Antelope questions

[Robb]

My son and I have taken a number of antelope in Pawnee and have always thought the meat and flavor was excellent, a delicacy really. I prefer a good antelope steak over almost anything else.

This year we went outside Laramie WY, my son took a doe. She was up on a rise and he walked below, crawled up and she had been laying in the grass. He took her after she stood up and dropped her immediately. We grilled up the loin the other day like we usually do and it was terrible! It doesn't compare to the bucks we've taken in Pawnee at all.
We deboned it and cooled it immediately, the carcass was properly taken care of...
The WY terrain looks nicer than Pawnee with more grass, but the flavor of the meat from the WYO doe does not compare at all. Night and day difference. I'm disappointed.
Anyone else here hunt Pawnee and WY for antelope? Can you explain to me what going on?
What gives?

[newracer]

If the handling of the meat was the same it has to be what they eat. Was there a lot of sage in WY? Sage can make the meat very strong.

[trlcavscout]

Yes sage throws it off. My wy antelope was from east of Cheyenne and man the straps and stuff were awesome.

[Robb]

I can't say I noticed any sage. Just more grass and less cactus than Pawnee, but still lots of cactus.

[newracer]

There could be sage nearby also, they cover a lot of territory.

[Hummer]

We love antelope, too, had some last night.

Since they're grazers and shrubs like sage usually comprise a small part of their diet there should be little difference in the meat between individuals. Although, you might wonder if there could be some difference based on "terroir (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terroir)" just as soil affects characteristics of wine, cheese and other foods.

Assuming quick and proper care, a possible cause of unpleasant flavor could be that your knife may have nicked a scent gland and transferred acrid pheromone to some pieces of meat. Hope the rest turns out well....

Btw, great photo, Robb. Congrats.

[Robb]

Could be alot of things I suppose. It's at the bottom of the freezer now with a fair amount of last years two antelope and deer on top of it. Probably won't get to another piece in awhile, but I sure hope the rest turns out well and it's better than the steak we had the other day. I was so disappointed.

Hummer, how's that Leupold 1-4 working out for you?

[Hummer]

Could be alot of things I suppose. It's at the bottom of the freezer now with a fair amount of last years two antelope and deer on top of it. Probably won't get to another piece in awhile, but I sure hope the rest turns out well and it's better than the steak we had the other day. I was so disappointed.

Hummer, how's that Leupold 1-4 working out for you?


Don't have a rifle to mount it on yet but plan to get a new Daniel Defense M4V7 by the end of the year. Can't wait to use it, the Leupold Mark AR is a beauty.

[CO Hugh]

From what I have heard I go with the sage. I hear antelope from the Northern part of the state, like Craig don't taste good. However, my friend has taken them in the SE section near farmland and they are great tasting.

If they taste bad make summer sausage out of it, that seems to redeem everything including bear.

[Robb]

I know, I heard of people turning antelope into sausage and always thought "what a waste". Now I see why they do it.

[MarkCO]

Between my Dad and I we have probably shot 100 from Northern WY to Southern CO, both sides of I-25. Full on sage (which they only eat if they are starving or weird BTW) to full on corn and wheat. I have had ones that taste good and ones that are not as good. Care and processing of the meat can certainly cause you issues. I have also found that if you don't hang it to cool for a day or two, it is not as good.

When it is warm, I toss a pallet in the truck. After a kill, we put the animal, skin on, on the pallet and pack the cavity with ice. The ice and the airflow around while driving has been the ticket for me.

[davsel]

Soak it overnight in Sprite or 7-up.
Takes away any off flavors of gamey wild game.

[Robb]

Well, the things that make you go 'huh'...
The palette in the back of the truck is a good idea if not deboning, and the Sprite/7up, never heard that one before. I may just give it a whirl. We may be doing alot of marinating with that animal.

[ray1970]

Two words. Antelope jerky.

[sniper7]

I've shot them near sterling, and near Craig and all were awesome. Haven't had a WY loper yet though, so not sure what would be the difference.

[Stevensje]

Steve's meats makes. Yummy Antelope Stix, summer sausage and different Brats. That's the ticket!

[buffalobo]

My family has hunted northwestern CO antelope since the 70's. Some tasted better than others, none bad. We had best results getting em cooled fast and aged a little longer.

Wetter/greener years tended to produce milder flavor meat.

[Paul]

I want to Antelope hunt this year with my New Bison Armory upper in 6.8. Anybody hunted with this platform on Antelope? I do not reload ammunition just buy off the shelf ammo. I have only used Hornady 110G Vmax bullets at the range and get very good results on paper. What off the shelf ammo would you suggest and where is the better spot to hunt in Colorado Public land. I live at I-25 and Lake ave exit.

[Robb]

110 Vmax is more of a varmint round, it will work but you may have heavy meat damage if you hit a shoulder or a rib. My son used an ARP 6.8 with Hornady 120SST's and the round was a pass through on the antelope referenced at the beginning of this thread, but that same rifle/round combo caused heavy blood shot meat on the far side rib cage of a 3x3 muley he took a month later.
I'm going to load up some Barnes Triple Shock and try them, you can also get them off the shelf.
You can put in for the draw here in CO but a trip to WY buys you a Pronghorn hunt every year.
6.8 is not a great antelope cartridge as it's not a flat shooter, make sure you have a decent range finder.

[MarkCO]

Yeah, don't use a varmint bullet on Pronghorn. There are plenty of decent bullets out there. Barnes TSX and TTSX are very good bullets, Nosler Accubonds are another and they even make one specifically for the 6.8SPC.

[Paul]

Thanks for the Info guys.

[FALfreak]

I've been looking for units near Castke Rock. Not much public land...