Gamy flavor?

I sometimes hear people complaining about how wild game tastes "gamy." It always makes me wonder how this can be. How can some things taste so great to many, taste gamy to so many others?

There are a couple reasons why this may be. The first reason is how people take care of their game after the shot. I don't know how many times I have seen people drive around all day after shooting something in the morning and finally take care of their meat in the evening. If you had a half a beef in the back of your pickup with hide on or a chicken with full carcass do you think that would taste good after 12 hours? I myself don't like my meat pre-tenderized from bouncing around in the back of a pickup seasoned with dust from the countryside. But that's just me.

I have heard people say that they have never had a good meal when it comes to pronghorn. This blows my mind. I have never had a bad meal. This is probably because every piece of pronghorn meat I have eaten has been taking care of. If you think it always tastes like sage, you are doing it wrong.

If you have one of these racks that attaches to your bumper, please do not carry your game carcass on it. These things are designed for luggage. Not a piece of meat that you intend to put in your mouth. Every piece of dust from the vehicle is going to collect on this rack and make your meat taste like the dirt and grit that is penetrating it. And wrapping it in a blue tarp doesn't help. But it looks cool…

If you want your game to taste good you need to take care of it. If you can't get it home right away and in the freezer, take it to a meat locker if you can. The best way to preserve your game is to cool down the meat as soon as possible. This isn't always easy or possible but there are ways to make it work. Bring along coolers with ice and some water to wash off the meat after it is deboned. It doesn't even need to be deboned or quartered. Just cool it. Bring along plastic bags and not colored plastic garbage bags. Sometimes the colored plastic can wear off onto the meat and give it an off taste. Cheesecloth bags don't suck.

The gutless method of taking care of big game is great at preserving meat and getting the best possible flavor you can get. Do yourself a favor and Google this method. You won't regret it. First couple times may take longer than your usual gutting method but you will catch on quick.

I have to admit, sometimes wild game does have a "gamy" taste to it even if you take all of the necessary steps. But that is what makes it good, natural. I myself prefer a filet of northern over a filet of walleye any day. Northern to me has more flavor and to some northern tastes "fishy." That fishy flavor is just that, flavor to me. I prefer pheasant, duck and goose way over any piece of chicken.

I am a slut for wild game.

I know I am preaching to the choir for most of you but a wise man once told me, "Take care of your meat!"

Thanks for reading, Clint