I have deer hunting on my mind, but first....

[Koda]

I certainly didn't go into it with any special prior knowledge. Steve Rinella/MeatEater has a corning brine recipe for game that I used as a base, made a few modifications like we all do with recipes, and tried it. It turned out to be really easy.

Corned Wild Game Hash

This Corned Wild Game Hash recipe was featured in The Best Start: Wild Game Breakfast Cooking Special. Enjoy!

www.themeateater.com

Bookmarked..

Its interesting coincidence because I stumbled upon Meateaters website last fall and have enjoyed reading it and the articles. Its a good page.

 

[RVTECH]

This was an impromptu quick recipe of some remaining venison quick fried shaken in flour with minced garlic, onion & pepper.
Pretty basic but man oh man!

 

[bbbass]

I certainly didn't go into it with any special prior knowledge. Steve Rinella/MeatEater has a corning brine recipe for game that I used as a base, made a few modifications like we all do with recipes, and tried it. It turned out to be really easy.

Corned Wild Game Hash

This Corned Wild Game Hash recipe was featured in The Best Start: Wild Game Breakfast Cooking Special. Enjoy!

www.themeateater.com

Suggestion re: corned venison... go to Grocery Outlet and buy a packaged corned beef roast. Take the peppercorn and herb packet out of the package. Put venison in crockpot as you would with a corned beef. Rub venison with peppercorn and seasoning, add water. Slow cook. Marinate the beef roast with orange juice, slow cook on bbq, and serve with homemade Sangria.

 

[Koda]

This whole thread is what huntings all about...

Sustenance, self sufficiency. Lost skills in a modern world.

 

[RVTECH]

Sustenance, self sufficiency. Lost skills in a modern world.

Yep - and not something you just learn on the internet and then treat it like a trip to Disneyland - but heck he can find Bambi there at least.

a 5-minute hike, at the very most, to the stand on flat ground,

I'm still laughing at this fantasy!

 

[Xaevian]

I have eaten prodigious amounts of venison (whitetail, blacktail, mule, both doe and buck), pronghorn, and elk. Deer, by and large, tastes the same in general with only subtle differences in flavor based on diet. I can tell the difference between deer, elk, and antelope regardless of where it was harvested. Methods of dressing, processing, and to a lesser extent aging have the largest impacts on finished flavor for game. While I have had ground game, I never grind my own, and have even made venison soup stock that was quite good. When a deer is not dressed or processed well, you will immediately know it. I suspect the NorCal deer the OP ate was either poorly dressed, processed or both if he didn't mind the TX meat flavor. Some people on the other hand, just don't care for any venison, regardless of how well it was prepared.

Me, I absolutely love wild game.

 

[j_ravenswood]

Well maybe not for you....
I will take wild game over domestic beef anytime.

Your experience does not change anything with my post which you quoted.
The factors I listed in that post...will affect how the meat tastes.
Andy

Probably not in the state of Idaho anyway unless it is flatland deer around farming areas that get a high dose of corn, grass, clover, alfalfa or grains. The most important thing for me is overall meat taste unless a lot of culinary doctoring can kill strong-tasting deer flavor. I think the best-tasting deer in ID is going to be the result of having permission to hunt on farmland or paying for an expensive guided hunt that offers that privilege of being in areas where deer eat the best of foods for the best meat quality. There will be no cheap way about getting good venison. Will ID deer shot on any public land in southern ID eat a lot of sagebrush? ID sagebrush venison might still even work cooked in a bunch of tallow or beef fats with a ton of seasonings to mask its taste. I understand about the steps needed to safeguard harvested meat, even deer that feed on nothing but grain. I might still give an ID deer hunt a try just for the devil of it, just to say I did it.

 

[j_ravenswood]

Let's not be rough on the guy... he has been polite.



1. Oh my, I've never met a western hunter that expected or even hoped for that sort of hunt. We thrive on the entire outdoor experience, which includes hiking and "fair chase". The thought of blind hunting, other than bow season, reminds me of those places in Texas where they tie up an animal for you to shoot. I'm sure it's not that bad in the East and MidWest where game (whitetail) is in heavier woods or close in to farms cites, etc, but it's a very diff attitude and experience here in the West. You'll be hoofing it a lot. Better get used to the idea. "Convenience" is ordering deer meat from a game ranch, or going to the store to buy vittles.
2. The best venison is going to be determined by the avg size and age, as well as the food they eat. We have field deer, mountain deer, and sagebrush deer. In me experience FWIW: Field deer can be mild tasting, it depends on the other things they eat. Mountain deer tend to have that piquant piney taste. Sagebrush deer taste like sagebrush.
3. Yup.




