Deer meat

How many people actually think deer meat is good?

I don't think it is "good", I think it is "Awesome"......never liked it until I started to butcher my own deer.

x2 it's the best

x3

I love it, I would rather eat deer meat most days than beef.

It's just about the only red meat that is served in my home.

Wow! I just saw this post minutes after finishing up a great venison supper.

Here is the deal - if you don't like deer meat, it may be from how you are preparing it.

I did like everyone else did - have it processed into sausage, ground "beef", and then fried the backstraps. If that is what you do you are missing out.

When I have my deer processed, very little goes into sausage anymore. I have the front shoulders sliced into "steaks" and of course leave the backstrap alone.

Take those steaks when you are ready to cook them, trim all of the white stuff off and take the bone out, and then marianate them in your favorite marinade. I like Teriaki and also vinegar and olive oil.

Grill the steaks - and by that I mean sear them. 5 minutes on either side is about right. Too much and they will be tough (remember venison is very lean to begin with).

I do the backstraps the same way.

Once you start grilling your meat, I doubt you will ever go back to chicken frying it or covering it up with a bunch of bacon and jalepenos. It is some of the most delicious meat you can put on your grill, it is just real touchy to grill because of how easy it is to overcook.

In my opinion some of the nastiest tasting meat is ground venison. That stuff is horrible (at least what I have had). I have had some that was decent, but it was because it had jalepenos, cheese, and bacon mixed in it.

I have a steer in my freezer at all times and we enjoy the deer in the freezer just as much as the steer.

I do know what you mean, but I do butcher a steer every year for my family and there is definitely nothing better than a rib eye taken from a steer raised to eat. When you eat beef that has not been subject to commercial feed lots and steriods, you will come to understand how modern man kind of took to eating this animal. Darn good!

i wish i enjoyed but i dont. I also dont like the taste of lamb or anything with a "gamey" flavor. I used to be able to tolerate it until i had a old buck chicken fried. After that i ruined it for me. I do give away all the deer a shoot to people that need/want it.

x2!! except we like to marinate those badboys in mesquite marinade. Its is great I promise

I disagree I think that venison hamburger meat is some of the best...you can do tons with it. Chicken fry, meatballs, chili, burgers. Then you can make your sausages.

I don't know who's cooking your meat, but you need to find another cook

I am not crazy about it. If it were that good we would farm deer and hunt cattle.

I enjoy a chicken fried ham steak or tenderloin from time to time but the only thing I really like is dried deer sausage.

I'd rather have a ribeye or pork chop for dinner than ground deer burger.

That being said, I am not a super chef. I love to eat fish, dove, quail and can cook a hell of a steak, but venison is something I haven't mastered

i prefer beef, i buthcer my own, and had it from several different people. Doesnt even come close to beef, axis, oryx etc. I wont eat it, usually give it away.

Miller I'm gonna try grilling ham steaks from a young doe.

I like my steaks rare to begin with. I'd really like to give that recipe a try.

What marinade do you use?

a nice grass fed steer is pretty good. I like the fillet and Ribeyes. I pretty much like the same thing on a deer, but deer makes better sausage, sticks and jerky IMO.

I can tell that your cooking had stunted your growth at some point and continues... ..so I can understand not liking venison

If you take the time cutting out ALL the white stuff on a deer, you will be amazed at how good it tastes. They would farm more deer is it was easier to properly butcher them. I get about 2/3 of the meat off a deer than most people. I cut all the white stuff out and cook it up and give it to my dogs.

Being able to sleep in a drawer has its perks

My favorite is KC Masterpiece "Honey Teriaki". My boys like KC Masterpiece "Steakhouse". I like to mariante the deer steaks or backstrap 24 hours before I plan to grill them.

Using a gas grill, I set the heat on medium and let the grill get up to about 350 degrees. I'll seer the meat for about 5 minutes on each side, maybe a little less if the grill is running a little hot. If you take it off with just a little pink in the middle they are perfect.

I have had friends who have never had wild game come over to my house and absolutely love the venison I grill like that.

Ima try that out. Thanks for the tips!

