so, meat

I'd guess a good sized oryx at running about 250 field dressed. Not so big as a good sized cow elk, but much bigger than any mule deer I've run into.

We quartered out our animal, saved the heart, liver, tenderloins, backstraps, and miscellaneous bits along with the quarters, then got to cutting. Dad and I got most of it done in a day and a half- deboned, silverskin off and sinew out, wrapped and in the freezer:



Even the dog has his bits stashed:



I've read, and heard from other hunters, that oryx is "the best wild meat you've ever eaten". We saved out a chunk and grilled it, just meat and fire, served alongside baked potato and relleno casserole with a green salad and a decent red (one of my all-time favorite meals, all in all) to see what we thought.


(yes, it's a little rare. Wild meat I've dressed and prepared myself I prefer cool to cold red in the center. You can taste it better that way.)


The meat is a lighter color than deer or elk and is also more mild. More mild, even, then well cared for antelope and with a coarser grain, closer to elk, than antelope. Wild meat for those who like their meat less wild. Can't say that it'll be my favorite, but I wouldn't be sorry to see oryx across the deserts of the southwest. It's not like the bighorns stand a realistic chance of refilling those ecologic niches.

Next post, dealing with bits.