I used all my venison for chili. It's great!!




That is classic mule deer country. Be prepared for long hikes to glass over low ridges, up around rocky areas, etc. Long hikes and long shots from a flat shooting rifle. Make sure your shooting skillz are up to the challenge.





Not sure about N. Cal, but S Cal was full of Eucalyptus when I lived there. Deer do taste like what they eat, but I didn't know they would browse Eucalyptus. Perhaps it was a sage taste instead???




Feeding game meat to the dogs is not ok. Don't shoot it if you are not going to eat it!! That is NOT proper hunter ethics. Taking an animals life for your table fare means that the loss of that life should be respected. Native Americans always thanked the animal's spirit for the sacrifice of the animal's life.

Let that be a lesson to you considering whether to hunt big game in high desert!!!! If there is sagebrush around, you probably are going to have deer meat with a very strong taste.

I don't believe in this spiritual aspect jazz. As a man of science, logic and conservation, providing wild game to domestic pets is not waste nor immoral. A domestic cow or an old horse would have been killed to feed domestic meat-eating animals anyway. A delicious barnyard cow is just as likely to have an immortal soul as is a strong-tasting deer. Food rejected by humans is OK to pass on to pets as long as it is not spoiled nor unhealthy for the pet. Thank the spirit of Black Angus cattle for your yummy Porterhouse steak.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Probably not in the state of Idaho anyway unless it is flatland deer around farming areas that get a high dose of corn, grass, clover, alfalfa or grains. The most important thing for me is overall meat taste unless a lot of culinary doctoring can kill strong-tasting deer flavor. I think the best-tasting deer in ID is going to be the result of having permission to hunt on farmland or paying for an expensive guided hunt that offers that privilege of being in areas where deer eat the best of foods for the best meat quality. There will be no cheap way about getting good venison. Will ID deer shot on any public land in southern ID eat a lot of sagebrush? ID sagebrush venison might still even work cooked in a bunch of tallow or beef fats with a ton of seasonings to mask its taste. I understand about the steps needed to safeguard harvested meat, even deer that feed on nothing but grain. I might still give an ID deer hunt a try just for the devil of it, just to say I did it.

It seems like you have your mind made up about certain things....
And that my outlooks and comments are at odds with that.
No need for me to be here in this thread any longer.

So ...
I wish you good luck with whatever you do for your deer hunting and such.
Andy

 

[j_ravenswood]

It seems like you have your mind made up about certain things....
And that my outlooks and comments are at odds with that.
No need for me to be here in this thread any longer.

So ...
I wish you good luck with whatever you do for your deer hunting and such.
Andy

I understand hunting is a thing of risk and never a thing whereby 100% satisfaction of the hunter is guaranteed like a new microwave oven from Walmart. You may even invest time, energy and money into a hunting venture and get totally skunked one season.

 

[RVTECH]

You may even invest time, energy and money into a hunting venture and get totally skunked one season.

You may get 'skunked' MANY seasons.

Remember 90% of the game is taken by 10% of the hunters - and that 10% is a tough club to get a membership in.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

I understand hunting is a thing of risk and never a thing whereby 100% satisfaction of the hunter is guaranteed like a new microwave oven from Walmart. You may even invest time, energy and money into a hunting venture and get totally skunked one season.

Hunting to me ....is always 100% satisfaction....
I am out in the wild fully interacting with nature.
Whether I get an animal or not , is not the point of why I hunt.


My thoughts of hunting and just how I hunt are seemingly very different than yours.

With that being the case the above is my last post here in your thread.

Please note that I am not saying that :
My thoughts , outlooks and how I hunt are better than how you look at hunting...
I am simply saying that they are different and that they work for me.
Andy

 

[Koda]

The most important thing for me is overall meat taste unless a lot of culinary doctoring can kill strong-tasting deer flavor.

The most important thing about hunting is respecting the animal taken, if you dont enjoy the meat I dont recommend hunting it.

 

[j_ravenswood]

The most important thing about hunting is respecting the animal taken, if you dont enjoy the meat I dont recommend hunting it.

I found this link:

https://www.ehow.com/how_8192709_soak-ground-venison-milk.html

Buttermilk or milk soaking overnight can make gamey ground venison taste milder according to above link. It's always important that the game processor remove as much deer fat from the meat as possible as deer fat itself is the culprit of gamey meat.

