How to Ruin Your Venison

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Maybe Y'All have had experoences that can add some info to the list below...

How to ruin your deer meat...

1. Gut shoot the deer - rupturing the stomach, bowel, kidney or bladder releases acids and enzymes that wreck the meat in quite short order. The urine is sterile but also contains concentrates salts.

2. Delay field-dressing it - even in winter it's best to gut the deer quickly so it can cool-out and start to "case" which is protection against external contamination etc.

3. Leave sinewy tissues and surface fat deposits on until the carcass finally goes to the butcher. Fat on game goes sour and affects the meat fast - even in fairly cold temeperatures. Also, the butcher may - or may not:eek: - bother to remove that stuff when he grinds your burger/sausage cuts.

4. transport your deer on the hood of your vehicle - the heat from the motor, even on cold days, will allow bacteria to stay alive and get their nasty work started in/on the meat.

5. transport your deer in one of those bumper-mounted racks - where all the dirt and grit and chemicals from the road and the exhaust can permeate the meat and do their chemical damage before you get home. In some weather transporting the carcass on the vehicle roof for a goodly distance lets the Sun get in some dirty tricks too.

6. Have someone who is squeamish about eating game meat cook your venison - even if they don't try some urban legend prep stunt (like "soaking it in milk to remove the gamey flavor" :rolleyes:) - they are guarenteed to overcook it and that is what makes it tough. Venison has very little fat and virtually no marbleing (hence the deep redness of the meat) and thus it actually cooks in a flash compared to beef or even fish.

7. Similarly - try to "kill the "Gamey" flavor with marinades and spices - very few spices do venison any favors. Pepper in small doses is decent and so is lemon, some basils and spearmint. Salt is grim (which is why marinading venison in Worchestershire or Soy sauce is a huge mistake. If you must marinade, use lime or lemon juices mixed about 4 parts to 1 part water. Tart wines are OK for marinade but never any sugary/fruity wines. Bar*B*Que sauces are usually a negative addition because of salt content.

That's all I can think of offhand - anyone else have any "no-nos" re: getting the venison to come out good on the table ????????

:cool:
 
5. transport your deer in one of those bumper-mounted racks - where all the dirt and grit and chemicals from the road and the exhaust can permeate the meat and do their chemical damage before you get home. In some weather transporting the carcass on the vehicle roof for a goodly distance lets the Sun get in some dirty tricks too.
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Variation: In order to protect your deer from the above, wrap it tightly in one of those cheap blue tarps and let it "stew"(...as in bacterial stew!)

Also, remember to leave those hefty inter-muscular fat deposits and "silver skin" in place. Having a bite of tallow condense and stick to the roof of your guest's mouths will mean more venison for you!

And don't bother getting all fussy about that hair...nobody will notice.

And be sure to let it "age" with the hide on...if you forget and skin it in a timely manner, you can re-wrap the carcass in an electric blanket, turn it on "high", and therefore avoid properly cooling the meat as well.

It is not necessary to treat it as you would meat from the market-- it is perfectly OK to hang in a dirty garage, let the dogs "inspect" it, get cut up on a filthy table, and to let it freeze and thaw for several cycles before storage.
 
4. transport your deer on the hood of your vehicle - the heat from the motor, even on cold days, will allow bacteria to stay alive and get their nasty work started in/on the meat.
5. transport your deer in one of those bumper-mounted racks - where all the dirt and grit and chemicals from the road and the exhaust can permeate the meat and do their chemical damage before you get home. In some weather transporting the carcass on the vehicle roof for a goodly distance lets the Sun get in some dirty tricks too.
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Hopefully nobody does this anymore anyway. Obviously we hunters disagree with "anti-hunting" folk, but we do need to respect them. Riding around with deer carcasses clearly visible on our vehicles is definitely not going to help us win anyone over. Put 'em down in the bed if possible. Better yet, quarter it in the woods and put it in an ice chest.

JMHO.