Best venison steaks I have ever had were cooked at a birthday party what was catered by Perinis. They built fires and the coals like they wanted. They then put shovel fulls on top of bare ground. They used completely open metal grills about 12-14" tall on the bed of coals. They used spices on the 3/4" steaks but would not tell me what they used. They melted butter and had the steaks in the butter for about an hour. They put them on the grills for 3 minutes per side and then pulled them off. Best venison I have had grilled. They had it down to an art.

I'm going to have to try the recipe above also because I've never been that fond of it either. I guess growing up in a poor family eating deer meat every night didn't help much either, just got plum sick of it. Not sure it's any cheaper in the long run either like some claim. What does it end up costing? $15 bucks a pound, maybe more.

I think its pretty bad overall. I give most of mine to less fortunate and my dogs.

If its so good why does everybody always have "their" own recipe? Always soaking it or marinating it or frying it to make it taste good.

Give me a steak or hamburger anyday of the week.

Clean kill. Gut it ASAP. Rinse out the cavity to get it cooling
off.
Hang for 3-4 days in temps under 50 degrees if possible.
As posted above.
The way "Perinias" grilled it is the best for steaks.

Love me some deer meat

I don't think there are many who would argue that venison tastes better than a good rib eye or filet, but how many of us eat rib eyes every day?

Venison is something different that becomes a part of our variety of food enjoyed by those of us who enjoy the whole experience of hunting - the preparation for the hunt, the actual hunt, the kill, and the consumption of what we worked so hard to obtain.

Prepared properly, venison can be something enjoyed and looked forward to eating, instead of something tolerated.

I feel bad for anyone who just goes out for the kill and does not experience the enjoyment of preparing, cooking, and eating something you have worked so hard to get.

I don't think I could hunt if I did not eat what i killed.

Definitely prefer beef and wild hogs over deer, but I eat 4-6 deer per year. It has it's own flavor and while isn't as good as some meat, I like it. I wish I could cook it as well as some folks, I've eaten some very tasty venison cooked by others. Don't forget about the jerky as well, deer meat makes excellent jerky.

Duck is less popular than venison and I'll cook you some duck gumbo that is more addicting than crack.

Sounds great minus the duck. Haha.

I have never liked deer. I can eat chicken fried back strap I give the rest to a guy on our lease that does like it.

Elk, by far, is better than any other wild game IMO.

If you don't like venison, either you didn't prepare it right or you just can't cook. As for the ones who say ground venison is bad, try adding ground beef with it. When I grind my deer I make about a 75/25 ratio, 75% venison - 25% beef. IMO, venison chilli tastes way better than beef chilli. If you have never made your own deer jerky, you are missing out on a real treat. I cooked smothered tenderized deer steaks in gravy tonight with mashed potatoes, purple hull peas, and turnip greens and it was awesome. BTW, I process my own deer, so I know they will taste good.

if deer isn't handled properly
right from the start, nothing
you can do to it or soak it in
or sprinkle on it will make
it right. just like fish kept
on a stringer vs. one that goes
straight into the cooler.
some will cuss me, but there are
some processors that take your
deer, weigh it,then it goes into
the locker until they get enough
carcasses to make it worth their
while to dirty up their equipment.
you may get back all of the deer
you brought in, some of it, or none.
you may end up with someones deer
that spent all day with the guts
in it,riding around in a bumper
rack in 70 degree or more temperature,
or someones gut-shot mess.

learn to cut it up yourself.
it ain't that hard.

I think if you don't like the meat, and especially if you are feeding it to your dogs, you shouldn't shoot em. That's just me.

If you don't like deer meat it's because you're probably not a very good chef. It's all in the preparation and seasoning. I'd suggest that you expand your horizons and give some new recipes a try.

This is funny. People have different taste buds. So since I dont like lamb also all the five star restaurants I have tried it in must mean those chefs are terrible. Makes sense now. You think they will give me my money back.

I agree with LP, I've had some people cook deer that tasted like boot leather. If done right and not over cooked it's really good. That could be the reason y'all don't like it, most people want all meat cooked well done. Check out any wild game cookbook, wild game should never be well done.

