Elk flavor

[Howie]

Do sagebrush Elk taste different than woods Elk?

 

[Don Fischer]

Better oir worse is a matter of opinion!

 

[WapitiBob]

not if the sagrbrush Elk is from WY

 

[huntnpack]

How many true “woods elk” are there west of the 100th meridian? In other words, can you find a Rocky Mountain elk that hasn’t spent a fair amount of its life in sage? Even if you happened to kill it in timber?

 

[375H&H]

How many true “woods elk” are there west of the 100th meridian? In other words, can you find a Rocky Mountain elk that hasn’t spent a fair amount of its life in sage? Even if you happened to kill it in timber?

NW Montana, northern Idaho, NE Washington

 

[huntnpack]

NW Montana, northern Idaho, NE Washington

I like this definition. Are elk from above better? Or no?

 

[rogerthat]

I haven’t noticed a flavor difference. I do think elk can be tougher from different areas. For example elk that are hitting ag alfalfa fields I find will be more tender. Not sure if it’s the groceries or the easier terrain that accounts for the difference

 

[HandgunHunter]

I don’t think so…..

It all sizzles in the pan the same….

 

[2rocky]

I had some ground elk from a tule cow in Mendocino County this week that was undeniably "elky". She'd never seen a sagebrush in her life. Her meat was pinker than the bull I killed but definitely stronger upon browning. My bull's ground meet is deep cherry red...

Elk tend to be grazers more than deer and sheep, who are browsers. The Latter depend on many species of sage as winter feed. Elk in lower elevations might have to eat some Ceanothus that is above the snow but will raid haystacks and road sides before they have to resort to eating sage https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/jrm/article/download/9158/8770

 

[huntnpack]

In the last couple years I’ve circled back to the idea that a cervid’s flavor is much more influenced by its gender and age (almost equally) than anything else. But maybe I’ve controlled for the animals diet too much to know the answer about “sagey” being bad or good.

 

[huntnpack]

In the last couple years I’ve circled back to the idea that a cervid’s flavor is much more influenced by its gender and age (almost equally) than anything else. But maybe I’ve controlled for the animals diet too much to know the answer about “sagey” being bad or good.

In other words. I would rather eat a young female of any cervid species over eating an old male of any other cervid species.

But they are all “good” in my book.

 

[375H&H]

I like this definition. Are elk from above better? Or no?

Mule deer are certainly better from timbered areas, not sure about elk IMO.

Some of it has to do with the timber/mountain bucks move much more than a sage buck. I have never seen as much fat on a timber buck as I have a plains/sage buck. The fat inevitably assists in the poor flavor of sage bucks to some extent.

 

[Badlandcat]

Yes, best tasting elk are the ones that are eating on sugarbeet and grain corn fields.

 

[kiwi hunter]

In other words. I would rather eat a young female of any cervid species over eating an old male of any other cervid species.

But they are all “good” in my book.

A young female opossum was our staple diet whilst trapping back in the boonies, also young nanny goat. For a man who's had to rely on venison for much of his diet I think there is a difference between how the animal was acting at time of having an object (projectile/arrow) hit them, and then whether they basically dropped on the spot against racing off into the sunset, 100 to 200 mtrs. I've found most fat animals have a hight diet of grass n herbs if feeding high altitude. At the end of the day hanging the meat for at least 4 days helps a lot with the tenderness. I've been watching a lot of videos on elk hunting to learn as much as possible when I hit those colorado slopes and my impression is the most hunters have little clue to cooling and taking better care of their valuable meat source.

 

[Howie]

Thanks for all the opinions.

 

[Caseknife]

Elk graze, so they don't eat as much sagebrush as say a mule deer. I haven't noticed much of a difference in the flavor of the elk that I have harvested that I could determine was diet related. The more important thing to keep in mind is how the animal has been taken care of in the field and whether or not it had been running for miles before it was shot or was it standing still and not pumping adrenaline.

 

[dgc1963]

I did some work on local farms here in Pa as a kid helped butcher hogs n beef cattle a little was always told how the animal is killed being quick and clean has a lot to do with taste, stress to the animal if something goes wrong causes adrenalin and build up of lactic acid and this can effect the taste of the meat
Also do we get the meat cool quick as fast as possible esp in the back country if I have venison that's a bit strong tasting I make sausage
Something else is as a hunter with a bull or deer tag we look for an old mature animal think about the age of steer taken to slaughter vs an old bull left on farm for breeding for yrs

 

[338win]

I have had two elk from NM sage country that are borderline inedible, like October bull caribou bad but “sagey”. They were shot in the evening gutted and hung up within a few hours and it was -17. Both cows were old enough to not have any real teeth left. Shot mule deer in sage country and no sage flavor. 5 point bull from the flats had no sage/game flavor.

I will try to shoot yearlings for now on because I “think” the variable is age more than location.

 

[2rocky]

I have had two elk from NM sage country that are borderline inedible, like October bull caribou bad but “sagey”. They were shot in the evening gutted and hung up within a few hours and it was -17.

I think if the were tough too that could be the result of cold shortening.

The influence of temperature on shortening and rigor onset in beef muscle - PubMed

At sufficient ATP concentration and temperatures below about 15°C, pre-rigor beef muscles (neck muscles) contract; this phenomenon is known as cold shortening. There is also a contracture at higher temperatures occurring just before rigor onset which is called rigor shortening. While rigor...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[wyoboypt]

I taste no difference.