Old bucks are good!

[ImBillT]

You I shot mule deer this year that the biologist tooth wear aged at 8.5yrs old. I started eating on it last week after the CWD test results finally came in. It’s the oldest buck I’ve shot that I actually had aged. I was highly interested in what the meat quality outcome would be once I got that bit of information. I shot a button buck once on the last day of the season in mid Jan thinking it was a doe(they are a lot bigger in Jan than sept) and I’ve shot some spikes in the extended spike season. I can tell you that the meat almost falls off the bone during processing, and is a lighter color, almost like pork. Due to visual appearances, and processing ease with younger animals, I really did expect the 8.5yr old buck to be on the opposite end of the spectrum. I’ve had two meals of steaks from a sirloin tip, and they were as tender as any sirloin tip I’ve ever eaten. Last night we had eye of round steaks and they weren’t as tender as the tip steaks, but were not unexpectedly tough by any stretch. There was not even a hint of “gaminess” in any of it. Of course, I attribute “gaminess” to blood in the meat and lack of aging. Currently there is a half an outside round on the grill for fajitas tonight.(I know it’s not skirt or flank)

Point is, although I’ve never been in the old bucks are bad camp, I have believed there was probably still a considerable difference between the old and young. I’ve been pleasantly surprised with just how tasty this buck is.

 

[Dunning Kruger]

I think the biggest difference in the meat between an old mature buck and a young buck is the quantity.

 

[ImBillT]

I think the biggest difference in the meat between an old mature buck and a young buck is the quantity.

That’s certainly the case when it comes to bucks that are .5-1.5yrs old and probably even at 2.5yrs. Since I started weighing my boned out meat I haven’t had anything younger than 3.5yrs. My wife’s 3.5yr old this year yielded about 106lbs and my 8.5yr old yielded about 98lbs. These represent the lightest and heaviest of those that I’ve weighed boned meat from. Last year a 5.5yr old yielded 103lbs and one I did not get aged, but which was also mature, yielded 101lbs.

 

[nrpate05]

Good to hear. What time of year did you shoot it? I shot a 1.5 yr old buck this fall in late October (pre-rut) and I was amazed at how much fat he had on him. The meat is some of the best I've had, although it's almost too mild and tender for me (I like some "gaminess" (I hate that word because it really describes what real meat should taste like...) to my meat). Curious of the taste and texture difference between a pre, during, and post rut buck. This was the latest I've shot a deer so I don't have a lot to compare to.

 

[Deleted member 38069]

It all depends on the preparation! I agree with you and I'm glad at 8½, he is still tasty!

 

[ImBillT]

Good to hear. What time of year did you shoot it? I shot a 1.5 yr old buck this fall in late October (pre-rut) and I was amazed at how much fat he had on him. The meat is some of the best I've had, although it's almost too mild and tender for me (I like some "gaminess" (I hate that word because it really describes what real meat should taste like...) to my meat). Curious of the taste and texture difference between a pre, during, and post rut buck. This was the latest I've shot a deer so I don't have a lot to compare to.

Our deer season, as well as the seasons that I apply for out of state are pre-rut. The two I’ve killed out of state were Nov 2-6 roughly. Which should be 4-7 weeks pre-rut if I was guessing, and it would probably be dependent on the area. In my home state, our season is the week of Thanksgiving, which is 2-3 weeks pre-rut depending on where Thanksgiving falls. I know that our mule deer 2hrs North rut 2-3 weeks earlier than the mule deer about 4hrs to our South. I don’t know how well that relationship holds up elsewhere. This was the leanest mule deer I’ve killed in about five years. He had very little fat covering the backstraps or rump. The 3.5yr old that my wife shot in the same area six days later was quite fat. He had almost 3/4” of rump fat. Both bucks this year actually appeared to have a little bit of marbling, which I’ve never noticed before on a deer, including the buck I killed last year, which was one of the fattest I’ve ever killed, and which had well over 1” of fat on his rump.

The only deer under 3.5yrs old that I’ve eaten were white tails, which I always find gamier than mule deer, however, I’ve never killed a white tail pre-rut. They rut well before the mule deer here, and I never hunt them till the last few weeks of the season. I did however pick up the good side of a road killed mule deer buck about three weeks ago, and he was 1.5yrs old. As with the white tails, his meat was paler and nearly fell off the bone when cleaning it. I had seen him alive at 6:30 pm in the same bar ditch the night before, and found him dead at 9:30 am the next morning, so he was fresh. I suspected poached and gave the GW a call, but being surrounded by car fragments and skid marks, combined by the person had run over the doe 100yds further down the road showing up, it quickly became apparent that it was road kill. When the CWD test comes back on it, assuming it’s not detected, I’ll get my first taste of a young mule deer. He was post rut, and near fat free, although I doubt he did much in the way of rutting, other than perhaps being chased away from his mother by mature bucks.

The road killed deer got dry aged a little warm for about 4-days. Hopefully it’s good. My garage failed to get below 40degrees at night in spite of it being under 30 most nights, and it got as high 68 one of the days. Getting colder at night, or staying under 60 in the day, I would be pretty confident. I’d also be more confident if I knew exactly how long it had been whole. The meat seemed excellent during quartering though, and still seemed fine when I butchered it and froze it.

 

[ImBillT]

It all depends on the preparation! I agree with you and I'm glad at 8½, he is still tasty!

I’m not nearly going to claim to be a great cook, but the meat got 7-9 days in a cooler full of frozen jugs before I butchered, vacuum bagged, and froze it. Then it got three days in a brine in the refrigerator after thawing on the counter for 8hrs. I’ll throw most of the meat for the week on the counter on my way to work one morning, then when I get home I’ll throw them in freezer bags with some water and seasoned salt in the bottom bin of the fridge till the day they get cooked. Since I stopped butchering and freezing the day of the kill, all of my meat has been more tender and less gamey. The brine can help too, I think most of the gaminess is either from blood in the meat or lack of age. I want my meat to taste like deer and have some flavor, but meat shouldn’t taste like liver. I really think that liver flavor comes from having blood in the meat. Wild killed animals aren’t bled as well as slaughtered domestic animals. Double lung shots help, as does a little brining, which I recently started doing again. I had been off it for a good while.