I'm still sticking to my guns on my last comment, if you don't like to eat the meat, you shouldn't be killing the animal.

I love Venison

Well I will let all the familys know who I donate deer meat to that 8pointdrop said i shouldnt shoot anymore deer for them. I think they may not agree with you. I think as long as its being used why should it matter if I personally dont like it.

Venison is, to me, one of the best meats on the planet. Like said on this forum, you just have to know how to cook it to your liking. I will eat it any way but raw, but here is a few pointers to help those with offset taste buds.

1) When chicken frying, use buttermilk. I season the meat, let it sweat and then soak it in buttermilk for a few minutes before I flour it. This helps to rid some of the gamey taste.

2) My wife loves all venison, except ground venison. So when grinding the meat, I add about a pound of chopped peppered bacon with the meat and it gives it a flavor more to her liking.

3) If I grill backstrap, I will marinate it beforehand with whatever marinade I have, and then work to keep it moist while grilling with a mop or by wrapping it in foil. Butterflied and wrapped with bacon is one of my favorites.

4) Last, I always process my own deer. Taking it to the processor just never seems to come back the same. We gut it, wash out the inside, strip the hide, and let it hang in our walkin cooler by the hind legs for 3-4 days before processing.

I promise you that I could serve you several venison dishes that you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between it and beef.

With that said, if you cannot prepare, season and cook venison in a manner comparable to beef, then you do not know how to cook.

It's all in how you cook it... cooked right it's GREAT!
cooked wrong it's just something to eat.

I can tell when people start threads like this just to argue, if your going to post and don't want others opinions, why are you on a forum? Call me old school, but I'm one of them weirdos that still read a Bible, I know lots of people don't even pick em up anymore or open them.

Ch.11 verse 7 "then I heard a voice, Rise Peter kill and EAT"

I'm not knocking you for feeding the hungry, I shoot a doe every year to give to hunters for the hungry, but no way I'm giving away every deer I shoot. It saves too much money not having to buy beef.

Well poor people and my dogs appreciate me


I know how to cook fine and I do eat it occasionaly but its not a tast I crave. And as I stated before 10 people have come on here saying how they process it and cook it makes it so much better. Good for you.

Keep your preaching to yourself 8pt

I'm used to getting frowned upon for my preaching sir, that's just how it's become these days.

That means youre not very good at it or don't know when to stop.

I love it! It's so much leaner than beef. Plus, I know it doesn't have all those antibiotics they pump into the cows. I bought a deep freezer last year just to load up on venison to last me through the year. I look forward to deer season not for the antlers but for the meat. My dad id the same way though, he doesn't like venison or any other "gamey" table fare. Just one of those things, either like it or not, nothing wrong about it.

i didnt start a thread to argue i was just wondering how many people actually like and if anyone like me didnt.

There are a lot that don't like it, to much of a game taste for some people. To me that's why I like it, a greasy burger is almost overwhelming after a few months of good venison.

I will heed B-I-L request and stop preaching now.

Don't sweat it. You will always get people on here who "know best" and have to tell you about it. Venison has its own taste and not everybody likes it. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy hunting. That's why there is a list of places here on the forum you can donate venison.

I love it! If you expect it to taste like beef I suggest you buy Beef.

We love venison,,, back strap / tenderloins cut in cubes, strips or steak the rest hamburger grind or sausage, none of ours tastes gamey.
We eat beef rib eyes, brisket and tenderloin too, all the hamburger we use is venison.

Some folks just don't care for the taste of wild game no matter what.
Just me, I think it's a mental aversion, at some time they ate some game that wasn't cared for or processed properly and that left a lasting impression.

The most important thing for taste is how the meat is handled the first hour after it's killed. Doesn't matter what kinda meat you're talking about.
Unless it's 40 degrees or under and you can keep it in 100% shade get it skinned quartered and on ice in an ice chest or in a 40 or less walk in cooler as fast as humanly possible.

It's no wonder why some folks think it tastes gamey or just don't like game meat.
You cannot hang a deer in the shade with the temp over 40 for even a couple hours then throw in the back of a truck in full sunlight even with the cavity packed full of ice and travel 2 hours to get to a processor and expect anything less than funky meat.

