Thanks. If I ever move to the mainland, I'll try and make sure I move someplace where there is hunting. I've only had game meat once, and that was because an uncle from Texas brought us some venison.
It was good.
A little pricey but it's usually well worth it. I personally recommend the Ostrich and emu, you'd think it would taste like chicken or other birds, but in fact it tastes like the leanest steak I've ever had. Absolutely no fat and totally delicious.
You've maybe seen their signs in humorous emails...the advertising slogan is "We all love God's creatures, especially with a side of mashed potatoes."
Great place.
Not all game meat is good. It depends a great deal upon who prepared it, how it was prepared, how it was processed, how it was cared for, etc.
I saw a story in a magazine once that addressed "I had venison once and it was bad." [I paraphrased that because I don't remember the specific complaint.] The article went on to say that if,
A farmer killed a steer, waited a few hours and then did a poor job of field dressing it, dragged it for a mile through a muddy field, flung it in the back of a truck, drove it around all day showing it to his buddies, then hung it from a tree for 2 days, then processed it himself and didn't pay much attention to cleanlinees/hair removal/bone chips/etc., and then didn't package it properly and then cooked it poorly, most people upon trying a sirloin from that steer would say, "I don't like beef."
My point is, "most game meats are good." I think most people that say, "I don't like venison et al" have never had a good cut prepared properly.
I've had deer, elk, bear, beef, lamb, pork, frog legs, alligator and they've all been good. I've had some beef I didn't like.
A buddy of mine eats ground hog and raccoon. He swears it's good but preparation is key. He's got me talked into it. I'm going to try ground hog as soon as I have a decent specimen.