Greetings from South Africa

[stef1274]

Is that a Blesbok antelope?

Correct. This is a blesbok (or blesbuck, English mutation). This particular one is an ewe (as opposed to ram). We got about 65lbs of processed meat out of it in various forms. Most of this goes to biltong (our closest thing to jerky) and droeëwors ("dry sausage" if you will).

Only the unavoidable cuts go to cooking, such as neck, shin and tenderloin. I was always curious about the difference in toughness between North American venison and what we have here. In youtube videos I often see people cutting things like steak out of whitetail, for example. I find our venison steaks nearly inedible. Once tried wildebeest rump on a hunt, and we literally had to go sharpen our knives halfway through. For the above mentioned kitchen cuts, I usually need to slow cook for about 24hrs to use in dishes like soups and stews.