Replies

"The adrenaline is still pumping, but you have to take your time now," advises Nelson.

Al Cambronne, a northwest Wisconsin hunter and author, says hunters should think of themselves a bit like doctors when putting the freshly killed deer under the knife.

This article needs to back up a little. Good venison begins with a quiet and clean kill. Before shooting a deer, look at its respiration. Has it been running? Was it driven? Is the deer's adrenaline pumping? If so, don't take the shot unless you are willing to eat poorly tasting venison.

How you kill a deer is just as important as any other part of taking a deer from the woods and putting it on the table. Proper and immediate field dressing is a must. Then get the deer hung and skin it. If you have a walk-in refrigerator or if it is cold enough, not freezing, then hang the meat whole for 7 to 10 days and protecting from the elements and any insects (flies). Then butcher your aged venison yourself. Don't allow some deer processor to substitute your meat for someone else's that was incorrectly killed and dressed.

You just said the most important thing about good venison - was the deer calm when killed? If it was chased and chased hard, no matter how cold you get the meat in a hurry, it’s going to taste “off” or like hammered crap.

The lactic acid build-up from hard running or fighting in the rut will make meat taste bad.

Then the part about not allowing some meat processor to substitute meat on you - how VERY important. I’ve had that happen to me, and it pissed me off and then some.

Now I cut and wrap our own. I’ll never trust another meat cutter again after twice getting back meat that didn’t taste at all like the care I put into the kill and after-kill handling of the meat. I knew it had to be a mix of mine and someone else’s meat, or just someone else’s kill.

Been chasing whitetails for over 50 years, between the wife and I we'll put away about 4 a year. I have a trusted processor who does a good job. The backstraps I have butter flyed, the tenderloins are kept whole and the hind quarters are cut into steaks. Some shoulder and neck meat is ground into hamburger with a mixture of bacon and jalapeno's and the other half is made into breakfast sausage. I've had my place for over 20 years now (3 sections) and raise about 40 head of cows and manage a healthy whitetail herd. I built a simple cleaning station with running water and a small walk in cooler. After gutting and a good cleaning I let them hang skin on at least 48 hours in the cooler before taking them into the processor. I do feral hogs the same way when I find one about 75 or 80 pounds. Last year one of my Wounded Warrior hunters shot a sow that had 9 little ones with her. While I don't shoot piggy sows it was his first hog so I didn't mind. I broke out a couple of 22's and we went looking for the little ones, we got all but one of them. they were all about 15 pounders and all I did was clean them and split them down the middle. Those we BBQ'd on the grill. This is the biggest buck taken off my place, got him a couple of years ago.

Heres a huge 7 point one of my Warriors took.