Gamey Fallow?

Early April had the week off to do a bit of hunting. Wasn't having too much luck with the roaring red stags and was getting itchy to shoot something so I change tack and went in search of a good meat animal. Had a good stalk through one of my local spot X's and shot a young fallow, figured he'd be a good eater... but I was wrong. First thing I noticed was he had gigantic nuts for a young lad ;D. Anyway gutted him, cooled him, hung him in some Kawakawa bushes for the evening. Carried out the next morning and butchered him destined for a couple of days ageing, then vac-packed and in to the freezer. So I've been eating it lately but shit is he a gamey bugger, when cooking, smells like I've sprinkled a little secret ingredient of red stag ball-sack and a splash of wallow juice in there! tastes much the same. Bit gutted to be honest.
I've shot an eaten a lot of venison in my time as a hunter but have never had an animal taste so much like that, especially a young animal, what's going on??
Can I save it by hiding its flavour in salami's, sausages etc?

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can't help with the why, but I would definitely suggest salamis, beir sticks, currys or some strongly flavoured sausages would mask the flavour.
the salami or beir sticks probably be best bet, but maybe talk to your butcher about it and see what they suggest ?
I'm sure others will chime in ;)

Accidentally nicked bladder/gland or such? I'm not going to pretend I haven't before.

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Originally Posted by Preacher

Accidentally nicked bladder/gland or such? I'm not going to pretend I haven't before.

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Yea i don't know Preacher, I took care when removing the bladder, would it taint the whole carcass though? i wondered if it was a blood/bleeding thing

Fallows in the rut are terrible eating the rest of year there awesome, unlike a red were bits arnt to bad the fallow are rank, the Butchers at wild game salami can't understand why people even bring them in [emoji1787]

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Yeah I just thought it might be a possibility. But if it is the whole carcass then something else is going on.

I don't think I have eaten a young fallow buck during rut so I can't comment on that but Brads probably nailed it

Wee glands by the tenderloins, get rid of them before hanging any male fallow and makes a big difference to how the whole animal eats, don't pop them while removing or you may as well dog tucker the whole thing

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Originally Posted by BRADS

Fallows in the rut are terrible eating the rest of year there awesome, unlike a red were bits arnt to bad the fallow are rank, the Butchers at wild game salami can't understand why people even bring them in [emoji1787]

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yes Brads is right certainly been my experience with fallow in the roar - I just dont bother with bucks roar time

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Originally Posted by JesseYoung

shit is he a gamey bugger, when cooking, smells like I've sprinkled a little secret ingredient of red stag ball-sack and a splash of wallow juice in there!

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a niche market waiting to be capitalized on ? upmarket auckland chefs big new thing for the hoi peloi ?

Had a roast of rump from buck shot last week last night.Was quiet nice with gravey on top n spuds n vegys.
He was a oldish buck,only took back legs as freezer was pretty fill.
When taking h/qs im very carefull with knife around the family jewels n plumbing.

Couple of tricks I've learned, always remove the nuts and pizzle as soon as you can, before starting to gut.

And try a simple 2:1 salt sugar brine, 2 days in that I find that will take away a lot of the gamey taste, even on stuff like billy goats.

I can post up my current goat curry recipe if that's of interest. It'll make anything taste good.

I shot one 2 weeks ago, have eaten the tenderloins, some back steak and ribs and everything has tasted nice so far. Shanks tomorrow night for dinner.

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Originally Posted by JesseYoung

Early April had the week off to do a bit of hunting. Wasn't having too much luck with the roaring red stags and was getting itchy to shoot something so I change tack and went in search of a good meat animal. Had a good stalk through one of my local spot X's and shot a young fallow, figured he'd be a good eater... but I was wrong. First thing I noticed was he had gigantic nuts for a young lad ;D. Anyway gutted him, cooled him, hung him in some Kawakawa bushes for the evening. Carried out the next morning and butchered him destined for a couple of days ageing, then vac-packed and in to the freezer. So I've been eating it lately but shit is he a gamey bugger, when cooking, smells like I've sprinkled a little secret ingredient of red stag ball-sack and a splash of wallow juice in there! tastes much the same. Bit gutted to be honest.
I've shot an eaten a lot of venison in my time as a hunter but have never had an animal taste so much like that, especially a young animal, what's going on??
Can I save it by hiding its flavour in salami's, sausages etc?

