Eco friendly venison

[Ryan Miloshewski]

Generally with most wild game if somebody says they don't like it, they just haven't had it prepared properly. That goes for everything. 

There are times when the animal's diet and "personality" hit ya wrong, though. Cooked two gadwall last year and you would've thought I was searing two shad. 

[tjm]

Old smelly bucks aren't meant to eat, if you hunt big racks eat the antlers, they are the best part of the deer, followed by the hide.  Dry/barren  does make the best meat but any doe will taste better than any mature buck. If the season is buck only, shoot the spikes and forks, if the season calls for over three points per side or similar stupidity, skip the deer and eat chicken.  My youngest has killed three 10-11 point bucks  on the farm here and all were dog food. I can smell the nasty when cutting the meat. Also deer (or domestic animals) that are badly frightened or stressed just prior to death will often taste/smell  bad .

When I spent ~150-200 hours watching deer one year, late summer and fall, they rarely ate grass, only ate acorns for a few  fall days and only under select oaks. Altogether not enough to have much effect on taste nor over a long enough time period. That was a banner year for mast too and other trees of the same variety were ignored. They may have come back to the acorns in winter, idk. What I saw them eat most was green twigs and leaves, my deer are not grazers at all they are browsers that snatch a few bites here and there and nibble bushes and forbs more than grass. They love green beans best of anything tho. Of course I'd expect diet to vary with location and availability of native/natural/crop forages. 

[oneshot 1]

All Wild Game is good for you. I've just started eating some Store Bought I'll probably fall apart now.

oneshot

[Dutch]

3 minutes ago, oneshot 1 said:

All Wild Game is good for you. I've just started eating some Store Bought I'll probably fall apart now.

oneshot

Opossum, armadillo, buzzards, …. I don’t think so.

[oneshot 1]

2 minutes ago, Dutch said:

Opossum, armadillo, buzzards, …. I don’t think so.

Possum is very Good. I said Game which mainly Squirrel and Rabbit.

oneshot

[TRRANGER]

On 9/27/2021 at 1:56 PM, Seth said:

I've ate a lot of grain fed NOMO deer and plenty that have lived on acorns and I can't see where there is much difference in taste. Of the hundreds of deer that we've messed with over the years, I can think of three that tasted funky. Two were 4.5-5.5 year old bucks and one was a stunted doe (long nose but small body and had a fawn). Not sure what was up with them, but they had a "wang" to them.

Dad and I usually harvest 10-15 deer between us each year so we've dealt with A LOT of deer over the years. We always process them ourselves. I've seen how several other people handle deer after they are killed and I'm not sure I'd ever take a deer from them if they offered. I think I'd be eating more hair than meat!

I could eat the following venison treats/dishes every day of my life and die happy
1) jalapeno pepperjack sweet bologna from 5H Meats in Hermann
2) our homemade jalapeno cheddar deer brats
3) a hind quarter roast crock potted on low for 8-10 hours in Louie's Italian Beef seasoning, shredded and put on a bun with banana peppers and provolone cheese
4) a backstrap seasoned liberally with Greek seasoning and grilled rare-medium rare
5) thinly sliced backstrap stir fry with peppers, onions, mushrooms and broccoli
6) venison jalapeno poppers (sliced backstrap, chive and onion cream cheese, jalapeno slice, bacon,)
7) spicy chili with ground venison, shredded cheddar, hot sauce and sour cream
😎 carne asada tacos

ME TOO ARE YOU OFFERING TO COOK THOSE OF US DEER FREINDLY FOLKS DINNER 

[Harps]

I like to fix deer several ways, fried nuggets in a pan (don’t over-cook), stew (cook a loooong time), jerky…..

But @Chief showed me my new favorite a few years ago on a float trip. Take a 2-3 lb rump or blackstrap cut, coat with olive oil, salt and pepper (add some rub or other spices if desired), do a quick sear, move to the side and smoke at a low temp (250-275) until deepest internal temp is 130, and take it off the grill. Slice it thin across the grain and enjoy however you please. We enjoyed it on hoagies with fresh veggies and a little salad dressing on the river that day. I was instantly impressed. I have served it cooked this way to folks who ‘don’t like deer meat’ and they thought it was roast beef. They had no idea.

If you properly handle the deer at harvest and get the meat cooled quickly as possible, it makes little difference (IMO) if it’s a young of the year, a middle age doe, or a gnarly old buck - they all taste the same, more or less, if properly handled. I will admit the younger deer will be a little more tender than a mature buck or doe.