Venison Jerky

Hey Wader, I'm pretty new here as well, with only about a half dozen smokes under my belt, but I'll tell you whats worked for me.
I've been making jerky from wild game as well.........moose and caribou, both quite lean.

I've marinated with High Mt from 24-72 hours.
I preheat to 225 then hang jerky from skewers. Leave door cracked open about an inch for 2 hours, close the door and leave it an hour, then crack the door and leave it for another hour. If my meat is a little thicker, it takes a little longer, i check until I'm satisfied with it. I think this is the Qdogg method. My first smoke with the door closed left the meat looking steamed and wet, so I tried the open door method and have been quite pleased with it.
My meat has never turned out dry as you stated yours has. I keep a close eye on it the last hour with the door open, and when it looks and taste good, I take it out.
I DID try one batch of jerky cut from round steak, and it took longer than expected, so finally i turned the temp down to about 100 degrees and left it in overnight, and it turned out too dry, but that was my own fault, I just couldnt stay up any longer so I donated it to my brother in law who will eat anything.

If I were you, Id try the open door method, It sounded strange to me when I first read it, but it works. I think your method probably didnt purge the moisture/steam enough just by opening the door, I think you need to leave the door open.
Good luck!

I think you opened the door too many times. I get great success using the GLH method. Using bottom round, I pre-heat, smoke for three hours with the door closed. Open the door (once) to release moisture then close and cook for another 1/2 - 3/4 hour. This method hasn't missed yet. I am using High Mountain original blend and about 3 oz hickory.

GLH does a lot of venison. I am sure he'll have some suuggestions.

Yep, opened the door too much. You can also turn the heat down a tad. You gotta build up alot of steam, then let it out towards the end. I marinate longer also which I think helps keep it from getting too dry. Use lots of wood. I am sure both methods can be tweaked some and be better, would probably get close to the same !!!

Thank you very much for the advice.

Based on your comments, here is what I plan to try next time:

180F
Marinade for an extra day or two (I was just so anxious to try the smoker!)
Smoke for 3 hrs with door closed
Open the door to release moisture (and to check the done-ness)
Smoke a bit longer with the door closed

If you have any other tips/advice for me, I'll definitely take it. Thanks again for the help.

I may try the QDogg method (as laid out by brad6006) once as well to see how the results differ... Both methods take close to 4 hrs based on the feedback I've received. I didn't want to do the QDogg method as I thought it would take 5-7 hrs, but using Brad's version, 4 hrs is manageable.

Be sure to preheat on 250* for at least 30 minutes and have your jerky where you can put it in quickly without having the door open long. Then after you shut the door back, turn down to around 200* or a tad less.