Nutritional Benefits of Wild Game

Rachel Walla
Hunting season is upon us and as many students forgo their normal weekend activities in order to fill their tags, some questions arise about the meat they return with.  How healthy is wild game and how does it compare with meat from livestock? 

Well, you can rest assured knowing that whatever terrible hillside your elk had to be carted up to get to the truck, it will be worth the work in terms of nutritional advantages that wild game offers.  Across the board wild game is nutritionally superior to meat from most domestic animals.  Although the validity of this rests on a few factors, including the type of animal and the pollutants it may have been exposed to, wild meat is widely viewed to be the healthier alternative.  This is due to the animal’s life including greater amounts of activity, having a natural diet and never being treated with antibiotics or hormones for growth. 

In general, wild meat is so much better nutritionally because it averages 1/7^th the saturated fat of other meats.  It also has more unsaturated fats which reduce cholesterol. A typically domestically raised animal will have 25-30% body fat while wild game averages 4.3%.   Along with these facts, some species such as Salmon and Bison are high in Omega-3 Essential Fatty acids as well.  Many of the types of game listed in the table below also offer increased antioxidant and vitamins including vitamins C, E, B-12, and riboflavin.
  

Nutritional value of game meat (3 ounces)

Nutrient Content
Species	Protein %	Fat %	Cholesterol (mg/100g*)	Calories (Kcal/100g*)
Beef (USDA choice)	22	6.5	72	180
Beef (USDA standard)	22.7	2	69	152
Lamb	20.8	5.7	66	167
Pork	22.3	4.9	71	165
Chicken	23.6	0.7	62	135
Turkey (domestic)	23.5	1.5	60	146
Snow Goose	22.7	3.6	142	121
Buffalo	21.7	1.9	62	138
Whitetail Deer	23.6	1.4	116	149
Elk	22.8	0.9	67	137
Moose	22.1	0.5	71	130
Antelope	22.5	0.9	112	144
Wild Boar**	28.3	4.38	109	160
Squirrel	21.4	3.2	83	149
Cottontail	21.8	2.4	77	144
Wild Turkey	25.7	1.1	55	163
Pheasant (domestic)	23.9	0.8	71	144
Wild Pheasant	25.7	0.6	52	148
Sharp-tail Grouse	23.8	0.7	105	142
Sage Grouse	23.7	1.1	101	140
Dove	22.9	1.8	94	145
Duck (domestic)	19.9	4.25	89	180
Mallard	23.1	2	140	152

Source:  FDA Online

Although there are risks associated with wild meat, such as chronic wasting disease and an increase in lead levels due to ammunition, the benefits clearly outweigh the drawbacks.  So eat up hunters, knowing that the thrill of the hunt wasn’t the only advantage you gained.