African Game Meat - the good the bad and the ugly!

[postoak]

John Taylor, who knew what he was talking about, said waterbuck was the worst tasting. And another author said his favorite was lion, but I'm not sure if he was kidding. I can tell you that the Burchell's zebra I had, which was grilled the same as a beef steak, was very tasty.

 

[no1waterdog]

I have been on 4 hunts to Africa,and every thing I have eaten was great. John

 

[Philip Glass]

Most venison in Africa is fairly good. The problem is rarely do they hang it in a cooler long enough for it to be naturally tenderized. 7 days in a walk in cooler is scientifically proven to provide the most natural tenderness. My first safari they served Gemsbok that was just shot that day and it was incredibly tough. I have enjoyed Springbok, Kudu, and Gemsbok in that order. I also had some of my Namibian Mountain Zebra for breakfast one day and it was great. I have really had some good Springbok! This is making me hungry.
I operate a ranch and have the opportunity to harvest and process my own lamb, beef, and Axis venison so I have a bit of experience. Everyone should keep in mind while in Southern Africa to ask for lamb. Most of the sheep are Dorper sheep (hair not wool) and the lamb they produce is fabulous. When you get some Dorper lamb you'll forget about the venison for a moment!
Regards,
Philip

 

[Philip Glass]

All that I have eaten in Africa was outstanding (15 or so species of antelopes, from klipspringer through eland plus, cape buffalo, warthog, grouse, ostrich and domestic sheep).
The livery/gamey flavor in wild animals seems to be unique to our N. American deer family.
I did not ever taste a hint of it in Africa.
Last but not least, I admit to rather enjoying our pronghorn as table fare and our deer as pretty good (if not stinky old buck in the rut) so, perhaps my taste buds are askew.

I agree with the notion that whitetail tastes like liver. I never thought so until I started raising and eating Axis deer. I can not even eat whitetail now unless it is chicken fried.
Ditto most all African venison is very good!
Philip

 

[bluey]

funny that you say chital deer(axis) is good , I find it tuff, sinewey and not such a great flavour
we eat it when we are out in the boonies , but none us of actually look foreward to it ....
saying this its generally eaten the day it hunted or at most the next day

 

[Velo Dog]

I agree with the notion that whitetail tastes like liver. I never thought so until I started raising and eating Axis deer. I can not even eat whitetail now unless it is chicken fried.
Ditto most all African venison is very good!
Philip

Howdy Philip Glass,

Totally agree with you on the Africa venison, it has always been to my taste - excellent.
However regarding wild game here or there, I like it all, including the slight liver or "wild" taste of our N.Am deer, again unless it's an old buck in the rut, then I will eat it only if I have to.

Moose elk and caribou are technically deer.
All three are fine eating, generally speaking, with elk being slightly better than the other two, IMO.
But, rutting bull caribou smells like paint thinner and it is the only game meat I have tried anywhere that, I could not abide.
Likewise, a dog literally will not eat it, no matter how you prepare it, I promise you that.

I have heard people say that waterbuck is strong flavored if not smelly and that bull giraffe is pretty bad but, I know a PH who says waterbok is only bad if you let any of it's hair touch the meat.
I have never tried either of those two, but I will if I ever decide to shoot one or both someday.

Cheers,
Velo Dog.

 

[Royal27]

Thought of something else after reading this some more.. COOK EM ALL!!!!

you can always take one bite and spit it out, but you can't not eat it and have the best dinner ever!!!!

We ate a lot of game in Zim, but I didn't have elephant, grysbok, or zebra. It wasn't cooked and I didn't ask for it to be. I should have asked. Lesson learned!

 

[Hank2211]

Whenever I shot an elephant the crew which came to dismantle it included one young fellow whose job it was, I discovered, to make lunch for the team. Make a clearing, dig a hole, gather wood, make a fire, boil water for sadze, and whittle some kebab skewers from tree branches.

He then took fat and meat from the cheek (why there?), salted it up from a small bag, and proceeded to cook the alternating pieces of fat and meat around the mesquite fire. When it was ready I was given the honor of the first kebab. I popped a piece of hot elephant into my mouth, tasting the mesquite. Very tasty. Then I continued to chew, and to chew some more, and then even more, until I asked my PH when he thought I might get to swallow. This stuff was not breaking down! I finally got it ground enough to swallow, by which point it had long lost all of its taste.

I (graciously I thought) offered the rest of my skewer to one of our trackers. He seemed genuinely pleased.

 

[Diamondhitch]

Most venison in Africa is fairly good. The problem is rarely do they hang it in a cooler long enough for it to be naturally tenderized.

I was told on my first safari that I would not be eating game I had shot until later in the hunt once it had aged and been marinated sufficiently, game from the previous safari was served instead. Im sure anyone who has read my hunt reports knows how it tasted!!! Definitely worth the wait, plus the game that others shoot tastes the same as game that I shoot so I have no sentimental value for it anyway, so long as I get to sample many different types.

