Mule deer / whitetail difference

[Hilltop]

I think having something different is "better" sometimes. Here in eastern Nebraska, many locals feel that mule deer taste better than whitetail. I have to admit, I like a mountain mule deer better than a corn fed whitetail... Some of that is likely because I shoot 5+ whitetail a year and only get a mountain mule deer every 4 or 5 years now.

 

[Mr Drysdale]

My son and I hunted Eastern Montana last November. We both killed whitetail bucks. We hung them for a couple days and they froze solid. We skinned and quartered them and put the meat on ice for the ride home. We had both deer processed by the same guy that processes our local kills. The meat from those Montana deer tasted noticeably better than our locally harvested North Mississippi deer. Our deer generally feed on soybeans, acorns and local browse. Those Montana deer were feeding on Alfalfa. Don't get me wrong, our deer taste good but the ones from MT tasted better.

 

[alaska2go]

I haven't eaten either whitetail or mule deer for quite some time, but Sitka Blacktail are one of my favorites for Alaska wildlife.

Those sitka blacktail deer off of Hinchinbrook Island the BEST deer species to eat. Kodiak a close 2nd. All the people that move here from the mid west say the blacktails are much better eaten than a whitetail.

 

[Gr8bawana]

bdan, my wife can tell the difference when the meat is thawing out! Really. She hates antelope. She doesn't eat much meat, but she likes moose and beef the best.

I've only had the opportunity to eat mule deer, elk and antelope. To me antelope is by far the best eating. My wife agrees.

 

[Eberle]

Axis deer are the best I've ever ate. Tried it for the first time last year in the "Hill Country" of Texas. It was great wish I had some right now.

 

[GOSHENGRUNTER]

Never killed one of each in the same area, but the mule deer I killed this year is way better than any ohio whitetail ive taken. I swear its like eating a good pasture fed beef. probably because I killed it right where the cattle roam. But dang it was delicious!

 

[Shane13]

Axis deer are the best I've ever ate. Tried it for the first time last year in the "Hill Country" of Texas. It was great wish I had some right now.

Yep. If necessary, I'd give away mule deer meat to make room for whitetail in the freezer. Whitetail doe is better than whitetail buck. But then I'd give away the whitetail (buck or doe) to make room for axis (buck or doe). NEVER pass up an opportunity to put some axis in your freezer.

 

[huntman]

When I went to undergrad school at the University of Montana, we ate whitetail, mule deer, antelope and elk (yes, we even managed to go to class too!). With not much money in our pockets everything seemed to taste good! Maybe someone should do a study to see if the selectiveness of one's taste buds is directly related to one's financial wealth.

I agree that quality of meat has a lot to do with the age, how the animal was handed after it's killed, and what it was mostly feeding on.

But I also feel that people (this is especially true with none hunters that eat/try wild game) eat it and are comparing it to beef. A chicken tastes different than a pig, which tastes different than cow. Why? Because they're different animals. An obvious answer, but I think it gets lost sometimes when we talk about which "tastes" people like best. I've eaten a lot of wild game(especially since my family harvests a lot of it every year), but when I try and compare the taste of big game to beef, it seems to match up this way...........Bison is the closest, followed by moose, elk, whitetail, muleys, and antelope. This is using my taste buds. Someone else might be different. I've never tried axis, blacktail, or sitka so i'm not sure where they'd fall.
To me, I like it all. The "gameyness" of it (properly handed and prepared) is just the different tastes of the different animals. Choice cuts are choice cuts, and overcooking is the way to ruin anyone's like for any wild game. On non-choice cuts, if you like meat that tastes the closet to pot roast beef, the best advice is to can it with a pressure cooker with a little salt and a tsp of onion soup mix. It's unbelievably tender good and beef tasting. Bon Appétit.

 

[tim]

my wife hates mulies or whitetails, unless they are made into jerky, but she absolutely rides my ass until an elk hits the freezer.

 

[Granby guy]

We shoot both muleys and whitetails every year and we think there is a huge difference. The muleys get turned into jerky and sausage while the whitetails get used for steaks and burger.

 

[Bonecollector]

Region of the country (hence diet) plays a big part in flavor.

 

[hskrhntr]

As many have said, diet a huge difference. I have had mulies and wt from same area here in Nebraska and a rutty running buck is just that whether its wt or mulie. A wt doe in her bed is the best choice IMO. Care after the kill, hanging time, etc make a huge difference as well.

 

[hskrhntr]

PS...I think it is also personal preference. Some guys prefer grass fed beef, some prefer corn fed. I'm a corn fed guy myself.

 

[stevevan]

I believe it makes a huge difference where the deer is harvested and what he's been eating. I've noticed a big difference in taste between the big woods WT's of the north and the WT's of the farm country in the Midwest. The Northern WT's have more of a "gamey" taste whereas the farm country bucks are as tasty a red meat that you can find. Same with the Mule deer I've shot. Mtn. bucks whose diet is mostly woody and sage are not as palatable as those that graze the alfalfa fields.

 

[buckbull]

What the animals have been eating plays a big part. Try to eat a squirrel that's been eating hedge apples for a week; it would gag a maggot.

 

[Againstthewind]

PS...I think it is also personal preference. Some guys prefer grass fed beef, some prefer corn fed. I'm a corn fed guy myself.

Go figure, a Nebraska guy who prefers corn fed beef. Here where we can't hardly grow corn I prefer grass fed, lol. Just kidding, I really don't know the difference. We had some corn finished beef last year from NE that was excellent. We had a pre-rut and fat muley buck living in the sagebrush lands and a young whitetail doe from outside a hay field. Its not a very fair comparison, but the whitetail was better in my opinion. It was my first whitetail tasting, pretty darn good. Both have been pretty good table fare.