Best time of year to shoot a buck for meat.

BrianMaguire · 02-19-2009, 11:44 PM

Like most of you I have taken a good number of bucks, enough to tell the diference between bucks based on taste. This year I had the pleasure of taking a cactus buck (a deer steer) mulie. That is great meat, but I was also able to take a decent Willy 3X3 in mid Dec.

Like everyone else the vast number of deer I have killed have been Sept archery or the beg of Oct. rifle deer. Except for the deer steer, my mid Dec buck is by far the best deer meat I have ever had. My 6 yr old daughter is the key judge. She has grown up on venison and finds it to gamy, the mid dec blacktail however she thought was beef.

So with this in mind, why do we have deer season in Oct. Why not after the rut in mid Dec.?

Browning308 · 02-20-2009, 12:49 AM

Mostly I think the taste of the meat has to do with what the deer has been eating not the time of year so much. I shot a mature buck that had lived his life on a farm enjoying corn and nutritious vegetation and it was the best tasting deer ever. There was minimal to no membrane/fat through his meat. Processing and cutting the meat has a lot to do with it, how fast you get it dressed/clean, temp down, and how long you let it cure. Lots of blood or fat and it is going to give the meat a gamey flavor.

I�ve heard of people soaking the meat in iced salt water for a few days to remove the blood/gamey flavor before cutting it up. Heard it works but I think my venison taste just fine the way I do it.

Back to the topic of months when shot I would think earlier in the year would be better. Vegetation is more plentiful and the bucks haven�t went through the stressful full of testosterone phase fully.

sliverpicker · 02-20-2009, 04:51 AM

mid August

huntinfool · 02-20-2009, 04:55 AM

July

baltz526 · 02-20-2009, 05:25 AM

about 4-6 weeks pre-rut. a buck deer is in the best condition he will be in all year. then it needs to be a mature buck 4 years plus in age. skin and cool fast, you have the best meat we can hunt for.

rrust1 · 02-20-2009, 06:07 AM

Willy tag fork (real young though) on the last weekend in '08 (February 2nd). It was gone in 2 months it was so good we ate it every day, then back to elk meat.

ORsouthpaw · 02-20-2009, 07:29 AM

I'm no deer expert however I would think that Rut timing is the key to taste. The high levels of testosterone fuel things like the tarsal glands and urine potency. My 08' buck was taken the 2nd week of the rifle season and it has been the tastiest venison I have ate... Ever! Along with rut, care of the meat has to be right up there as well. My buck was skinned and hung within a couple of hours. It hung for about 24 hours in camp and another 16-20 hours at home before going in to be processed.

Honestly the best time to shoot a buck is anytime your holding an unused tag!

Chesapeake · 02-20-2009, 07:41 AM

I think it mostly has to do with diet. The eastern corn fed whitetails are great. The Klickitat deer are pretty good. The western wet side deer are a bit stronger and the wife dont like to eat them. My high mountain mule deer was great eating also.

If I had to pick it would be mid august, high alpine or sub alpine.

TAILOUT · 02-20-2009, 09:51 AM

I have eaten alot of deer and I love it. At times I like a little gamie flavor. I have eaten sage bucks and eastern oregon forest bucks. Those were all pretty good. The two best bucks I have eaten #2 a spike buck shot in late Oct. in the saddle mountain unit shot and then cut up the next day. #1 last year late Nov. forken horn shot up in Corbett, shot and skinned within 1 1/2 hours had the tendorloins cooking in 2 and they were just awsome. I cut up the deer the next day before it got the skin on it and it was awsome.

nevermiss · 02-20-2009, 09:54 AM

I also prefer pre-rut bucks. And as was said, post harvest care is nearly as critical as anything. For some reason I like mulies better than blacktails, maybe because there's more meat. (?)

wapiteaser · 02-20-2009, 10:09 AM

Number one would be during a legal season. I noticed someone said July.

The earliest in the season as possible. They are the fattest and haven't been run yet. Diet has a lot to do with the taste and texture of your meat. Especially Antelope. I would take a meat buck the first day if it was in the right spot. The later it gets the hormones start kicking in and the whole body chemistry changes.

stlhdr1 · 02-20-2009, 01:37 PM

August/September...

We hunt the early muzzle hunt in October and they're still great eating then!