 

[Philip Glass]

funny that you say chital deer(axis) is good , I find it tuff, sinewey and not such a great flavour
we eat it when we are out in the boonies , but none us of actually look foreward to it ....
saying this its generally eaten the day it hunted or at most the next day

Bluey
Well we need to get you to my ranch in Texas. The consensus is that Axis is the best venison period. There once was a scientific taste panel set up with all available game meats, African included because we have all of them here. On a 100 point scale Axis scored 100!
Different experiences, different diets, we know animals can taste different based in location and time of year. Try Axis again!
Regards,
Philip

 

[bluey]

I will be trying it again phillip
may/june , when we do the yearly trip to north queensland .(this will only be our third time , but getting very popular with any of us than have done it )
this year my brother has got us accsess to a couple more properties .
but we go in ruff as guts style , no nothing we cant carry onto the plane to get there
and live out of hammocks and hunting packs .
im sure if we hung the chittel in a cool room they would be a tad better chewing
one year im going to drive up there , and maybe see if we can make a stash on the property , with some comforts there

as for best tasting deer meat
try a half grown samba hind , or even better a young stag in velvet
its by far and away my favourite protein
except for hog deer ,meat .nothing on this planet compares to that
but we can only hunt one stag and one hind each year , per licence
its actually hog deer season now for all of april, in Victoria where I live
my daughter should have sent me a photo by now as she has been watching a very respectable stag for over two months now waiting for the season .

 

[Warbird782]

Everything that I have tried has been good. I really like eland and kudu tenderloins. Kudu liver in gravy with sour dough bread is amazing! I even ate lioness back straps. They were surprisingly good. The pic below is the lioness back strap kabobs.

 

[Stuart1970]

Everything we ate was fantastic......oryx tenderloin was by far my favorite. Kudu sausage was excellent. Guinea fowl was also very good. Didnt eat the Burchells Zebra the PH tells us the bright yellow fat was bitter. They do eat the Hartmanns Zebra, white fat. We were offered a traditional trackers skinners stew, made with Hartebeest ofal. Lung kidney stomach. Not a fan very piney flavor, and stomach is not an appetizing looking meat. Food is incredible over the Brai......along with a lager or brandy and coke

 

[siml]

Hank, remind you of your elephant meat?

 

[Breaker Morant]

Waterbuck tenderloin was really good-Was told that the trick was not to let the skin touch the meat.

Zebra-did not get to eat, but brought it to a village where a big party was planned for that night because of the zebra-I found out afterwards that we hauled a 5 gallon jug of native beer from one side of the village to the other.

Warthog-really enjoyed

Guinea Fowl-good

Buffalo chops-good-liver was spiced up to native taste.

Impala-did not really care for-ate off mine and a previous hunter's in camp.

Kudu-shot last day and the chops were pretty tough that night.

Was told by PH's that Eland is the best game meat.

 

[Bullthrower338]

Kudu and Gemsbok backstrap was excellent. Springbok medallions were delightful and the mutton was great contrary to my last experience with it on the Navajo Reservation with some friends of mine(I only finished my meal on the Rez to be polite to my friends mother). I enjoyed everything we ate including waterbuck. The only meal that I did not like was when they stuffed a kudu intestine with pieces and parts, wrapped it in foil and cooked it on the braii. They called it a puff adder, named rightly after the venomous snake. I found myself in search of a stray dog so I could lick it's ass to get the taste out of my mouth! Lol
I do not like liver in the first place, although mine marinated in scotch as it is would probably be quite delectable.lol.
Cheers,
Cody

 

[greyfox]

Mountain Reedbuck on the grill was my favorite, I'd put it against any steak any where in the world!!! That good!

 

[JGRaider]

I like to age my meat as much as possible before eating it as well, even in Africa. Thats how we ate it in Namibia last year. In order of personal preference

1. Oryx--fantastic every way I've tried it. As good as any meat I've ever eaten. Oryx schnitzel (like our chicken fried steak here in Texas is outa this world great).
2. Springbok-excellent
3. Blue Wildebeest, Kudu, Hartman's filets--all excellent as well (big difference in Hartman's and plains zebra. I dont care for plains zebra at all).
4. Red Hartebeest-excellent as well....at like sushi once, raw, marinated in vinegar and relish. Wow!
5. Impala-good, not great to me.

 

[archer36]

We had Eland, Kudu, Wildebeest, Gemsbock, and Impala. They would not serve Warthog. All of the cuts were loin or tenderloins so the meat was very tender. All of the meats were surprisingly great tasting.

 

[spike.t]

We had Eland, Kudu, Wildebeest, Gemsbock, and Impala. They would not serve Warthog. All of the cuts were loin or tenderloins so the meat was very tender. All of the meats were surprisingly great tasting.

@archer36 why wouldnt they serve warthog?