Elk Meat - Elk Ranching

Living in the Midwest of the United States I have never got to take a shot at an elk, let alone see one.  However, my father and brother in law took a trip up to Alberta Canada.  My father bagged an elk but my rough shot brother-in-law didn't.  So to piss my father off, like he always does, my brother-in law decided to buy some elk meat from a farm in Alberta.  When they got back to the states with the meat, they wanted me to judge what tasted better, the elk my father bagged or the elk my brother-in-law bought off a farm.

I knew nothing about this type of meat, so before I sat down an ate the elk I did a little research.  I would   suggest everyone to do a little research before they ate a new type of wild game.  Just to be safe

Elk Meat -  Elk Nutrition

 My research on Elk:

• very high in protein content
• lean meat, leaner than beef, pork and also chicken
• very high in iron and B vitamins

If you buy Elk Meat at a farm please make sure, the elk is natural feed and no growth hormone, steroids or antibiotics were used.


I found this out about processing of Elk meat in Alberta, Canada:
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• The Canadian government regulates the processing of Elk meat through the Livestock Industry Diversification Act.

•  Both farm raised elk and wild elk are regularly inspect and monitored for tuberculosis and brucellosis by The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

• There is a government mandated surveillance program that elk ranchers must follow to protect and  ensure their elk are free from chronic wasting disease (CWD).  SInce 2002 only one case has been found and it was sequestered.

After reading up on the quality of elk meat from Canada I felt very safe eating what my father and brother-in-law brought back.  My dad was a little pissed but I chose my brother-in-laws farm feed elk over my dad's bagged elk for taste.

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