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.