Hard to explain. Venison has a characteristic taste that I quite enjoy. But when the meat has not been coddled, it has a sort of " unfresh" taste that people commonly call " gamey."

If you taste coddled meat and then taste meat that hasn' t been dressed properly, quickly, cleanly, meat that' s been dragged through the river (I actually saw a guy doing this to " wash" his doe), the difference is like night and day.

I coddle ALL game, even dove, squirrel and fish. When I take a bird, I clean the bird and then put it immediately in the cooler on ice. Same with everything else. It makes a big difference.

But hey, the great thing about hunting is that you can do almost anything you wish. It is your game and the mere fact that you suffered for it gives you the right to enjoy it almost anyway you please, right?