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I've shot a gemsbok oryx and the meat was incredible! I can go shoot a couple Scimitar horned oryx for a great price and am considering it if it tastes the same as the gemsbok oryx. Can anybody tell me is the scimitar horned oryx and the gemsbok oryx taste the same? Thanks Drummond | ||
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Scimitar Horned Oryx is delicious. Scimitar and Axis deer rate high on the "preferred" list of red meats we consume in our family. Prepared properly you won’t be disappointed. Out of curiosity, what are you considering a good price? Safari James USMC DRSS | |||
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I hope ole Ms. Ferrell sees this thread!  All of her beloved Addax amd Scimitar horned oryx she is saving from the bad ole hunters are now being sold cheap enough for meat hunts. Lord what has the world come too (referring to Ms. Ferrell)??? I hear they are quite tasty...Drummond! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ J. Lane Easter, DVM A born Texan has instilled in his system a mind-set of no retreat or no surrender. I wish everyone the world over had the dominating spirit that motivates Texans.– Billy Clayton, Speaker of the Texas House No state commands such fierce pride and loyalty. Lesser mortals are pitied for their misfortune in not being born in Texas.— Queen Elizabeth II on her visit to Texas in May, 1991. | |||
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I killed a scimitar horned oryx Dec. 2011, it taste great! LORD, let my bullets go where my crosshairs show. Not all who wander are lost. NEVER TRUST A FART!!! Cecil Leonard | |||
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I liked the scimitar oryx. It was on the same level as axis. Slightly better than elk. | |||
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$700. For that price I'll kill 2  It's not a hunt, it's a shoot to fill a freezer. No challenge at all. No "hunt" report for me but I might want to share a recipe or two | |||
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If scimitar horned Oryx is cleaned quickly, and cooled properly, it has no wild taste at all. Almost every year when we do our DRSS get together/boar hunt down at 4K Ranch someone always takes a simitar horned oryx, and we eat some of the meat at one meal in the lodge. It is great! ................................................  ....Mac >>>===(x)===> MacD37, ...and DUGABOY1 DRSS Charter member "If I die today, I've had a life well spent, for I've been to see the Elephant, and smelled the smoke of Africa!"~ME 1982 Hands of Old Elmer Keith  | |||
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If you get a clean quick kill and you bleed the animal ( cut the throat )get the guts out.Hang him in a cooler for a week or so.  Mmmmmm its good meat Dave Davenport Outfitters license HC22/2012EC Pro Hunters license PH74/2012EC www.leopardsvalley.co.za dave@leopardsvalley.co.za +27 42 24 61388 HUNT AFRICA WHILE YOU STILL CAN Follow us on FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/#!/leopardsvalley.safaris | |||
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I don't think you will get anyone who gets a quick clean kill to cut the throat of an animal they want to mount! Besides the animal will not bleed out once the heart stops beating, and if the shot kills him the the heart usually stops! ....................... ....Mac >>>===(x)===> MacD37, ...and DUGABOY1 DRSS Charter member "If I die today, I've had a life well spent, for I've been to see the Elephant, and smelled the smoke of Africa!"~ME 1982 Hands of Old Elmer Keith | |||
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Scimitar horned oryx is probably the best game meat I have eaten. ____________________________________________ "Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life." Terry Pratchett. | |||
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have to agree that IF you want to mount the animal with a shoulder mount, should not cut the throat. But, even if the heart has stopped, the blood will still run out. saw several Orxy get neck stuck, and bled out, and an elephant I shot got the neck cut 1/2 hour later and bled gallons. Some farms in Africa, require the necks be cut, so not much choice. can always start the caping job, and when you get into the neck area, then cut the area where the arteries/veins are and let it bleed out. | |||
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Mac Respectfully, I believe you are not entirely correct on both counts. I say this because I know a Namibian farmer who kills a lot of gemsbok for meat. He always used brain-shots with a 30-06 at 50-100m. I asked him about bleeding them(as I had always heard that was one of the downsides of brain shots: no bleed-out) and he said that you had a couple of minutes to cut the carotid before the heart stopped. He made it sound really easy. I was a bit skeptical..... Then one day he asked me to shoot an old gemsbok bull for staff rations. I agreed and he instructed me to shoot just behind the ear. I was shooting a 375 and the distance was about 80 yards. I took my time and all went well. As you can imagine the brain was destroyed. When we got to the bull after a quick jog, my PH cut the carotid and the bull pumped out a large amount of blood. My point is that I believe the heart continues to pump independent of the brain.