Stag meat in rut?

[Acm]

Can attest to the eating quality of this lad. We are still munching our way through him (118kg) and as Andy says have had one iffy meal whereby I had mixed a pack of muntjac stewing with a pack of red and it later turned out to be the muntjac that was foul, the rest of that carcass went in the dog. My wife didn’t think it off at all and we still enjoy it once a week most weeks! Had it in stews, as steaks, in pies, minced and in fajitas and all have been delicious. I think if you gralloch carefully and keep the meat free of any contamination from the skin you won’t go far wrong. And this was hung for a full week.
As Andy said just scored silver, forever grateful for a memorable weekend with great friends.

 

[bogtrotter]

I took one early on in the rut, young 2-3year old animal. It was some of the best venison I’ve had to date. A friend of mine took a stag right in the middle of the rut and had no issues apart from one dodgy tasting meal which I think if memory serves his wife didn’t have issue with but he felt he could taste it @Acm might be able to add more to it, as it was he who butchered and ate it.....

Go and get a test immediately, no smell! no taste ! You definitely have Covid lol

 

[deerstalker.308]

It is worth saying that neither stag, despite being during the rut, was blackened on the belly and covered in ****. They were both “clean” in that regard.

 

[StephenToast]

Thanks for posting Deerstalker.308 and ACM. Very interesting.

Lovely stag too.

 

[Freeforester]

I wonder what others who try this (eating rut stags) find?

 

[deerstalker.308]

I wonder what others who try this (eating rut stags) find?

I suspect a lot do as I had done previously and palm them off to the game dealers, saving only calves or hinds for personal consumption, but I am a convert now, plus the one I butchered was 135kg larder so a good freezer full in one go!

 

[Bowland blades]

I don't mind the stronger taste and smell . That said I have more of a version education of the packet. The best venison to give away to first timers is winter fallow does imho

 

[Heym SR20]

A lot will depend on how full of testosterone a stag or Roe buck actually is. My experience of stags is quite limited and I have only scruffy cull ones that really aren’t interested in the rut - they have been very good to eat.

I have shot a few Roe Bucks at the height of the rut. I have gralloched, skinned and into the fridge as soon after shooting as possible. Let the rigour cone out and then into the freezer and no real gameness at all.

and strong meat can take strong flavour - use the meat to make biltongue or a really good spicy biryani.

 

[Acm]

A lot will depend on how full of testosterone a stag or Roe buck actually is. My experience of stags is quite limited and I have only scruffy cull ones that really aren’t interested in the rut - they have been very good to eat.

I have shot a few Roe Bucks at the height of the rut. I have gralloched, skinned and into the fridge as soon after shooting as possible. Let the rigour cone out and then into the freezer and no real gameness at all.

and strong meat can take strong flavour - use the meat to make biltongue or a really good spicy biryani.

Wouldn’t mind a good venison biryani recipe if you have one @Heym SR20

 

[berg]

Personally anything that's rutting is not good eating, i have tried reds in rut and its not the nicest of meats, i have cut up many deer that have been bought to me during the rut and have tried on several occasions, i would stick to hinds and calfs or shoot them before the rut or a few months after

 

[SDC7x57]

A long and interesting thread. Personally, I've never been one for trying to put meat from rutting stags into the freezer - my marriage is more important. Joking apart, as youngsters we were never allowed to shoot stags in the rut - they were 'for sale' to the trophy hunters. It was pounded into us that deer were a largely matriarchal society, and stalking does and hinds usually required a bit more field craft. The 'Old Man' decried shooting rutting stags other than as an absolute necessity - 'Why would you want to call the poor b&gger in, when he's blinded by his own c?ck and shoot him at 50 yards?' 'Nae skill'. Culling was done largely before the rut started, and I don't remember any issues with eating summer staggies, in particular.

These days, almost all of our harvest is roe deer. Occasionally, I take a youngster out during the rut, and if we take a buck, it's normally a sub-buck, and we leave the big boys to do their thing. On the very rare occasions when a rutty roe buck comes home, it's the Fearless Leader who makes the call as to whether it makes it to dog food status, or becomes a 'sausage buck'.

I have a friend in Scotland who has, for many years now, processed more than 1000 deer per annum. Discussing what he did with stags during the rut a few years back, he told me that all his rutting stags are exported to Germany. If memory serves, nothing taken after September goes to the UK market from him. He was of the opinion that the meat was mostly used 'for wurst', which was alluded to earlier in the thread.

Sorry if this is a bit of an old fashioned approach - just the way it was taught to me many moons ago!