The wife and I were lucky and drew our goat tags. First time out west. I have gutted a many of whitetail, but just want to make sure I return with good table fare.
We will be hunting Newcastle and want to make sure that guts are guts and backstraps are backstraps.
Thanks for any help. Mike

Pronghorn if cared for is excellent table fare. We as a family prefer it over elk and especially mule deer.
As soon as you possibly can, cool it down. I have a 100 qt. cooler, and on the rare occasion I draw a tag, I put several bags of ice in it, as soon as the antelope is done with his kodak moment, I quater it and pack it on ice. If you have an any antelope tag, you need not keep evidence of sex, I skin, cut the four quarters off and the back straps and plop it in the ice.

Makes great buger, chops, and kabobs. Most that bad mouth antelope have hauled them around in the back of a pickup, with just the guts removed, on hot Sept. days, and it bounces from one side to the other, covered with dust and in the sun.

And as for guts, I don't eat the tongue, brain,liver,kidneys, or heart. That is a gift for the ravens and coyotes.

Mike: by goats, do you mean "speedgoats" AKA Antelope? If so, maybe I can help. I try to kill early in the morning (they don't seem so spooky right after first light).. gut them out at kill site. If you want a mount, or hide tanned hair on, DON'T drag 'em even a foot.. carry them to, or bring pickup to the animal.. hair slips off instantly. I try to skin asap while still warm, then cool and clean the carcas with water hose, get the meat chilled right away (very important for good taste) hang in shade with fly bag protection or get to a cooler asap.. Antelope meat can be very good or it can be VERY bad,.. HTH.. Les

Yes Les, I did mean Antelope. Sorry. Thanks for the info.Are you close to Newcastle?

It really helps to put them down without running them around (sometimes that is harder than it seems) and getting them all adrenalined up.
Next right after the photos get the guts out and hide off! The hide holds lots of heat so the quicker you get him out of his suit the sooner he starts to lose heat.
Get the meat in a game bag that breathes and in the shade (hard to come by in some Antelope country) if that is not cool enough break him into pieces and into a cooler with dry ice and blocks of ice and quit peaking and letting the hot air in and cold air out. If it is real hot then soak a towel and drape over the cooler as well.

Here is my take on Antelope. They are the stinkiest game animal in the West. Speed goats are very fun to hunt. They also have excellent meat IF you take proper care of them. Here is how I do it:

-- I always handle the stinkin things with a pair of disposable gloves. You can't wash a mature stinky buck's smell off your hands.

--NEVER GUT ONE. (Yes I was yelling) I always use the gutless method. Just cape one side and debone or quarter. Roll it over and do the same. You can find a few sites out there which show the gutless method.

--Get the meat cooled as fast as possible.

Did I mention not to gut them. They stink. If you do gut one then you will probably remember that smell every time you cook a steak. And unfortunately your wife will also remember the smell. Gutting an antelope is akin to gutting a mud duck, coot, or a cow which died 2 days ago in the middle of July.

Now I am sure, positive really, that someone will tell me I am a wuss and that they don't really stink. Those people probably are from Wyoming and lost their sense of smell (and other senses) long ago.

Best of luck on your hunt. You will have a great time.

Mike: I live north of Big Piney about 12 miles.. lots of goats here, I have two doe/fawn tags for the area my house is in for this year... usualy don't have to leave the property.. MC: yes I have shot one or two that were pretty hard to get past their smell.. I came from Michigan 17 years ago, and also have shot a couple of whitetail bucks that stunk like hell... and I haven't lost my sense of smell yet.. Les

Antelope is one of my favorite meats.

I'll repeat what everyone said.

Gut, skin and get on ice ASAP. I mean ASAP.

Age for 7 days on ice or in a cooler, and you will have some of the best eating wild game meat available.

Now if you decide to run them, not gut them right away, let them bake in the heat, bounce around the back of the pick up. You might as well stop by the nearest dumpster, because the meat will be unedible.

Antelope meat needs to be taken care of.

BTW, I live about 60 miles from Newcastle.

Part of the problem is sagebrush, this gives a strong flavor to the meat .Even deer are effected by it.Feed them on wheat and they're very fine.The gut and chill advice goes for all animals .

long as you're around newcastle, after you bag the goat take ti the butcher right away. you're only an hour away that way it gets processed and cooled down really quick.

quote:

Originally posted by MC:
... They are the stinkiest game animal in the West. ...

How does that compare to Coyotes(Varmint)?

Hot Core, I did mean an edible game animal. (Unless you boys back East have a Vietnamese recipe for dog)

Les, you havn't lost your senses because you arn't from WY. haha Our Utah goats stink too.

In the time it takes to gut and skin an antelope I can have the animal caped, quartered, and in the cooler. When the goat is done on the outside, 2 small slits behind the last rib and you can get you TLs.

Okay MC, you've about got me convinced. I may have to give it a try to satisfy my curiosity, even though the aroma of recently killed antelope doesn't really bother me.

quote:

--NEVER GUT ONE. (Yes I was yelling) I always use the gutless method. Just cape one side and debone or quarter. Roll it over and do the same. You can find a few sites out there which show the gutless method.

Best way to go with any big game animal.

quote:

Originally posted by MC:
Hot Core, I did mean an edible game animal. (Unless you boys back East have a Vietnamese recipe for dog)...

Hey MC, That is why I highlighted the word game, I figured there would be a difference.

Then how does Antelope compare to a Goose(game bird) in smell?

HotCore, I think that the antelope smell worse than the inside of a goose. I don't gut geese either, though. Antelope in the sage are different than those in hay fields or grass prairies. One thing that is just as bad as an antelope: Sage Grouse. Gut one of those birds after a flood of 4 shot has burst their bellies and one tends to dry heave.

