Good Weekend So Far

[cohunter14]

Started off last night with some antelope backstraps for dinner.

Then spent all day today doing some smoking. Antelope summer sausage and jalape?o cheddar sausage are pictured in the smoker.

Next in was a batch of antelope Italian sausage.

Finishing it off with a batch of goose jerky either later tonight or tomorrow.

Killed some time while things were cooking shooting the bow and talking plans for this year?s seasons. Gotta love weekends like this when we get some 70 degree weather in March!

 

[DTP]

Yum yum yum! That looks great Derek!
We will all be over for dinner around 6!

 

[Rzrbac]

That backstrap looks delicious. Never had it but one of these days I?m killing one. Just curious what does a mature antelope buck weigh?  They don?t look bigger than our WTs but their coloration may have me fooled.

 

[DTP]

That backstrap looks delicious. Never had it but one of these days I?m killing one. Just curious what does a mature antelope buck weigh?  They don?t look bigger than our WTs but their coloration may have me fooled.

I believe a mature MO whitetail would edge out a mature antelope buck.
I didn't weigh him, but my antelope was probably 150-160 last year. I could be way off because of the adrenaline overload, but I still think that mature whitetail carry more weight.

 

[cohunter14]

Yeah, I don't even know that they weight that much. I've never shot a whitetail before, but I would guess that antelope are smaller. I would say 120-140lbs for a buck maybe? And a little smaller for doe's. On average, I believe we get about 30lbs of meat in addition to the backstraps and tenderloins off of a doe.

 

[Rzrbac]

The 120-140 mark is about what I was guessing. It?s been since 2001 since I was close to a herd of antelope. I snuck up on a small herd during a training recon trip out in the Black Hills in SD once. I thought they were a little on the small side but it may have been all the Buffalo I had been watching earlier :lol:

 

[Ivar88]

Why is that food posts are my favorite? That looks amazing!

 

[DTP]

Why is that food posts are my favorite? That looks amazing!

[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23] every time someone posts more food I get hungry.  This forum is going to make me gain 15lbs


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[colorado russ]

Derek, I guess this is one of those rhetorical questions because you wouldn't do it if not working for you but do you get even cooking/smoking on the summer sausage without hanging them?


I've got a Bradley smoker as well but rigged some hooks and hang vertically.  Open to anything that helps with the end process or making it easier to achieve same or similar results.


Antelope is my hands down favorite North American game meat - of what I've tried!

 

[WW]

My favorite pronghorn recipe: Take 1 pound of antelope and mix with 1 can of Alpo. Maybe your dog will eat it and maybe he won't. I never acquired a taste for them. To me they taste as bad as they smell!

As far as size goes, I figure you get about as much meat from 3 jack rabbits! Probably taste better to! LOL!!!

All joking aside, pronghorns are much smaller than whitetail.

 

[cohunter14]

Derek, I guess this is one of those rhetorical questions because you wouldn't do it if not working for you but do you get even cooking/smoking on the summer sausage without hanging them?


I've got a Bradley smoker as well but rigged some hooks and hang vertically.  Open to anything that helps with the end process or making it easier to achieve same or similar results.


Antelope is my hands down favorite North American game meat - of what I've tried!

Russ, we've hung them before as well but we found this to be way quicker and easier. We do flip them during the smoking process to help them get evenly smoked and haven't noticed any difference from hanging them. The nice thing is this gives us the opportunity to move them from the back of the rack to the front of the rack. If you have a Bradley smoker, I'm sure you've noticed that sometimes the items on the back side of the rack cook quicker than the front. This gives us the option to move them around.

 

[colorado russ]

Definitely some hot spots on the Bradley and this approach would be much, much easier!  Mine is a little hotter at the bottom too and can't rehang upside down since loops only on one side. Definitely going this way on my next batch!


Bill, quit shooting them up in the great North West where all they have to eat is sage! 
Took a muley from up in your area and couldn't eat it - much like your description.  The ones I've taken lately were all on grassland and ranch winter wheat which makes them much more palatable. 


Definitely smaller than a whitetail of the same age.  Always gotten around 30-35 lbs for a doe and 45-50 lbs of boneless meat after processing.

 

[cohunter14]

Bill, quit shooting them up in the great North West where all they have to eat is sage! 
Took a muley from up in your area and couldn't eat it - much like your description.  The ones I've taken lately were all on grassland and ranch winter wheat which makes them much more palatable. 

Yep! Exact same experience :upthumb: