Dry age the whole deer (weather permitting)!
This has totally changed venison for us. Field dress it then hang it somewhere cold and sheltered (barn, carport) for at least a few days to a week as long as weather stays in the forties or lower. Then butcher. We eat a few deer a year and feed friends often. No complaints of gaminess since we started doing this at the recommendation of a dedicated hunter.
@Faytowner … it often is to warm here to do that… especially in bow season ans sometimes during the later rifle season.
My nephew started experimenting with wet ageing years ago and he gets very good results with that… even the older bucks loose the strong taste and become very tender.
He soaks the meat in salted water and pours that water off and adds fresh salty water every 2 or 3 days.
After a few weeks big improvement in taste and tenderness.
I have not tried that myself… but will next one we kill.
I did learn from fermenting pickles… that good bacteria thrive in a salt brine… where bad bacteria do not. So enough time in salt water and the good bacteria completely take over and wipe out the bad. Ferment complete.
TNHunter
I definitely have deer that come through my property, but the pressure is far from high. What works for me is to walk the dog in the orchard instead of the yard. Also, every time I brush her or sweep up hair, I collect it and place it around the orchard. They really don’t seem to like the smell of the dog, no matter how small and harmless she may be.
A two year trial isn’t enough to say for certain, but these past two falls, I’ve hung my sweaty work shirts out in my few trees, instead of washing them right away. So far the bark scrapping seems to have stopped.
