Let's Talk about eating Venison

[muzzyman71]

Great Post Buddy.......I have one thing that may burst your bubble though...............................Im in East TN and when I kill a deer, 75% have corn in the gut! IDK where in the world it comes from, must be some crazy farmer growin corn in the woods...LOL
ALL JOKIN aside, very good post, and I am jealous of your attention to detail and note taking per animal.

 

[MUP]

It's all good imo.

 

[Redfred16]

I'm pretty sure its been said already, I like eating does more cause they are more tender. I think venison tastes like venison. What might cause a difference in taste is what they fed on while alive. I've have some corn fed(wild deer but lived in an area that was 90% corn and bean fields)) that tasted very different that some that grew up in a Wisconsin marsh with limited farm fields around them.

I went up to the "lease" this weekend to help the guys put up stands and cut roads 1 last time and had the best steaks, mango habanero sauce. Best venison I ever ate was last years 2 1/2 year old buck with that sauce off the grill.

 

[Diehard Hunter]

Common mistakes

1)putting 20 pounds of ice in the gut thinking it will keep the entire deer cool. All the while letting those hams sit there together holding heat.

2) leaving thoracic organs in the body cavity. I am always astounded when someone brings a deer in with the lungs and heart intact behind the diaphragm.

3) leaving a deer lying on one side for a long time, allowing all the blood to settle on that one side

 

[BSK]

Hey, along the same lines of this thread, and besides what has been mentioned, what are some very common mistakes hunters make with their venison, common misconceptions about venison, and weird, bizarre and unnecessary practices you have seen people do to prepare their venison for consumption?

1) Going to the trouble of trying to remove the tarsal glands, which usually gets it all over everything. There is no need to remove tarsal glands.

2) Not getting a deer into a walk-in cooler fast enough (or quartered and on ice).

3) And in my opinion, letting a processor that normally cuts up beef do the processing. Venison should never be cut up like a side of beef is.

 

[BowGuy84]

slitting the throat...does nothing

leaving the hide on...if its not pretty darn cold by SE standards this retains heat and isn't the right way to age it (unless it is in a hanging cooler). When I was younger my cousin would hang deer all the time for a day or two. In temps with lows in upper 40's. Weirds me out now.

I'll say this, first I don't know what my objection to punctuation and captitalization was at the beginning of this post. Secondly, quartering a deer takes very little time and is a great thing if you have a game sack to get your deer out.

 

[Winchester]

Common mistakes

1)putting 20 pounds of ice in the gut thinking it will keep the entire deer cool. All the while letting those hams sit there together holding heat.

2) leaving thoracic organs in the body cavity. I am always astounded when someone brings a deer in with the lungs and heart intact behind the diaphragm.

3) leaving a deer lying on one side for a long time, allowing all the blood to settle on that one side

I think the number one thing that affects the taste of the meat is how it is handled between field and freezer. I see way too many people leave a deer laying on one side with the skin on for long periods of time way too often. Driving around showing everybody and their brother

Here you have it, good post!
Its all about what happens from the time the trigger is pulled as to how well your meat will fare!

 

[Dean Parisian]

I like dealing in facts in my professional life and I guess I'd like some factual data that has always been in the back of my mind. I haven't spent a single nano-second researching this but I once read that a famous deer researcher who is at the University of Georgia stated that a deer carcass only needs to age about one day and that hanging/aging a deer carcass any longer than that is a waste of time. If anyone knows of such a study please share with the thread. Great thread!

 

[Legnip]

Get it cold, get it cold, get it cold...

I normally cut my own. I cut & quarter everything immediately and stick it in my spare fridge/freezer. I've never had a problem.

I ran out of time last year and took a deer to a processor last year. The guy had some major issues (his helper died that morning). He was backed up and I'm not sure how long it took for my deer to get the hide off and cooled. The meet from that deer tastes terrible and I'm about to throw it out because of the taste. That has never happened to me before. I've held onto it this long because it kills me to waste it, but it is ruined.

Get it cold, get it cold, get it cold...