Posted on 10/29/2015 8:50:51 AM PDT by w1n1
I'm often amazed at the people, deer hunters included, who tell me they just don't like venison. That statement is usually followed by a qualifier: it's tough; it's gamey; it's dry. And so on.
I've eaten a lot of good deer meat. But I've eaten some really bad deer meat, too. I'm only a self-trained butcher, but I process five or six animals each fall, and have been doing so for a decade or more.
I'm no Scott Leysath, either, but my wife and I do eat venison in some form two or three meals per week, year-round. I think we eat pretty good.
Some things consistently make venison really tasty. And some things will ruin the flavor, too. Here are a dozen of the worst offenders.
1. Poor Field Care
In the real world of hunting, things happen. We all make bad shots on occasion. And while we know not to push a deer that's been hit marginally, realize that the longer it takes for the animal to die and the farther it runs, the more adrenaline and lactic acid builds up in the animal's system and muscles. Ever had a glass of good-tasting acid? I didn't think so.
The faster a deer hits the ground and can be field-dressed, the better the meat will be. Some of the best-tasting deer I've ever had have been shot in the head with a gun. The animal is killed instantly, and the meat is uncontaminated by blood and entrails from the chest cavity. That said, head shots are risky. The lungs remain the best place to aim.
2. Failure to Cool Quickly
Internal bacteria rapidly takes over after death, expelling gases and causing the animal to bloat. That's the first step in decomposition. This process is accelerated in warm weather. Learn how to field dress a deer, and get to it ASAP. Removing those organs is the first step in cooling the animal down.
On a cold night in the "mid-30s or lowerâ€a deer can be left hanging skin-on overnight. In especially cold weather, some hunters like to age a deer in such a manner for several days (more on aging in a bit). I live in a warm climate, and most of the deer I shoot in a seasons time are during early bow season, so I don't have that luxury. When I find my deer and get it field-dressed, I plan on having it skinned, quartered and on ice within the hour.
3. Shot the Wrong Deer
Modern deer hunters are in tune with deer herd management. We've learned of practices that contribute to the health of a herd, including which deer to shoot. Given the chance, most of us want to shoot a mature buck with big antlers. Me included.
Old bucks are perfectly edible, but rarely the best. Muscles get tougher with use and stringy with age. An old buck that's spent a full autumn fighting, rubbing, scraping and chasing does will be lean. Expect chewy steaks. Same thing goes for an old doe that's burned all her summertime calories producing milk to nurse fawns. I usually make hamburger, sausage and jerky out of such animals.
For steaks, you can't beat a young, crop-fed deer. Deer that spend a summer munching on corn and soybeans have an easier lifeâ€and more fattening food sources†than those that spend a lifetime wandering the big timber in search of scattered mast and browse.
The tastiest venison I've ever eaten came from a 1 and half year-old fork horn shot through the neck near a picked corn field during early bow season.
That young deer had nothing to do all summer except get fat. Am I saying to forgo everything the QDMA is teaching and whack every young buck that walks by? No. But I am saying if a deer for the freezer is your goal, young bucks from the early season are usually good eating, and have more meat than does to boot. If you want to shoot one and it's legal, go for it. You don't owe anyone an apology.
4. Failure to Age / Purge
I've been told that aging venison on ice is a mistake, but I don't buy it. The mercury rises above 50 degrees on most days of deer season in my area. That's too warm to let a deer hang, so icing them down is my only option. I line the bottom of a cooler with a layer of ice, add my deer quarters on top of that, and then cover them with more ice.
I keep the cooler in the shade with the drain plug open and on a downhill incline. That's very important. The idea is to let the ice slowly melt and drain from the cooler. This not only keeps the meat cold, but purges an amazing amount of blood from it. Do this for at least two days, checking the ice a couple times per day in especially warm weather. (Note: if you do this without a drain plug, you'll get the opposite effect; deer quarters that are essentially marinated in bloody, dirty water. Does that sound tasty? Didn't think so.)
5. Dirty Knives and Power Saws
A deer's legs are held together just like yours: with ball-and-socket joints and connective tissue. Learn where these are, and you can cut an entire skinned deer apart within minutes with a good pocket knife. Laying into a deer's legs and spine with a power saw puts bone marrow, bone fragments and whatever mess was on the saw blade into your venison. Would you season your steak with bone fragments and wood shavings? Didn't think so.
