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My eyes has been opened.....do doe taste better than bucks????

As others have said I think it depends on how the deer was “harvested”. Waiting for a clean shot, executing the shot well, quickly recovering the deer, gutting it cleanly, and getting the meat cold is the path to a good tasting deer. Also butchering the deer yourself is the way to go if able. Hunting in cold weather makes this process easier.
I've read that the amount of adrenaline flowing in the critter when it dies has a lot to do with the table quality. I think it may be true but I'm not sure how we could compare and quantify that from deer to deer, age to age, or sex to sex.
If it is true, then I'd contend that any deer shot thru both lungs (no ribs broken) with a highly sharp, 2 blade broadhead would taste better than a gun shot deer and heavy bones are broken. That arrow shot deer often doesn't even know it was shot. It basically loses blood to the brain with no pain. Whereas the gun shot deer hears the shot and feels the painful impact and shock of the slug.
 
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I've read that the amount of adrenaline flowing in the critter when it dies has a lot to do with the table quality. I think it may be true but I'm not sure how we could compare and quantify that from deer to deer, age to age, or sex to sex.
If it is true, then I'd contend that any deer shot thru both lungs (no ribs broken) with a highly sharp, 2 blade broadhead would tast better than a gun shot deer and heavy bones are broken. That arrow shot deer often doesn't even know it was shot. It basically loses blood to the brain with no pain. Whereas the gun shot deer hears the shot and feels the painful impact and shock of the slug.

Hmm... ok that make sense. Guess there is a lot of variables to consider. For more details, all the bucks I ever ate were 3-4 years old killed by double lungs rifle. The one doe I had was a 1-2 year old maybe that died in a few minutes from a clearly severed spine. I'm not a doctor or expert in this, but maybe with the spine damage, there was no adrenaline that pumped into the body because the brain could not tell the body to produced it? The internal and organs were not damage and I am proud that I field dressed pretty well, barely any blood and no gut damage at all!

Also I had the doe in the freezer of the butcher in under 2 hours. I'm not educated in the aging process, it was not that cold so I felt it was safer to get it to butcher asap.
 
I've read that the amount of adrenaline flowing in the critter when it dies has a lot to do with the table quality. I think it may be true but I'm not sure how we could compare and quantify that from deer to deer, age to age, or sex to sex.
If it is true, then I'd contend that any deer shot thru both lungs (no ribs broken) with a highly sharp, 2 blade broadhead would tast better than a gun shot deer and heavy bones are broken. That arrow shot deer often doesn't even know it was shot. It basically loses blood to the brain with no pain. Whereas the gun shot deer hears the shot and feels the painful impact and shock of the slug.
That may be you would have to organize some kind of taste test.
 
I've read that the amount of adrenaline flowing in the critter when it dies has a lot to do with the table quality. I think it may be true but I'm not sure how we could compare and quantify that from deer to deer, age to age, or sex to sex.
If it is true, then I'd contend that any deer shot thru both lungs (no ribs broken) with a highly sharp, 2 blade broadhead would tast better than a gun shot deer and heavy bones are broken. That arrow shot deer often doesn't even know it was shot. It basically loses blood to the brain with no pain. Whereas the gun shot deer hears the shot and feels the painful impact and shock of the slug.
I think there’s some merit to this. Sounds like yet another way to say “shot placement and what happens right after the shot matters”.
 
I read and article about the time line of butchering tasty critters that had a lot to do with rigor or rigormortus ( sp?) And the way that would effect the flavor/quality. If I recall it was basically get it processed before it set it or wait it out for best results.

Kinda think that might have been on here but I may have been off on some other tangent... never know with me!
 
I prefer Does OR younger bucks. Older anything is going to be worse, but Does in general taste better. Processing it yourself will provide another potential taste upgrade too.
 
Lot of variables: how fast the died, stress of the rut, how good your field dressing and cooling the body down was, how good yur butcher is. Ive had bucks and does that each tastes the best and like crap. I will say, aging meat makes it all taste amazing. Night and day.
 
I read and article about the time line of butchering tasty critters that had a lot to do with rigor or rigormortus ( sp?) And the way that would effect the flavor/quality. If I recall it was basically get it processed before it set it or wait it out for best results.

Kinda think that might have been on here but I may have been off on some other tangent... never know with me!

there is a meateater podcast episode called redcutter - it is all about this
 
Why is it "Bucks" but not "Does"? Why do people say DOE? I saw 10 DOE last night from my stand and 3 BUCKS. Why not 10 DOE and 3 BUCK? Cause that sounds dumb. Proper is I saw 10 DOES last night from my stand and 3 BUCKS.
 
