Post by Buckshot06 on Dec 31, 2008 7:25:14 GMT -5
I myself found that it depends on what the deer have been eating not necessarily the age that gives the meat its flavor. Before you start saying I don't know what I'm talking about hear me out because a few years ago I would have agreed with most of the post here. Yearling deer buck or doe will be tender they for the most part was milk feed before harvesting one. So what I'm getting at is it tenderness your after or taste 
. Where I hunt I have the option to hunt the big woods and foot hills of Adams county Ohio or go to were there is mostly farm land and flat. I have found the deer in the foot hills have tougher meat and a so called "gamy" taste. These deer travel steep hill sides and eat what ever nature provides. These deer travel long distances for food,water, and bedding. So yes these deer do taste different. On other hand every deer I harvested on these farm lands taste AWESOME and the meat really has not been tough or grainy no matter the age. I found these deer don't need to travel at all to find what they need. I would say for lack of better terms "they are fat, dumb, and happy", not saying they are easy to hunt but everything they need is very close at hand. They are for the most part grain feed. They don't have to expend allot of energy to find food, water, and shelter.
I have a list of family members that love deer meat but don't or can't hunt. So when the good lord allows me to harvest many deer, I am able to give them as much as possible and still keep plenty for myself. The reason I say this is they all have asked for yearling deer for the flavor of the meat but the meat doesn't go that far. Now if you go and look at the post " lets see some photos" and look at the buck I harvested in "2006" you would think he would be very gamy and tough, so did I. After butchering him up it was hard to give any of the meat away because it was some of the best tasting venison I had ever eaten. Same thing my family members said to me after they ate some and was surprised at the taste, also no gamy flavor and really not tough at all. Now they just ask me for deer meat and not an age of deer now. So if you want tenderness young deer it is, but if your worried about flavor look into what your deer are eating in your area. I know you really have no choice of what there eating but you may notice a taste difference from year to year depending on what crop, acorns is in season that year JMO.
. Where I hunt I have the option to hunt the big woods and foot hills of Adams county Ohio or go to were there is mostly farm land and flat. I have found the deer in the foot hills have tougher meat and a so called "gamy" taste. These deer travel steep hill sides and eat what ever nature provides. These deer travel long distances for food,water, and bedding. So yes these deer do taste different. On other hand every deer I harvested on these farm lands taste AWESOME and the meat really has not been tough or grainy no matter the age. I found these deer don't need to travel at all to find what they need. I would say for lack of better terms "they are fat, dumb, and happy", not saying they are easy to hunt but everything they need is very close at hand. They are for the most part grain feed. They don't have to expend allot of energy to find food, water, and shelter. I have a list of family members that love deer meat but don't or can't hunt. So when the good lord allows me to harvest many deer, I am able to give them as much as possible and still keep plenty for myself. The reason I say this is they all have asked for yearling deer for the flavor of the meat but the meat doesn't go that far. Now if you go and look at the post " lets see some photos" and look at the buck I harvested in "2006" you would think he would be very gamy and tough, so did I. After butchering him up it was hard to give any of the meat away because it was some of the best tasting venison I had ever eaten. Same thing my family members said to me after they ate some and was surprised at the taste, also no gamy flavor and really not tough at all. Now they just ask me for deer meat and not an age of deer now. So if you want tenderness young deer it is, but if your worried about flavor look into what your deer are eating in your area. I know you really have no choice of what there eating but you may notice a taste difference from year to year depending on what crop, acorns is in season that year JMO.