I guess I am fortunate, that the wife, kids, and myself all prefer venison to beef. With that said there are several factors that come into play.

1. The deers diet. I find Hill country deer by and large are a whole lot less gamey than East Texas deer. I rarely marinate my deer from the hill country and use nothing more than a rub for grilling.

2. How the deer was handled post-kill. Get those guts out ASAP and get it washed out and cooled down. Makes a world of difference.

3. How it is cooked. Personally I can count the number of times in the last 10 years I have fried deer on one hand. If the deer comes from a good diet wise region and was handled properly you shouldn't have to fry it. I only do that on special request.

While I love tenderloins and backstrap as does my family, we find that an 8 hour crock pot roast is about as good as it gets. Hamburger meat is huge as well, we use it for tacos, spaghetti, lasagna, pizza, Burgers,,,everything. I typically do Steaks, Roasts, and the rest in hamburger.

i lost count. . . .

can we start over from
the beginning?

For the THF members that have posted to this thread about not liking the taste of venison. I have a question for you.
Are you the hunters returning home from a weekend of hunting with your whole deer on display for all to see?
You know the deer I'm talking about. This is the deer that's been gutted (or not) with the hide still left on it. The deer that has been placed in the bed of a pickup or on a flatbed trailer that is on its way to your home or to your local deer processor only to be baking in the sun for hours. And O ya!! Good try on trying to your deer cool and fresh by placing a bag of ice in the deer’s chest cavity.
Not saying this is you but if it is, Please give these 4 easy steps a try.
Step 1 - Make a clean shot (no gut shot)
Step 2 - After you confirmed your kill you should gut the deer ASAP
Step 3 - Once you return from the field - back to camp hang your deer and remove its hide ASAP
Step 4 – Wash out the chest cavity
Step 5 - If the weather is hot and you have no access to a walk-in cooler you should quarter your deer and get on ice ASAP.
Preparation.. Starting from the shot to the freezer is the key in quality of your deer meat.
I would rather see your deer pictures posted on the THF forum for all to see. Than see it displayed in the bed of your truck or on your trailer.

Not my favorite, but will follow some of the recommendations here...

My family loves venison as well (normally whitetail but did get a big axis last year and elk is awesome too). We make steaks out what we can, grind the rest and use it to make regular ground meat (normally add about 10% beef fat), breakfast sausage, link sausage and occasionally jerky. Grilled steaks are awesome but lots of other preparations are good too.

I will tendorize then cube some steaks (bite sized cubes). Put a couple of table spoons of oil in a hot pan and put the cubed steak in it. As it begins to brown, sprinkle with flour. Once it's about done, put in some salt, pepper, chopped onion, minced garlic and worcestshire sauce, let cook for a few minutes. Now add beef stock (can use water with beef bouillon cubes/granules). Should begin to thicken up. Add some oregano. Cover and simmer on low for about 20 min, taste, adjust seasonings if needed. Now mix in a slurry of beef broth and corn starch, cover and simmer another 20 min. Taste, adjsut seasonings again if needed. At this point you should basically have the same as beef tips/gravy, except with venison. Make a batch of white rice and get busy. This is probably one of my kids favorite recipes.

Starting out the same way, you can also use strips instead of cubes. Brown in flour. Remove meat. Toss in some onions and bell peppers, a little red wine to deglaze the pot. Cook a few minutes, then add the meat back with pepper (can use crushed red pepper flakes for an extra kick), salt, minced garlic. Add beef broth and cover. Let this cook for about 45 min on simmer. Really good, just like pepper steak.

Don't forget simple stir fry too, with vegetables. Yum!

I haven't bought beef for the house in years. Mostly it is venison of some type, whitetail/elk/axis... for the red meat selection.

