No, I don't soak it in anything. I read a really good book on venison last year which prompted my to change a lot of what I was doing. I have soaked some cubes in butter milk, but that was forflavor, and in a different recipe. Not for tenderizing.

I age my venison in a frig in the garage two to three cuts at a time. They sit in there for 7 to 10 days. First couple of times you don't feel real good about it because the meat can start looking dry on the outside, but trust me it is fine and I wouldn't do it any other way, at least not since I started doing it.

Other tips that seemed to help and dispel myths;
- Do not place in or under ice. Place meat on top of ice, separated by freezer paper.
- Age in a frig, not outside. Temps vary outside, so you could have some venison (or other game meat) freeze during the night and thaw out during the day in stead of "age", which is the goal. Not many people would pull a steak out of the freezer let it sit on the counter for a few hours and then refreeze over and over again. Which is pretty much what happens outside in most of this country each fall/winter evening. Either that or the temps don't get cold enough to freeze at night and are too warm during the peak of the day and the meat spoils (Tastes gamey bob!)
- Clean quick kills.
- Get venison off of the animal as soon as possible.
- Freeze in multiple layers (freezer paper, plastic bag, second plastic bag).
- If freezing for long periods, freeze it deep at very cold temps.
- Do not over cook venison and serve on a hot plate. Due to the very small amounts of fat, it cooks fast and it cools fast.
- Try to plan your recipes so that there are no leftovers (or eat like a pig), since reheating it for the above reasons isn't a good idea.
- Don’t substitute venison for another meat in a recipe. Use recipes that are specific to venison. You’re brain is programmed to remember what a beef cheese burger tastes like. If you substitute venison for beef, your brain will taste something different than it was anticipating and will associate this to tasting “foul” or “gamey” or “off”.