| Does your family cringe when you bring home the | | | | really, there is nothing wrong with venison burgers!). |
| venison you've so proudly hunted? Does your wife | | | | Third, if you crossed streams or muddy bogs to find |
| have a dozen ready excuses for why she can't | | | | the deer, drag the it closer to the vehicle before gutting |
| prepare it for dinner? If so, you're not alone. Many | | | | it to keep water and mud from entering the shot holes |
| people have had bad experiences with eating venison, | | | | and into the deer. Keeping the meat clean and sanitary |
| and its no wonder when the meat is tough and tastes | | | | is important. |
| gamey. | | | | When field dressing, be careful not to knick any organs |
| Good news! There are simple steps you can take | | | | as this can cause the meat to taste bad. Once you're |
| when field dressing your deer to produce the most | | | | done with that, get the meat to the processor as |
| tender, delicious meat-venison, beef, lamb, or anything | | | | quickly as you can. Pick up a few bags of ice on the |
| else-they've ever had. | | | | way and put them in the body cavity to start the |
| The first thing is, if you're hunting to put food on the | | | | cooling process (if you're hunting far away from shops, |
| table, look for does, not trophy bucks. That 10-point | | | | put the ice in a cooler with your sodas). If you got a |
| Buck looks great, and getting him is definitely something | | | | trophy and you want to share, have your friends meet |
| to be proud about, but he isn't going to make good | | | | you at the processor or at home if you're processing it |
| eating. He's going to be tough and gamey. The meat | | | | yourself (this is nice because then they can help you |
| from an antlerless animal tends to be tender, and thus | | | | quarter it). |
| it tastes a lot better. | | | | If you're processing at home, quarter it that afternoon |
| The second, and most important, thing to do-whether | | | | or evening and put it in coolers with dry ice, unless you |
| you're hunting antlered or antlerless deer-is to cool the | | | | have a refrigerator just for your game. Then let it sit a |
| meat as quickly as possible. This will significantly | | | | few days before butchering it. |
| reduce the horrible, gamey taste. So, make absolutely | | | | Finally, when you butcher, make sure to remove as |
| sure when you take the shot, it will be a quick kill and | | | | much fat and silver skin (connective tissue/tendons) as |
| easy recovery. If it's warm out and you're confident in | | | | possible. Trimming off the silver makes the meat much |
| your shot, wait only 15-30 minutes to retrieve. If it is | | | | more tender when cooked. This can be tedious, but it's |
| really cold out, you can wait longer. If you can avoid it, | | | | well worth the effort. |
| do not let the deer sit over night. If you have to do that | | | | Follow those steps and the meat you put on your |
| to make sure the animal expires, then accept that all | | | | family's table will be a tasty treat for all. |
| the meat will be good for is burgers and stew (and | | | | |