I have heard aoudad meat is good or bad depending on who you ask. I would assume a young female is better than an old male.
I am sure there are plenty of hunters on here who know a lot more about it than me. I just prefer to eat any game animal I kill.
Opinions please?

The only experience I have is with a mature ewe I shot on a draw hunt with TPWD.
It was very good eating. I had many good meals off of the meat. Here is a pic of some smothered hind quarter steaks. Also some grilled backstrap.

I made a similar post last year and the overwhelming response was bad taste

I have caped two of them out... Suckers stank to bad for me to even entertain cooking em.

I'd rather eat a boot.

I've had it done several different ways, never again.

I've had chicken fried backstap medallions that were ok, but not great. We normally had sausage made out them and that was good, and those were just ewes. The big ones smell terrible and I've heard taste the same way.

I have only taken one off the land a navy buddy's grandfather owned. They got loose from a high fence place and he didn't want them hanging around so we took a few.


I ate every scrap of it. It wasn't bad but it wasn't prime deer or elk either. Cooked the backstraps and hind quarters like I would any other meat and made sausage out of the rest. The only way I would shoot another is if I could do the hunt for free like I did last time. In other words I will probably never shoot another. Took a blackbuck on the same trip under the same circumstances, guy wanted them gone. That meat was really good but they are small and you don't get much off of a blackbuck.

Backstrap from a ewe is ok of prepared well. I’d eat it again. I’ve never tried anything else and don’t really care to

The reason I asked is I thought one of those shaggy critters is a nice trophy but I don't really want to hunt for something inedible.
Thanks for the advice folks.

I’ve killed mulies during the rut and they stunk to high heaven. I would ice the mulies for a week or two if they were real bad. Elk are stinky beast but, they are great to eat so, don’t let the smell deter you.

Not for me
I would rather hit Popeyes in a bind

I've killed a few and they have not been bad. Don't be afraid to try it. Just like any animal if the meat isn't cared for properly it isn't going to be good.

I"ve killed/culled over 100 aoudad, and you guys can have it all. I don't care if I ever taste another one.

This thread has my curiosity going, I’m willing to try anything once. Now I need to find a place.

Tamales !
Find a local lady to make them for you.
That’s what we did.
Enough seasoning and anything tastes great.

Tried eating an older ram (30") ONCE. TERRIBLE!
You can spice up a turd all you want, but remember you're still eating a turd.

we eat them all the time. younger is better, but the meat is really good.

smell of the animal is not a good measure of what tastes good.
now if the meat itself smells, then definitely don't eat it.


we have killed fallow, red deer, in the rut that smelled horrible, but tasted great.
have killed hogs that are nasty looking and smell due to being in the mud, but the meat was amazing

My only experience is with young rams and ewes, I've never shot a big ram. I thought the meat was fine, a little bit of a cross between venison and mild lamb. Not axis, but certainly tasty and I'll continue to eat it. I've cooked the backstraps for my family the same way I cook all backstrap (dry rubbed, on the grill at high heat to sear and then indirect on the grill until they reach desired internal temp, no complaints.

Like many animals, what they're eating matters. Mule deer that feed in ag fields taste way different than the ones that are feeding on sage brush. The aoudads I've eaten come out of a hill country ranch where they have plenty of good food to eat, plus we supplement with corn and protein. I'm sure that makes a big difference.

Great eating in my experience

We had a gathering at our ranch on Saturday and fed 20+ people of all ages Aoudad burgers grilled and only lightly seasoned with some dry rub. Everyone raved about them. This was done purposely to dispel some of the myths around Aoudad meat and get more hunters to shoot them since we have a very healthy (bordering on excessive) population of them. My friend shot two young ewes on Saturday so there will be plenty more opportunities to eat the meat.

Right on, glad you made good use of the meat

Would love to try the meat. I have several recipes I wanted to test on aoudads. Let me know if you fellas shot one and don't want to keep the meat. I'll take it.

Aoudad meat tastes very good. But, it was the toughest meat I have ever eaten. After seeing how tough the backstrap, I ground all the meat.

The meat is god, BUT it is tough. We grind most of it and it makes great burgers. We also have the processor tenderize the steaks and that makes for good chicken fried steak. The meat does not lend it self well to smoking, but otherwise I wouldn't pass it up.

How did it taste?