It is just a casual observation with no scientific data to back it up.

Harvest any animal in it's own home with one good well placed shot with a proper arm and they taste better at the table than one that was hit poorly and had time to "panic".

Inspiration for starting this thread comes from a recent purchase of a pig raised by a good friend and neighbor. He only does a few at a time. It was butchered by a small local shop. The quality and taste is far above what I've had in a long time from the big name processers.

My work required me to go to a big pork plant not so long ago. It was a hot day and trucks full of pigs were waiting to offload. There was much squeeling and misory for those animals. I think that the "stress" from the heat and the smell of death from thier own kind makes them taste different on the table.

My pig spent its life with two others. Was fed good corn and pig chow. It got to eat watermelon rinds and banana peels. It went to the butcher "without a clue" and no time to panic.

I think the same applies to wildgame. Shoot well ladies and gentlemen.

Cheezywan

Some believe just the reverse. In england game is run with dogs before it is shot. This is done because it is said to make the meat tast much better. Of course when birds are shot they hang them up by the neck and leave them to age a while. When the body falls off it's ready to eat.

Personally I've found that the worst is when an animal gets gut shot. I've never wasted meat, but sure don't relish taking care of a gut shot animal.

Follow the same pattern as you would...pain.danger.run. Signals sent, hormonal changes, blood increase to running gear, heat rate increase, respiration increases, by products of sudden action build up in mussle tissue faster than the body can get rid of them.

So, like others, have found game that has been wounded, followed, and run pretty hard does taste a bit more "gamy".


But that hanging of birds thing isn't limited to Europe...some Cajuns (who are basically 18th cenruay French) still will. And "aged" beef (or other meat) is a more controled/cooler process, but it DOES make a differnce.

I have been told by local old timers and processers that stessed animals do not "bleed out" as well as a relaxed animal. Also, an animal that has been run builds up toxins in the muscle just like you and I do which makes us tired and that may be part of the "gamey" taste that Cheezywan mentioned. And of course, good corn fed animals always taste better!

Have you ever tasted chicken after it was fed rum soakedbread just before killingit? Talk about a lack of adrenline! It is more trouble than it is worthfor mass production but it does make a really great treat. Waittill it passes out and then off withits head.

All interesting above! I agree with Ribbonstone on the plysiology(SP) of why. My post was intended for new hunters more than anything. A clean one-shot kill and attention to detail in butchering can make a lot of difference in your dining experiance. My recent purchase from a local farmer just reminded me of the difference a hunter "can" make in the field.

Simple recipie: One fresh fat squirrel. Put a strip of bacon in the cavity. Black peper and onion in a mess-kit(1 quart) pot.
Slow cook with a good friend until browned. Add a little beer to the pot to create steam and keep squirrel moist.
Meat will fall off the bone and will make a great hot sandwich. A thin slice of onion, mustard and horseradish. Done!

Is best served with beans and beer with a good friend. Sleep in your own tent.
Bonapetet'

Cheezywan

Am in an old suburban area...no chance of anything that makes a loud noise...that evicently once was a Pecan grove. (Not a farmer...but isn't an "orchard" for fruits and a "grove" for nuts?)

Even after Katrina thinned out most of the trees, still have plenty standing on neighbors property and some close to myown. Heavy with unrippened pecans.

Squirrels tend to run along my fence to get from one place to the next...and occasionally stop to gnaw on the roof flashing of a shed and a garage (that is now my work/loading room).

Figure that makes them fair game..a pest animal that is doing damage to property.

Break out the quieter air rifles...can tell you from past expericnes...pecan fed squirrels are mighty good.

Wife's breakfast preference (sure ain't low cal or low fat):

Cut up squirrels (think this is just becasse of the visual for her).
Soak in buttermilk over night (in the 'fridge).
Take squirrel pieces out...blot dry..season to tastes (and here that's more seasoning than most places).
Wrap eac in bacon (use tht good stufff...not the paper thin sale bacon) and place in a hot black iron skillet.
Keep moving them...want to roll them around to get them evenly cooked...and cook until the bacon is crispy.

Place the cooked squrrel on toast.

Pour off the bacon grease...deglase the skillet with COFFEE and a touch of BUTTER...rub/scrape the tastey little bits stuck to the skillet...stir around until butter melts and is creamy.

Dribble this on the squirrels (the toast will catch what runs off).

