My buddy and I just got depredation deer tags to help out a farmer that has to many whitetail eating his crops. I have heard de

[idahooutdoors]

My buddy and I just got depredation deer tags to help out a farmer that has to many whitetail eating his crops. I have heard deer meat isn't good in the spring, is this fact or myth???? The deer have been eating green grass for a month now, so they are not thin.

[Beekeeper]

Ruminant animals tend to take on the flavor of what they forage or feed on. That is why many people prefer corn fed beef over grass fed beef. Spring grass shouldn't give them a bad flavor, just different from a fall flavor if they have been feeding on acorns.

Some of the worst venison I have ever eaten was from a big doe that had been foraging heavily in a commercial collard field, 100 acres of them under a center pivot irrigation system. She had been working them over for the months of September and October. The fat was a yellow green and the meat smelled and tasted just like collard greens!

[kyle7735]

I have never heard of a deer becoming unedible because of the time of year.

[steve182]

I've heard the same as you, but have no idea if it's true. Part of the fat u see may be because they're expecting in a couple months. Not sure i'd want to shoot a doe now and deal with that while dressing out.

[CPT BRAD]

Of course its still good, the only reason it wouldn't be is like Beekeeper said. There are new weeds coming up that will flavor meat like dandilions and bitter weed but other than that all the grass will clean them out and they might actually taste better than one that's been forgeing on acorns and saw briars all fall.

[Golfing Sportsman]

I can agree with the diet affecting flavor, I eat mostly farm country deer but a few years ago I took a trip to northern Wisconsin and shot a deer that must have been eating nothing but ceder boughs, the meat tasted terrible. Now as for time of year, I suppose if it is related to diet then yes the meat could have a different flavor.

[rezavoirdog]

Yeah, that's why you never shoot a Mule Deer when it's on it's wintering grounds-SAGE BRUSH...EWWW!

[2Poppa]

I have a "Foxfire" book somewhere, that related a story of how a lot of hunters, who would hunt deer, just to sustain their family through rough times, would enjoy going huntin' in the spring.

Most of the time, the hunters would kill a pregnant doe. The "Foxfire" book stated, that the hunters always enjoyed this, as they would cook the unborn into a tasty soup, a delicacy they regarded as a rarity in the early spring.

[rezavoirdog]

Here on the "Rez", I'll have a few elders ask me to hunt for them during the winter, spring and summer. I don't like to shoot deer during those times, but the elders depend on the deer meat (less fattening, more iron and protein than beef). We, as Northern Cheyenne have our ceremonies (Sundances and Fasts) during the hottest times of the year (July and August). Many of the young men ask for deer meat over buffalo meat to replenish what they've lost during those times. Buffalo meat is good; it is too "heavy" for their stomachs after a long fast or long days of dancing...

[deerhunter125]

well if your okay eating a pregnant deer than it is fine.

[idahooutdoors]

Ya, the pregnant part is what I am dreading. We are debating looking for a doe with two of last years fawns, and taking the yearlings, while smaller, we wouldn't have to deal with the pregnant part.

[MLH]

Might want to talk to some local taxidermists to see if they want the fawns - might be laws about selling them, though.

[steve182]

Idaho, I thought yearlings are usually bred, aren't they?

[jacmohr]

THERE JUST FAT! THERE NOT KILLER DEER!

[jacmohr]

THERE JUST FAT! THERE NOT KILLER DEER!