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

The problem with photography is most people will just end up sitting around RMNP or some other area for pictures. Kinda hard to hike the backcountry for days on end trying to get close to a raghorn when you can easily go take pictures of a pet beast in the park.

I like the suggestion of taking up Wolf hunting. Use your skills to help your fellow hunter with things you don't have to eat.

 

[Blowdowner]

You should bring a really good camera during the season and document all the hoofed animals you can photograph under 500 yards. Bring your rifle. And if you see a rack bigger than your current record, that's the one thing you shoot. The photos are acceptable to share with all types of people and if they're hunters you say "this was 200 yards I could have easily cranked him".

My other suggestion is hunt birds and small game.

 

[Strmchsr3]

I have a buddy who gave me a "venison sandwich" last fall, when I was helping him move. Best damn venison sandwich I've ever had, and would have enjoyed 2 more. It almost felt sinful to be eating venison in a sandwich, given how hard it is to get tags out here in Nevada. It's just a rare gift to get, in any form. But man, was it good.

After enjoying every bite, he asked, "So, you wanna know what meat that really was?"

Now, I've spent a lot of time working overseas, in some really low-down, dirty places. And he's been around the block a time or two himself. So I started completely expecting him to tell me something like, "wokked dog", or "stirfried cat", or something. Maybe even jackrabbit.

Nope.

It was coot.

No sh*t, it was real, actual, marshfed, free-range coot. Just another one of the nasty little oil-slicks out on the duck pond.

And it was the best damned venison sandwich I've ever had in my life.

As a kid, my family tried to cook up coot once or twice, just to see if we could - and it was absolutely inedible, trash-can bad. It turns out, we just didn't know how to cook it. Coot is not duck - but if you prepare it like venison, especially if you brine it in buttermilk or some other things, and get every speck of fat off during the cleaning of it, it can be phenomenal.

The takeaway here, is that if you don't like the elk or deer you're getting...it's only matter of finding the right game care and cooking recipes to make it exceptionally good fare.

Growing up in Nebraska where it is illegal to hunt crane, I had heard they are gross and not worth eating. After moving to Colorado and talking with people they call them the “ribeye of the sky” and while I’ve never had one that was a wild revelation for me to hear. Still having a hard time believing coot was good, but again it’s all about how you prepare it!

 

[Fireflyfishing]

Posting under a new account because I'm almost embarrassed to ask this question.

Really? Weak sauce. Man up.

Sounds like you need to learn how to prepare and cook game meat.

Explain your meat care process when harvesting game. Have you processed game meat on your own, or do you take it to someone to process?

Do you cook game meat until it’s shoe leather? That would be a major issue.

What kind of meat so you like to eat?

 

[douglasfir]

I really just like the meat. Pretty neutral about the hunting lol

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Take a camera instead of a gun or bring me your meat!

 

[HairyScandinavian]

I really just like the meat. Pretty neutral about the hunting lol

You should become buddies with the OP, might work out lol.

 

[lucas78]

Posting under a new account because I'm almost embarrassed to ask this question. I love everything about hunting: the challenge, the solitude, getting out into the woods, the sport of it, I hate hiking just for hiking's sake....but give me the same hike with a tag in my pocket and a purpose and I love it....BUT, I don't like the game meat at all. Call me spoiled. I've taken a few elk: a bull and a cow. I enjoyed the steaks of the cow and some sausage with breakfast, but that was about it. My bull was older so even the steak wasn't great (to my taste). For both of those, I ate less than 10% and gave the other 90% to friends and to people online (was lucky that I found someone in my area that had a son with a medical condition where he couldn't eat much fat...so I was able to give them a bunch). I found a lot of joy gifting so much to that kid and his family. Is this all weird? Is not liking the meat enough of a reason to hang it all up? Is it legal to just give/gift the unprocessed quarters to other people? (I'm in Utah). I've heard that you have to keep the tag with the meat...so how would that work if I gifted different quarters to different people? With my two elk, I paid for it to be processed and then just gave most of it away...so I'm thinking of this time giving the quarters away so I don't have to pay for processing. Here is another thought: would it be weird to post in my local hunting facebook group: "help me pack an elk out, and take home whatever you pack...." and to have a list of people I can text when I've got an elk down to come help, with the promise they can keep whatever they pack out? I'm just not sure if something like that is unethical or legal or if I'd have any takers.

Consider donating to a local charity or shelter.