You might want to observe the way your father in law guts, ages and processes his deer. The gutting, aging and processing make all the difference in taste.
A lot of the processors around here throw your deer into a community pot and you're more than likely not getting yours back. You may want to check with yours and see what their policy is.
We eat venison almost exclusively and the steaks and burger get all mixed around in our freezer, I personally couldn't tell the difference between a doe I shot and processed vs. a buck.
2x
 
Why is it "Bucks" but not "Does"? Why do people say DOE? I saw 10 DOE last night from my stand and 3 BUCKS. Why not 10 DOE and 3 BUCK? Cause that sounds dumb. Proper is I saw 10 DOES last night from my stand and 3 BUCKS.
I think it comes down to the spoken word versus the written word. It's obvious when we speak the word does (plural female deer) or the word does as in "does that make sense"? But when we see the written word "does" , it's less obvious.
 
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I think that's one of the reasons they castrate sheep, pigs, and cows. The male hormones must have a different flavor. I've smelled deer in rut that stanks!

As far as flavor, every animal has a different flavor. I don't know why people would think deer should taste like beef? People will tell me that deer taste gamey, I tell them they taste like deer same as lamb taste like lamb, beef tastes like beef and so on. Don't like the flavor? MARINATE lol
 
You might want to observe the way your father in law guts, ages and processes his deer. The gutting, aging and processing make all the difference in taste.
A lot of the processors around here throw your deer into a community pot and you're more than likely not getting yours back. You may want to check with yours and see what their policy is.
We eat venison almost exclusively and the steaks and burger get all mixed around in our freezer, I personally couldn't tell the difference between a doe I shot and processed vs. a buck.
I absolutely agree with this, sex doesn’t matter it’s how the game was prepared and handled. I do also think a deer that has died traumatically doesn’t taste as well.
 
E4241B91-45D8-4575-8052-CF0B4DCA1222.pngI’ve found the taste will vary. As far as tenderness goes, next deer try aging a cut and see what you think. This was the football roast I believe off the rear ham and was aged for 18 days. It came out super tender and had a very pleasing taste.
 
The best way I've found to fix my deer for everyone to like is to grind the whole thing, add some pork, and stuff into 1/2" casings. Seems everyone likes them.
 
The best way I've found to fix my deer for everyone to like is to grind the whole thing, add some pork, and stuff into 1/2" casings. Seems everyone likes them.
Just keep in mind that pork has the shortest freezer life of all meats... Ive read 6 months. You better be eating it quickly.
We occasionally find a package of 2 or 3 year old venison that got lost in the freezer and it still tastes great. Not sure that would be edible if pork was mixed in.
 
One year I shot 2 elk (yes it was a good year). I was also guiding so between hunting and guiding I didn't have time for butchering. I took both bulls to a local processor.
One bull was 2 1/2 years old and the other presumably was 3 1/2. The only difference in the 2 was the 2 1/2 was chasing a cow hard when it came by me. Otherwise they both were arrow shot and died within 50 yards of being hit. Both were left after immediate skinning and deboning. The 2 1/2 for one night (shot in the am) and the older bull for 2 nights (shot in the pm). I left to get my horses and returned to pack them out.
The processor without knowing all that stated that the 2 1/2 wasn't going to be as tasty as the older bull. I'm not sure what he was clued in by, smell or how tough it cut up? But he was right. The older bull (not old, but still) was noticably much better table fare.
So my take on it is some critters just taste better than others.
By the way, the bulls were taken in completely similar country about 25 miles apart, no alfalfa, just mountain sedges and forbs to eat.
 
Here in Maryland we go from mountains to prairies. (Western MD Vs. Eastern shore) So, I think it comes down to what their main feeding is....corn or browse.
Think like corn fed beef Vs. free range ?

Then you have the rut, age, how fast it died, along with if it was aged or butchered right away factors to add in.
 
The best way I've found to fix my deer for everyone to like is to grind the whole thing, add some pork, and stuff into 1/2" casings. Seems everyone likes them.
yeah I grind everything except the backstraps and tenderloins now. Sometimes with beef fat but mostly with pork.
 
One year I shot 2 elk (yes it was a good year). I was also guiding so between hunting and guiding I didn't have time for butchering. I took both bulls to a local processor.
One bull was 2 1/2 years old and the other presumably was 3 1/2. The only difference in the 2 was the 2 1/2 was chasing a cow hard when it came by me. Otherwise they both were arrow shot and died within 50 yards of being hit. Both were left after immediate skinning and deboning. The 2 1/2 for one night (shot in the am) and the older bull for 2 nights (shot in the pm). I left to get my horses and returned to pack them out.
The processor without knowing all that stated that the 2 1/2 wasn't going to be as tasty as the older bull. I'm not sure what he was clued in by, smell or how tough it cut up? But he was right. The older bull (not old, but still) was noticably much better table fare.
So my take on it is some critters just taste better than others.
By the way, the bulls were taken in completely similar country about 25 miles apart, no alfalfa, just mountain sedges and forbs to eat.

You hit the nail on the head.

Farmed meats often enough don't taste the same from the same farm, where many factors are so much as equal so as to consider them controls. It is curious.

Restaurants that demand the absolute finest, well, there is inevitably some variation despite inflexible standards.
 
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