Forgot to mention. We use the ground venison in basically every recipe that normally calls for ground beef; chili, enchiladas, goulash, spaghetti, etc, etc. Funny story. One afternoon I decided to make spaghetti and meat sauce but since I was at the grocery store, I just bought a package of ground beef since it was thawed and my venison was still frozen. I made the meal as normal, except for substituting the type of meat. When we sat down to eat, my kids asked, "Why does this meat sauce taste weird?" I guess since they were so accustomed to eating venison that beef tasted "weird", lol. Granted, they still love beef steaks (served them up a filet mignon this past weekend) but venison is a staple in our house and the kids love it.

I love venison but I can understand someone not liking it. Venison is closer to lamb/mutton so if someone doesn't like lamb then they're not likely to like venison. I believe the objectionable taste comes from the type of fat in the meat. The tallow can get tacky if allowed to cool and has a different taste then beef fat. I believe that the higher tallow content of mutton is why Americans eat very little of it.

It aint good..........it is the best if you know how to correctly clean, save, and prepare it. We typically eat deer meat about 1/2 of our meals in our household. My better half makes the best meatloafs, enchiladas, lasagna (spelling?) etc you can imagine out of deer meat.

Deer, fish, & shrimp make up 75% of the dinners in our household!

I have posted about how I prepare and GRILL all of my venison. It is considered "delicious" by all who eat it. Sorry about the bragging.

But some have mentioned above about how the deer is handled after it is killed. I am definitely in the group that guts, skins, quarters, and ices my deer immediately after it is killed. I do not make a mad rush to the processor - I will finish my hunt (usually 2-4 days) and then bring all deer killed to the processor in the coolers on the way out.

I do know that most just bring the deer to the processor gutted but with the hide still on it - and this is even in bow season when temperatures can still be in the 90's.

I quarter my own deer for two reasons: 1) I have always heard it is better to let the meat sit in wet icy water for a couple of days, and 2) I like to cape and bring my mounts to a taxidermist not in the same proximity of the processor.

I do think there is something to be said about quartering and icing your deer. I honestly have never had anyone complain about a "gamey" taste from my venison.

I just think that some guys are just too lazy to quarter and ice their own deer. The only time I hate it was back in the day when I did the "youth weekend" thing and would have 6 deer to clean and quarter in one night. That kind of sucked, but that also made me teach my then 12 year old to skin and quarter his own deer.

it's the main source of meat in my house. Wife and kids love it.

My whole family likes venison. We put 4 deer in the freezer this year. We also raise our own beef here on the farm, as well as our own pork. Ive had a lot of people who say they dont like venison try some of ours and say they love it. But, we do process our own so we know its handled properly.

After reading this thread, I went and got out two packages of venison steaks to grill for dinner.

We use venison steaks for fajitas and its great. USe them in place of beef in any recipe. Good stuff.

There is one big reason to eat vension whether you like it or not and that is your heart. I too love beef but I ate a beef steak for the first time in almost 18 months last week. Hearts stents and by-pass surgery is not fun. You may be one of the lucky ones that can tolerate high levels of saturated fat but most cannot. It so happens I like deer meat very much but even if I didn't like it I would still eat it over beef in my situation.

X2

Well in my own opinion if you people who dont like deer meat because its gamey tasting....your deer hasn't been processed in the right way.....The next time you kill a deer take it and gut it skin it and quarter it and put it in an ice chest and fill it with water and shake for about 2 minutes,drain water and repeat this 3 times and then cover the meat with ice and fill with water and change out ice and water for 3 days in a row and then process it yourself or take and have it processed and i gurantee you there will be no GAMEY TASTE.

+100

All the above 100% truth.
We have always done our own.
Now here is my question.
I have always did the field work ASAP.
Then let it hang in the shade, under 50degrees. Or hung the
Venision in cooler for bout a week.
Always left the hide on.
Am I missing something?
What is the advantage to skinning the Deer soon.
Thank you.

if deer taste so good, how come every recipe you guys list has you covering up the bad taste with seasoning. i can put a steak out of the package on the grill with no seasoning and it taste good, deer not so much.

It's all about how you handle the animal after harvest, and doing the processing yourself. I am a chef, and absolutely love venison if it is mine. I won't eat it if it's from someone else or a processor. Been burned too many times. I didn't like venison for years until I started hunting and doing all the work myself.