Jason
 
Riding around with deer carcasses clearly visible on our vehicles is definitely not going to help us win anyone over. Put 'em down in the bed if possible. Better yet, quarter it in the woods and put it in an ice chest.
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.

Agree, but in those states (as WI) that require registration of your kill, you are supposed to bring it in intact. Also, WI until just a few years ago, REQUIRED deer to be transported in plain sight - including pickup tailgate being open...thankfully have grown out of that. Still plenty of folks whose idea of bragging is driving around with a dead deer in plain sight of all - amounts to bad taste more than anything.
 
Times sure have changed. Used to be, thirty/forty years ago, you had a nice buck visible on your vehicle, folks on the highway would give you a thumbs up and the neighbors would all come over to admire it.

Hunting at home, Bambi usually was butchered, cut and wrapped and in the freezer pretty quickly. After about three years of a culling campaign, I got to be pretty fast in that process. :) During my deer-lease years, an evening -shot buck might not get processed until the next morning.

I used to barbecue the hams. No salt in the basting mix. Turn with tongs, no sticking with a fork. About 20 minutes over the high coals at the equivalent of "broil" before spreading the coals to the equivalent of maybe a 300-degree oven. During that first 20 minutes, I'd turn and baste frequently. During the slow cooking, turn every 20 or 30 minutes and have a beer to keep the cook well-lubricated. They always turned out well-done but with all the juice still inside. No drying out.

My basting mix was based on whatever was the cheapest from the grocery store. I'd add spices as a function of the mood of the moment, plus a bit of water, maybe a half-stick of butter, and a bunch of Whigglewiggy*.

I had a standing offer that if anybody didn't really like the deer meat, I'd cook a danged cow filet for them. Never had to cook a one. :)

* Okay, Lea&Perrins.
 
even if they don't try some urban legend prep stunt (like "soaking it in milk to remove the gamey flavor" )
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I agree with your suggestions for toning down the taste of venison. Another good one is to let the deer hang, refrigerated, for as long as possible prior to butchering it. When weather permits, I've let mine hang for almost a week here at the house with excellent results. This year, I am going to ask my neighbor who now processes my meat if he'll let my deer hang in his cooler for 3 weeks before he cuts it up.

That being said, I tell people that venison doesn't taste "gamey", it tastes like venison. It doesn't taste "gamey" any more than pen raised beef tastes "domestic-ey". No one bites into a chicken leg expecting it to taste like a slice of ham, or a pork chop from a hog to taste like goat, so why is it that people eat venison thinking it should taste like beef?

We've eaten venison for so long at our house, that the only beef my wife buys is an occassional roast for Sunday lunches. I don't have any of my venison cut into roasts because we consume copious amounts of straight ground Bambi..and I mean straight; no fat or suet added. I love the stuff! We also raised 4 kids on venison...to the point that when they were all still living at home, it'd take 4-5 deer per year to feed us all! They thought nothing of eating venison and once when we ran out of ground venison and my wife had to make spaghetti with beef, my youngest son took a bite, chewed for a second, then asked rather indignantly: "Is this beef?!?"
35W
 
I found that much of the gamey taste comes from what is likely lactic acid buildup from a deer running out after being shot. If you can anchor them to the spot they simply taste better with little to no "gamey" taste. To that end I avoid the heart lung shot and instead try to break one or both front shoulders.
 
Hanging the carcass (hide off) in cold (40-ish) temperature to let the meat age is the only "tenderizing" I've found that produces very positive results. Unfortunately, that is often inconvenient these days (and probably against some do-gooder govt. regulation). I gave up on any serious marinading so the next best route, for me at least, is to have some ground for sausage or burger and slow-smoke the nicer cuts with very moderate spices (pepper and maybe a pinch of lime, spearmint and garlic) until it is nearly jerky.

People don't even let beef age properly much anymore, and certainly won't pork. I guess that's why they stand in line to pay high prices for the Amish farm-smoked hams and chops.

