Antelope Table Fare

[timeout]

I've never eaten any speed goat meat. Have heard that it's great and have also heard terrible. Just a guess on my part, but thinking it depends on their diet. I was West last month and seen some antelope in sage brush and others in irrigation crop circles. Had a guy tell me once that he had some venison and couldn't eat it. I offered to take it. It was horrible. It came from the North woods and tasted like pine needles. Our deer have alfalfa, corn and beans for their diet. Not quite beef, but good. What is your experience with eating antelope?

 

[nmkid]

Living in WY. for several years I had the opportunity to 'eat' antelope...Once. Went hunting for antelope. Had a 'trunk' like metal container for ice to cool the meat down and 20 gallons of clean water to wash the animal out. I was prepared!! Nice buck at about 100 yds. One shot to the neck brought it down. Used the utmost of care in gutting the animal and washing it out. Quartered it out and into the, 'icebox' it went. Long story short...The wife fried some without any spices other than pepper and some salt. It was the WORST meat I had ever tasted!! Some folks say to use this and that and it's great. No, I want to taste the meat not the spices. However, as using the meat for sausage...Love it.

 

[Mulligan]

Never had a bad one.
Keep the hair off the meat and cool it down good.
Diet does matter......a lot.
CW

 

[5spd]

Like all other game its all in how you prepare it most of the time.
Every one I have shot (20+) I gut & pull the hide off up to its neck in the field on a game rack I made for my truck, lay it in the bed and drive home (maybe and hour at most driving) & get to cutting it up.
I hose them off in the driveway to help cool them down.
I have yet to let them hang over a few hours as I have the meat in the freezer & fridgerator by 11pm the day its shot.
I like antlope meat and all of mine have been shot within 1 hr of my home.
They have smelled like a sage brush, or bottom land water, but after removing the hide that is gone.
Leg/shoulder,neck meat is sliced thin and made for fajitas, burrito wraps or used in the WOK Japanese style.
I slice meats to 1" thick for the Bbq and other uses.
You will never have 10 people together who say its great, 5 will say UUUggghhh, 5 will say great stuff.
I may be doing it all wrong, but its worked for me to date.

 

[jds holler]

Most folks have "beef based expectations" and deer and more so pronghorn, simply aren't beef. They are better in my book.

If you simply toss it in the skillet and cook it until it is considered "well done" -- almost no one will like it.

I'm kind of a purest with mine, and I eat it fairly rare, with a smidge of garlic. Usually simply sautéed in butter. Deer and antelope come from God with their own built in seasoning, and for those of us who appreciate and love it, no meat is better. jd

 

[TheOtherZilla]

i don't hunt em any longer..But when I did most of the meat went to jerky, sausage and burger. The wife has a killer antigoat chili recipe. Get the hide off ASAP, cool out etc.. Sagebrush is the antigoat's dietary staple...

 

[Prairiedogger]

If you take care of the meat right after you kill it. Antelope can be very good. I'll take cared for back straps off a goat over most venison.

"Never had a bad one.
Keep the hair off the meat and cool it down good.
Diet does matter......a lot."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I've seen people run them for half a day, shoot them, and throw them in the back of the truck for the rest of the day.
What do you think it's going to taste like.

 

[Rem06]

make jerky or sausage

 

[Hydenseek]

Its terrible. I dont know why y'all keep applying for tags

 

[wapiti25]

As mulligan said KEEP the hair off and cool down quick. My animals have all been good to eat.

 

[swd]

Go light on seasoning, use a little olive oil to keep it juicy and NEVER cook it more than medium rare. Also only cook as much as you will eat at that setting. It never seems to make good left overs. The last one I had was feeding on alfalfa and it was nothing short of incredible. I wish I had 5 freezers full of that one.

 

[snert]

I tried it once. One bite was enough for me. I would rather eat a groundhog butt.

But then I have no idea whether it was taken care of properly. I do know it was antelope

 

[people]

Jerky is the way to go. It is an acquired taste. I have a friend who "never" had a bad one. Yeah maybe but it was horrible every meal he made. I don't have the taste for them.

I really like shooting those fast bastards. I just make dog food out of them.

 

[JackT]

Dress it in the field where it lays, wash with water in the field, pack in ice and head home, cut meat up into large chunks and cool down in icebox for 3 or 4 days to age the meat, make final cuts, and seal in vacuum bags, freeze. Great eating!!!!! Every now and then you may get a bad one and you will know it while you are field dressing it because it still stinks after being field dressed. Nothing goes to waste, the bird dogs will love it and it is better than any dog food you will ever buy.

