What's the worst-tasting game animal you've eaten?

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

I've eaten just about everything that inhabits the woods in Northern MN. But one animal I tasted long ~long ago that stuck in memory. >Roast of porcupine.

[tahunua001]

I've eaten a lot and they all take the cake.

first I remember was an old mule deer with just about no teeth left, it was estimated to be 14 years old. he was disgusting and I have been pretty leery of eating mule deer since.

then there was buffalo, I've eaten a lot of bison and it's all been really tough, and somewhat gamey. I'm not a big bison fan anymore.

most recent was a spring black bear. we cooked some up immediately to make sure it was even edible before butchering the whole thing. it tasted alright but every subsequent pack we cooked up was so disgusting that after 5 failed meals of the stuff we cooked the rest and gave it to the dogs.

[Colorado Redneck]

One of my brothers shot an old moss back mulie in Northwest Colorado years ago. Gutted it and took it to the butcher shop. First meal that Mom made used some of the burger. The house stunk like heck. We (Dad, my brother and I) couldn't get it down. Dog wouldn't touch it. Mom couldn't smell, and didn't understand the situation, so she took it personally. Poor lady, got really upset. We tried again and the roast she cooked went out with the trash too.

We ate other deer from that same area a few other times that was great. Just that one old buck was bad.

[yaonttwo]

Nutria, when I lived in Louisiana (we eat anything down south).

[Deja vu]

Crow was pretty bad. I have had different quality of duck, some is decent and some is extremely bad. But the worst of all was sage brush raised antelope I swore Id never eat another one.

[HiBC]

I do not doubt your experience with antelope,
But pretty much all pronghorn antelope is sage fed.sage is their primary forage.It makes up the bulk of the diet of just about every pronghorn.

And that includes all the fine,tasty antelope I have eaten.

My experience with antelope:Properly handled,sage eating antelope has no "odd" or "gamy" taste.
It just tastes like meat.
And my favorite way to cook it,stew meat size pieces from shoulder or anything on the main carcass,seasoned,floured,and just browned in garlic butter.Leave a little pink in it.Simple.

No need to stomp it with golf shoes,marinate it in pine sol,etc.

But,whatever is true for you.

[Jack O'Conner]

Woodchuck (groundhog).

Jack

[Kreyzhorse]

I've killed several antelope and hands down best game animal I've ever had. I assumed there would be a lot of "antelope is terrible" posts on here and I've never quite figured out its reputation as having a nasty taste. Even my wife loves antelope and she is very picky.

All that said, I only keep the loins and backstraps. I have the rest ground and have a little beef suet added. Makes it cook up nicely and has a great taste.

[MarkCO]

Pronghorn only eat Sage if all the grass is gone. In spring, they eat a little of the buds, but by hunting season, they are have been eating grass for months. They don't like it either.

If you run them or do not get them cooled fast, that is when they are bad.

[huntinaz]

Only had Pronghorn a few times but it's been good every time. Couple from AZ and one from New Mexico. Never had a bad bite but again not many samples. Maybe 3 different animals.

I'll second the notion that a lot of bad meat is the result of bad meat-handling, either by the hunter or the butcher. I've heard too many horror stories of people getting bad meat, even from people who I know take care of the carcass before it goes to the butcher. I have, however, seen some stuff hanging in the cold room at the butcher that I could not believe. Some looked like they had been quartered and drug to the truck (with the hide off). No doubt THAT meat tasted like crap and if that gets mixed into your lot, accidentily or otherwise, you're in for a treat.

If your deer/elk/antelope chronically taste like garbage, I'd re-assess how you are caring for the carcass. Needs to be kept clean and cold.

[redrick]

I agree with the others that said , poorly prepared game . The worst that I had was a poorly prepared deer .

[jimbob86]

But pretty much all pronghorn antelope is sage fed.sage is their primary forage.It makes up the bulk of the diet of just about every pronghorn.

I know Colorado and Wyoming have sagebrush ..... miles upon miles of the stuff. Nebraska's Sandhills, not so much. We do have antelope there. I doubt they send out for the stuff.

I'll second the notion that a lot of bad meat is the result of bad meat-handling, either by the hunter or the butcher. I've heard too many horror stories of people getting bad meat, even from people who I know take care of the carcass before it goes to the butcher. I have, however, seen some stuff hanging in the cold room at the butcher that I could not believe. Some looked like they had been quartered and drug to the truck (with the hide off). No doubt THAT meat tasted like crap and if that gets mixed into your lot, accidentily or otherwise, you're in for a treat.

Precisely why I do all of my own processing now, including grinding the burger. I used to pay a few pennies a pound to have it ground with 10% beef tallow added at our local butcher. After having some difficulty with them getting my meat back after a week, they just wheeled out a cart with several hundred one pound packages marked "Ground Venison" and counted out the weight of my order ......

[BumbleBug]

Coot, javalena, armadillo, old boar hog, & deer liver...UGH!

I've ate crow many times but only figuratively...

...bug

[HiBC]

Hi.Markco,

I have been shooting,eating,and watching pronghorn since the 60's.At ne point,I bought a book that was some scientific study of the species.

