Different species

[Mole trapper]

**



Hi everyone, I put this in the wrong part of the forum originally.
As I live the other side of the pond I've never tasted mule deer, whitetail,  elk, moose or caribou.
Over here we have in order of size muntjac   roe,  fallow, sika and red.  There are a few wild boar  but not huge numbers.
In my opinion our best tasting is fallow, then red  sika, munty and finally roe. I've only had boar in sausages.
I come over to the states every year or so ( if I could I would spend more time there than here) , unfortunately none of our relatives over there hunt, shame as some are park city and the others siesta keys.
So, I know it's a subjective question as we all have different tastes, but what order would you put yours in over there please?

[Even]

SO subjective, hahaha, but its fun to see everyone's taste preference. 

My own personal order of preference would be:  Bison, Stone sheep, Elk, Moose, Mountain goat, Bighorn, Blacktail, Mule (same species, but I taste a big difference between coastal blacktail and mulies east of the mountains), whitetail, and then Caribou way down at the bottom (too much lichen, I suspect).

Obviously, the animal and circumstances make a massive difference.  I have heard a young female caribou is really good, but I've never had it and what I did have was tasteless and very gamey.  I wasn't a fan of Elk, at all, until a friend who knew what they were doing cooked up a tenderloin from a female.  Then I became a big fan.  Smoked Muskox is really tasty too, eaten with dried blueberries.   I've had Red deer before and it was delicious.

[Bow man]

So far I  have not had anything I have not enjoyed some I have liked better than others.  Always a big consideration on taste involves a few things. First how the animal was handled after being taken. recovered and field dressed quickly, cooled down quickly all cuts done boneless, age of animal and old buck male of any speicies will not be as good as from a younger animal or a doe, excess fat removed very important on Black bear.  also how meat was prepared for the table

One of my favorites is Black Bear would get one every year if I could.  My whitetails come from southern Michigan farm land so very good

[Even]

Black bear fattened up on blueberries is pretty darn good, I have to admit.  Forgot about them...was thinking ungulates.  My friend used to make killer bear jerky.

[Maclean]

For big game it's moose, elk, whitetail, mulies, pronghorn. Haven't had Bighorn sheep, mountain goat, or caribou yet.

For small game it's grouse, rabbit, pheasant, turkey, duck, and goose.

Geez, I'm getting hungry now ...

[Orion]

Hmmmm.  Difficult to pick a best.  Different, yes, but they're all good.  Bison, moose would probably top my list.  Elk and black bear next.  White tail, then mule deer.  But the difference in rank are very small. On another day, I might rank them differently.  Haven't had the opportunity to taste antelope or sheep (or caribou). 

[Mole trapper]

My goodness,  I had forgotten that you eat bears, also forgotten you have goat and sheep, I think of those two more new Zealand, and of course you have wild turkey.
Very valid point about how any meat is handled, anything I shoot is hung for 24 hours then I butcher and freeze straight away. I had some red in a pub up on exmoor years ago, it was terrible,  I later found out it was taken by the stag hounds, so it had been terrorised for at least an hour till exhausted and usually cornered it's finally dispatched,  not a good recipe for quality meat.
We do also have rabbit, hare,  pheasants and duck here, I am a rural pest controller so I shoot and trap a lot of rabbits, don't often eat them though as we have rather over done it in the past when we weren't so well off financially.

[Terry Green]

Bison, elk, then venison.  Antelope is interesting, and very gamey to me.  I liked it ok, but not in my top three.  Never had moose, but if anyone has any laying around I'd love to try it some day as I have heard its the best.

As far as wild pork, that's in a different leage.  Its not red meat so I have to list it separate as scrumpdileyiscious. The backstraps, the shoulders, and the hams all have a different taste.  I also LOVE wild boar sausage from a local processor.

Small game?  Foul - duck, pheasant, grouse. Earth bound - Rabbit and frog legs.

[Mole trapper]

Doh! I forgot about bison too 

[Gun]

Sheep hands down the best. Antelope, taken care of in the field! In our house we eat mostly Moose tho, very tasty as well.

[pdk25]

I have tried just about everything out there, even if I have not been the one shooting it. The one exception would be Bison. So I will exclude that and just tell you a few of my favorites. Moose for me is by far at the top.followed by elk, then, by antelope, then, by deer acknowledging that there are differences in the taste of venison between habitats.

[Terry Green]

I have never had 'wild sheep' but I do love a good lamb shank at a quality Moroccan restaurant.  One of my favorite dishes.

[PrimitivePete]

What my Mom can do with Venison would make anyone's mouth water

[Burnsie]

Moose

[Trenton G.]

With regards to big game, black bear is my favorite. If I could shoot a 150 pound bear every fall in exchange for one my deer, I would! Venison follows pretty closely. Moose after that, with elk bringing up the rear. Maybe it's just how it's been prepared, but all the elk I've had has been a bit dry and tough.

Small Game: Always looking to try new things, even if a bit odd, but beaver is extremely good, followed by rabbit, bobcat (tastes like good pork), squirrel, and fox.

Birds: Duck (puddlers, not divers), grouse, goose, and turkey in that order.

[Wudstix]

My taste buds like; Moose, Black bear, Axis, Elk, feral Hog, Whitetail(IN), Whitetail(Tx), Whitetail(PA.)


Small game: Quail, grouse, rabbit, squirrel, pheasant,
Groundhog makes good stew.
 

[rastaman]

Moose, Impala, wild hog, venison, bear
small game: quail, rabbit, fried squirrel smothered in gravy, frog legs!

[mnbwhtr]

I like most wild game that's well taken care of in the field but really enjoy Antelope. One I haven't seen listed is Mountain Lion which is quite tasteless, the other white meat.

[Mike Bolin]

As far as what I like best from the game I have personally taken, I like Caribou the best, with whitetail and wild boar being tied for second and Black Bear coming in at third. As far as game I have had the pleasure of eating, Moose and Bison are my favorite, followed closely by Elk. I have not eaten any of the wild sheep or mountain goat or antelope. A lot of it comes from the preparation. My church's wild game dinner is this Saturday and the folks there know what they're doing.

[trad_bowhunter1965]

I was raised on venison, I love Pronghorn and then Elk, Muledeer, Blacktail,moose, black bear, wild boar I thought nothing was better the Italian sausage made from wild boar unit the LTR 2024 where Dusty and Sid shared there wild boar and Javalina meat that was the best for me.