# Best age deer, elk, bear etc for meat



## medicblue (Apr 17, 2011)

I've been wanting to hear from experienced hunters on this subject for some time. What does everyone think is the best age for a deer, elk etc as far as better tasting meat goes? I've been told, the younger the better. I was picturing 3x3s or 4x4s as being pretty optimum. But what is the real deal? Mostly no real difference until just several years old?


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

The younger the better the meat is. In my opinion.I killed a young deer last year and the meat fell right apart and taste yummy.


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## MWScott72 (May 23, 2011)

Best meat comes from the yearlings. Nothing is better than a calf elk. You can cut the meat with a fork and it is as mild as wild comes.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

In my opinion it is a toss up. I have shot a yearling buck deer and the meat was the worse that I have ever tasted. I have also shot quite a few 4x4's that tasted just fine. As far as elk the same thing goes. The last bull that I shot was a 7 year old 6x7 and there was no problem with the meat what so ever, just a lot of it.


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## RoosterKiller (May 27, 2011)

I think it has more to do with what they are eating and how much running around they are doing than their age.A younger deer might be moving around a lot more than an older one so you would expect it to be more tender.


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## ntrl_brn_rebel (Sep 7, 2007)

IMO as far as taste goes much more is decided in how the meat was handled after the shot than the age of animal........

Show me someone that knows what they are doing and takes excellent care of the meat seconds after an animal was killed and I will show you some of the best meat you have ever had......regardless of age.

I have had old/young bucks, bulls and really don't think there is a big difference in age...some little differences, but nothing significant besides the actual amount of meat in young vs old.


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## Brookie (Oct 26, 2008)

If you are a meat hunter you should look for the animal with the biggest body. Taste on the other hand is all about how you take care of it once it is dead. 
I would much rather shoot a big mature deer that has lazied around getting fat all summer long, than a small string 1 1/2 year old.
Elk-don't run them and it doesn't matter they all taste good
pronghorns taste good if you take care of it.


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

+1 for what rebel and brookie said.


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## WasatchOutdoors (Sep 26, 2007)

I think the ideal age for an elk or deer would be around 1 1/2. I think it gives you the best compromise between size and tenderness. I will agree with the guys above that correct handling of meat is CRUCIAL, and that an older bull handled correctly will still produce great cuts of meat, and isn't anything to turn your nosu up at. But a tender younger animal handled correctly can give some of the best meat you'll ever eat. 

That being said, there's a reason that prime beef is slaughtered between 1 year and 18 months of age, but any old dairy cow can end up in a mcdonalds burger. 

But also in mind, if you aren't processing your own meat, you'll pay the same base fee for a calf as you do a 6 year old animal, and unless you really know the operation well, I'd be skeptical that the meat you drop off is necessarily the meat you bring home. In a few of the processing facilities, you're just as likely to get meat that some other guy dragged 2 miles behind his 4 wheeler and then drove home on the trailer behind the truck, down that dirt covered dusty road, in the sun, getting hit by every road bug, rock, and splashed road muck along the way.


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## ChukarCountry (Feb 26, 2011)

WasatchOutdoors said:


> I think the ideal age for an elk or deer would be around 1 1/2. I think it gives you the best compromise between size and tenderness. I will agree with the guys above that correct handling of meat is CRUCIAL, and that an older bull handled correctly will still produce great cuts of meat, and isn't anything to turn your nosu up at. But a tender younger animal handled correctly can give some of the best meat you'll ever eat.
> 
> That being said, there's a reason that prime beef is slaughtered between 1 year and 18 months of age, but any old dairy cow can end up in a mcdonalds burger.
> 
> But also in mind, if you aren't processing your own meat, you'll pay the same base fee for a calf as you do a 6 year old animal, and unless you really know the operation well, I'd be skeptical that the meat you drop off is necessarily the meat you bring home. In a few of the processing facilities, you're just as likely to get meat that some other guy dragged 2 miles behind his 4 wheeler and then drove home on the trailer behind the truck, down that dirt covered dusty road, in the sun, getting hit by every road bug, rock, and splashed road muck along the way.


+1

Also, a quick tour of the processing facility will yield enough information as to what type of operation the facility is and if you get your own meat back. If you have been to a processor where they give you your meat back and you have seen how they do things. Then a processor who throws your meat into a gaylord and you get what you get is easy to indentify.


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## mikevanwilder (Nov 11, 2008)

I believe what a deer eats determines how good it will taste. I shot an old doe 2 years ago on a deperdation tag, right out of an alfalfa field. That deer was so good it actually makes me sad I don't have more. I have also killed young deer on the mountain that tastes like sagebrush.
When it comes to elk I really haven't had a bad tasting one from the young spike or cow to the big 6 point bull. The only one I have had that wasn't good eating was a old lead cow. She tasted ok but it was so tough to chew.
Antelope is very dependant on how it was cared for after the kill. The faster you get it skinned and cooled the better.


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## WasatchOutdoors (Sep 26, 2007)

That makes sense. I mean think about it, they often finish beef on a grain fed diet. Feed a deer sagebrush and it'll taste different than the alfafa fed one.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

If you are taking an animal to a processor and you have any doubt that you are not getting YOUR meat back it is time to find a new meat processor.


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## medicblue (Apr 17, 2011)

Alot of great advice here, thanks for all the answers. I knew about the quick kill and field dressing, but some excellent points to remember there too. I had thought of using a game processor but I'll make sure I look into them first for a good reputation.


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## Andymansavage (Sep 19, 2008)

I agree that field care and food source have more to do with taste than anything. The nastiest deer I have had are the ones where the old timers "age" them in camp with the hide on for a couple days.....I skin and quarter everything on the hill.....

And the first few posters understand that you can't tell a bucks age by number of points, right? The oldest deer I have seen was a 1x2.....


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