This was not a hunters book,it was a "science" book.I loaned it out and it never came back.

That book said sage is the preferred forage,makes up about 80% of their diet.

The oily nature of sage makes it a high energy fuel,and the antelope liver has special characteristics that metabolize the alkaloids in sage.

I agree,they will munch on nice grass or alfalfa...matter of fact,some cottonwoods watching over a patch of alfalfa was a pretty reliable stand.

There is only one reason I am bothering to argue,because,other than that,I really do not care about a difference of opinion.You are free to disagree.

Its not the sage diet that makes them taste bad.Period.

Bad antelope is bad antelope because ,if the hunter will accept there is something new to learn about handling,bad antelope can become good antelope.
Blaming it on sage is not the answer.

I can tell you a few things that make bad antelope.

If you can't identify the bladder and do whatever is necessary to keep from bathing the inside of the carcass with antelope urine,odds are good you will taste bad antelope.
I have met plenty of folks all proud of dumping a gut pile in under five minutes,but they cant tell you where the bladder is,"Oh,its that wrinkly little EMPTY blue thing? Duh...

And antelope season is warm.Often over 40 deg f for 24 hrs a day.So nomatter where you hang it,unrefrigerated,its at spoilage temperature.Yup,antelope that's been at 55 deg f to78 deg f for three days migt taste bad.

And I believe a certain flavor will migrate from hide to meat.I skin them while still warm and the skin is loose.Leave the hide on while it hangs,or till you take it to a taxeidermist or processor,yup,its going to taste bad.

One more way to make it taste bad is band saw through the bones,smearing the bone chips and marrow across the chops.

If any of those things happened to te meat,oh,along with running the animals,gut shooting them,or having to shoot them seventimes around ghe edges because everyone can hit an antelope at 700 yds,noproblem,especially if they are moving away..

Yeah,a lot of ways tomake antelope taste bad.

Its not the sage.

[Chuck Dye]

Coot.

Back when such things did not draw attention, a friend and I hunted duck on San Diego Bay at the south end of the Silver Strand before going to school (guns and all.) We quickly learned that only the earliest ducks of the season were worthwhile. Freshly arrived from the stubble fields of the central valley, they were tasty. After a few days feeding on the vegetation available on hydrogen sulfide mudflats, they were foul.

A classic Aussie recipe for pink and grey galah, a cockatoo that reaches pest proportions, is to find a stone of about the same weight as the galah. Put the stone in the oven with the bird and roast. When the stone is done, the bird is done, throw away the bird and eat the stone.

[Old Stony]

I have to agree with HiBC on the antelope handling. I have shot a bunch of antelope in NM and got to where I preferred the taste over a lot of other animals. If they are running..just let them go...heated up antelope just about guarantees bad taste. I've heard rumors of lactic acid released into the muscles after a hard run, but don't know if there is any truth to that.
Open them up immediately, do proper cleaning and cool as fast as possible and you have some good eating.
I've shot some ducks out of the California bay area salt marshes that were beyond being called palatable.

[Hot Shot]

Possibly with a few exceptions, the worst game is the game ill prepared from the kill to cooking.

I with my guests kill in excess of 200 ducks and 200 geese per year. I breast out all of mine for the obvious reason and despite what was previously said they cook, and smoke up deliciously without any skin.

It's all about how you do it.

Some of the exceptions I have eaten; mergansers, coot, and any game overcooked. UGH!

[jersurf101]

Swan.

Awful fishy taste.

[MarkCO]

HiBC, I agree that the handling is the biggest issue.

You have about 20 years on me, however, talking to the game biologists they have told me more than once, that summer is almost all grasses, sage buds in the spring. Only in the winter do Pronghorn revert to eating the sage in any significant amounts. When we hunt in October, they have been on mostly grass for at least 5 or 6 months.

I've watched herds for a full day and only saw a few nibbles of sage. Having shot a bunch, I have seen the stomach contents a few times...almost all grass.

[jmtbiggin]

All of this talk is great for my diet,no desire to munch after reading this. The worst meat product I ever had was lamb chops,yuck. Give me my squirrel n dumplings anyway over that mess

[BoogieMan]

If fish counts as game. A big bluefish is about as bad as it gets no matter how you cook it. I've eaten about everything that's swims,walks or Flys at one time or another. If it was bad I think it's usually the way it was cooked and not the game Itself. The exception might be diving ducks.

[Chaz88]

A big bluefish is about as bad as it gets no matter how you cook it

It is a fairly strong fish but found if I bleed them out as soon as I catch them they are not bad. I had a recipe for mushroom fish soup that worked great for the stronger flavored or oily fish.

[jersurf101]

I used too saute fresh bluefish fillets with a touch of lemon and butter and serve it to the neighbor's skinny cat. Thats about the only use I have had for it.

[Isaiah]

Duck

[dean1818]

The bad:

Duck, Elk, Squirel, and poorly prepared venison

Venison in 80% of the cases tasted like liver.

The Squirel was too much work to clean


The good?

Cotton tail rabbit, Grouse, quail, buffalo, and pheasant

Wild pig (sow) back strap........


Wild Grouse IMHO is the best wild game I have ever eaten...