Yah. The guys who told you about field prep are right on the money. It is amongst the most important things to preventing " gaminess," perhaps even the single most important thing, next to letting the meat age (you should do this for at least 5 days at about 35F. If you can age it for 7 days at 35F that' s even better. I let my deer hang with the hide on at 35F for about a week. Some people say 15 days. Too much IMHO. Meat gets a bit slimy. A week at 35F with the hide on is fine.)

Think of your venison as the choicest meat on earth. You' ve spent days, perhaps weeks of time to acquire it. So it is the most expensive meat you' ll probably ever eat. Treat it like that.

When the deer hits the ground, you should seek to dress it as soon as possible, especially if the temp is warm. Coddle it. Avoid getting leaves, dirt and hair on it. And if you get these things on it, pick them off. Hair ruins the taste. Get the deer open, with the innards taken out cleanly. If the weather is cool (35F or so), hang the deer by the hind legs. Take a clean stick, whittle the ends a bit and stick it inside the deer' s chest cavity so that it is kept wide open.

What I do on warm days
I' ve read some guys claiming to take ice in the woods with them to cool the deer in cases where the weather is really warm (50F+). That' s just crazy-- at least it is to me. When I take deer in warm weather, I quick dress it just as always. I stick open the chest cavity just as I have described. I have a light breatheable cloth bag I slip over the carcass as soon as the deer is clean (keeps off flies and yellow-jackets). I put this atop a little blue tarp I carry in my pack. Drag the deer quick to my truck using the tarp. THEN I open all of it up and stuff bags of ice that I have in my cooler. I make sure to put these bags into a dry garbage bag because I do not allow any water to get on the meat. This " system" works pretty well for me.

What I do with meat that I just could not coddle too well
If for some reason I take a deer and I just cannot coddle it properly, I simply assume it will have a bit of a gamey taste. Since I find soaking in buttermilk does little to change things, I do one (or all) of four things:

1. Grind a lot of the meat with with beef, lamb, pork or all three (with various spices).

2. Soak some steak-like cuts for two days in Wishbone Italian Salad dressing and then lightly grill them.

3. For backstrap and tenderloins:
make a mixture of oregano, basil and paprika (equal quantities of each or fool around with a bit more basil).
Add some salt and crack a bit of pepper into the mixture.
Rub into meat until nice and coated.
Brush generously with olive oil (has to be EVOO)).

Go out and pick up lots of hickory sticks and a few hunks of oak with lots of assorted twigs. Use the oak and twigs to set up an amazingly hot fire. When the fire is hot, load with hickory. Make it HOT HOT HOT! Lay meat directly over the flame about 2 minutes each side, depending on thickness. Finish the meat by brushing each side generously with EVOO. Take off, put on platter, brush with more EVOO. Serve with lightly cooked asparagus and a BIG Cabernet Sauvignon or Shiraz.

4. For stew meats: Venison Curry- I had something like this somewhere and kinda tinkered with it for venison.

2 lbs Venison (or more),
1/2 cup EVOO,
4 tsp tomato sauce or some tomato paste (just do it - don' t matter),
several cloves of garlic,
one chopped onion,
1 apple (unpeeled),
salt,
pepper,
1.5 Tbsp Curry,
pinch of cumin,
pinch of corriander,
pinch of cinnamon,
pinch of tumeric,
2 Tbsp flour,
1 cup water,
1 cup apple juice,
3-4 Tbsp Sour Cream.

Venison in bite size chunks. Spray pot with Pam or coat it a bit with Lecithin. Sear meat in pot (use common sense on the heat). Reduce heat. Add everything except the 1 cup of water, the apple juice and sour cream. Cook until brown. Add water and juice, stirring as you go. Taste the thing and flavor as needed. Simmer for 1.5 hours. Before serving, add sour cream. Serve with Basmati rice and a Great Big Ol' Shiraz.

Hope this helps.