Keith

WSU · 02-20-2009, 02:01 PM

I personally think it is all about diet, and then timing is second. During college in pullman my friends and I shot almost all whitetails that were living in the wheatfields. All told, I probably ate at least ten deer during college (not all mine mind you). One of those was a young mule deer doe shot in the sage brush canyons. It had a strong gamey flavor as far as venison goes. The wheat-fed deer were all tender and tasty. We shot deer from early october muzzleloader season through late december and they were all good. This year I shot a buck in the klickitat area that had been eating acorns and it was delicious. Food is the key.

in 'em · 02-20-2009, 02:38 PM

I'm no expert either, but there's just SO many variables! I've always assumed the younger and the sooner, the better. Meaning, pre-rut fork n horns are the best eatin'...but then I shot a huge bodied 4 point in '07 and it's the best deer I've ever had.

So now I'm more of the mind set that the most important factors are how the animal died (stress, gut shot, adrenaline, etc) and how quickly and carefully it's taken care of (gutted, drained, hung, cooled, etc). After that, how you cook it is HUGE as well. To each his own on that one.

For me and my wife, we LOVE canned meat! It's cooked, tender, and can be fried up with a little secret sauce next to some mashed potatoes and sweet corn....okay, I'm gettin' hungry!

thefishslayer · 02-20-2009, 02:40 PM

shoot a little buck, they are nice and tender and not that smart!!

Old Goat · 02-20-2009, 04:08 PM

Just as "when is the best time to prune" when the pruners are sharp. So the correct answer is when the gun is loaded, you have a tag and it is close to the road.

where's your bobber dude · 02-20-2009, 04:12 PM

During hunting season..........!!

BeaverPride · 02-20-2009, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by huntinfool

July

4th of July where I grew up.

Hard Cast · 02-20-2009, 05:41 PM

Great question.

I shot a deer on Mt. Hood toward then end of November. This deer was in the rut with a swollen neck and acting stupid (not wary). The next year I shot a buck within a couple hundred yards of where I shot the other deer but this was during the High Cascade hunt in September. The September deer was some of the best tasting meat I have ever had. It had no gamey flavor in it at all. The November buck was inedible to me. My kids did eat it without complaint but they would eat any wild meat. Neither my wife nor I could eat the late buck and it stunk up the house when cooked. Now both of these bucks were processed with the same care and they both lived in the same area so ate the same food.

So the answer to me is; September bucks

chukarchaser · 02-20-2009, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianMaguire

Like most of you I have taken a good number of bucks, enough to tell the diference between bucks based on taste. This year I had the pleasure of taking a cactus buck (a deer steer) mulie. That is great meat, but I was also able to take a decent Willy 3X3 in mid Dec.

Like everyone else the vast number of deer I have killed have been Sept archery or the beg of Oct. rifle deer. Except for the deer steer, my mid Dec buck is by far the best deer meat I have ever had. My 6 yr old daughter is the key judge. She has grown up on venison and finds it to gamy, the mid dec blacktail however she thought was beef.

So with this in mind, why do we have deer season in Oct. Why not after the rut in mid Dec.?

If your 6 year old daughter "grew up" on venison, then how does she know what beef tastes like?

CC

huntinfool · 02-20-2009, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wapiteaser

Number one would be during a legal season. I noticed someone said July.

The earliest in the season as possible. They are the fattest and haven't been run yet. Diet has a lot to do with the taste and texture of your meat. Especially Antelope. I would take a meat buck the first day if it was in the right spot. The later it gets the hormones start kicking in and the whole body chemistry changes.

July is too early, but mid-August is ok?

huntinfool · 02-20-2009, 06:51 PM

I can't see how any of it could taste gamey. It's either made into burger and mixed with pork fat, canned and mixed with mayo or BBQ sauce or chicken fried steaks.

Bait Bucket · 02-20-2009, 07:05 PM

Give them a couple weeks chowing down on fallen acorns and that will be your best eating deer.

shedhorn · 02-20-2009, 07:34 PM

i have shot ALOT of deer with a rifle and LOVE the meat, 3 years ago i got a buck with my bow, (first one) it was the first week of september and by far the most mild i have eaten, i am always very carfull and clean with my meat.

Gun Rod Bow · 02-20-2009, 07:35 PM

I have noticed all game tastes better when killed during bow season, compared to gun seasons.

