pronghorn meat
Contributors to this thread:Pronghorn
From: webfoot
30-Sep-17
how good is pronghorn meat....?
From: Paul@thefort
30-Sep-17
some of the best wild game I have eaten IF field dressed quickly and then properly cooked for that species, Excellent. It might also depend on there, in what state, and what the animal has been mainly eating. Where I hunt in Colorado, there diet is made up of good ag food and or good prairie food.
From: jims
30-Sep-17
Most antelope seasons are early season and/or during the rut. Get the hide off ASAP to help cool the meat and get rid of the stinky cape (especially when they are rutting).
From: loopmtz
30-Sep-17
Definitely the best of all the big game animals. Like others mentioned, get the cape off and cool quickly.
From: kellyharris
30-Sep-17
The first time I ever had it was at Sandbrews house!
It is truly the best red meat I have ever eaten!!!
From: Medicinemann
30-Sep-17
Paul and Jims X 2. If not in rut, they are very good table fare as long as proper meat care (skinning quickly to cool meat, etc) was exercised. I'd rank them in the upper middle compared to other species in the US. .... I'd rank sheep, moose, and muskox higher(assuming that they are also not in rut).
From: Trial153
30-Sep-17
I will be the decenting opinion. It's no where near the top of my list for game meat..On a scale of 5 it would make a 2.5 maybe .... and yes all my kills have be handled quickly and judiciously
From: Bou'bound
30-Sep-17
Spectacular. Just not much of it
From: Ermine
30-Sep-17
Its is my favorite meat! So good!!! I wish Pronghorns were the size of elk!
From: Kodiak
30-Sep-17
Easily the best. No contest baby.
From: otcWill
30-Sep-17
My absolute favorite
From: drycreek
30-Sep-17
Might as well say it. I love it !
From: midwest
30-Sep-17
All the antleope I've eaten has only been spectacular.
From: Heat
30-Sep-17
The one I killed was outstanding. Much better than most buck mule deer I've had. Right up there with bison and elk. Love it!
From: shooter
30-Sep-17
Great eating!!!
From: jims
30-Sep-17
I wouldn't rate antelope as high as many of the posts above but it's ok. A lot better than a tough old mtn goat billy, black bear, warned-jawed bighorn ram, etc. The very best big game animal I have ever eaten was surprisingly oryx (gemsbok) from New Mexico. All the steaks cut like butter and it had a really dark color to the meat. I was a bit shocked because the oryx was shot in the mesquite desert with not much decent feed.
Almost all the antelope I have harvested have been oldish bucks in rut in the sage hills of Wyo. Even though I get the stinky cape and hide off ASAP and the meat on ice it still has somewhat the flavor of the rut smell. It's not too terribly hard to add spices and cook in a way to get rid of the sour flavor though.
For those that say antelope is the best I would be gladly swap out antelope for a yearling elk, young moose, or a corn-fed whitetail....or even corn-fed wild turkey!
From: Surfbow
30-Sep-17
Antelope is awesome! My wife prefers it above anything else I've ever brought home...
From: Wapiti Hunter
30-Sep-17
I thought I was the odd hunter who ranks antelope at the top of the list. I killed an Oryx two years ago when I moved down to New Mexico. I don't think it has much flavor. Antelope is #1, mule deer #2, and elk #3. My mountain goat made excellent sausage but even the tenderloins were tough! Now if I could just draw an NM pronghorn license!
Mike
From: Sage Buffalo
30-Sep-17
Surf: My wife says it's her favorite too.
During the rut you just have to be VERY careful to not touch horns and then meat. If you do then you will know.
I did have a miracle hunt last weekend before the end of the season. 32 degrees and a week of rain and got this guy on water. Had he not had a broken prong he would have been a pretty great scoring goat as those prongs are almost 6 inches. They actually flare out but you can't see them fro the pic.
From: BTM
30-Sep-17
It sometimes also depends on what he's been eating (sage vs. alfalfa, etc.) and how close to the rut you kill it. I've made clean, quick kills and put the animal in the cooler within the hour, yet some still didn't taste good. On the other hand, I once killed a goat that took a while to die and then was ridden around in a truck bed for several hours yet still tasted great. YMMV.
From: Ermine
30-Sep-17
I like it better than elk.
