Venison Jerky

In the past I've mixed venison and beef and made jerky with a jerky gun/tube. Taste has always come out ok but the texture isn't quite what I'm looking for. Personally, I like Jerky with a little thickness to it and takes a little work to chew. How would I accomplish that? Do I need to not mix/cut with another meet and only do 100% venison with no grind? Can I slice the roast or tenderloins into chunks and dehydrate/smoke those? Or would I need to sacrifice some of the backstrap for that?

I slice the hindquarters and back straps into jerky cuts. I will slice the meat after I have taken it out of a 3 day soaking in an icechest. The meat is very cold and I slice it about a 1/2 inch thick into long slices. Of course the back straps are more tender then the hindquarter cuts.

I've found that the longer you leave it in the dehydrator, the tougher and chewier it will get. You can alter up the nozzle of your jerky gun to make it thicker too. I just use straight ground venison in mine though.