(but I realize that this might not always be the case) Also, this farmer would not "cut the throat" because many of his clients would want the headskin. He would make a vertical cut on the back of the neck(behind the ear,IIRC). This would cut a major blood vessel and the blood would really pump out. My memory may be failing me, but that is how I remember it..... Jason "You're not hard-core, unless you live hard-core." _______________________ Hunting in Africa is an adventure. The number of variables involved preclude the possibility of a perfect hunt. Some problems will arise. How you decide to handle them will determine how much you enjoy your hunt. Just tell yourself, "it's all part of the adventure." Remember, if Robert Ruark had gotten upset every time problems with Harry Selby's flat bed truck delayed the safari, Horn of the Hunter would have read like an indictment of Selby. But Ruark rolled with the punches, poured some gin, and enjoyed the adventure. -Jason Brown | |||
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Drummand: I'll let you know in a couple of days. I'm heading to TX tomorrow for a Scimitar meat shoot - taking two. We eat Gemsbok nearly every day when we go to Namibia every year. Young, old, male, female, back strap, filet, shoulder, rump, heart, liver, marrow bones - it is all some of the best stuff I've ever eaten. If I ever have a choice between the finest beef filet and any cut of Gemsbok, I'll take Gemsbok. | |||
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Another option for an affordable, tasty Texas meat hunt is eland cow. Most ranches will deeply discount any that have broken/deformed horns...I like eland meat even more than oryx... My brief net search didn't turn up any discounted Texas oryx hunts, many were about 2K; can anyone post some of those $700. hunt ranches? | |||
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Opinions very, that is a fact! Without a controlled testing neither opinion can be proven conclusively. SO, what ever floats your boat set sail! However having said that, and again this is only my opinion, and you know what they say about opinions! Here is an example that anyone will quickly recognize. Anyone who has had a little cut on the head knows that the small amount of blood that is issued LOOKS like gallons, but in reality is not that much. Even a nose bleed will make you think you are bleeding to death. So what I’m saying is, a little blood looks like a lot more than it is in reality. When a dead animal is hung up, and cut the carotid artery what is drained is the heart and some times the lungs if the shot was to the chest but missed the heart.
In the case of the elephant having it’s throat cut ½ hour after death bleeding GALLONS is not bleeding out, but by cutting the carotid and maybe the esophagus as well, the carotid being a conduit to the heart, and the esophagus to the lungs, simply drains those two reservoirs holding a lot of blood. In the case of the elephant the heart will hold four or five gallons of blood. Draining that has no effect on the meat. None of this affects the meat unless the heart is beating long enough till it dies from bleeding emptying all the blood vessels. The blood doesn’t affect the meat anyway if the animal wasn’t flooded with adrenalin. An animal that was unaware of your presence and shot in the brain would not have been flooded with adrenalin, even if the heart beat for several minutes after the brain was destroyed there would be no benefit to the bleeding. There are a lot of old practices that were simply useless but were believed to be of value! Cutting the throat is one of those practices. ...........................................................................  ....Mac >>>===(x)===> MacD37, ...and DUGABOY1 DRSS Charter member "If I die today, I've had a life well spent, for I've been to see the Elephant, and smelled the smoke of Africa!"~ME 1982 Hands of Old Elmer Keith | |||
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As so often the case, MacD37 is right again! Also, as so often is the case, the situation is not simple at all. I’m on holiday by the seaside and have time to spare. Besides that, I’m looking forward to Cecilia’s dinner of some kudu backsttrap that was hunted last year by friend Jens Poulsen. I know what that kudu tastes like, and I know how he was hunted and the meat treated. There are a whole number of factors that affects the eventual taste of the meat of a hunted animal. Naturally age (and sex ?) of the hunted animal does play a role. Generally the older the tougher. I cannot say with any confidence that I've ever distinguished a significant taste difference honestly attributable to sex only! Young male tastes much like young female. Old male tastes much like old female. Except perhaps giraffe! But what factors besides these that a hunter can control plays a role? The first of those mentioned by Dave (leopards valley safaris) is absolutely critical! I’ll rather eat an ancient old male that was taken with an unexpected clean instant killing shot than a young female or male that was shot in the leg, neck or anywhere else so that the shot did not result in an almost instant death. Anything that was wounded and then tracked down to be eventually brought down with a second or third shot