Aug/Sep.

A teenage bull during bow season is noticably better than during gun season a month or two later.

I killed a sage brush buck in mid Agust at Hart Mtn a few years ago and it was yummy.

fisher22 · 02-20-2009, 09:55 PM

Opening day of deer season.

BrianMaguire · 02-21-2009, 01:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chukarchaser

If your 6 year old daughter "grew up" on venison, then how does she know what beef tastes like?

CC

She has had beef as well (more than deer), I don't know about your house but when does a deer last an entire year. In my house we go through a deer in about 3 months. The rest of the year is beef.

What I was getting at was that IMO dec. venison is better than Sep, most certainly Oct/Nov. Less fat/well past rut.

Kalama Fish Doctor · 02-21-2009, 03:45 AM

I agrre with InEm. But it's critcal in my mind to chill it down ASAP like 38-43 degrees. cut away all the blood shot and then cut and wrap after a day or three-you cant go wrong-if done right -with canning it!

SImudBogger · 02-21-2009, 07:17 AM

Brian if i remember correctly you shot that buck during a big cold snap right? That right there probably has the most to do with it. The meat was cooled down very quickly.

riverraider · 02-21-2009, 07:27 AM

Early in the season before the rut is best I think.
After the rut is over is second.
During the rut is asking for strong meat.
The best venison for me comes early in the season and from a deer I immediately boned out while in the field, to pack out.
The meat cools almost instantly. What I mean is, its off the bone and the hide is off within an hour of harvest. My last High Cascade buck (early Sept) was that way and you couldn't tell it was venison. The last rut buck I shot was about 6 years ago on the last day of the season, and brought it home whole to skin 6-8 hours later. It was one of the strongest, but it was also one of the biggest, so we made lots of gravy, chewed it longer, and put him on the wall

ehunter · 02-21-2009, 08:51 AM

Brian I think BT is just better eating than mule deer any day unless its a alfafha buck. I shot a mule deer buck 2 seasons ago one shot dropped covered in fat we took good care of him had the hide off had him chilled down cut and wrapped and that meat it was so wild tasting that it was terrible and I could not even eat it. I just think BT are better eating period.

chukarchaser · 02-21-2009, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianMaguire

She has had beef as well (more than deer), I don't know about your house but when does a deer last an entire year. In my house we go through a deer in about 3 months. The rest of the year is beef.

What I was getting at was that IMO dec. venison is better than Sep, most certainly Oct/Nov. Less fat/well past rut.

I hear ya... was just joking really.

However, it is kinda funny what people sometimes refer to as "gamy". Many would call that same taste "flavor". At our house, if the freezer is void of venison, we become pseudo-vegetarians for a while (for red meat anyway). Not entirely because we raise our own chickens and a couple hogs. I'm not a purist but can count on one hand how many times I've bought meat at the grocery store over the past couple years. As a result, my boys (ages 5 and 3)sometimes refer to beef as "tasting funny".

However, growing up in Wisconsin on corn-fed whitetails, these mulies and blacktails did take a little getting used to. It's all what you're used to I guess.

CC

elkhuntr28 · 02-21-2009, 10:34 AM

One reason to not have seasons that late in the year (Dec) is road damage. They close a lot of roads in this area in the winter to prevent damage once they get soft.

I agree with one of the earlier posts, the quicker you can cool your deer the better the meat will be. If its shot in Sept when it is 95 degrees during the day and cools off to 50 at night, then that deer will never properly cool out unless taken into town to a refrigerator.

bignate · 02-21-2009, 10:40 AM

DECEMBER

I had a baker point youth hunt tags for a couple of years growing up. It was for every weekend in December. The last one I got was 3 days before Christmas. By far the best deer I have ever had...

nate

BrianMaguire · 02-21-2009, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SImudBogger

Brian if i remember correctly you shot that buck during a big cold snap right? That right there probably has the most to do with it. The meat was cooled down very quickly.

I was a cold, snap, it was 18 deg and a howling wind. I skinned him in my driveway and by the time I could skin him his front legs were starting to freeze.

Certainly taking good care of the meat and getting it cool fast is a big thing, but I think the post rut when the bucks have no fat left makes better eating. I can't stand deer fat and sometimes its just throughout the entire animal.