The biggest one probably drives more hunters away from deer than any other. Maybe I should keep my big mouth shut as to keep the competition down.
Venison is NOT gamey if butchered properly. I thought this same thing too until I met a great hunter that let me in on the real deal. Now neither of us are wildlife biologists but here is the theory. The fat in a whitetail, tastes bad to begin with. But more importantly will not freeze in a residential freezer! Now you will get it close but that fat is slowly spoiling in your freezer at home.
If you watch me clean an animal my scrap pile is twice to three times bigger than someone elses. I put nothing but red meat in the freezer. No fat, silverskin, tendon or connective tissue at all! When we cook venison at the fire station any visitors are immediately converted.
One reason some will go nuts over the tenderloins and grind the rest is this. When you cut the loins out of the animal you naturally cut off most everything but pure meat.
The only exception to this is in making jerky. We cannot figure this out. We did a test in making jerky a new way and didnt take the time to clean the meat the way we normally do. This way we can use the rib meat, neck meat, front shoulders. The stuff we normally throw to the dogs. Dont understand it but the jerky came out great. The ground meat was in the freezer for about 5 months before the jerky was made.
So, clean that meat goooood. Grind up the super small stuff thats not practical to trim properly and make jerky out of that.
Will be experimenting with smoking the fine cuts in a few weeks. Bow season starts this Thursday.
Will post my results.
