But how does it taste?

[K-man]

Only poor meat I’ve had was hippo. More than a couple bites and you’ll be spending the next day in the outhouse. Eland was the best followed by gemsbuck. Everything else in between. And waterbuck was great when handled properly.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

Took a zebra last day of safari so I didn't get to try it. But I've been told it is the best of the best.

My favorite was Nyala tenderloin. I thought it was the best animal protein I ever ate! Even better than Eland.

View attachment 678572

You could make me eat that.

 

[Happy Myles]

I have eaten Waterbuck and do not recall it being good or bad at least not as bad as locals cautioned me. My favorite as always is Gerenuk. As I have mentioned before the most weird was hyena backstrap. It tasted like hyena not chicken. The sauce was not bad. I have never claimed a sophisticated palette.

 

[fourfive8]

I’ve had waterbuck a couple times and it was ok. As with any meat a lot has to do with care in skinning and handling in the field. Guinea fowl has been excellent and some of the best bird with Ostrich being some of the worst. All other wild meat in Africa has been exceptionally good on average and better than most in North America. Mountain sheep here however is the exception and is usually excellent. Even elephant has very good taste but tends to be a bit tough.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

The waterbuck I had last year was obviously taken care of and was fantastic. I'd rate it as my favorite African animal I've had to eat along side of Springbok.

I've also enjoyed Warthog ribs, buffalo, two of which I've also read negative reports on. Not sure why, it ate very well.

The only meat I didn't care for that much was impala, I found it to be a bit tough and dry. Perhaps it wasn't prepared so well.

 

[IA1865]

My favorite meat from my first safari was Eland closely followed by Kudu. Wildebeest, Impala, Blesbok, and Bushbuck were all quite good. I didn't like the Fallow as much but that was more I think due to expecting it to taste like white tail and it tasted more like lamb. The Fallow was in velvet and pre-rut so was also very fatty for wild game which was interesting. We also had some Kob fish which was fantastic.

 

[Hunt anything]

The waterbuck I had last year was obviously taken care of and was fantastic. I'd rate it as my favorite African animal I've had to eat along side of Springbok.

I've also enjoyed Warthog ribs, buffalo, two of which I've also read negative reports on. Not sure why, it ate very well.

The only meat I didn't care for that much was impala, I found it to be a bit tough and dry. Perhaps it wasn't prepared so well.

This is just a guess, but I wonder if people that don’t like warthogs are thinking that it will be like domestic pork or a fat feral pig. No subcoutanious fat and can be a little dry. The best sausage I’ve had in Africa was at @GAME 4 AFRICA SAFARIS and it was warthog . Also had grilled warthog in Mozambique and it was delicious.

 

[Zinz]

My older brother always makes a stuffed loin for Christmas. When we hunted Mozambique for buffalo, he packed crushed walnuts, raspberry chipotle sauce, and a jar of jalapeños. We bought cream cheese in Pretoria the night before we flew into camp.

We shot Buffalo on our 2nd and 3rd day and brought the backstraps back into the main camp of Coutada 10. That night he worked his magic in the camp kitchen. Cut the loin in about 10” sections. Bore a hole down the center and stuffed it with the cream cheese, jalapeños and walnuts. Cooked it on a medium hot fire and glazed it with the raspberry chipotle and crushed walnuts.

He and the camp cook bring it all out to the dining area and we tell all the PHs and guides that they got to eat first, before us traveling hunters. I think I was last in line and my buddy John was already back in line for seconds behind me.

The guides who had been in camp for weeks were so happy “we’ve had nothing but ox tail soup for weeks!”

That buffalo loin was pretty freaking awesome…

Mountain Zebra also very good. Impala and eland are top shelf in my book. Kudu…kinda like whitetail, nothing special. Blue wildebeest is very good.

Like any wild game, keep the meat clean and cool and don’t overcook it.