is good only to donate to mother-in-law! Or, better still, your first wife’s mother! Given that you have shot at a totally relaxed animal that was just going about it’s business and made an instant or almost instant – just a last death dash of running - kill, what else do you have control over that affects the taste? I agree with MacD37 that bleeding out quickly after death is not critical. Maybe it was important at a time the Israelites were wandering around in the desert under Moses’ leadership, with no refrigeration. Besides, cutting the carotid artery really only drains the heart and the head of blood, as those are the two organs on either end of it! Then I absolutely agree with Dave: Get the guts out! For those professional hunters who wish to let their clients have a taste of what they shoot, get the darned trophy shots taken there and then. Quickly and then get the guts out! ASAP! To really appreciate why this advice is given one must understand the dynamics of gas transfer in the living animal, and how death affects that process. All animals are constantly producing rather smelly gas in their intestines. The majority of these gasses are released by anal venting – normally called farting – from time to time. But a significant portion diffuses through the intestinal lining into the blood supplied to the intestinal lining. The gasses dissolved in he blood ends up in he heart from where the blood is pumped to the lungs. In the lungs the gas again diffuses across the lung lining into the air, and hence breathed out. Ever smelled the breath of a cow? Distinctive aroma – that essentially comes from the rumen! The blood from the lungs, now largely depleted of the dissolved rumen gas load goes back to the heart and gets pumped to the rest of the body carrying only a very low load of dissolved rumen gasses with it. Some gets to the rumen and intestines’ lining, and there picks up another load of intestinal gasses. The gas diffusion is driven by ordinary laws of gas diffusion down a concentration gradient. So the muscles – meat to most of us – does not contain much rumen gasses at any time during life of he animal. But now the hunter makes the all important quick clean kill. The blood circulation stops almost immediately. True, brain destroying shots may leave the heart properly pumping for quite some time after death, but breathing invariably stops when the animal goes down. Wither immediately after the shot, or soon after, the heart stops beating and the blood stops circulating. Gas production in the rumen however continues! The rumen content is a mass of living organisms and partly digested food and the function is not dependent in the short term of being in a living animal. It can continue quite happily for some time in the dead animal. So smelly rumen gas production continues while you are setting up the trophy for the photographs! And the smelly rumen gasses keeps on diffusing through the lining into blood vessels lining the rumen, and then the intestinal cavity and adjacent tissues. The adjacent tissues happens to be the fillets – lying close to the rumen and in direct contact with parts of the intestines. Remember that now, apart from the rumen’s and intestines’ still living micro organisms that continue to produce these smelly gasses, the rest of the animal is now dead! Really just a lump of meat and bones wrapped in a skin surrounding the intestines with their still living and smelly gas producing micro organisms. Here is no more circulation of blood or any lymph or other body fluids. The laws of physics of gas diffusion now takes over totally. Leave it long enough, and the rumen gas will diffuse down the concentration gradient to the furthest point of the tail or nostril. In this process the fillets are first to be tainted, then the backstraps, then the rest of the really tasty and tender hindquarter meats. But leave it long enough, and even the neck and forequarters’ meat will be tainted by these unpleasant smelly gasses. Once you are eventually finished with the long photo session of the trophy, loaded it onto the hunting vehicle, drove the long drive back to camp – with the body cavity unopened – to keep the meat from getting all dusty this lump of gas-filled meat and bones eventually gets skinned. Yes, of course it is much easier to skin an animal with the guts in than it is once the guts have been taken out! And seeing that the PH is in camp celebrating with his client the skinners take the easy route of first skinning the animal. It is also the correct procedure for a client that wants a cape of full mount! And then, only when the skin has been properly treated and washed and salted – just like they were taught to do - may they come back to take the guts out. Or rather leave that job for tomorrow! No wonder so many do not have an appreciation of how good venison really should taste! For best tasting venison: Shoot an unsuspecting young animal with an instant killing shot, then, ASAP get the guts out. Get the heart and lungs out too and, just for good measure, cut through the inferior vena cava the big vein that runs along the fillets and drains the hindquarters of blood. Remember that the veins all drain from the body to the heart, cut them near the heart and the blood from the tissues – muscles - readily drain out! Forget cutting the throat – cut out the heart! Then cool the carcass