Hunting Seasons are Under Way!

[AverageGuy]

Private land on a Landowner tag hunting with Friends.

[orhunter]

!!!!... Nice bull. Hope you have strong jaws for chewing.

[AverageGuy]

Thanks Harvey, I have killed a number of old bulls, cared for the meat properly and found them all excellent table fare.

[jlw034]

That is so friggin cool. Congrats.

[greg moyer]

Well me and the dog are back in MT doing some early season sharp-tail hunting.

Nice bull Ag!!

[AverageGuy]

Thanks Greg. Not surprised to see you and Josie are on the prairie and finding birds. Spud and I are heading to SD next week.

[orhunter]

Thanks for the photos Greg. Highlight of the trip stopping in Froid to see you and the ugly kid. Mentioned to Cheryl if she noticed how Josie changed while we were there. By the time we left, she was faking the foot injury to the max for more sympathy. What a display. Sure good for a laugh. She needs a good whippin’. We’re in Shelby now. What a dump!!!

Kent: I shot an old bull one time and had to grind the whole thing. Even the pepperoni had an odd texture. Could have had something to do with how long it took him to lay down and die after the shot. Bang flops might be a whole lot better?

[AverageGuy]

Harvey I think how long an animal lays before it is field dressed and then skinned to allow the meat to cool has everything to do with the quality of the meat. I took this Bull in 2016. He travelled 10 yards after taking an arrow through the lungs,flipped over backwards and died. He was a huge, old bull, field dressed with minutes of dying, hung and skinned within 2 hours. We marinated and grilled the steaks and they were delicious. Tight grained meat, but surprisingly tender. That is the trend I have enjoyed.

[orhunter]

Kent: I had that bull of mine opened up within minutes of his last breath. All four quarters hanging soon afterward. Soon is kind of relative because one person working on a 900 lb animal isn’t the quickest thing. Shot him before 9:00 and was back at the truck a little after noon which was quite a hike. Didn’t haul him out to the road till the next day.

[AverageGuy]

All 12 of the bulls I have eaten were excellent table fare, (including the steaks), and that is the consensus of the elk hunting crowd I run with. All my bulls have come from MT and NM, so no experience with bulls from your part of the world. Localized diet could make a difference I suppose. Or just different palates perhaps.

[orhunter]

Kent: Flavor was fine, couldn’t chew it. Tenderloins were tough too. I shot a small 5 pt the year before and it was a little more chewy than spikes. They all taste the same. It’s come to the point if I ever elk hunt again and I see Mr. Big standing next to Mr. Spike, Mr. Spike is going home with me.

[AverageGuy]

Harvey its a shame you were not able to swing by my place this summer. I could have fed you a data point contrary to your opinion. My first archery bull was a 3x4. The 11 since have all been mature bulls and excellent eating. The crowd I run with considers it a myth that the big bulls are not fit to eat.

[ryanr]

Great job AG, and I've never had a bad or hard to chew piece of elk either. Steaks, tenderloin or ground it was all delicious.

[Sooty42]

Kent: Flavor was fine, couldn’t chew it. Tenderloins were tough too. I shot a small 5 pt the year before and it was a little more chewy than spikes. They all taste the same. It’s come to the point if I ever elk hunt again and I see Mr. Big standing next to Mr. Spike, Mr. Spike is going home with me.

Next time you could try dry aging the meat in your fridge for a week or so and see if that mellows it out.

[JONOV]

Congrats on a nice Elk. I don't have any experience with elk but I do think that aging meat before you package and freeze it is a key component. It isn't always easy or even possible but I think it does help, that's why hangar aged steaks are a thing.