I don't know about the adrenalin or lactic acid theories but they make sense to me so I agree with clean, fast kills of hopefully unagitated deer (which rules out lung shots). Haven't had much trouble with "gamey" flavor but I have had venison that was cooked to the point it would cause a .404 Jeffreys bullet to ricochet.:uhoh:

:cool:
 
Last antelope I ate I left it in an olive-oil/jalepeno marinade for almost a week, let the meat saturate in the cold oil jelly, and then grilled it. Made for almost no drying of the meat.
 
I don't know how this lines up with any of your experiences, but here's mine. First, I nearly never see the "big bucks", and there is no agriculture in my hunting area... not for many miles; so I generally take the larger does.
Rifle season is generally late-November after the rut, or at the very tail end of it. I think that accounts for the general toughness of the bucks in that they have had the girls on their mind instead of taking care of themselves and eating well.
Anyway, for taste and tenderness, (unless it's a magnificent buck) I prefer to eat the does.
 
Hi 32 Spl...

If you want bucks maybe the City of Marshfield right down the road will let you come and shoot a few of the deer they have molesting everyone's landscaping, clogging the roads and driving them nuts.:D

I agree with your though - a buck at the end of the rut isn't high on my menu either ! :D
 
Bucks go on what I call a "feeding frenzy" during the month or two before the rut. Once the rut starts, the hardly eat anything at all, and don't even drink all that often. They start the season all fat and sassy, but by the end of the rut they're pretty well gaunted down.

I've seen early-season bucks with darned near an inch of white tallow. Late season, hardly any, and it's often sorta yellow.

As a generality, early season bucks are better eating than late season.

One caveat in all this: Another generality is that the really big bucks mostly tend to go into rut during the latter part of the lawful hunting season. There is "rut season" and "hunting season", and they're not always the same.

Art
 
the best thing i have fond for reducing the "gamey" flavor (what little there is) is cook them on the bbq and baste with butter and a little garlic salt.
 
"7. Similarly - try to "kill the "Gamey" flavor with marinades and spices - very few spices do venison any favors. Pepper in small doses is decent and so is lemon, some basils and spearmint. Salt is grim (which is why marinading venison in Worchestershire or Soy sauce is a huge mistake. If you must marinade, use lime or lemon juices mixed about 4 parts to 1 part water. Tart wines are OK for marinade but never any sugary/fruity wines. Bar*B*Que sauces are usually a negative addition because of salt content."

I love a little garlic salt sprinkled on the meat before I pan-broil it. Additionally, when I process my deer, I remove all silver skin and fat and debone everything - every piece is just as tender and nice as any - even the front shoulder slabs..."
 
The "gamey" flavor I have found (or at least what I call "gamey" flavor) comes from the blood, and improperly removed glands if dressing a buck, as well as bacterial tainting from not cooling the meat, and/or doing a poor job of removing the organs, or if you had a problem with the entrails and some intestinal material was left in the cavity.

If while butchering, you leave areas in your meat (or if your butcher is merely a "meat cutter" ) and leave muscle damaged by the bullet and tainted with blood, you will have "odd" tasting venison. Remove the damaged bits and discard them.

"Pushing" or "chasing" a wounded deer does indeed build up lactic acids, as well as generate adrenalin in the animal, but I have found this leads to tough, not gamey meat.


I have found a weak, saltwater solution to be great for getting more blood out from deer meat, so I soak my venison in some salted water before cooking.

Old bucks are just that, old, tough, and often distinctive in flavor, mostly in an unpleasant way. Ginger or Curry is about all that one can do for an older deer. Now a nice doe, taken in an area that is adjacent to fields of soybeans and corn...., magnifique!

I carry a gallon of water in a plastic jug, and when I get the field dressed deer to the car, I do some rinsing of the body cavity, and wipe it down a bit with paper towels. I prop open the cavity, and allow the deer to cool quite a bit before I transport. I am lucky that I don't have to transport very far very often....,

But I do use a plastic tarp, to enclose the deer and a rear bumper rack. I have never had a problem. The longest I have had to drive was two hours on the interstate with the deer packed thus. I am often also tansporting the deer after dark, so perhaps I have been lucky.

LD
 
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