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.