My back strap and tenderloin require zero seasoning to taste good. (no gamey taste)
I choose to add a little kosher salt & pepper or other seasonings (to my taste) before grilling just like I would a beef steak.

Why would you waste the money on all the associated costs of hunting and not eat the deer you killed when you can buy a beef steer for the price of a decent rifle & scope and several for the price of a lease alone.

That's a rhetorical question, some doodz only care about taking care of the headgear, proper meat handling never enters their mind.

I also break down the deer ASAP. Skin it quarter it put in a ice chest with the plug out for a couple days. I just cook the Steaks with Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. No need to add all the extra seasonings if handled properly.

I bet with
Lease cost, gas, rifles, ammo, 4wheeler,
Food for several weekends,
Maybe $50 lb

Oh..... And CORN

This^^^^^^^^^^

One more thing...... Med Rare to Rare backstraps whole on the grill is hard to beat.

Do it yourself. I've never had a processor come even close to getting ground meat as good as I can at home. I use steak fat trimmings from Kroger to grind in with it. About 85% deer meat and 15% steak fat. Great, now I'm hungry again. You won't want to give it away either, I'm stingy with mine.

If you don't like ground venison, try this and you will change your mind. I save my brisket fat trimmings all year in the freezer. When I butcher my deer I trim out all the fat, all the silver skin and sinew. Don't let the processer do this. He will probably not trim it well enough. I grind the brisket fat very fine, and add it to the venison in a 85/15 ratio. Juiciest, tastiest venison burger I've ever had!

whitetail tastes very much like good lamb, that being said it is not for everyone. And this goes for steaks as well, if you have to pound it with a mallet and chicken fry it or drown it in marinade to make it pallitable the meat is either substandard or you might want to rethink your butchering or meal prep. And never soak it in cooler water for a few days you will lose all of the flavor of the meat and end up with something that taste like dollar store pork chops.

I usually recover my deer and gut it in the field immediately after recovery. I then bring it back to camp and hang it up, skin it, quarter it, and put it in the cooler for a couple of days. I think in Texas because of the warm weather (really 60's are not unusual even in December)getting the meat cooled down asap is more important that what it likely is up north.

On those times when I shoot and recover a deer close to camp, I have brought on in to the game rack and skinned it and cleaned it without gutting. I don't do this often, but it is possible. The main thing is to get it quartered and into the cooler asap.

Don't worry, all you need to do is provide the spark and the forum will fan the flames!!

JR

Leaving the hide on a deer will taint the meat therefore giving it the gamey taste that everyone complains about. You should always remove the hide no matter what the temperature. After doing so if the temperature is cool (bellow 50degrees) you can wrap your deer with a game bag to keep the flies off the meat. But this process is only short term. After the deer has time to cool (say an hour after skinning) the meat becomes much easier to quarter.

I like to mix good sirloin meat with Wright brand bacaon ends and pieces (buy it at wally world in like a 3lb package very cheap). It makes what I call Deer Bacon Burger. I grill them over hickory coals to med well and they are the best bacon burger I have ever had. 4lbs of deer meat to one lb of bacon fat is the recipe. And, don't use deer scraps to make it....use nice small cuts of meat with zero white stuff from the deer. I prefer the sirloin or back strap ground with it.

The difference between the meat from a young doe vs. a mature buck is night and day. Last year a buddy of mine introduced me to venison chops. It's really popular in the midwest, but not so much in texas. We had them cut about 1 inch thick, and the result looks like a bunch of venison mini-t-bones. I marinate them for a few hours, sear them about 1 minute on each side at 650 degrees on my green egg, and they come out tasting very much like a prime cut of beef. The rest of my deer get cut into ground meat. If you're sensitive to the venison taste, just simmer the ground meat in some "better than bouillon" beef base. Again, comes out tasting like beef.

We haven't purchased beef in years. We eat almost exclusively venison, with some seafood and chicken from time to time.

There's a WORLD of difference between vension of different types. We eat mostly axis, and I have yet to meet anyone who still prefers beef after having some axis I prepared. There is zero gamey taste. In fact, BEEF tastes more "gamey".