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I give any stag or buck the sniff test - if the meat smells manky I dont take it out - some in roar especially early roar are fine to eat - Its maybe just how much they have been rarked up - if manky smelling in my experience nothing will change the taste

funny thing...as young fella was taught by older pighunterrs to whip out the nuts and make sure to drain the pizzle ASAP when killing a boar...yet mate who has killed a LOT of pigs reckons thats rubbish... but then again I am hearing quite a lot of the open country pigs from down here arent worth eating.... buggered if I know..will continue chopping them out asap as Ive never struck a bad wild pig yet.....have definately heard the avoid rutting fallow buck thing.

Same with HG man nuts and pizzel get removed straight away. I carry a couple of cable ties that I stick around the rear end and oesophagus to stop any spills. Really helps protect the meat from any splashes.
Sniff test as with what Barry says.
I don’t get that option here though. It will only be condemned if it’s full of cyst or other nasty’s. Otherwise it’s off to the game dealer.
All rut animals for me head to the game dealer. Other wise young ones are really good eating.
How long did you leave him to hang?
I try 5 days in the chiller. If you have that option.

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

funny thing...as young fella was taught by older pighunterrs to whip out the nuts and make sure to drain the pizzle ASAP when killing a boar...yet mate who has killed a LOT of pigs reckons thats rubbish... but then again I am hearing quite a lot of the open country pigs from down here arent worth eating.... buggered if I know..will continue chopping them out asap as Ive never struck a bad wild pig yet.....have definately heard the avoid rutting fallow buck thing.

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yes I was always taught that Micky Duck - nuts out - and its the first thing I do - have struck a few boars that got left behind but they were damn skinny and stank -

Try a marinade of olive oil, some crushed garlic and a good squeeze of lemon juice in the fridge for a couple of days and see how that goes, the lemon juice can pull game flavour out some quite rutty tasting meat

Full Moon ? Heard that can taint meat !

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Originally Posted by kiwi-adam

Full Moon ? Heard that can taint meat !

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yip,never hang animal out in moonlight...you can get a funky kind of sunburn/moonburn your self ,so there must be something in it.... not worth risking an animal to test it out.

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

yip,never hang animal out in moonlight...you can get a funky kind of sunburn/moonburn your self ,so there must be something in it.... not worth risking an animal to test it out.

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beef venison I have always heard that Mickey Duck and I dont break that rule - so why - cold and dry is the recipe for ageing our meat - so why the old tale of dont hang in moonlight - heard it so many time's must have some application - the only thing I can think of is temperature- moonlight night not so cold

yeah its just one of them things I will believe/follow without testing to see..... as said you can get moonburn,like sunburn so buggered if I know..there is something...them old boys who decided it wasnt a good idea werent prone to wasting meat or doing things to make life hard for themselves so must be some reason/merit in it LOL

Ok you moon lighters,couple of months ago I was sleeping in the truck up a river watchn for deer at sunrise.About 3am I woke up It was pissing down with rain above me and to the south.To the north it was a full moon,interesting few minuts later heres this moon bow shing away,just like a rain bow but just white light in a big arc like a rain bow.Bugger I shouldv taken a photo.The white moon bow stayed around for about a hour.
Got home a couple of days later and looked on the net.A very rear accassion.Dam wish I took a photo.

Is it just the full moon or does it go for quarter, half and 3 quarter moon as well?

no idea..maybe it will only make your meat go half off LOL

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Originally Posted by 7mm Rem Mag

Is it just the full moon or does it go for quarter, half and 3 quarter moon as well?

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Probably a half moon minimum.Needs a bit of light to get thru the rain drizzel.

Moon bows,iv been fishing at night for about 50 yrs and never seen a moon bow until a couple of months ago.
So a rear occasion that's for sure.

It was a full moon the night I hung it up. I have also heard about not hanging outside on a full moon. The plot thickens!

Lol ok ok you got me just looked up moon burn in the urban dictionary nice one MD:XD::XD::wtfsmilie:Attachment 223833

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

yip,never hang animal out in moonlight...you can get a funky kind of sunburn/moonburn your self ,so there must be something in it.... not worth risking an animal to test it out.

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Total wives tale.
Moonlight does nothing to meat.

I find some of the coldest nights are during a full moon with stars out and extreem frosts.

Never heard of moon burn but we learn new stuff every day.