The 1 Thing You Learned- Cooking Wild Game

If I am near a garden hose I will hose it off to get any loose hairs or any dirt that may be on the meat. I'll then let it dry before wrapping it up.

When I am antelope hunting I pack a extra 5 gallons of water in my truck just to wash off the animal once I am done skinning it.

If I am not near a lot of water wet rags will also work, it just takes a little bit longer.

I have never lost any meat by doing it this way. I wonder at times when I see a animal being hauled out of the hills in the back of a dusty truck where all the dust and dirt can get all over the body cavity and then they wonder why the meat taste like crap.
You make the case for boning out an animal if you have to haul it out from somewhere that could be a long dirty trip
 
Most of the big game animals I kill are whitetails. I have a wagon that I can normally pull up to a deer really close with my ATV. I take it back to the cabin where I will gut it and then I will immediately wash out with a hose and then hang on the deer pole.

Dad was an steel mill iron worker. He built the wagon in the picture at work during a "slow" time lol.

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Not a great pic of the meat pole. Dad took a 4 inch piece of channel and welded a bunch of u-bolts to it. At one time the pole could hold about 15 deer. We ended up having to tear down the old meat pole for the cabin build. We ended up cutting the channel in half when we rebuilt it. We don't have near the hunters using it anymore (most have passed away). Mom added a swing a couple years later(chain on left).
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Wow you have got a sweet set up!
 
I started carrying water for cleaning antelope quarters back at the truck this fall and I'm never going back! Much cleaner meat in the long run, and helps with the cooling process too.
You can never have too much water when you're camped out in antelope country. One tip is to freeze your water in big jugs. These will serve as your ice for most of the trip, then pull double duty when you can drink it as it melts
 

JimP

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If you wash it and then don't let it dry it will start the bacteria growing. In the slaughter houses they control the temperatures and it is usually cool enough that they don't have to worry about it.

But I have washed off and cleaned out the body cavity of gut shot animals with water and then hung them up with zero problems. It is just the big thing that you need to allow them to dry before putting that game bag on unless the bag lets it breath.
 
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JimP

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You can never have too much water when you're camped out in antelope country. One tip is to freeze your water in big jugs. These will serve as your ice for most of the trip, then pull double duty when you can drink it as it melts
On freezing water jugs look at what fits into your coolers. I like 1 quart bottles. they lay down in my coolers quite nicely and if needed you can place them into the body cavity of a animal to cool it off. Also pieces of 1/2" pvc pipe cut to the width of your cooler and then using them to separate the layers of meat will help in allowing air to circulate a little between the layers to help cool things off.
 
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nv-hunter

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If you were to keep it moist and not cooled it would start bacteria really fast. Rinse dry cool last too can happen at the same time if you have good air flow around the carcass.
If you don't have extra water hang it and as it starts to dry those loose hairs will almost just brush off.
 
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If you wash it and then don't let it dry it will start the bacteria growing. In the slaughter houses they control the temperatures and it is usually cool enough that they don't have to worry about it.

But I have washed off and cleaned out the body cavity of gut shot animals with water and then hung them up with zero problems. It is just the big thing that you need to allow them to dry before putting that game bag on unless the bag lets it breath.
Thanks for explaining the distinction between where bacteria comes from grid sounds like it's fine to get the carcass wet, but it's critical to then get it dry. If you had the animal hanging in your shop, I wonder if you could use a fan to blow over the carcass and dry out?
 
On freezing water jugs look at what fits into your coolers. I like 1 quart bottles. they lay down in my coolers quite nicely and if needed you can place them into the body cavity of a animal to cool it off. Also pieces of 1/2" pvc pipe cut to the width of your cooler and then using them to separate the layers of meat will help in allowing air to circulate a little between the layers to help cool things off.
Terrific idea about the PVC spacers. After reading all of these threads, it's beginning to sound like the most important thing to do regarding meat care is keep it dry with good air circulation
 

dinewild

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I think most of us make a mistake over and over again. We go on a hunt, but don’t make the effort to think critically about 1 thing we learned and will do different next time.

Think about it, how often do magazines write about a hunt, but fail to single out an action item to change in the future? Just 1 thing, maybe something you learned about elk behavior, your rifle setup, clothing, camping system. We can consume all the information we want, but if we don’t change anything, did it really do us any good?

I’d like to start the series of discussions to get us in the habit of reviewing our hunt, and share highlights about the 1 thing we learned on a particular topic. To start, 1 thing I learned is about cooking wild game. While I was in college, we ate wild game nearly every meal to save money. My freshman year the four of us ate one bull elk, one cow elk, and three deer. The only tragedy about this was that we suffered through hundreds of meals that were just OK, but not outstanding.

Like way too many hunters, we overcooked the heck out of how our meat. Maybe it was just a bunch of guys learning to cook for the first time, or leftover traumatic memories of well-done steaks from our childhood, but we didn’t even realize what we were missing out on. I firmly believe we need to cook wild game at least 1/4 less than you would do for the equivalent piece of beef. We don’t need to start an argument about how done is the best way to prepare meat, just that we need to stop cooking it the same as you would domestic meat. Between the lower fat content and tougher nature, you will get much better flavor and moisture by taking it off the grill sooner and letting it rest before cutting.

The one thing I’ve learned about cooking any wild game with hooves is that we need to adjust our perception of the time it takes to cook it when compared to store bought meat. So what is the 1 thing you have learned about cooking wild game? Maybe it is preparation techniques, interesting recipes, or even cooking equipment suggestions so that we can make the most out of our success in the field!


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The first thing I learned about cooking wild game meat is when sharing with family and friends, cook it for them first. Don't just give someone wild game meat and expect them to cook it right the first time because they'll get a bad taste for it. If you cook it for them first, properly, they'll know what it should taste like and know that if cooked right, it can taste great.
 
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Prerylyon

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Dark, red, tender meats get cooked fast and hot. Preferably over charcoal or wood coals. Treat it like a fancy steak.

Tough, working muscles are best for braising, stews, chili, curries or making sausages.
 

manitou1

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Very true. I just have this memory of hearing somewhere that introducing moisture to a carcass promotes bacteria growth. Is that just an old wives tale? Or may be something that happens if you let it sit a long time after washing off?
IDK... blood is wet, isn't it?
If you leave raw meat in a wet mess for a time I would assume it promotes bacteria. Rinse it and let air get to it or pat dry and I see no harm.

Leaving dirt, hair and offel on the meat would promote more bacteria growth IMO.