I have come to believe that gamy tasting meat is due to poor field dressing more then any other factor. Years ago i used to gut and bleed out like most rifle hunters due, That is until an old gent scolded me and explained that cutting the gut sac open and wallowing in it was the worst thing you could do. He showed me how to skin and quarter way faster then I could ever gut out an elk. and explained that it is the hair and enzymes and bacteria in the gut cavity that ruin and give the bad taste. Now I skin the up side and lay the hide back (hair down) peal off the the front quarter, back quarter, backstrap, and all the neck meat, on the one side. Bagging it as it comes off. then roll it over and do the same to the other side just the same. What you end up with is a backbone and rib cage with an unopened gut sack attached. No mess, No wallowing in the guts and blood. You can then trim out the meat between the ribs and after that cut through a few ribs, Pull them back and go in for the heart, Tenderloins and liver if you want that,
I watched some show a few days ago and some guys had just shot a moose, He went on to explain that you have to open and get the guts out to cool the meat. I was horrified as I watched him totally contaminate the meat. First of all, The best way to cool the meat is get the hide off. Even if you open the cavity the only part you are really cooling down in the rib cage. The whole time you are doing that the hide is holding the heat on the biggest portions of meat, the hind quarters and front quarters. Those are the largest portions and the best way to cool them fast is skin and separate. As far as adrenaline in the blood stream, My thoughts are is that it happens so fast that only a bullet straight in the brain would stop it and I have never noticed that being a factor anyway. In my opinion, It is poor field care that is the absolute biggest factor in gamy tasting meat.
