Rutty Meat

[Cajun Blake]

likely culprit

[Razrbk89]

I always put whitetail meat in my big ice chest and cover with ice. I liberally salt the top of the ice. Liberally as in with the Morton container with the flap open. I drain the water every day and add more ice. I will do this for up to 7 days. You'd be surprised how much better the meat tastes doing it this way. Gets a lot of the blood out.

I do the same, but usually only for 3 days or so before putting it up. I try to let mine hang over night as well if it’s not too warm or too cold.

Seems like the salt draws the blood out a little.

[Texas Grown]

likely culprit

That's what I'ma think-n Blake.


Dose anyone else besides me cut out the tarsal veins, and not just cut the glands (furry patch where the vein meets the surface) off? Cause if you leave them in and they are full of fluid, guess what the meat will taste like if you leave it in a few days?

Just another reason I don't like bucks. They stink, and are harder to clean. Plus you can't eat the rack.

[Puggy625]

A rutting buck that is chasing or tending a doe will be secreting lots of tarsal fluid and pumped full of adrenaline. Meat will generally be tough and tarsal fluid is like skunk scent that permeates everything and don't even have to touch it. Best thing you can do is immediately cut off the tarsals and toss them at least 200 yards away from the deer. Get the hide off that sucker asap or sooner if possible and remove lymph nodes in the flanks and armpits. If you do all these things your dawg will eat it just fine or----------Soak it for a few days in ice water and pour the water off daily. When you cook some just wear a clothes pin on yer nose.
I hate a stinky deer. I have had a sweet smelling doe hang in a cooler for 3 days with one of those stinky bucks and a rutting boar hog and ruin my good doe. Stunk so bad I couldn't eat it.

likely culprit

This is what I was taught growing up. As soon as you kill a buck, cut his tarsel glands off along with his jewels (not so sure about how much removing the jewels helped, but I still do it out of habit) as soon as possible. DO NOT USE THE SAME KNIFE TO GUT/SKIN IT. I keep a retractable razor knife handy for this. It doesn't totally eliminate the smell from a bad rutting buck, but it definitely helps to keep the meat from being rank when cooked.

Side note: if you're going to be hunting another buck, keep the tarsel glands in a heavy duty ziplock bag and keep in the freezer. Take one and hang it on a forked limb and you've got as natural of an attractant as anything. Nothing p.o.'s another rutting buck like the smell of another one in HIS area.