Of all the African game meat, which is your favourite? How would you rank them?

[Sika98k]

Oryx or eland would be my favorites. Monkey balls on toast didn’t really do it for me.

 

[albravo]

This thread has my mouth watering and I have to ask an obvious question-- can you bring any meat back to US/Canada?

 

[sestoppelman]

Short answer is no. It would have to be processed and shipped and would be very expensive I imagine.

Cant just take it back on the plane.

 

[Connor Baumgarten]

I’ve heard eland is crazy good eating. my dad would vouch for zebra, nyala and kudu. From what I’ve had, I really like gemsbok and sable.

 

[Piet-Vis]

Eland tastes just like beef, few people can discern the difference.
Springbuck haunch is better than mutton IMO.
In the wetter hunting areas bushbuck and reedbuck is best. My wife doew not like venison (blesbuck will do that to you), but does not mind me filling the fridge with headshot bushbuck and reedbuck.
My dad tells me that in the old days farmers used to shoot Roan for rations north of the Soutpansberg in South Africa. It was fairly common to shoot giraffe for farm staff in Northern Namibia untill not too long ago.

 

[Caitlin Williams]

As a north American hunter that's never tried African game meat, what's it like?

What tastes the best? the worst?

Are they comparable at all to any North American game meat.

I'm a huge fan of bison meat, how does cape Buffalo compare?

zebra fillet is the best fillet I've ever eaten. the sausages made from zebra meat is also delicious, specifically cheese grillers but obviously not the healthiest choice. Buffalo can be a bit tough but all the other game meat i have tried has been really good too. zebra is hands down my favorite though.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

This thread has my mouth watering and I have to ask an obvious question-- can you bring any meat back to US/Canada?

Not to Canada.

 

[375er]

This thread has my mouth watering and I have to ask an obvious question-- can you bring any meat back to US/Canada?

Eat up while you are there!

 

[Bigyakman]

very enlightening

 

[archer36]

I've eaten grilled Cape Buffalo and Eland tenderloins, and they were fantastic!

 

[DJStang]

Eland steaks were my favorite, followed by blue wildebeest back straps. Sable, zebra, and impala were also good.

 

[nomspc]

When I was in Namibia visiting my buddy Jimmy, his German cook, who he raved about, had a family emergency and had to return home. So Jimmy cooked and we had gemsbok for pretty much every meal. Cold gemsbok for breakfast, gemsbok sandwiches in the field for lunch, gemsbok filets over charcoal and under the stars for dinner. Best game meat I’ve ever eaten. But a good chef can do wonders. Sable Wellington anyone?

 

[Rock375]

Every dish of African game meat I've had on Safari is excellent. My favorite is grilled zebra steak. I took my wife along on my last Safari and after hearing me talk about how good it was for so long, , she ask them to please serve zebra steak sometime during our stay. It only took a couple of bites before she announce,"this is the best steak I've ever had".

 

[migrabill]

Just had my first trip to RSA this past June. We ate just about every plains game animal there was. My personal favorite was Blesbok. Everything tasted great but we had one hell of a chef. He used a lot of garlic - and I am a big fan of that.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Gemsbuck. But admittedly, though I've been over four times, I have not been treated to much wild meat. Seems there's always ladies at the lodge who don't care for wild meat so it's often beef and seafood. I don't care. Eating has never been very important to me. I go to Africa to hunt, not dress up, get drunk, or fill my face. And definitely not into smoking rubbish! Thankfully so far none of the other clients have been into stinky cigars. Can't recall any of them being smokers. And none of the PHs. Been lucky.

Hopefully next time I'll get to sample something different. I've had a fair amount of kudu back strap. It's on par with elk and moose as far as I can tell. Third safari the PH put my lechwe's back straps on the BBQ. Not that great. The meat should have aged a bit I think. I've heard springbuck and eland are both outstanding. Gemsbuck will be hard to beat.

One property owner "treated" us to BBQ lambs tails. Yeah ... I would pass on that again. Too fiddly and greasy. Never been a fan of ribs either. Another property owner's wife treated me to pickled ostrich. I was hungry enough to eat the plate so I did consume enough to please her. The plate would have been better eating. Blech!

 

[Firebird]

Another vote for eland tenderloin.
It’s not just the meat tho-
African game is cooked over wood flames, no gas or briquettes etc. so the flavor is preserved and unpolluted. The place I have been ages the meat and show great attention to its care.
I’ve never had game meat in Africa that I didn’t love

 

[PARA45]

I had Eland tenderloins and Eland soup (more like a stew), amazing. Beats Whitetail venison all day long.

 

[JG26Irish_2]

My all time favorite was a Kudu Pot Pie that was tha bomb. I loved the biltong and one night we had Impala Schnitzel with jalapeno cheese sauce that was pretty special. Another was Eland Lasagna. We ate tenderloins from my Nayala that were good. In fact it was ALL delicious. I had asked my PH to serve mostly traditional African cuisine and lots of wild game. I can eat beef, chicken or seafood at home. The only items that I did not care much for were some Kudu breakfast sausages. They tasted OK but were just too dry for my taste. Both me and my PH do like those stinky cigars and a small taste of mothers milk at the end of the day.

Final thought. Given the chance, try it. You can always spit it out if not to your liking. Prior to my Safari, I had been told to avoid eating Waterbuck that it was not good, etc, etc. I asked my PH about this in Africa and he was astounded. He claims that Waterbuck could be the best game meat ever. Now, I know that local tastes are not always the same but he said that as long as the scent glands are removed when processing the meat, that it is delicious. I did not get to try it on my trip, so I cannot support his claim. When I got home, I taught myself how to make Biltong and it is as good as any. I used beef and the recipe from my PH's grandmother. Delish!

 

[Flipper Dude]

Waterbuck steaks are in my top 3, no doubt.

 

[BJH65]

Buffalo filet and kudu sausage from our recent hunt. It was delicious! I’ve had a variety of bbq African antelope filets (wildebeest, gemsbok, kudu, Impala, springbok, Blesbok and zebra). I’ve always described the taste as similar to mild elk, very delicious. I’ve not tried any leopard or lion however I have tried fried mountain lion back-strap and I thought it delicious, kind of like a combination of venison and pork.