# Grain Fed?



## JC HUNTER (May 18, 2015)

So I had a discussion a few weeks ago with my wife's uncle who lives in Montana. Every year he hunts the same farm and shoots a buck out of the same alfalfa or corn fields. Now neither one of us has cooked wild game for the other, but he made the comment that his deer taste better than mine because they are grain fed. I know they market grass fed beef but what are your opinions? Do you think what an animal eats really makes a difference in how it tastes?


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## 2full (Apr 8, 2010)

Have u ever eaten a buck that mainly ate sagebrush ?


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## AF CYN (Mar 19, 2009)

I doubt it makes much of a difference. That said, I've never done a side by side taste test. That would be a fun test, though!


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

I have never noticed that much difference. Even deer that feed in the corn fields will venture into their normal feed. But I do agree that if you get one that has been feeding completely on sagebrush it is going to have a different taste. 

Now if you compare whitetails with mule deer then there is a difference but then they eat different things.


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

I know there are multiple factors affecting flavor and the below is far from scientific, but I will say this. I shot a buck a few years ago that was frequenting a nearby alfalfa field. I thought is was the best tasting deer I have ever eaten. Even more notable was that my super fussy kids thought it was delicious as well and were mad when it was all gone. 

I am of the opinion that diet does have a notable effect on deer flavor.


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## 2full (Apr 8, 2010)

I taken a few out on the west desert. 
They have a different taste than the ones from up in the quakies and oak. 
Not saying they don't taste good. But, different.


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## JC HUNTER (May 18, 2015)

2full said:


> I taken a few out on the west desert.
> They have a different taste than the ones from up in the quakies and oak.
> Not saying they don't taste good. But, different.


All of the deer I've taken have been up higher in the aspens and quakies as well. So to answer your previous question, no I haven't had one that mainly ate sage brush.


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## hunting777 (May 3, 2009)

So, I have done this test. We shot a buck from Temple peak area up Logan Canyon and had a doe depredation tag from a farm close to my house. The doe lives there year round, eating nothing but corn and hay. They were both shot the same year. They were hung for the same amount of time and processed the same way by myself. I can tell you that there is a night and day difference between the two. You can even smell it when grilling. It could be that there is a difference in hormones being different sex . But I do believe it is a difference in diet as well.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

My wife shot a dandy buck one year that was living in a local farmers peach Orchard. The buck would get into the irrigation ditch and crawl under the 10ft "deer fence" protecting the crops. Its the only buck I've ever seen with that behavior. It was only a 2pt but it grew an amazingly big set of antlers and had thick fat. It was noticeably better tasting than other deer we've ever had since.

-DallanC


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## Brookie (Oct 26, 2008)

I have never been able to tell the difference. Between my son or dad we have done the test multiple times. It always seems that the mountain bucks have much more fat than the alfalfa bucks though.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

Mule deer will actually stave to death on a steady diet of alfalfa, they don't have the enzymes to break it down properly in their stomachs I believe. That is why when they have to feed them they feed the deer pellets instead of hay.


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## ZEKESMAN (Sep 14, 2007)

Critter said:


> Mule deer will actually stave to death on a steady diet of alfalfa, they don't have the enzymes to break it down properly in their stomachs I believe. That is why when they have to feed them they feed the deer pellets instead of hay.


Was just going to post this. Elk on the other hand do great on hay.


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