Posted on 11/01/2012 7:53:45 PM PDT by TurboZamboni
About a half-million Minnesotans will hit the woods and fields for this weekend's start of the firearms deer hunting season, the biggest annual outdoors event outside the walleye fishing opener.
It's more than a hunt. It's a prelude to a feast.
Roughly 8 million pounds of meat will be harvested from the state's robust deer herd this season, the vast majority of it Saturday and Sunday. It's lean, high-protein and free-range.
(Excerpt) Read more at twincities.com ...
http://www.twincities.com/ci_21895192/oh-deer-dont-overcook-it
My tip is venison bourguignon.
Mmmmmm... Yummy
Al Cambronne, a northwest Wisconsin hunter and author, says hunters should think of themselves a bit like doctors when putting the freshly killed deer under the knife.
This article needs to back up a little. Good venison begins with a quiet and clean kill. Before shooting a deer, look at its respiration. Has it been running? Was it driven? Is the deer's adrenaline pumping? If so, don't take the shot unless you are willing to eat poorly tasting venison.
How you kill a deer is just as important as any other part of taking a deer from the woods and putting it on the table. Proper and immediate field dressing is a must. Then get the deer hung and skin it. If you have a walk-in refrigerator or if it is cold enough, not freezing, then hang the meat whole for 7 to 10 days and protecting from the elements and any insects (flies). Then butcher your aged venison yourself. Don't allow some deer processor to substitute your meat for someone else's that was incorrectly killed and dressed.
It was cold enough!
Those were tasty.
You just said the most important thing about good venison - was the deer calm when killed? If it was chased and chased hard, no matter how cold you get the meat in a hurry, it’s going to taste “off” or like hammered crap.
The lactic acid build-up from hard running or fighting in the rut will make meat taste bad.
Then the part about not allowing some meat processor to substitute meat on you - how VERY important. I’ve had that happen to me, and it pissed me off and then some.
Now I cut and wrap our own. I’ll never trust another meat cutter again after twice getting back meat that didn’t taste at all like the care I put into the kill and after-kill handling of the meat. I knew it had to be a mix of mine and someone else’s meat, or just someone else’s kill.
You can improve it greatly not only in taste but tenderness if you soak the meat in milk for 20 minutes before cooking!
Another tip for good deer is to scout for deer AND land before hunting. Know what the deer is eating. Is it corn from a field? Is it nuts? Is it low hanging branches from shrubs or trees? That effects the taste of the meat as well. This also applies to turkey and most small game even more so than deer.
The one in the foreground is a fine deer. I am getting hungry.
Start one year before killing date.
Feed the steer only on wild berries, slough grass, weeds, sage, and tree bark. About two hours before you are ready to butcher, have a friend chase the beef around to get the blood and the adrenaline into the meat. Shoot the beef immediately after it has been chased (make sure it’s a gut shot, and try to do this via hind quarter). A good shot will tenderize the meat and get as much hair as possible in the impact area.
Drag the beef to a slough and field dress it in the slough. Make sure to get as much grass, weeds, cattails and debris in as possible.
Drag the beef at least one mile across a summer fallow field to get plenty of dirt mixed into the wound and the interior of the carcass.
Load the beef on a car/truck and drive down first a gravel road at least 5 miles and then down a highway. This will get as much highway grime, bugs, and rocks imbedded in the meat as possible. (For extra flavor this should be done in the rain.) Hang the beef in the garage. (Make sure it is low enough so the dog can chew on the hind quarter and then properly mark it as his territory.)
At least once a day have your wife idle a vehicle for 5 minutes in the garage. Carbon Monoxide adds greatly to the flavor. When the carcass smells so bad that you can hardly stand being in the garage, the beef is ready to process.
Properly following the steps will ensure that your BEEF is mistaken for VENISON by even the most avid sportsman. Everyone will marvel at how much venison you have and how good it tastes... and you won’t have to put on that crazy outfit and walk for 300 miles ever again
But seriously,, lots of good suggestions in that article.
Now I no longer hunt, I have more deer than I can shoot on my back property.
This is the one hanging in the back.
Now I see why you caped it. I see you are from California. Where were you hunting?
LOL
A shoulder steak done quickly in butter with, peppercorn sauce and wild rice is pretty good too
Green Mountains in Wyoming, roughly 75 miles north of Rawlings, just outside the booming metropolis of Jeffrey City. We saw other humans every couple days. It was awesome. That year I think it was 4 point or better (One side) That’s eight point or better for you eastern white tail folks.
LOL! A deer hunting and venison fan I see.
Good venison begins with a quiet and clean kill.
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Way Good text....you being a new guy here—you been around the right places though.
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