Ed Z

 

[MontanaPat]

Agree with others comments, it is all in how quickly things get skinned, kept clean and cooled. Eland has always been my favorite, but all of the rest pretty good, sometimes a little tough but that is probably the individual animal differences and how cooked. The waterbuck I shot and ate a couple of days later was very good although I had my doubts based on hearing the same thing about rating terrible. I equate it to pronghorn here in the US, pronghorn smell like cat piss and if you don’t get the hide off quick to let them cool and keep the hair off the meat then they smell like cat piss when you cook the meat and taste horrible. But if done right they can be quite good.

 

[deewayne2003]

Impala Schnitzel was amazing and better than any chicken fried steak I’ve ever eaten.

Fried hippo strips were great as well as the massive amount of biltong they made from it.

Elephant kabob was great, just a little tough as we ate it right off the animal.

Everything was great except for the Cape buffalo steaks that were grilled up with the elephants, I rate the Cape buffalo steaks as completely edible but just ok, I’d have just as soon eaten more elephant.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

My 2 cents...

I grew up on whitetail. Most of my adult life has been moose and caribou, and I have been very, very happy with both. I truly believe how you treat it in the field makes or breaks what you put on the table. Oh, and I have had one Sitka blacktail that was incredible.

As much as I like moose and caribou, everything I ate in Africa I liked better. And hands down the best was zebra.

 

[Franco]

There are many factors affecting the taste of meat, any of which can have positive or negative results; and this is not limited to game animals - I had a Wagyu ribeye the other night and it was tough as a shoe.

Consider first the animal: age, condition, diet, sex.

Next, how was it taken: one shot - clean kill, wounded and put up a fight or not recovered until the next day, chased for hours, charging? How was it handled after the kill: quartered and packed out for hours, loaded in the truck and driven around all day while you look for more, field dressed and taken directly to camp, butchered on the spot?

For me, recovery and handling after the kill have had the greatest influence on whether or not I tried some of the meat.

Watching an elephant get disassembled with axes, machetes, shovels, and rusty knives, and chunks of meat tossed onto piles on the ground does not warm one's appetite. There was a thread asking,"Why is a knife needed on a safari?" I guess a good answer would be, because I know where mine's been.

Then there's the flies; I swear I saw a swarm of them lift a chuck of elephant meat off the ground.

Don't forget parasites - internal and external, which, when the body temperature drops start looking for another host.

Taking all of the above into account, I have respectfully declined certain offerings, and enjoyed some fantastic meals.

Grilled Eland brisket is wonderful, Rhino was chewy but tasty - I think it was marinated for about 10 days, all the plains game can be quite good - depending on preparation. Cape Buffalo oxtail and ossobuco are very good.

I am not a fan of elephant, hippo, croc or gator. Camel tasted like it came from an animal which had not rested for months, they could make gum out of it.

In some instances the meat disappears with the trackers, other times it's the mainstay of the camp.

 

[CBH Australia]

This is just a guess, but I wonder if people that don’t like warthogs are thinking that it will be like domestic pork or a fat feral pig. No subcoutanious fat and can be a little dry. The best sausage I’ve had in Africa was at @GAME 4 AFRICA SAFARIS and it was warthog . Also had grilled warthog in Mozambique and it was delicious.

No problems with the food there.

They own a butcher shop so I bet the sausages are going to be done professionally.

We ate a variety of game and from memory I liked the Gemsbok the most. We had several meals with a variety of of blackstrap on the Brai that would have come from a previous hunt.

Pretty sure we had Wildebeest, probably Kudu and impala.

We also had fresh biltong provided by them. I expect that was probably African game meat.

 

[Smitty]

I really enjoyed almost all the plains game I tried: Blue and Black Wildebeest, Kudu, Impala, Zebra, Gemsbok. Blue Wildebeest was probably my favorite. The best item I ate was Crocodile Carpacio! I am sure it was the marinade that made it so superb. It tasted like it was smoked with a wood similar to mesquite.

 

[skydiver386]

I enjoyed everything served by my PH, including Waterbuck.

