Which wild game meat tastes the best?

[Whisky]

To people who say their one favorite in these types of threads and then something like, "next topic", or "end of story", or something along those lines, you sound like a real dink.

My apologies.....the end

 

[3Roosters]

Roadkill whitetail has a special flavor all its own.

 

[MuleyMadness]

So I've been listening to a lot of MeatEater podcasts lately and the host Steve has gotten me thinking that I should be trying different kinds of game meat. He's eaten it all and says things like mountain lion is really good to eat.

So if you had to rank North American animals (other than fish) that you've eaten, how would you rank them by taste? I'm pretty limited to what I have tried but I would say:

1. Moose (by far the best. better than beef)
2. Cottontail Rabbit
3. Pheasant
4. Deer
5. Snapping Turtle
6. Goose
7. Grouse
8. Antelope (It's been awhile since I ate one but I remember it not being very good)
9. Ducks

I'm sure that I'm missing some that I've eaten. I would like to try squirrel, beaver and or course elk. If anybody has a fresh killed beaver around the Bismarck area that you would like to donate the meat too, let me know.

I am in Dickinson but if I give her to you, you have to promise to keep her forever. I do not want her back

 

[wildeyes]

Moose, by far the best- ducks,grouse by far the worse.

 

[tikkalover]

One of our customers would go way up north and hunt moose and bring in burgers and summer sausage for us. After trying some I think eating a branch off a cottonwood tree would probably taste better. That far up they call them twig eaters for a reason. ;:;barf

 

[5575]

#1ND big Horn was simply amazing.
Auction tag hunter gave us the meat..yes please!
#2ND pronghorn solid every time
#3 ND moose, so good and so much of it!

 

[Narcs]

1. Wild sheep (bighorn, Dall etc)
2. Gemsbok (oryx)
3. Dove
4. Ruffed grouse
5. Huns

Elk, deer, moose, caribou all about the same to me. Number of factors can render them tasty....or worse than boot leather. Hit or miss. Gemsbok not a NA game animal, but utterly delicious.

 

[Fishmission]

Fav has been a young bull or cow moose. We had grilled young bull moose for two months in Alaska. Tender and so good. Buddy had a cow several yrs ago in ND. Fried it up in butter med rare. Delicious.
Also had fantastic squirrel in MO. Young grey squirrels. Pressure cook med rare, finish in an iron seasoned pan with oil, chicken fried with white gravy. Wow

 

[SDMF]

I've killed and eaten 1 moose, a young bull from Northern Alberta. It was by far the mildest wild game I've eaten. I took the moose in early Sept then killed a cow elk @ the end of Oct the same fall. I took a ~8" chunk of backstrap from each of them and grilled them to Med-Rare on the Egg. They were both quite yummy but everyone agreed that the moose was milder.

1. Moose
2. Elk
3. Ruffed Grouse
4. Deer, I make no species determination as the few Mule Deer I've taken were feeding on alfalfa and/or wheat stubble primarily, Whitetails where I hunt eat the same as well as corn, sunflowers, and soybeans.
5. Huns
6. Caribou
7. Bear (Like PaddleDogger, I had a very good one I got with a bow in N MN)
8. Quail over Mesquite campfire embers
9. Pheasant strips very quickly browned and then baked inside a cook-in-bag filled with a wild-rice and stuffing concoction to keep them moist.
10. Antelope with nary the hint of a hair anywhere, devoid of all dirt, leaves, sage needles, etc, and cooled very quickly after the kill.
11. Wild Turkey either roasted with the skin on and basted properly, chunked and deep-fried, or brined and smoked.

I feel like some things aren't in the right spot on the list, but, IMO these lists for a lot of folks are very fluid dependent upon what's available regularly.

 

[Wags2.0]

Antelope has been my favorite for many years. Maybe I’ve been lucky but I’ve yet to have a bad med rare antelope steak

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Also, call me crazy but I’m not really a fan of pheasant. Dries out/gets chewy fast. Anything I feel I HAVE to crockpot is an unfortunate situation... they are fun to hunt and doggy would be pissed if I quit so here we are

 

[guywhofishes]

you duck haters need to learn how to cook

 

[LBrandt]

Alcohol has a lot to do with wild game, and I don't mean cooked in it. A medium rare flip-flop would taste good if you had enough whiskey to wash it down. As per favorite Elk is first followed by bison then whitetail doe. birds pheasant first, dove and partridge.

