The Best Season to Hunt Good Venison
Mitch Johnson
If a person likes to go for hunting and likes to eat a good
quality of the venison, it is better for him to see in which
season is the best to get the best quality for venison. Check out
some ideas on how to recognize which season is the best to hunt a
good quality of deer meet.
All of the males of our domesticated animals, with the exception
of breeding stock, are castrated in order to produce a better
grade of meat, and they are killed at the age when they are the
tastiest and tenderest. Buck deer-and in many states that is all
that the hunter is allowed to kill-are taken at the poorest time
of year from the flavor and tenderness standpoint, and at
whatever age they happen to be. In spite of this, the meat from
these bucks is often equal to the better grades of beef. Doe deer
produce a better meat than old bucks at this time; and a young
buck, under two years of age, or a barren doe furnish the best in
eating during the hunting season.
Having the open season on deer during the rut gives the trophy
hunter the utmost in sport and I would not have it changed to an
earlier date because of the added difficulty in caring for the
meat, yet the meat is not at its best at that time of year. Bull
beef is classed as the lowest grade of beef and is used mostly in
prepared meats. The pork from boars is often unsaleable and
generally smells so strong while being cooked that it is almost
uneatable. Rams are nearly as bad, and who would want to eat an
old billy goat? I have tasted the meat from buck deer which were
killed in August and September, before the hunting season; and
there is as much difference between their meat and that of bucks
killed during the rut as there is between the meat of bucks and
that of does killed earlier or later in the year. I am not a
veterinarian and cannot give a reason for this, except to
speculate that glandular activity is dormant, or nearly so,
before and after the rutting season; and this has an effect on
the flavor of the meat.
The food which the deer eats has some effect on the flavor of the
meat as well as on its tenderness. Summer vegetation is the best
and venison, with the possible exception of milking does, is at
its best near the end of this season. The milking does continue
to improve as long as there is a plentiful supply of food, and a
beech- nut year produces superb venison late in the season.
After snow covers the ground, the deer are forced to browse and
soon lose the fat that has been stored during the summer. The
meat becomes tougher and is sometimes flavored by the twigs that
the animal eats. When deer are forced to live on cedar for an
extended period, the meat acquires a slight resinous flavor that
is distasteful, mostly because it is unexpected. Spruce grouse
have this flavor, but are excellent food after a person becomes
accustomed to the taste. By the time that spring arrives, most
venison is no better than the poorer grades of beef.
The food which the deer eats has some effect on the flavor of the
meat as well as on its tenderness. Summer vegetation is the best
and venison, with the possible exception of milking does, is at
its best near the end of this season. The milking does continue
to improve as long as there is a plentiful supply of food, and a
beech- nut year produces superb venison late in the season. If a
hunter goes hunting because he likes to eat the deer meat, he
must have knowledge when is the best season to go.
Mitch Johnson is a regular writer for ttp://www.best-scooters-n-
mopeds.com/. His articles have also appeared on
http://www.goodcycling.info/ and
http://www.solidcycling.info/
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