RE: deer sticks
you can also purchase the sausage kits from Cabela's and a few other places. We buy the kits from Cabela's, around $14, they have all the seasons and casings, and comes complete with instructions. I believe a kit does around 15 lbs of meat. We really like the summer sausage. My wife cooks ours in the oven, and like said above, she leaves the door open to regulate it. Don't be afraid to try them, they're very good. We chop up fresh Garlic and put it in the summer sausage. As for the deer sticks, they were pretty good. We tried stuffing the casings using the elec. grinder, and it doesn't work very well for that small of a casing. I would recommend using a hand stuffer for the small casings, the larger summer sausage worked great to stuff with the grinder. good luck.