Can you eat an older buck?

[chma4]

Can you eat an older buck? I need ground goat meat for a 4H dinner, and don't have any meat goats available. I have a 7 year old nigerian dwarf buck that has lived passed his usefulness. Can I have him slaughtered , ground and use him for meat balls? Or will it taste gross?
Thanks!

[Goat Servant]

I can only speak from my experience, had a 2 yr old Boer buck in rut all ground, he was surprisingly out of this world!

[southerngurl]

Sure you can, but the question is, would you want to?

[LoneStrChic23]

I've ate an older buck (4 years old) before....

His owner said she bathed him in that shampoo for dogs who tangle with a skunk....buzzed down all the long hair and then sent him on his way.... They cooked him (well 1/2 of him actually) in a ground pit for the day & it was pretty darn good...She used leftovers for pulled BBQ goat sandwiches..

In contrast, my FIL sent a 1 year old boer buck to freezer camp, grilled it & it wasn't so great and had a slight "off" smell...

[Backfourty,MI.]

Last time we had a 1 year old buck butchered it had a bucky taste & wI fed the rest to the dogs. Smelled up the whole kitchen & I couldn't get past the smell to eat it.

[Creamers]

Seems I always hear it tastes pretty gross.

[wolffeathers]

The first time we ever had goat was a mature buck. The tenderloin and backstrap was great! The next day we proceeded to slow cook the ribs all day, set down to dinner and couldn't stomach any of it. It all went to the dogs. It had that goaty smell to it and hubby even tried to brave it by covering it in BBQ sauce, but just couldn't get more than a bite. It was strong.

We still have the shoulders and we're deciding how to cook them(thinking on making jerky).

[TroutRiver]

I have heard that it's hit-miss with mature bucks, sometimes they taste great and sometimes they are "bucky" tasting. I slaughtered 2 mature bucks this year and turned them into sausage. The sausage is edible, but not great tasting, it definitely has a goaty funk to it. The sausage that I made from a young wether was much better tasting.

[Pony]

In my experience, as long as you're cooking it without the bones and fat, it's good. But once you add that marrow to the mix, things can go south pretty quick.

Me, I'd go ahead and grind that bad boy down into burger, but add some pork or beef fat instead of the goat fat. I think it'll be fine.

[wolffeathers]

Originally Posted by Pony

In my experience, as long as you're cooking it without the bones and fat, it's good. But once you add that marrow to the mix, things can go south pretty quick.

Me, I'd go ahead and grind that bad boy down into burger, but add some pork or beef fat instead of the goat fat. I think it'll be fine.

Maybe this it why the tenderoin and backstrap were so great but the ribs were *gag*.

[Goat Servant]

And maybe why our ground buck was great & a one yr old half brats & half Italian sausage so delicioso!?

[chma4]

Thanks all!! I think I will have him ground, and tell the butcher to be careful to remove all fat. I need to make lots of meatballs!