I think coues deer is up there close to antelope. Moose is very good. But I'll take antelope steak over and elk and Mule deer anyday
From: Thunderflight
30-Sep-17
Didnt care for it
From: Ben
30-Sep-17
My wife and I both feel it is the best.
From: Matt
01-Oct-17
"I like it better than elk. I think coues deer is up there close to antelope. Moose is very good. But I'll take antelope steak over and elk and Mule deer anyday "
This. Dall is better, but antelope is near the top.
From: raceguy
01-Oct-17
I'm with other's here, it depends on their diet which is often dependent on weather. I've had some good antelope. Yet my old college roommate harvested one, during a 2-year bad drought that tasted like a sagebush. No matter what we tried, every season imaginable, hamburger helper, sloppy joe mix marinade for two days.....it tasted like a sagebush. I've also had good muley and one that tasted like it ate bark and pinecones (guessing what they taste like)
From: huntperch
01-Oct-17
I don't have a ton of experience but my buddy and I shot 2 mature bucks 2 years ago Sept 22 & 23 and this year 3 bucks shot Sept 21 and Set 25 cant get in the rut anymore than we were as we watched them screw fight and chase each day. The two two years ago were great and 2 of 3 that have been sampled were great. People who normally don't eat wild game enjoyed them. Also only the last and smallest buck shot Sept 25 had a strong smell that you hear about.
From: Ermine
01-Oct-17
Yea pronghorn have a unique smell to them but that's not the meat smelling.
My theory is I think a lot of antelope aren't taken care of properly. Left in the truck in the back of the pickup all day in the heat and then people think they don't taste good.
I skin and get the meat on ice immediately
From: Kodiak
01-Oct-17
Hell they smell like roses compared to a rutty bull elk.
From: doubledrop
01-Oct-17
I heard a lot of mixed comments prior to grilling my first pronghorn steaks last night. I have to say, by far, these were better than any other wild game steaks I have cooked. And I have cooked a lot. I guess it must come down to where the antelope lived, because mine had access to a variety of grains and grasses. I'm sold!
From: Nock
02-Oct-17
Asked an old WY rancher that same question. Told him I had friends that said antelope meat was better than elk. He said my friends had been eating some mighty poor elk. That said, shot a young buck this year. Had him quartered and in the cooler within an hour of kill. He is eating great, but not quite as good as my usual raghorn elk.
From: ROUGHCOUNTRY
02-Oct-17
One of my favorites too and I eat them all...........the key in my opinion is to cook it rare like the photo in the above post or redder........gets gamy/liver tasting the longer you cook it. If you must cook your game meat well done, you're probably better off choosing something else. Leave the pronghorn to me and the others above who love it:)
From: Scar Finga
02-Oct-17
Same here, One of my favorites. I would take a speed goat back strap steak over an elk, beef or deer any day!!
From: keepemsharp
02-Oct-17
It's good but just can't put it above elk tenderloin off good Kansas grassland.
From: Sage Buffalo
02-Oct-17
I think when people compare animals it's really about age class. I bet most antelope that are killed are 2-3. Remember antelope horns are nearly full length by 2 and only increase in size over the next 2 years. So you can shoot a P&Y animal that's 2 yo.
That's not happening with any other NA species.
Age has everything to do with meat tenderness and quality. A 2 yo antelope will always eat better than a 4+ yo animal of another species that is handle properly. Always.
The are amazing animals.
From: bfisherman11
02-Oct-17
^^^^^ I'm with Sage on this. I shot an old PY Antelope a day after my buddy shot one. I think mine was older and mine was sage tasting. My buddies was very good. Up to then all antelope I had was good.
Bill
From: bfisherman11
02-Oct-17
Here was my sage tasting lope.
From: Quinn @work
02-Oct-17
Like others have said it comes down to age and where they live/what they eat. Have shot them on the short grass prairie in Wyoming and they were terrible. Shot them in the western slope of Colorado sage brush area and they were terrible. Shot them in Eastern Colorado where they were eating winter wheat, milo, corn stubble and cattle pastures and they were great.
From: MObow
02-Oct-17
MObow's Link
Try this recipe. My favorite chili.
From: Rickm
02-Oct-17
Ours have all been excellent! We hunt them early and off of green alfalfa.
I am sure like any other animal it depends what they have been eating and how you take care of them.
