Why don't some people like antelope meat?

[WyoDoug]

Antelope especially depends on several things and one of them is adrenalin.

• An antelope that is running, on alert or spooked will have adrenalin pumped into the muscles enabling it to run at high speed for a long distance. This gives antelope a foul taste.
• An antelope that is not cooled quickly will begin to degrade in quality faster than one that is cooled immediately
• What the antelope eats on has a lot to do with it. A field full of fresh green grass gives it a good taste
• Dry grass is not nutritious so during this period the begin to browse, eating weeds, sage, and other greens which gives it a stronger taste.
• Antelope around irrigated fields will take on a taste dependent on what they are feeding on. They will eat wheat and corn. Corn gives it a sweet taste.
• AND with many people it falls back on a bad experience. If someone feeds them antelope that was not properly taken care off and processed in the beginning, they remember that but if you fed it to them without telling them, they might like it if you took the best possible care of the meat yourself.

I personally skin and quarter the antelope in the field and put it in an ice cooler I keep in the back of my pickup with plenty of ice over it. Cold air drops, so I put all the ice on top initially and keep frozen soda bottles at the bottom to keep the meat off the bottom. Don't forget the speedgoat oysters. They actually pretty tasty deep fried. Seriously, I served somoe BBQ antelope ribs to the neighbor and he thought they were beef.

 

[Hunting Wife]

Add me to the group who has never treated an antelope any different than any other game animal in the field, and I’ve never had a bad one. I think some people just don’t like antelope.

 

[p_ham]

Don't antelope have tarsal glands like deer? I imagine a fair number of people have contaminated the meat that way.

They have a gland up the spine from their tail thats pretty stanky.

 

[mtmuley]

Add me to the group who has never treated an antelope any different than any other game animal in the field, and I’ve never had a bad one.

Me too. The interweb perpetuates a lot of paranoia. mtmuley

 

[fmnjr]

Heck, the lope we killed this year was the first big game animal ever and the first we field dressed. It was hot, too, about 85-90 but we got it done without it going south. I put the meat straight in a big cooler while bagged and took the ice out of another cooler to spread over it until we got back to town and iced it down more. Worked out just fine.

 

[Focus]

Before I put the ground meat in freezer I couldn't help it. I grabbed a cast iron skillet and fried up a couple patties.

First season owning my own grinder....I did this too a couple weeks ago. Got a lot of satisfaction out of making burger patties right off the grinder. Bacon in the mix and man was it yummy!

 

[bobbydean]

My daughter filled her tag on an antelope when 13. We made jerky and were happy. New Mexico in southern New Mexico is 100 degrees and we thought jerky was the sensible choice.

 

[cahunter805]

I’ve never had a bad tasting antelope and it’s actually one of my favorite wild game meats.
I do try to get the hide off quickly and the meat cooled.

 

[Trial153]

I cant undertand the hoops guys think they need to jump though with lopes. It no different then any other meat, treat it right and appropriate for the temperature and conditions. It wont melt it not freaking ice cream

 

[WyoDoug]

I will add to those who don't appreciate the recommendation on cooling meat quickly, there is nothing that says you don't have to, but I would be willing to place the quality of meat that was cooled immediately against meat that was not any day. If the temperature is generally below 70 while you are hunting, you are probably fine transporting the whole carcass or hanging it. There are some benefit to dry aging antelope too which should be done as a half or whole carcass. If the temperature is above 70 very long, it accelerates the spoiling process. I do not dry age anything, mainly because I have no place good to hang it. So I started quartering antelope and putting it into coolers with ice on top of it. Ever since then, and for the last 30 some years my speedgoat meat has been really mild and melt in yer mouth kind of flavor and people who taste it often don't believe it is antelope. I know people that don't quarter and cool their meat immediately swear by their methods and that is cool. I will stick with mine and ready to put my meat before theirs any day in a taste contest.

 

[TheJason]

Glad your method works for you, but in a blind taste test I’ll take that bet any day of the week.

