Elk meat taste: Ranch raised vs. Wild elk

[MG]

I bought some elk burger at local meat shop to try and help convince wife that an annual elk hunt is worth the $$ I have spent for DIY hunts out West: Twice so far with no elk yet.  Burgers were very tasty.  No typical venison taste that my wife dislikes and works to cover with marinade, etc.  Now, these were apparently ranch raised elk. So, would properly cared for wild elk taste different/stronger venison flavor????.  And would bull elk be less flavorful than a cow? Thanks for your replies.

[Ray Hammond]

MG, believe it or not the "wild" taste in any game meat is not from them coming from "the wild" but is merely a taste from bacteria that has built up in meat not properly cared for.

We have very hot weather in the SE US even into December....the venison I feed my family has no wild taste to it at all...I carry two bags of ice in a cooler on every hunt...and within 30 minutes of shooting one I have it split open and replace the internals with the two bags of ice.

That starts the cool-down process of the body- heat build up - yes, after an ungulate dies its body temperature goes UP, WAYYY UP..that is how bacteria begins its growth in the carcass.

Your main job is to get that temp down as fast as possible to keep that bacteria from spoiling the meat.

Marinades? Covering gravies? You don't need any of that stuff if you properly care for your game.

My favorite way of eating venison? Take backstraps and cut them into logs about 8 inches long- pour 1/2 and 1/2 Montreal steak seasoning and McCormick's steak seasoning dry rubs onto a cutting board- and roll the strap over it, pressing the mixture into the meat.

Put a little oil in a heated frying pan, and sear the outside, including the ends, to seal in the juices and brown the outside, then move it to a 350 degree preheated grill to finish it.

Cook till medium...do not overcook venison as it has no fat. You serve your wife and kids that, and they won't ever want it any other way.

And wild vs. game farm? I want wild every time. Game farm stuff is usually fed pelletized feed, as a supplement to alfalfa or whatever. It doesn't compare in my book to wild...just like wild salmon always tastes better to me than raised salmon.

[Monte]

Thanks Ray.  I agree totally on the cooling issue. Thanks also for the recipe.  I will put that into action this weekend with some venison I have from last season.  Have you found the same is true for Bulls vs. Cows??  I  have heard that a mature bull elk in the rut are sometimes not very good table fair compared to a cow elk.

[Juniper Bow]

Elk is some of the best wild game meat that you can get. Like Ray said, cooling down the meat to stop bacterial growth is critical. Many poeple would slap you for even suggesting using some sort of marinade or sauce to "cover up" the flavor of elk meat!
Sex and age may have some effect on meat quality, bulls generaly have a stronger flavor and younger animals might be more tender. Then again, I just got done eating some steaks from a mature mule deer buck taken during the rut and he tasted great!
If you do get an elk and don't care for the meat I can give you an address to send the meat to...