So the old man goes down to the king ranch and shoots a Nilgai. Says he's bringing it to me.

Anyone got any suggestions on processing? Are they good steaks? Chili meat? Jerky? Summer sausage? Dried sausage?

My default is to just get some of each, but didn't know if Nilgai made particularly good anything.

Thanks!

I had some Nilgai boudin last year that was pretty good

It's awesome! Best sausage I've ever had. I would suggest all sausage and blackstrap steaks

Dried sausage or fresh sausage?

It's one of the very few game animals I've ever heard may be better than Axis. Make plenty of it into steaks and cutlets. There's a specialty wild game meat place around here called Broken Arrow Ranch that sells it for more $$ than prime beef and can't keep it in stock.

Nilgai steaks are awesome.

And my roommate from when I played football at Rice's family own Broken Arrow. Great people. And fun fact, iirc Mike Hughes founded Oceaneering. Or at least was CEO.

I live in STX and have had my fair share of Nilgai. The steaks are awesome. No need to mask the flavor in sausage unless you just desire sausage. Round steaks, bacon wrapped tenderloins and back strap, ground the rest and enjoy. Just a bit of caution I did shoot an old bull a few years ago that was a bit gamey but that is not usually for Nilgai.

Best burger I ever ate was ground nilgai

I've had moose and elk and axis, and the nilgai PWW brought to the lease this year was the best wild game steak I've ever eaten. Not gamey at all. So tender.

Had nilgai back strap at Rainbow Lodge in Houston and it was one of the best steaks I've ever had. Super lean and tender like a filet.

Nilgai burgers ftw.

Only time I had it was at Brennan's. I had a medium rare tenderloin and I was shocked at how good it was.

I second the bacon wrapped filet! You won't regret it. The meat is excellent but it is very lean so you need a little added fat to keep it moist.

Everything is good. It's a ton of meat! Bacon wrapped backstrap

Like all of them, if you shoot an old mature one, the majority will be a wee bit tough. Even on mature ones, the tenderloins and backstrap are outstanding. The hamburger is as good as axis if given a little "help" with some beef fat. The yearlings/two year olds are good nose to butt.

Thanks for the advice everyone!

Dad shot a nilgai when I was still in Boy Scouts. He made a shiet ton of sausage along with some steaks, but that sausage is the best game I've ever had in my life. He brought some to a campout, and all of it was gone within 5 minutes after it was cooked. Go ahead and get regular sausage, maybe some hotlinks.

I shot a nilgai bull last month and we processed ourselves. Have about 75 lbs of ground meat that we use for burgers, spaghetti, meatloaf, enchiladas, soup, chili, whatever. Have multiple packages of steaks that we have grilled, fried, and made carne guisada with. Have some roasts we haven't cooked yet. Have 80 links of sausage. Point is, you should have enough meat to get a large variety. Enjoy.

Ground Nilgai made some awesome burgers for me.

Its lean beef. Treat it as such...