Even within whitetails, there is a world of difference in deer depending on the location, age, gender, etc. North Texas "Farm" deer that are eating crops taste much different that deer eating scrub in south Texas. West texas deer eating sage also have a different taste. And, as mentioned, does or younger deer taste different that an older buck. I say "different", not "better" becuase everyone has their own preferences.

Also as mentioned, it makes a world of difference on how the deer is processed, stored, and prepared. One thing that constantly amazes me is the folks who "soak" their deer in ice water for days. I personally believe, after doing side-by-side comparisons, that this does more harm than good. Think about it and try this: try soaking a prime beef rib in a bowl of ice water for a couple of days before you cook it. Chances are you probably won't like it.

While WT definitely has a "stronger" taste than axis, for example, most novices overcook it treating it like beef. If you do this, it will be MUCH more gamey and tough. A good rule of thumb is to cook it one degree "lighter" than you would beef.

For example, if you like your beef "medium", cook your venison "medium-rare". If you like your beef medium rare, cook your venison rare.

We even make "carpaccio" out of our deer, especially axis. Take a slice of backstrap, cut it into thin small pieces about 1" sqaure and thin as you can. Pound/Press those pieces until they are paper-thin. Arrange on a plate and cover with Soy Sauce, Ponzu, or similar - sprinkly capers and maybe some dill over the top and set in the fridge until cold.

Eat 'em like you would sushi. Most folks can't tell the difference from fine sushi-grade tuna. It's delicious!!

BTW, we have eaten 10 deer over the past 12 months. 8 axis, and two whitetails. In fact, I am pretty much out of axis and am going this weekend to stock up again.

AND, since moving to all-venison diet - my cholesterol has been reduced 30%!!!

If it is cold enough outside(30's at night, no higher than 50 during the day) I will leave the deer hanging with a tarp to shiled it from the sun. I leave it hangin with the skin on, and have never had it taste gamey. If the weather cooperates, I'll let it hang for a week. If not, quarter and let it sit in the cooler (not soking in water, that's just nasty) for up to a week. Does wonders to making an old tough buck very tender.

X4

Our freezer has more venison than anything else.

IMO, if you don't eat the meat of the animals you harvest, you shouldn't hunt, no offense to anyone

In regards to the cooler, the cooler needs to be drained several times a day in order to keep the meat out of water.

Maybe I am paranoid, but I gut, skin, and quarter my deer and get it in the cooler asap after I recover it. My venison has never tasted gamey and I have never had a problem with spoiled meat - even in the early part of bow season (and this year it starts on Sep 29 which could be a little warm).

Definitely keep it out of water though - drain and then drain some more.

Cutting the silver skin and fat off when you butcher your deer really will cut down the gamey taste. I enjoy a good steak but having some good venison is always a welcome treat.

I love venison...almost as much as wild hog.

The only deer meat I like is Backstrap chicken fried and the rest sausage.

Venison is a delicasey especially with a helping of mashed tators and gravy! Lol

If you are not fond of deer meat have your processor tenderize the meat. When run through a tenderizer you will not even be able to tell its venison if prepared right. I have also noticed a difference in the taste depending on who I take it to. Some processors do an excellent job with the meat while others don’t impress me at all. I have summer sausage, deer sticks, tenderized cutlets, steaks, sausage, and hamburger made every year. Of course like others on this thread I quarter and bleed my deer and place on ice as quick as I can. The meat I get back from my number on processor does not have much of a gamey taste at all.

Its funny, I saw this post this morning and just last nightI thawed out some hind quarter steaks and sliced it up and have jerky being made inside of the dehydrator right now.

I love venison, its so much leaner, no hormones, no steriods etc. Al natural.

My lease buddy has a wife that will not eat any meat whatsoever, except for deer meat. The only reason she will eat deer meat is because of no hormones. Its funny because she will not eat pork tho, and we have tons of hogs.

This.

I have always wandered if it was ok to cook deer meat rare,medium rare...I have always made sure I cooked it well done? That's why I have always stuck with chicken fried steak or sausage.

man that sounds good.

I love VENISON!!