Beef fat is yummy but wild deer fat is supposedly yucky whatever little fat there is on a wild deer anyway. The processor should also remove as much silverskin as possible.I would have the game processor enrich my ground meat with beef fat or tallow anyway. Always ask the meat processor to give you back only the meat you brought in yourself and not give you venison some other hunter shot. I read that some meat processors like to grind meat in bulk mixing, commingling, different kills from different hunters to be cheap or lazy. Ensure the processor ages your venison properly.

The link says to discard the milk/buttermilk after soaking overnight but I would even give that to my dogs stirred into their food to prevent food waste.

 

[RVTECH]

Always ask the meat processor to give you back only the meat you brought in yourself and not give you venison some other hunter shot. I read that some meat processors like to grind meat in bulk mixing, commingling, different kills from different hunters to be cheap or lazy.

You should not have to ask. This is highly unethical and potentially illegal for a processor to do this.

 

[MTpockets]

If Andy left, it must be getting good in here... What did I miss?


Oh.... wow recipes. Great ideas!
Oh.... cool! Lots of hunting info.
Very useful input by experienced hunters.

Oh oh oh....I have a question.


Can anyone tell me how to get my Costco beef to taste like venison?

 

[Koda]

I found this link:

https://www.ehow.com/how_8192709_soak-ground-venison-milk.html

Buttermilk or milk soaking overnight can make gamey ground venison taste milder according to above link. It's always important that the game processor remove as much deer fat from the meat as possible as deer fat itself is the culprit of gamey meat.

Beef fat is yummy but wild deer fat is supposedly yucky whatever little fat there is on a wild deer anyway. The processor should also remove as much silverskin as possible.I would have the game processor enrich my ground meat with beef fat or tallow anyway. Always ask the meat processor to give you back only the meat you brought in yourself and not give you venison some other hunter shot. I read that some meat processors like to grind meat in bulk mixing, commingling, different kills from different hunters to be cheap or lazy. Ensure the processor ages your venison properly.

The link says to discard the milk/buttermilk after soaking overnight but I would even give that to my dogs stirred into their food to prevent food waste.

Since you don't like the natural taste of the meat I don't recommend hunting for you. None of that is how I care for game, there is no point in hunting it if your going to great lengths to make it taste like a cow.

 

[j_ravenswood]

Since you don't like the natural taste of the meat I don't recommend hunting for you. None of that is how I care for game, there is no point in hunting it if your going to great lengths to make it taste like a cow.

I did like that pricey axis deer meat, as I used it in one recipe so far, I bought except for the price itself. Part of me still yearns to bravely try one deer I shoot myself to get it outta my system once and for all. It's not like to sneak up on and try rattlesnake, you know. The stuff my brother got five years ago was junk. The axis deer I tried is very doable. I don't need to be hunting some critter to be outside and enjoy mother nature anyway. I can hike, bike, boat, motorcycle, ATV, train my dogs, fish, camp, swim or horseback ride.

 

[Camelfilter]

I did like that pricey axis deer meat, as I used it in one recipe so far, I bought except for the price itself. Part of me still yearns to bravely try one deer I shoot myself to get it outta my system once and for all. It's not like to sneak up on and try rattlesnake, you know. The stuff my brother got five years ago was junk. The axis deer I tried is very doable. I don't need to be hunting some critter to be outside and enjoy mother nature anyway. I can hike, bike, boat, motorcycle, ATV, train my dogs, fish, camp, swim or horseback ride.

 

[bbbass]

I don't believe in this spiritual aspect jazz. As a man of science, logic and conservation, providing wild game to domestic pets is not waste nor immoral. A domestic cow or an old horse would have been killed to feed domestic meat-eating animals anyway. A delicious barnyard cow is just as likely to have an immortal soul as is a strong-tasting deer. Food rejected by humans is OK to pass on to pets as long as it is not spoiled nor unhealthy for the pet. Thank the spirit of Black Angus cattle for your yummy Porterhouse steak.

Allright, forget I mentioned the Native American practice/belief. At any rate, the deer had a life, which your brother took. Then wasted the meat. Yes it is waste. And I said unethical not immoral. As a man of science, how do you feel about the game reg saying that wasting of game meat is illegal???

Game is precious scarce. Apparently with you, so are hunter ethics. You show no respect for the animal. Look up the term "slob hunter".

You just don't get it.
GOODBYE