nny243,

I've cooked the ribs out of a deer for the last three years. Here's what I did:

After cutting the ribs to a manageable size, I boiled them for about 15-20 minutes. Then through them on the grill and slow cooked them for a couple of hours. Applied my homemade BBQ Sauce to them quite frequently as they cooked, but man are they good!

I don't remember there being much fat on the ribs, if any. We also let our deer hang for about two days before cutting it up, so hopefully that answers some of your questions. This is just what I do...use your own "special ingrediants", etc...good luck to ya!