Hey MC, I never have Killed an Antelope or a Sage Hen, but I've brought a bunch of Geese in. The first time I was in on the Goose Cleaning routine was quite memorable.

And we didn't have Coyotes over here until maybe 20 years ago. Amazing how well they carry the dead smell on them from rolling in it.

Our Deer aren't bad as long as the Bullets stay out of the intestional tract. Then they can be quite tough on a Beginner. But I'd guess that is true for all Game and Varmints.

good advice here - i'll add my observations on care of antelope meat, which may or may not apply to your area, climate or situation.

i usually (but not always) hunt antelope later in the season and being a bit farther north the nights are quite a bit cooler. i have always field dressed them immediately and always hang them in a cool, dark shed for at least 2-3 days (hide on to keep meat from drying out). to me, the couple of days of hanging add flavor and (not that it is absolutely necessary w/antelope) tenderness.

i have NEVER had bad antelope meat, buck or doe, and my wife (who is not much of an outdoor girl at all) actually prefers antelope to deer or elk. we got an old 14-inch buck at the height of rut once. his cheeks were as musky as can be, yet the meat that was hung as described came out tasting as fine as the tenderest and most flavorful game we've ever had. no doubt this was helped by the fact that the antelope in our area get an exclusive diet of grain and alfalfa, but it is also due to care in the field and, i believe, hanging for a couple of days rather than immediate butchering.

i agree that in warmer climates or times of year, it is definitely better to skin and even quarter the animal in an effort to cool it down fast. packing quarters and cuts in cheesecloth and keeping them in a cooler is warranted when conditions demand it. having said that, in cooler climates or times of year i do not find this to be necessary and in fact find it more desirable to hang. the quartered meat in the cooler will be cooled of course, but if not allowed to hang it does not stretch and it seems that the connective tissues will not break down nearly as much, resulting in less flavor and tenderness. with antelope, this is not as much of a factor as with deer.

if you do hang, make it only 2 or 3 days due to the time of year and the much more delicate nature of antelope meat. deer of course would hang for a much longer time.

i am probably making it sound much more complicated and involved than it is - in truth it is no complicated thing. i do believe that it results in more meat that has better flavor, and the fact that i have never had a gamey antelope bears this out.

Gut them at the kill site, hang in a tree by hocks, cape and remove head, drive to local town and give meat to one of the locals(if they will take it).

Some of the worst game meat I've ever eaten. It taste terrible to me. Has a very strong smell and taste very "wild" if you will.

I know people that like it but, I also know people that like lamb, they rank about the same in my book.

Whenever I draw Unit 73 in WY and fill the tag, I'll properly care for the meat, bring it home, and give it to a friend that likes it.

Much rather fill my freezer with mulie, whitetail, and elk.

Good Luck

Reloader

I'd have to agree with MC. It must be the sage. My one foray into sage grouse hunting changed my mind on doing it again. Damn did that thing stink. What surprised me was how good the bird tasted (baked in a caserole). I haven't seen one around here for a long time so I'm not tempted.

I hunted antelope for several years around Kaycee Wy.
After the first year we always bought extra doe tage. I like antelope meat.

So did my kinfolk back here in TX.

We did take care of the meat, and always did our own butchering. I like it much better than mule deer.

Another point about sage - I had gotten a mule deer in CO and the diet certainly had a fair share of sage .The meat was ok but as usual I made soup from the bones and had to throw it out because of it's strong unpleasant taste even though there was no unpleasant smell.

Must be the sage indeed, Mule Deer is the best venison I've ever had. That's what just about everyone I know that hunts them says as well....

Reloader

I live about an hour from Newcastle, antelope are excellent eating, all I ever do is dress at the kill site and come home, or shoot another one if i want to. I can hang them in my bldg. and skin them before they even stiffen up! I shot 4 last year and 6 the year before. I have been out of antelope meat for several months and am trying to figure out the buck I will hunt this fall!! There are a lot of goats west and south of Newcastle, I hunt area 3 and 1.

quote:

We will be hunting Newcastle

If you won't be long in the field after you down your 'lope. gut it and take it up the road (585, I believe it is) a short ways to Cambria and the Flying V. The guys at the Flying V do good work on skinning and processing meat - and you get what you brought in, not somebody else's animal.

Consider how you're going to get it out of the field. If you've got to tote it on your back, then skin it immediately after the hero pictures are taken. It'll cool faster and you don't need to tote the extra weight of the hide.

If you've got a vehicle that will do the carrying, then leave the hide on and get it out of the field asap. If you aren't going to take it to a processor, then take it someplace to where you can hang it as you skin it. Now, here's a couple of tricks that help. First, take a small propane torch with a flame spreader and give the skinned carcass a fast burn. That'll crisp any hair that's stuck to the meat. Next, give it a quick wipe down with a vinegar & water mix (1 qt of pickling vinegar to 3 qts of water is what I use). That'll get off any ash and dust. THen you can just bone it out and put it in a cooler with ice.

I haven't personally found any problem with ice water spoiling the meat, but some folk worry about it. If that's the case with you, put the ice in garbage sacks so that the cooler is cold, but not wet.

Have great fun.

C & A meats in Sundance does good work too, about an hour also.

Gidday Guys,

I would imagine that they are similar to feral goats and have a similar sort of smell (stench).

The old males smell like rancid piss and are not eaten but a young nannie is not too bad.

Or am I barking up the wrong tree.

Happy Hunting

Hamish

Antelope are really not goats or related to them. In my opinion they are not offensive smelling at all. Now if one is paunch shot they can be a little rank but that is not normal, I feel they smell more like sage than anything. The big rutting bucks are still good eating, but to be at the best a dry doe in June is better than anything I have ever eaten. I was at a haying party several years ago and the rancher had goat on the grill and we fought over it it was so good!