 

[swd]

I'll tell you guys a funny story. Years ago when my wife and I were still dating she was living with her sister. One Friday night they invited me over for a bbq along with her sisters boyfriend (now my brother in law). They were having fish and they knew I don't like fish so they said to bring over what ever I wanted to cook. The 2 sisters are both of the "I don't like wild game, it's all gamey tasting" mentality. I had a bunch of antelope in the freezer so I grabbed a bag of steak. There were 2 vacuum packed together. So I bbq it up and only my wife/girlfriend knows what it is. Half way through dinner my sister in law asks how my steak is, assuming it's beef. I tell her its great and ask if she wants any and she says "sure". My wife looks at me with the evil eye but never says anything as I give her 3-4 bites of antelope steak. She eats it right up and says how good it is. Since I had 2 steaks there was a bit left over so I ask my sister in law if she'd like any more since I had some left. She says "sure" again and I give her close to half a steak. She eats all of it right up and again comments on how good it is. So we hang out at the table for a while and when it comes time to clean up I ask her again how the steak was and again it's "great". So at that point I tell her "so you like antelope?" She says "WHAT!" so I repeat it again. She looks at my wife and she just nods her head. At that point my sister in law literally starts gagging and screaming "it was terrible!!" over and over. She carried on for probably 5 minutes about how terrible it was. The three of us couldn't do anything other than laugh after she had first said how good it was.

I've pulled the same thing on her and gotten away with it so many times over the years now that before she'll eat anything I cook she very specifically asks what it is and what kind of animal it came from. And even then she double and triple checks. My wife loves my cooking and now eats anything I cook.

Any ways that's my antelope story. It still gets a good laugh at family get togethers almost 20 years later.

 

[snert]

I'll tell you guys a funny story. Years ago when my wife and I were still dating she was living with her sister. One Friday night they invited me over for a bbq along with her sisters boyfriend (now my brother in law). They were having fish and they knew I don't like fish so they said to bring over what ever I wanted to cook. The 2 sisters are both of the "I don't like wild game, it's all gamey tasting" mentality. I had a bunch of antelope in the freezer so I grabbed a bag of steak. There were 2 vacuum packed together. So I bbq it up and only my wife/girlfriend knows what it is. Half way through dinner my sister in law asks how my steak is, assuming it's beef. I tell her its great and ask if she wants any and she says "sure". My wife looks at me with the evil eye but never says anything as I give her 3-4 bites of antelope steak. She eats it right up and says how good it is. Since I had 2 steaks there was a bit left over so I ask my sister in law if she'd like any more since I had some left. She says "sure" again and I give her close to half a steak. She eats all of it right up and again comments on how good it is. So we hang out at the table for a while and when it comes time to clean up I ask her again how the steak was and again it's "great". So at that point I tell her "so you like antelope?" She says "WHAT!" so I repeat it again. She looks at my wife and she just nods her head. At that point my sister in law literally starts gagging and screaming "it was terrible!!" over and over. She carried on for probably 5 minutes about how terrible it was. The three of us couldn't do anything other than laugh after she had first said how good it was.

I've pulled the same thing on her and gotten away with it so many times over the years now that before she'll eat anything I cook she very specifically asks what it is and what kind of animal it came from. And even then she double and triple checks. My wife loves my cooking and now eats anything I cook.

Any ways that's my antelope story. It still gets a good laugh at family get togethers almost 20 years later.

The question remains: Was it good and later terrible cause she thinks game is terrible, or was it good at first only because she was being polite? (and hungry)

 

[swd]

The question remains: Was it good and later terrible cause she thinks game is terrible, or was it good at first only because she was being polite? (and hungry)

She's not the least bit shy, to a fault! She wouldn't eat anything she didn't like and has NO problem telling what she thinks about anything! She ate deer kabobs and loved them too until my wife spilled the beans. My brother in law and I were sitting a ways away from the motorhome they were in with the doors closed. You could hear her screaming "you should have told me first" over and over for a long ways, LOL. He laughed as much as I did.
I'm not even sure I told her about the wild boar breakfast sausage...

 

[Midnightmedic]

I agree it takes great field care for antelope as most are shot in high temperatures of September. I have shot many and all meat was de-boned, cleaned and in a cooler where the animal fell and in less than 45minutes after pulling the trigger. Any gut contents ruins taste. I usually soak the meat with salt water for a couple days to get out as much blood as possible. During processing, strip all silver skin, fat and connective tissue as this holds most of the "wild" taste. Antelope is my favorite meat and my wife even liked eating it while she was pregnant, she better have she shot that one.
Taste has a lot to do with the animal you shoot. The big buck that has been chasing the doe all day will not taste good, nor will the doe that has been running all day. Just like the herd bull elk in late september is rank. Ever eaten a steak from a 2500# PBR Bull? there is a reason why. It's rank too. If you want good table fair shoot a relaxed young animal that is not all full of adrenaline and/or testosterone.
Like the old saying goes you cant eat the horns; and most of the time the meat that holds up the biggest horns is barely edible too. Cant say I have ever passed up a trophy for that reason, every needs some jerky now and then. Enjoy the Hunt !!!!

 

[swd]

Small does are delicious!

 

[long40shot]

Small does are delicious!

For sure and for certain.

Edit: I'm referring to whitetail deer. I've never eaten antelope.