Well it finally happened.

[WyoDoug]

I learned through hunting for antelope since I was 16 that if you handle your kill correctly and if you avoid shooting a running antelope, the meat will not have a wild taste and will melt in your mouth. When I hunt antelope, I never hunt during the hot, mid part of the day. I prefer to hunt before 10 and between 5 and dark. I will shoot a bedded antelope, though I know from watching the videos that Randy would not. Antelope pump Adrenalin into their blood to support long distance and fast running. That gives meat a foul taste. In addition, a running antelope will have dark, red meat while a rested one will have pinkish meat.

The second part, with antelope especially, it is very critical to remove the hide and get the meat cooled as fast as possible. I always quarter mine at the kill site and get it into a cooler and iced down. The faster you can get it skinned and cooled, I guarantee you that will render some great tasting meat. If you haul your antelope around in the back of your truck and it happens to be fairly warm, the opposite effect happens and your meat begins to absorb oils and chemicals from the hide, lymphatic system and the stomach and gets that foul, gamey taste.

 

[WyoDoug]

I guess we're lucky, no such thing as a processor in this part of the world. You want to eat game you gotta learn how to break it down. That's why i was working on back legs last night until about 10pm. Not enough time in the day!

I also do my own processing. I might kill an antelope in the morning and have it butchered by midnight and do my burger and sausages the next day.

 

[VikingsGuy]

Any suggestions on removing antelope silver skin (and other whiteish sheathing material)? Never really have had problems with MN whitetail or our elk this fall, but our 3 antelope this last fall (our first antelope trip) were a real pain in the butt to get off even though we immediately quartered and iced and processed that night.

 

[88man]

butchering and processing the meat after a hunt is probably the most important thing we do in the hunting process especially if you want quality

 

[WyoDoug]

Any suggestions on removing antelope silver skin (and other whiteish sheathing material)? Never really have had problems with MN whitetail or our elk this fall, but our 3 antelope this last fall (our first antelope trip) were a real pain in the butt to get off even though we immediately quartered and iced and processed that night.

Use a long, slender filet knife. I use the one I bought for fishing for removing silver skin. Super sharp and makes it easy for me.

 

[TimeOnTarget]

The reputable processors in my area will flat out tell you that you are not getting your own meat back. They weigh it and make sure you get that amount of meat back.

 

[88man]

The reputable processors in my area will flat out tell you that you are not getting your own meat back. They weigh it and make sure you get that amount of meat back.

I could not imagine eating game meat that is not your own that you pick up at a processor there is something totally wrong with the concept!

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

I could not imagine eating game meat that is not your own that you pick up at a processor there is something totally wrong with the concept!

Its like taking the head to a taxidermist and them telling you that you won't get your own set of horns back, but one of similar size. Haha.

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

I've only had one bad antelope that I remember, in 20 years of hunting them. I didn't process (I process myself) it any different. It wasn't running hard, but it seemed to have an alkali flavor, or at least thats what it reminded me. I killed it right next to an alkalish lake in south east WY. Wonder if location as something to do with the flavor sometimes. I have yet to kill another one in that area to test my theory.

 

[TimeOnTarget]

I could not imagine eating game meat that is not your own that you pick up at a processor there is something totally wrong with the concept!

If you take it to a processor, This is the case 99% of the time. I don't think that changes with demographics from what I've saw.

 

[Mudranger1]

The reputable processors in my area will flat out tell you that you are not getting your own meat back. They weigh it and make sure you get that amount of meat back.

If that is reputable I wouldnt go there

 

[cgarner]

I treat every antelope I harvest the same. Skin, quarter, hump it to a cold cooler in the truck. I also avoid shooting antelope that I've seen running all over the place. I didn't post this thread to accuse the processor for the tough meat. It was my first experience with a processor and it just happened to be a bad experience. Coincidence maybe, tough animal maybe, or not my meat maybe. I plan to continue to process the majority of my meat. The previous year I butchered 4 antelope in a week and it almost killed me. I was hoping to take a short cut and have 2 of the 4 processed to save time, but we all know what happens when you take short cuts. lesson learned.

 

[LCH]

I treat every antelope I harvest the same. Skin, quarter, hump it to a cold cooler in the truck. I also avoid shooting antelope that I've seen running all over the place. I didn't post this thread to accuse the processor for the tough meat. It was my first experience with a processor and it just happened to be a bad experience. Coincidence maybe, tough animal maybe, or not my meat maybe. I plan to continue to process the majority of my meat. The previous year I butchered 4 antelope in a week and it almost killed me. I was hoping to take a short cut and have 2 of the 4 processed to save time, but we all know what happens when you take short cuts. lesson learned.

Me and a partner did an elk and 3 pronghorn one day last fall, and 7 hogs one day in February. That's a lot of work!

 

[cgarner]

Me and a partner did an elk and 3 pronghorn one day last fall, and 7 hogs one day in February. That's a lot of work!

That is indeed a lot. I broke my back in my early 20's and standing and slightly leaning forward kills my back and legs. I can barely get through one animal without having to take breaks. If I devoted an entire day I bet I could get through two antelope at the most.

 

[bushman13]

I'm not sure if it will work out west, but we had a trick for that with whitetails back in Ga. Ask for non standard cuts with minimal ground and cube steaks. I ask for bone in chops, which separates me from everyone getting butterfly steaks. I want the two front shoulders left whole for smoking, and roasts wherever possible. The special attention made sure I always got my deer back. Not sure how game processing works out west though. We got so lazy in Ga. we stopped even gutting them. For 10$ extra they would do it for you.

The reputable processors in my area will flat out tell you that you are not getting your own meat back. They weigh it and make sure you get that amount of meat back.

 

[ImBillT]

I don't like processors either, but how do you blame toughness on the butcher?

Could be he didn’t age it, aged it too cool or for too little time, or it ain’t antelope.

 

[cgarner]

Could be he didn’t age it, aged it too cool or for too little time, or it ain’t antelope.

The butcher had it for about 3 days. No idea if it was aged or cut up the next day.

 

[ImBillT]

The butcher had it for about 3 days. No idea if it was aged or cut up the next day.

Unless his cooler was about 60 degrees, it ain’t aged enough. It could also have been deboned while still in rigor.

 

[birdman27]

I guess I am in the minority, in that I have a processor that my buddies and I trust. They are very up front saying they will get you your own animal back, but because of that it will take longer. No skin off my back. Of course I would rather process my own animal, but when it is 80F during the day in deer season and I still have a few days to go after I harvest, I will drop it with them any time.

 

[WyoDoug]

I do my own processing now. I hunted with some Asians in Colorado for several years and one year I took a deer in and got back really rancid tasting meat. Since the temp was in the mid 40s in the day and below freezing at night, that should not of happened especially when I was hunting plains deer that had been corn fed. That can only be if I got someone else's animal or they stored it way too warm. The Asians I hunted with taught me how to process my own after that and I have been doing it ever since.