I shot a little doe one time that was facing straight towards me. She was no more than 25 yards and I had a .257 Roberts, it made a pretty bad mess of the entire body cavity. I have never since wanted a deer bad enough to repeat that experience.

i understand the principle of what you are saying as relates to taste or flavor being affected, but adrenaline being what it is , i think that any animal that lives even a very short time after the bullet strike is going to have adrenaline in the bloodstream . the only exception i can see is if the heart were shot, thereby instantly dropping blood pressure and stopping circulation. just my opinion

i understand the principle of what you are saying as relates to taste or flavor being affected, but adrenaline being what it is , i think that any animal that lives even a very short time after the bullet strike is going to have adrenaline in the bloodstream . the only exception i can see is if the heart were shot, thereby instantly dropping blood pressure and stopping circulation. just my opinion

The majority of the deer I've shot have been running scared. I hunt in PA and when I started We did a lot of deer drives. I've never had a bad or gamey deer but every deer I've shot has been hung up and skinned within 1 to 3 hours after it was killed
We bring in the deer, take pictures then hang it up and skin no matter how tired you are. The other thing an oldtimer in camp taught me years ago was no water until the deer is done bleeding out. I had hung and skined a buck on the back porch of the camp and was filling a bucket with water from our pump getting reading to wash out the abdominal cavity when he stopped me. Told me to wait until the blood was done dripping and the deer chilled down. He told me if I chill it too quickly with cold water the blood will congeal before it's drained. I don't know if it's the best way but that's what I was taught and have done for years and I fed Venison to a lot of people who hated it until they didn't know what they were eating and tried it. My 2 cents.
Mike B.

i understand the principle of what you are saying as relates to taste or flavor being affected, but adrenaline being what it is , i think that any animal that lives even a very short time after the bullet strike is going to have adrenaline in the bloodstream . the only exception i can see is if the heart were shot, thereby instantly dropping blood pressure and stopping circulation. just my opinion

I not sure it is the adrenaline as much as the Lactic Acid builup in the muscle after strenous excercise. The worst tasting pronghorn I've harvested was a yearling buck which had apparently been run for several miles before coming to me. He was killed quickly and immediately boned out and the meat put in a cooler with ice. On those not running, I agree that a quick kill and immediate care of the carcass results in better meat.

really hard to tease out of the other factors...not the loeast of which is care of the meat after the kill (getting it opened and cooled) as well as the local diet.

Have you ever tasted chicken after it was fed rum soakedbread just before killingit? Talk about a lack of adrenline! It is more trouble than it is worthfor mass production but it does make a really great treat. Waittill it passes out and then off withits head.


No I have not had a chicken prepared that way! How much booze do you suppose it would take to do a beef :D ?

Cheezywan

No I have not had a chicken prepared that way! How much booze do you suppose it would take to do a beef :D ?

Cheezywan
I can never remember is it red wine with red meat or white?
Mike B.

really hard to tease out of the other factors...not the loeast of which is care of the meat after the kill (getting it opened and cooled) as well as the local diet.

I remember a friend killing a nice big mulie buck on the breaks of the salmon river. big swelled neck, Been living on sage brush.

That meat stank so bad you couldn't stand being in kitchen when he tried to cook it. He had a pack of bear hounds that were always hungry, but you could throw a steak in the pen and it would lay there untouched for days. Sometimes you just can't win.

I don't think you could drink enough of any color wine to make that deer eatable.

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Originally Posted by Cheezywan
No I have not had a chicken prepared that way! How much booze do you suppose it would take to do a beef ?

Cheezywan


Some of the Japanese resturants in the larger cities may have it on the menue. as to the beef good luck. In Japan thy will raise a beef on a dietthatis mostly beer, with a daily shampoo and massage.
The chicken can be done at home and is worth the trouble for a special treat. Ihavenever tried it with a steer but I am looking forward to a report.

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Originally Posted by Cheezywan
No I have not had a chicken prepared that way! How much booze do you suppose it would take to do a beef ?

Cheezywan


Some of the Japanese resturants in the larger cities may have it on the menue. as to the beef good luck. In Japan thy will raise a beef on a dietthatis mostly beer, with a daily shampoo and massage.
The chicken can be done at home and is worth the trouble for a special treat. Ihavenever tried it with a steer but I am looking forward to a report.

The best chicken that I have had(this date) came from a little old guy that I was introduced to at a sport event. The chickens where near 10lbs. My family of four could finish one.
The guy that raised them told me that he put "water soaked" bread in there pan so as to "keep them eating" when they where drinking.
It was good food!

I once ate a salmon cooked on a stick over a fire it only took 20 beers to make what the japanese call sushi. Good ****.

We don't seem to agree on the specifics,but we all agree that a quick death,as the very first post noted,results in better tasting meat.I always attributed bad taste to adrenalin pumped into the body by an animal in extreme distress.
I never considered that commercial meat providers sometimes are lax in the care of the animals prior to preparing for slaughter.That could be the cause of some boughten meat not being so good to eat.
I do recall,though,a deer that was Japped from ambush,and dropped on the spot,that was terrible tasting.It was a 9 year old doe,shot on an area that was closed to hunting for twenty years.

Frank