 

[WyoDoug]

Glad your method works for you, but in a blind taste test I’ll take that bet any day of the week.

LOL if yer ever in Wyoming in one of my hunting groups, the challenge is on. I also got certain rules on which antelope I will shoot. I will never shoot a running antelope. I am not a trophy hunter so I will not shoot bucks in the heat of a rut battle. I try to always get them in a relaxed or resting posture, generally before 10 AM and after 6PM. I do like Randy and get my high country and outback naps during the mid-part of the day.

 

[fmnjr]

Since we're on the topic of how the meat tastes, let's talk about how to cook it. We've been experimenting a bit and have done two recipes, so far. One time I made a big batch of lope chili with misc pieces, really spiced it up and it tastes great. Next we added tenderizer to a couple of roasts which we left in the fridge for a couple of days. Took it out of the fridge, sliced it up into small fillets and sauteed them in an iron skillet with coconut oil, salt and pepper. Ate a whole plateful and it was just wonderful. Try it out and let me know how you all like it.

 

[WapitiBob]

It’s like I’m back in the 60’s with some of the nonsense being written about game meat.

 

[Foxtrot1]

I am a Easterner that is new to antelope hunting, but in the past 3 trips out our group has harvested 17 antelope. After hearing all the "those things are inedible" stories, I was a little nervous. From a newbie's perspective this is what I noticed:

1. Pronghorns coat is thicker and much courser than our whitetails. I assumed it would retain heat while whole, so we have always skinned them in the field and put them on ice as soon as possible.
2. The black patch on a bucks face has the "oil" that gives them their unique scent. My brother says it smells like stale corn chips, I think it smells like black liquorish. Either way, I didn't want my steaks tasting like it. So when skinning and butchering I have used gloves that are changed anytime I touch the outside of the hide.

Those 2 precautions taken, and I was surprised that antelope is one of the best wild game meats I have eaten. It is more tender than the elk, moose, bison, etc... that I have eaten. I have served tenderloin medallions seared to med-rare in a cast iron skillet topped with a compound butter to an unsuspecting group of women. All of them commented on how wonderful the filet was.

All that said I think all the bad stories of antelope not being good come from either people that have never eaten them but are repeating the old wives tale, or people that didn't take care of them in the field properly. Either way, more antelope for me.

 

[WyoDoug]

Antelope also have glands in the top of the top round (top of the shoulder blade) when you butcher them. Those glands need to be removed. Those give meat a bad taste too. Antelope also have dorsal glands or scent glands on the legs. Does urinate on theirs and that tells the bucks which ones are in heat. Bucks urinate on theirs over a scrape and that marks their territory and also tells orphaned does (not claimed by another buck) where to go to get mated. You do not have to removed the glands immediately, but you should never cut into one until after it is removed. the dorsal glands though, I recommend removing those as soon as you can but if you cut the legs off at the knee, most of the time you will get it anyways. You can usually see where these are because they emit a fluid that usually turns the hair a dark brown. There are more glands to watch for, especially in the neck and inside the body cavity to watch for. Once the rut is over, these glands regress and don't secrete as much so harder to spot until you get into butchering. Second half of the rifle season, I do not think you need to remove them at all unless you are quartering or processing your meat. Just remember to remove them when you process one and avoid cutting into them.

 

[LCH]

I find myself enjoying game a lot more these days than when I first began consuming it. The key was learning how to properly cook it. A lot of men (and women) can't cook anything decent to save their life.

 

[Schaaf]

They smell like Fritos but I’ve never had a bad Antelope. Just wish they were bigger.

 

[WyoDoug]

I find myself enjoying game a lot more these days than when I first began consuming it. The key was learning how to properly cook it. A lot of men (and women) can't cook anything decent to save their life.

So true. And they cook a round steak same as a beef ribeye and wonder why so tough. If you overcook wild game it will not only taste bad it gets tougher than hell. You can cook it too fast either.

 

[ZMT588]

People that don’t like eating antelope are my favorite people. They are not getting the tags that I want.

THIS!