ever shoot a chewy doe?

[Lloyd Smale]

we were out crop damage shooting Friday night and my partner shot the biggest doe ive seen dead. BIG long dry doe that had to weight at least a 150 lbs dressed. Ive allways said that even the big does eat well but my litmus test is back straps on the grill. If anything will make them chewy that will. I grilled a section of the loin for supper and it wasn't tough but it was sure chewy. Ive shot 8 point bucks that were more tender then that deer. Partner and I split all the deer so I only had half and fortunately the freezers about full of steak and roast meat so I only kept the back straps as steak and the hind quarter went to my sons jerky making and the what he didn't use and the front shoulder and neck I just put in bags for burger. Even when butchering it I noticed the meat was a real dark red compared to most deer I cut up.

[labradigger1]

Two largest deer I have ever harvested were does by far, big ole long nosed does.

[richhodg66]

They all seem to eat real well around here, even bucks during the rut. I hunt public land, but the state manages it and allows people to farm it, not sure how that deal works, but the deer on there eat real well on milo and soybeans. I don't grill venison much, but the ways I eat it, it's always good.

I shot a couple when I was stationed at Fort Sill in southern Oklahoma and remember them tasting noticeably gamier than the ones up here. Those ones were living on acorns and whatever they could browse and I'm sure that's what made the difference.

[high standard 40]

I have taken several does that were tough as shoe leather. There are few really large does here. Heaviest i can remember taking weighed 140 lbs live weight. I've taken some really old does that weighted only 120 lbs. There is no farming around here, only timber. Deer food is acorns and browse. The mule deer I took in Colorado was much better eating than the whitetails are here. I now usually keep only the loins and gift the rest to family and friends. I do sometimes keep enough other cuts to make pan sausage. So for me, it's only loins and ground meat. The rest is just too tough. We have a walk-in cooler to keep meat in. I have tried freshly harvested and have tried aging. It doesn't seem to matter. 90% of all the deer I take are tough.

[toallmy]

About the worst tasting game I have ever taken came out of salt water marsh white tail hunting . I generally grind the older deer and blend with sausage served smothered in gravy .

[square butte]

I shot a big old mule deer doe off the Sweet Grass Hills in Montana one year. Picked the largest one out of a group of 15 of so - When i got up to her - I knew i had picked the wrong one. Her ears were about 1/3 gone - probably from frostbite over the years. And yes, she was one tough old piece of meat. You needed a knife and fork to cut the gravy. I was happy to have the meat in those days though - And the Sweet Grass Hills are beautiful country

[Lloyd Smale]

shook my head last night. We hadn't been out since he shot that doe and at the same time in the evening out of the same game trail came another doe and he shot it and it was even BIGGER. Big long almost black dry doe with here teeth all wore out. Id guess a good 160 dressed. I don't know what the chances are of 4 nights apart two does this size came out in the field in the exact same place at about the same time but id bet it compares with getting struck by lightning! We have been doing this for 10 years and have shot probably 500 does in that time and only one I shot about 8 years ago compared to these two. I shot 2 does last night that probably went around 90 lbs field dressed and when I drove over to pick him up and loaded this deer next to the others it was like laying a great dane next to two toy poodles.

[DougGuy]

Litter mates maybe?

I shot one old doe years ago that had real dark meat, the entire animal tasted of LIVER! Strangest tasting deer I ever harvested. She had 3 different sizes of buckshot and two broadheads that she was carrying around, this one was one tough old broad...

[Lloyd Smale]

this second big doe had very red meat too. I haven't got around to cooking any of it though. Meat looked like what id expect a big 8 point in the rut to look like. Ive shot a BUNCH of deer in my day and will say that you can look at venison and by the color of the meat about tell what is going to be tender and what isn't.
Litter mates maybe?

I shot one old doe years ago that had real dark meat, the entire animal tasted of LIVER! Strangest tasting deer I ever harvested. She had 3 different sizes of buckshot and two broadheads that she was carrying around, this one was one tough old broad...

[kbstenberg]

The only deer i couldn't eat was a younger (2-3) buck. It literally smelled and tasted like a pine tree. Several friends and i tried multiple marinades and nothing helped get rid of the smell and flavor.

[Idaho Mule]

We have started pressure canning game that we suspect is going to be tough. We usually burger most of the front 1/4's and usual trimmings from hinds, but use the bulk of the hinds to cube up into about 1" cubes and then can it. A quart jar of that makes for an excellent start to a stew, just add some taters, onion, celery and carrots and whatever else you have on hand. I like to can some in pint jars too. I like to mix that with mayo and pickles to make a sandwich spread, good stuff. JW

[Lloyd Smale]

my normal way to butcher deer is the loins go for grilling steak. Front shoulders, flank meat, neck and trimmings off the hind quarters go to burger and sauage making. Steaks off the hind quarters go through the cuber to tenderize and the football chunk goes to roasts. pretty much consistant no matter the size of the deer. Maybe if I was only getting one or two deer a year id think different. Only exception is occasionaly we shoot a fawn at long range later in season that's lost its spots that's mistaken for a larger doe and I will use the front shoulders of then for a roast too.

[dale2242]

I haven`t shot many does in my 76 years, but yes, I have eaten tough does...dale

[Chad5005]

we normaly do a standard grind on our deer,back strap and tenderloin whole or butterflied,rear quarters cubed and everything else hamburgered,but if its a old deer dark red meat deer we hamburger it all

[MaryB]

We had one that was inedible... even made chewy sausage... old doe that looked on its last legs and one I had passed on shooting 2 days before a friend shot it. I had told him to ignore that one...

[Dieselhorses]

The only deer i couldn't eat was a younger (2-3) buck. It literally smelled and tasted like a pine tree. Several friends and i tried multiple marinades and nothing helped get rid of the smell and flavor.

Celery always made the strange taste go away for me

[Thumbcocker]

Can that sucker.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Seems like the hide is stuck on tighter and the bones harder on the old ones. Shot a doe a few years ago that was "well put together". She had a little more chew, but tasted fine.

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

Celery always made the strange taste go away for me

I'll be trying that this year, if I get lucky.

Overall, the deer I get graze right along with the cattle on the ole homestead back in western KS. They really don't taste gamey.

[Treetop]

Over 40 years ago, I killed an older doe that was the toughest, chewiest deer that I have ever killed. My, then brand new, Mrs. Treetop tried every culinary trick she knew to make that old doe edible. We were young, poor and really needed that meat but it wasn't to be. Unlike many young, pretty wives, she had been raised in the "Hill Country" of Texas in a deer hunting family and was very skilled at cooking venison.

My boss had given us a beautiful male black Lab for a wedding present and even "Nick" had a hard time with that old doe! It's a coincidence that we were just talking about that tough old doe earlier this week. Treetop

[Hickory]

So, Bambi's great grandma is a tough one!
Too bad. I'll generally shoot a small one and let the old, big ones go.

[ih772]

The myth of the old dry doe. (https://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/whitetail-365/the-myth-of-the-%E2%80%9Cold-dry-doe%E2%80%9D)