 

[NDSportsman]

From what I have eaten:
Big Game
1. Moose
2. Elk
3. Bison
4. Whitetail
5. Mule Deer
Birds
1. Dove or Partridge
2. Pheasant
3. Duck
4. Goose
5. Grouse
6. Coot
Fish
1. Perch or bluegill
2. Crappie
3. Walleye
4. Salmon
5. Pike
6. Trout
7. Bullhead

This would be strickly by grilling, searing or pan frying. Now if we start talking other methods like canned, smoked, pickled, etc. these preferences would change obviously.

 

[SDMF]

you duck haters need to learn how to cook

Duck-haters have just evolved past the point where they no longer have to eat rotten garbage prepared over a smoldering buffalo-dung fire.

Meelosh, no, I no longer shoot waterfowl except on the rare occasion that I'm invited to go by someone who has a plan for said waterfowl that doesn't involve a dumpster, a drive-through, and the #5 meal.

 

[Kurtr]

Antelope has been my favorite for many years. Maybe I’ve been lucky but I’ve yet to have a bad med rare antelope steak

- - - Updated - - -

Also, call me crazy but I’m not really a fan of pheasant. Dries out/gets chewy fast. Anything I feel I HAVE to crockpot is an unfortunate situation... they are fun to hunt and doggy would be pissed if I quit so here we are

I am not a fan a pheasant either.

 

[guywhofishes]

Duck-haters have just evolved past the point where they no longer have to eat rotten garbage prepared over a smoldering buffalo-dung fire.

Meelosh, no, I no longer shoot waterfowl except on the rare occasion that I'm invited to go by someone who has a plan for said waterfowl that doesn't involve a dumpster, a drive-through, and the #5 meal.

ha ha ha... I knew I'd bait you in - well played

 

[Meelosh]

Duck-haters have just evolved past the point where they no longer have to eat rotten garbage prepared over a smoldering buffalo-dung fire.

Meelosh, no, I no longer shoot waterfowl except on the rare occasion that I'm invited to go by someone who has a plan for said waterfowl that doesn't involve a dumpster, a drive-through, and the #5 meal.

Haha. I respect that. A shame you don't like it but to each their own.

What's really interesting is how different American's are to Europeans. As I understand it, they want that 'gamey' flavor. That old rutted up bull? That's what they want. Strangely enough, a few years ago I shot a rutted up muley buck that went 'boom-flop', never took another step. The mildest venison I've ever had. It actually had me craving more flavor.

 

[guywhofishes]

I too loathe the crock pot recipes for pheasants - it's always a stretch - just OK

for you dry pheasant haters
1.
egg wash and dry coat with flour and fry pheasant quarters like a chicken
then bake them until tender - again like fried chicken - one of our fav's
2.
brining and wrapping pheasant quarters with bacon and smoking
3.
make noodle soup out of them by slow boiling whole carcass with whole carrots onions, celery until it falls apart (6 hours), pour the entire works through a strainer and keep the broth. Then meat out the carcass and dice it up, dice up the veg, throw back in, bring to boil, and add noodles - follow any whole chicken noodle soup recipe basically
I eat it with lots of crackers and a dollop of sour cream
4.
can them buggers - they're fantastic - makes fast soup too

 

[Meelosh]

My landowner friend told me no pheasant hunting this year because the numbers were so bad. Didn't hurt my feelers a bit. But you do have me intrigued with that canning thing for quick meals reminder guy. I will have to pick your brain about your method before next hunting season. You should set a reminder in your phone because I clearly can't be trusted to do it on my own.

 

[guywhofishes]

we also add a lemony note to the broth in the canned pheasant - then flake the meat into the lemony broth

make egg noodles and pour the meat sauce over the noodles like spaghetti

kind of a super easy twist on the lemon chicken pasta thing