ASAP. Then mature the meat for a few hours, to days to weeks – all depending on the storage temperature for best results. Only then do you skin it! Naturally this last rule of getting the best taste form venison cannot be adhered to if the client wants a shoulder or full mount, but as it is a young animal that I have advised you to shoot, it does not matter. Why do you think I like my clients to take both a trophy (for a shoulder mount) and a non-trophy (for a skull mount) of each species? Just so that he can show off to his friends and family that he really got a trophy. Just imagine the client showing his trophies to a friend: “ Look at these horns, and compare them with those of the little skull mount – that is what many clients of Put-‘n-Take hunting outfitters bring home as a trophy. Hell, but he tasted terrific!” Perfect trophy treatment and perfect treatment for best tasting venison on one and the same animal is impossible. But please, while not neglecting the proper care of their trophies, also attempt to get your clients a good taste of some of our wonderful tasting game animals: Be a good PH who guides your client in such a way that he can make an instant killing shot on a relaxed and unsuspecting trophy, get the photos taken quickly, get the guts and heart out, get the carcass into the shade. Up to this point the best treatment for venison and trophy care does not differ at all! It's really that easy! To not wander off the subject of this thread, I have no personal experience with simitar horned oryx, but see no reason why it should not be as terrific tasting as normal gemsbok can be! In good hunting. Andrew McLaren Professional Hunter and Hunting Outfitter since 1974. http://www.mclarensafaris.com The home page to go to for custom planning of ethical and affordable hunting of plains game in South Africa! Enquire about any South African hunting directly from andrew@mclarensafaris.com After a few years of participation on forums, I have learned that: One can cure: Lack of knowledge – by instruction. Lack of skills – by practice. Lack of experience – by time doing it. One cannot cure: Stupidity – nothing helps! Anti hunting sentiments – nothing helps! Put-‘n-Take Outfitters – money rules! My very long ago ancestors needed and loved to eat meat. Today I still hunt! | |||
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I have killed 2 Scimitar Horned Oryx....and both were phenomenal eating!! And for the record, I treat all my game meat the same....regardless of species. I don't cut the throat. I keep the meat in an ice chest for 5 to 7 days....draining the bloody water off the meat every day, and placing fresh ice when needed. The first 2-3 times you drain the water, there will be LOTS of blood. As the ice water pulls the blood out of the meat, the water gradually becomes more and more clear. I've done this for years and it works great....and is fairly easy to do. _______________________________________________________ Hunt Report - South Africa 2022 Wade Abadie - Wild Shot Photography Website | Facebook | Instagram | |||
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Drummond, If you want to try some, let me know, I'll send you a few packages. It is very tasty!!! Much better than any of antelope, mule deer, whitetail or elk I currently have in the freezer. However, you'll throw rocks at those after you've had some addax. You're not getting any of it!!! Graybird "Make no mistake, it's not revenge he's after ... it's the reckoning." | |||
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I treat my meat the same as ES above and it has always worked great for me. The Oryx ( scimitar ) i killed a few years back had great flavor but was an old bull and it was so tough you caould hardly chew it. Ended up slow cooking all the steaks . | |||
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Drummonlindsey: I want to apologize for my earlier post as I was sadly mistaken and misunderstood your question. In reality, the Scimitar Horned Oryx is dreadfully poisonous, especially the backstrap, tenders, and hams. As such, my recommendation is to drop me a quick PM when you have skinned and quartered the animal and I will take the hazardous flesh to a safe location for disposal. Good shooting and if possible, brain shoot this animal as we want to limit movement once body fluids begin to escape. Safari James USMC DRSS | |||
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Drummond: Just got back last night - yup, just as tasty Gemsbok!!!! | |||
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Thank you for an eminently educative post.I learnt so many things today.  Best- Locksley,R. "Early in the morning, at break of day, in all the freshness and dawn of one's strength, to read a book - I call that vicious!"- Friedrich Nietzsche | |||
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actually MacD isn't quite right. the esophagus leads to the stomach, not the lungs- cutting it at most will lead to draining stomach contents but not lung blood. and cutting the trachea which DOES lead to the lungs will not drain any blood either- only air from the lungs. cutting any major vessel will only drain blood from areas of the carcass that lie higher than the severed vessel( after all, blood, like any other liquid flows down hill) assuming the heart has stopped. Vote Trump- Putin’s best friend… To quote a former AND CURRENT Trumpiteer - DUMP TRUMP | |||
