BC hunting Elk, Moose and Mule deer.

In reading all these hunting posts, like where's the best, most, etc., not one soul has mentioned the quality of the meat. And there is a tremendous difference in meat quality, depending in what part of the country the animal was from. I grew up on wild meat in northerly Saskatchewan and it was great. The elk, moose and white tail deer were really good.
Then moved to central BC. The moose were pretty good but the mule deer were awful. It turns out that the best tasting moose come from areas where the winters are long and cold and the summers short. The moose and elk are in poor condition in the spring, then they have only a few months to lay on all the fat they will need for the next long winter to come. Properly butchered in the early fall they are great, plus.
For some reason, the elk of the Kootenay's of BC are very poor tasting. No comparison to the elk of northern Alberta and Saskatchewan.
In Jack O'Connors stories of all his hunting trips in northern BC and the Yukon, he was forever talking about how delicious the big northern bull moose were.
He also once stated that he hadn't seen an elk yet from the Kootenay's that was fit to eat!
 
Funny you should mention that H4831, I agree that Kootenay Moose don't taste as good as those from up north, but I find the Elk delicious. I go against the grain a bit though in that I prefer Mule Deer venison over Whitetail.

Taste can be very individual though. As an example you'll note the number of places in AB and SK named after Elk; Red Deer, Lac la Biche, Waskesui, etc. Elk were plentiful and according to the old accounts the reason was that the Indians didn't like the way they tasted, so as long as Bison were around, avoided them.
 
The best tasting mule deer I ever had was a big 4point mule deer in full rut...I shot it in 3-29,early November in a cold snap.Unfortionately I came down with the flu and couldn't butcher it for 3 weeks after I shot it,just left it hanging - best tasting venison I ever had..
Never had a whitetail, mainly because I live on Vancouver Island and shoot Blacktails .Moose from around PG are good eating,much like beef.I haven't had much elk.Caribou from Baffin Island are excellent, just did them like any other game, roasted slow and on the rare side.
 
Yes, I find the big 4 pointers, early in the rut to be excellent. I'd rate Whitetail does as poor to fair eating.
 
Interesting theories!

From my experience, how good wild game tastes has more to do with how quickly it is cleaned and cooled than where it's from.
Not to mention how old the animal was.

I've had elk and moose from northern BC that tasted awful, tough and "gamey", I believe because it took several hours to get it out of the bush.

All of the white tail and mule deer I've taken from here in the east Kootenays however, tasted great, due to the fact that I managed to kill, clean and cool the meat fairly quickly.
 
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Central BC mule deer is 80% of the meat we eat in this house and we like it more than anything you can buy at the store (except maybe really good lamb). Moose is great if/when you can get some, as is bison. Elk is OK, in my experience, but not amazing. Best elk I ever had was farm-raised. Not keen on WT.

Regarding the original question; lots of good answers already. The hunting is excellent nearly everywhere. The island would not be my first choice as I hear constant whining about access there. If work isn't an issue simply research the various communities and decide what local amenities/features are most important to you. Start in the centre of the interior and expand out from there.
 
The Outsider said:
Interesting theories!

From my experience, how good wild game tastes has more to do with how quickly it is cleaned and cooled than where it's from.
Not to mention how old the animal was.

I've had elk and moose from northern BC that tasted awful, tough and "gamey", I believe because it took several hours to get it out of the bush.

All of the white tail and mule deer I've taken from here in the east Kootenays however, tasted great, due to the fact that I managed to kill, clean and cool the meat fairly quickly.
Click to expand...

There is a lot of truth in what you say.
Also, in the meat hunting days I often speak of, there were a lot of good butchers and cattlemen among the people who were surviving on wild meat. As well, there were some really good hunters out there at selecting an animal for its quality of meat.
One of the rules, or theories if you will, on meat handling was that you never transported the meat until it had completely cooled. This was a hard and fast rule, abided by every homesteader I heard of.
Today, it is completely ignored and people bring the fresh killed, warm meat out of the bush as soon as they can.
Was there truth in it? I happen to believe that all those people, so used to handling meat under very adverse conditions, knew more than a little about meat quality and the handling of meat.
 
H4831 said:
One of the rules, or theories if you will, on meat handling was that you never transported the meat until it had completely cooled. This was a hard and fast rule, abided by every homesteader I heard of.
Today, it is completely ignored and people bring the fresh killed, warm meat out of the bush as soon as they can.
Was there truth in it? I happen to believe that all those people, so used to handling meat under very adverse conditions, knew more than a little about meat quality and the handling of meat.
Click to expand...

Maybe there's some truth to this (I really don't have an opinion one way or the other) but it isn't always practical due to weather. In November and later I can see it working, but heck - early September it is often still in the thirties in my neck of the woods. I don't think I want to wait around too long before I get my game hanging in a cooler.
 
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