I keep three sharp knives handy when I'm cleaning a deer. One is for field-dressing. This one will be a stout knife with a drop point for prying through bone. Another is for skinning. Though a skinning blade with a gut hook is nice to have, I've been using a long-bladed fillet knife the last couple seasons, and it works beautifully. These knives can be honed to a razor's edge and quickly re-sharpened. Other than quickly dulling a knifes edge by slicing through hair, skinning is not taxing on a knifes blade, so a flexible fillet knife works fine. Finally, I swap over to another knifeâ€again, with a heavier blade†for my quartering. The point to take from all this is to keep your knives separate so you reduce contamination of the meat with blood and hair. Read the rest of the story here.
im there with you - but - I was fortunate enough some years back to get 3 one year - I didn’t eat store meat for a year and half....I lost 60#
Yeah. The deer I shoot are all acorn fed. The tallow stinks...and the longer you age it the more it stinks..I trim all meat of all fat because the tallow stinks. I hear deer out far west that eat sage brush are stinky too. I have eaten Maine moose and it was as fine as corn fed beef. Moose and elk are grazers. Whitetail are browsers and the meat is different.
Some 30 years ago I told the old German local butcher I aged deer and he said DONT. I went from my way to his and never looked back. The difference of the quality of the meat was remarkable.
Thanks.
Psst.. it’s best to let your Sicilian side be ‘right’.. I wish we could ranch Elk i n TX.
wow that’s pretty cool. I hope you see one you like one day and have it as a trophy. Believe me I’m not PETA lol. They get shot in the head. No pain. that’s it. we actually have a deer problem on Staten Island can you believe it. I think they did get hunters to kill them. well I’m 47 and finally shot some guns last month. It was great. Maybe hunting might be on my bucket list.
2 years ago my three boys all tagged out by 9AM opening day. 2 does and a nice buck. I don’t shoot does anymore.....I’m waiting for a wall hanger....I let my boys fill the freezer.
I have no problem shooting does....it is good for the species. But I don’t take more than we will eat. So I let them shoot the meat deer.
Soak it in milk for 5 mintes before cooking.
Here on Long Island there were no deer where I live 10 years ago... Now they are all over...moving west toward the city from the east end farms. I dont hunt here. Too many regulations and limitations. I travel 5 hours upstate. Nice peaceful hunting experience there.
Three major things for white tail:
1) When skinning, remove as much hide and sub-hide fat as possible.
2) After the gutting, CONTRARY TO MOST ADVICE, we spray the inside with a solution of 50/50 water and white vinegar. A vinegar is used to kill off bacteria and is an old butchers trick. Pat dry any excess, allow to hang and dry overnight.
3) prior to serving, soak overnight in milk with a pea sized spot of baking soda and a fair amount of salt. It will draw out a good portion of the game taste. Discard the soak and rinse the meat prior to cooking.
I did the same thing with fish till I couldn't afford the boat and tackle any more.........LOL!
BFL
Cariboo best meat there is, beefalo is next imo.
She said “I didn't know you people hated animals”.
That is the difference between being raised in a hunting family and a non hunting family.
Brine the meat before your cook it.
Should have asked her about her leather shoes, belt and handbag. Anyway, the tears were fake. Liberals are contemptuous liars, period.
We’re having deer steaks for dinner today. We’re not sure about NC deer . . this is the first one since we moved here from SC . . but if they taste anything like SC deer, it will be delicious. Hubby killed it instantly with his new Bow.
I would think it was awesome and I’ve never hunted
sounds like a good time.
I did the boat thing then and do it now. The difference being is I did all the work myself on the boat motor and trailer and friends chipped in for gas. That was the 60s-70s. Now I don’t repair anything myself anymore and pick up every charge for my boat. It truly is a hole in the water you throw money into. I love fishing though.
You might like to go out deer hunting with your camera. Sit in a deer blind at sunup or sundown and the wildlife you would see would excite you like you can’t imagine. You would not have to kill anything but if you are in bear country, I’d have someone with a gun in the blind with you.
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