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Oryx is certanly the best game meat I've had yet. My son and I have each taken one in New Mexico. Mine was in December 2010 and was in December 2011. The cold weather helped to manage the quality meat. We actually had some tonight. Rump meat sliced thin, soaked in a korean bbq sauce, and a quick cook on the Q. The kids and wife loved it (a refreshing change from their reaction to deer or elk). Will do it again tomorrow night. | |||
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by jdollar: actually MacD isn't quite right. the esophagus leads to the stomach, not the lungs- cutting it at most will lead to draining stomach contents but not lung blood. and cutting the trachea which DOES lead to the lungs will not drain any blood either- only air from the lungs. QUOTE] jdollar, certainly you are technically correct, but just to clairify my meaning in that post. When gutting the animal,which is properly done instantly on reaching the downed animal, the trachea,lungs, esophagus, and stomach are all removed at one time. With proper gutting there is still no need to cut the throat of an animal that is dead! ....Mac >>>===(x)===> MacD37, ...and DUGABOY1 DRSS Charter member "If I die today, I've had a life well spent, for I've been to see the Elephant, and smelled the smoke of Africa!"~ME 1982 Hands of Old Elmer Keith | |||
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Mac, Just something to think about....but I NEVER field-dress an animal (gut them in the field). In fact, I rarely gut the animal at all. When I have a place to hang them....the first thing I do is skin them and remove the head. Then I take off the front shoulders, then take out the back straps, then make an incision in the stomach cavity just large enough to remove the tenderloins. Finally, I cut the backbone at the pelvis....allowing the entire body cavity (still filled with guts) to drop into a bucket or container, leaving only the hind quarters/pelvis. I have done it like this for years....and it is much cleaner, in my opinion. _______________________________________________________ Hunt Report - South Africa 2022 Wade Abadie - Wild Shot Photography Website | Facebook | Instagram | |||
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Well ES,I guess one is never too old to read something so foreign to everything I've done and seen done in the last 60 of my 75 years of butchering everything from beef to moose ! That is not saying it isn’t good if you can back a pickup up for loading,and that I have never heard of it being done that way, even in a comercial slauter house, where the first thing done is drop the guts! It is evident, however, you do not hunt in the kind of country I always have. Most of the animals I shoot are miles from any vehicle, so must be taken care of on sight and quartered out and packed out on your back to the road or to a lake where the float plane can get in. Many of the places I hunt where I have to do all my butchering I don’t know how anyone would pack a 250 pound mule deer of a 500 pound caribou out of a canyon, and across four or five miles on mountains, or across seven or eight miles of tundra with all those guts in cavity. Not to mention the souring of the meat from over heating. An Elk will sour if not gutted in 20 degree weather. ES if that works for you, then I have no problem with it, but it will not work for me! I'll stick to the method that has always worked for me! ....Mac >>>===(x)===> MacD37, ...and DUGABOY1 DRSS Charter member "If I die today, I've had a life well spent, for I've been to see the Elephant, and smelled the smoke of Africa!"~ME 1982 Hands of Old Elmer Keith | |||
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Thanks for all the responses guys! I am still hoping to make it down but we have a daughter due in early April. Time will be a factor but I'm definitely going to try Drum | |||
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Well obviously if I were hunting in a wilderness area....I would be more likely to field-dress an animal, especially if it were warm. Although, I still don't see why field-dressing MUST be done. Not tring to sound disrespectful....just not sure why it has to be done (unless of course you are planning to eat the organs, or just want to see what kind of damage the bullet did). It is relatively easy to take all the meat off a carcass in the field without ever gutting the animal. The tenderloins may be difficult to extract from an animal on the ground without gutting, but I'm sure there is a way to do it. The only meat lost is the rib meat, which I do not bother with anyway. _______________________________________________________ Hunt Report - South Africa 2022 Wade Abadie - Wild Shot Photography Website | Facebook | Instagram | |||
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I guess if that works for you and the meat is still edible when you cook it I suppose how ever you want to do it is certainly OK with me! . Below is the Texas law.
....Mac >>>===(x)===> MacD37, ...and DUGABOY1 DRSS Charter member "If I die today, I've had a life well spent, for I've been to see the Elephant, and smelled the smoke of Africa!"~ME 1982 Hands of Old Elmer Keith | |||
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