Sable sausage links were my breakfast favorite, everything else was served as steaks or chops.

I think there were 2 things that made things very good table fare. One was a large cooler to dry age the meat, another was a tenderizer just like they sell at Cabelas/BassPro. All the meat that was consumed in camp had been aged at least a week in the cooler, and sometimes as long as 2 weeks.

I didn't get to try Zebra or Eland, but enjoyed nearly every other PG you can name, and truly enjoyed all of it.

 

[Betterinthebush]

Wow. It took me an hour to read and digest (!) all the great and thoughtful responses.

I posted this after supper with a full stomach last night. I’m doing a 24 hour fast and woke up hungry. Now I’m starving. I’m my own worst enemy sometimes.

 

[Betterinthebush]

I enjoyed everything served by my PH, including Waterbuck.

Sable sausage links were my breakfast favorite, everything else was served as steaks or chops.

I think there were 2 things that made things very good table fare. One was a large cooler to dry age the meat, another was a tenderizer just like they sell at Cabelas/BassPro. All the meat that was consumed in camp had been aged at least a week in the cooler, and sometimes as long as 2 weeks.

I didn't get to try Zebra or Eland, but enjoyed nearly every other PG you can name, and truly enjoyed all of it.

I agree . Aging meat is critical. My wife and I specialize in extended dry aging of whole carcasses. I’ve aged beef out to 50 days and hogs out to 21days. I would suspect that a 30 day aging of eland or other large game like buffalo would be spectacular.

 

[Altitude sickness]

As said repeatedly here. Great care must be taken to keep animal hair and especially the hair on glands. Off of the meat.
A rutted up bull moose, elk, smells like piss. And if you touch that hair then the meat. Or get that hair on the meat. That entire portion will taste like a pissy rutted up animal.

The best game meat I’ve had in Africa was from a leftover carcass from a previous hunt to ours. Usually, you are fed your animal a day or two after it was killed. Game needs much longer to relax the fibers. If it’s only been hanging a day or two.

It’s got to be cooked rare. Or for hours. Similar to leg shanks and Oso Bucco. Cooked all day in a Dutch oven.

 

[Northern Shooter]

I'd really like to try Elephant and Hippo, so much different than our NA game.

 

[sgt_zim]

There are many factors affecting the taste of meat, any of which can have positive or negative results; and this is not limited to game animals - I had a Wagyu ribeye the other night and it was tough as a shoe.

Consider first the animal: age, condition, diet, sex.

Next, how was it taken: one shot - clean kill, wounded and put up a fight or not recovered until the next day, chased for hours, charging? How was it handled after the kill: quartered and packed out for hours, loaded in the truck and driven around all day while you look for more, field dressed and taken directly to camp, butchered on the spot?

For me, recovery and handling after the kill have had the greatest influence on whether or not I tried some of the meat.

Watching an elephant get disassembled with axes, machetes, shovels, and rusty knives, and chunks of meat tossed onto piles on the ground does not warm one's appetite. There was a thread asking,"Why is a knife needed on a safari?" I guess a good answer would be, because I know where mine's been.

Then there's the flies; I swear I saw a swarm of them lift a chuck of elephant meat off the ground.

Don't forget parasites - internal and external, which, when the body temperature drops start looking for another host.

Taking all of the above into account, I have respectfully declined certain offerings, and enjoyed some fantastic meals.

Grilled Eland brisket is wonderful, Rhino was chewy but tasty - I think it was marinated for about 10 days, all the plains game can be quite good - depending on preparation. Cape Buffalo oxtail and ossobuco are very good.

I am not a fan of elephant, hippo, croc or gator. Camel tasted like it came from an animal which had not rested for months, they could make gum out of it.

In some instances the meat disappears with the trackers, other times it's the mainstay of the camp.

I believe I'm going to make a special request for eland/kudu ossobucco next time I go. I've made it out of beef shanks here any number of times, with a serving of polenta on the side. That's without doubt one of my favorite meals, cheap cut of beef though it is.