i've been eating venison as long as I've been eating, and I don't mind if the meat has a little gamey flavor. But, the wife hates the gamey flavor. So, I thought I'd ask you folks what you do to make that gamey old buck taste like a tender little doe, if in fact it's possible.

Give me your secrets. I need the help.

Chili, spaghetti sauce, and smothered with wine.

The only thing I have ever done was soak it in milk.

Milk.

buttermilk for 24 hours....

When I was young my Grandmother and my Mom would both soak venison in water with a cap full of vinegar to take the gamey taste out of it. I prefer to soak it in salt water to draw all the blood out of the meat. Just wash it off good and do not add anymore salt when cooking it.

This.

The quicker you get that meat in the cooler and on ice, the less game flavor it has.
The only way to deal with gamy deer meat is to bury it in a sauce or make sausage.

Only take does.

Manwich

Never noticed.

Do not over cook it, med rare at most.

Have not shot a doe since the drought started because my numbers our down IMO. I always leave my deer on ice for 7 days before I process it AND it's 1/4 and on ice when it's still steaming.

Let them hang as long as you can or leave them on ice

Make it into jerky and go shoot a doe.

Well, I'm with you on the 'go shoot a doe' approach, but I still need an answer on the buck. And...stxranchman might just have the right idea about getting the blood out of the meat. And here's why I think that might be the answer. Years ago I finally found a way to sneak up on a huge old buck in Louisiana. He grazed on the edge of a bean field, in an area that was thick with wild onions. He apparently loved wild onions. Well, I finally got that old rascal and when I skinned him out I smelled like onions. And when we ate him, the meat smelled like onions. The smell was in the blood, which was in the meat. Maybe if I can get the blood out, it'll ease the gamey flavor.

The grandson's 8 point from a couple of days ago was deboned immediately and the meat was soaked for about 2 days in fresh water and ice, drained and more fresh water and ice added regularly. The wife fried up a couple of pieces of backstrap just to test the meat. That stinky old buck was a bit gamey, but not too bad. I guess it was the water soak. If a salt water soak will work better, we'll try that next.

It might not be the full answer, but at least I have a plan.

Excellent topic here!

First if your meat only hunter, does the ticket, bucks good too, pending how you prep
them! dont advertise that big one on the hood your car for a week is start,

Mostly to cure the gamey flavor, salt water, milk is the ticket times are on your
schedule. Sooner the better the carcus gets on ice or cooler the better!


hunt safe.....

please let your deer hang over night before putting on ice, if its too warm then just quarter and go on ice but not before letting it hang for a few hrs skinned and gutted of course. however some bucks are just plain nasty tasting, my buck this year came out great tasting. i let it hang over night in 55dg temps before i deboned and put on ice the next morning.
also depending on what your cooking, say your going to make chili, well brown your meat and discard those juices even rinse the meat in the pan and discard that, now add water and beef boulion for your flavor base. same goes for carne guisada. if its a bad tasting deer doctor it up, cut it in cubes and bacon wrap it for k bobs. some parts of deer are more gamey than others, like the flanks and rib meat, i use to pick deer clean and use it for my sausage but it gave my sausage a gamey taste, now i only use the better portions for my sausage. if your trying to do steaks marinade in butter milf for a few hrs.

I'm on board with the doe thing. Several factors, quick kill, 50 degrees or on ice, 3 days for blood to get out. A real old buck-- just like a bull-- can be a challenge. That's why bulls get turned to steers, heifers are good to go, and most people don't eat boar pigs. Nothing magical about it. The last taste factor is--- it is s deer?

DRY AGING is the answer.
We let all of our deer hang at 38-40 degrees for 2-3 weeks. Leaving the hide on helps keep it from drying out, but skinning isn't too bad, it just takes a little time to trim off the thin dried layer, loss of meat is minimal. It is amazing the difference, even on the ground meat. Once you have done this you wont go back.
The problem is having a cooler that you can do this in. Wet aging for a week or two in the refrigerator is an acceptable alternative.
Most cooking and marinading recipes are more of covering taste.

http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/other/recipes/2006/01/deer-hang-time

This^^^^^. Think about it. If you treated beef the way most people treat deer, you wouldn't even eat it. It is pretty warm most of the days during deer season. When a beef is slaughtered it hangs and ages at a cold temperature. It doesn't spend any time hanging in a tree or on a trailer for hours going to the processor. The sooner you can bleed it, clean it, and chill it the better. If you have the facilities to age it then that's a big bonus. Age and sex do affect the quality of the meat. There aren't many steers in the field.

if you read the article it talks about the need for meat to go through rigor mortis, thats why i say do not cut your deer up and go straight to ice, let it hang a few hrs in warm weather and overnight or longer in cooler weather

This is what I do to venison steaks.

I have killed 3 deer so far this year 2 doe and one spike. I cooked a chuck of meat off right when i got home and it wasnt gamey at all.. I killed a doe a week ago sliced her up and sealed her in vaccum sealed bags and few days ago cooked some of her off and no issue with gamey meat.

The absolute best thing you can do is get that meat cooled down a quick as possible. Whether it be beef, venison, or pork. I've eaten a lot of 250-300 lb boars that most people say can't be eaten, but they have been cooled and on ice within 30 min.