I have eaten good elk meat from animals killed on a wide range of habitat here on the PNW. I can\'t tell one from another if they are healthy and properly taken care of after being killed. Can you?
I can find no correlation between quality of meat and ... well, anything else. Some are just bad, most are great.
I think when people say something causes bad meat (running animal, rutting, etc.) they are simply guessing, and they don\'t understand correlation is not causation.
Thanks Tick. I see I was not clear in my question. I was wondering if you and others can tell any difference in the meat, due to the different ranges/habitats different elk foraged on.
Used to hunt whitetails near corn and alfalfa, but occasionally in places where there are no such crops for many miles, nor even trees. I couldn\'t tell one bit of difference.
This year I have two young cow elk in the freezer. One shot on a hay field, the other high in the mountains. I can\'t tell one bit of difference. They were shot within a couple weeks of each other in September.
(I will say, however, that the worst antelope I\'ve ever had was a 1.5 year old buck shot off of alfalfa near a corn field. I have no idea why it was \"bad\", but it was. Likewise, the worst whitetail I ever ate was a button buck shot entering a corn field in January, around 20 degrees or so, and died very quickly.)
As a side note, my son and I shot several pronghorns off a ranch in 2013 and again in 2014. The 2013 animals were almost all tough, while the 2014 animals have been fine, including one poorly-hit doe that traveled over a mile after being hit. Conditions were very similar each year. Same ranch, obviously.
My former neighbor hunted elk in sage brush during rifle season. He said the meat tasted very bitter. I did not know elk ate large quantities of sage brush.
My former neighbor hunted elk in sage brush during rifle season. He said the meat tasted very bitter. I did not know elk ate large quantities of sage brush.
Yeah, I thought elk ate grass unlike deer that eat sage, leaves from trees and shrubs, acorns, and crops. Elk tastes like beef to me only better. Deer is a bit gamier tasting but still good if prepared right.
