Dear Gentlemen,I was cleaning out my freezer chest and found five-one pound bags of frozen venison I harvested on 27 nov2004.I do believe it has not thawed.Do you feel it would still be fit for human consumption or should I feed it to the dogs?How long will venison keep?Best Regards,N.V.

Nicky, first of all, welcome to the forum!
I never eat deer meat that has been in my freezer for over a year, my advice is to throw it out........

let it thaw out if it smells bad feed it to the dogs if it osnt make some chili,all depends did you vaccum seal it does it have, frezzer burn,if it looks fine i would try it ,i never have to much problem finding venizon that old in the frezzer its all gone by the next season[8D]

Thanks yall for the replies!I opened the bags and they were burned[:'(],so I'm gonna make my dogs happy!This was my first deer,I wish I had known the meat was down there.That's what happens w/ a chest freezer.The wife starts piling groceries in and before long I forget what's in the bottom...maybe I need a separate freezer for my wild game,Oh,Yeah!Thanks again, gentlemen,I do look forward to talking to yall again.Best Regards,N.V.

Definitely get a vacuum sealer. I eat deer 2 years old sometimes and its fine if it's sealed properly.

I don't have a vac sealer , but I always oil down the outside of the meat to exclude air and wrap it in plastic wrap with a foil outer cover and the meat comes out just fine for at least 1.5 -2 years . Freezer burn is the enemy , keep the air off of the meat and it lasts a lot longer .

yea it probably has freezer burn

what a shame.......
all I do to prevent freezer burn is:

EAT EAT EAT!!!
Im pretty good at that.

I double wrap my venison in plastic wrap then in brown paper. I also leave all cuts in roast form to cut to steak as needed, if there is any freezer burn its easier to trim a roast. I have been in the same situation where you thought you ate all from the previous years and then find it...... the oldest was 2.5yrs old. Trimmed up the roast and then cut to steaks..... nobody can tell the difference. Dog gets trimmed meat only. Waste not want not, and its also illegal to allow wild meat to spoil in MB, hard to prove but I try to follow.

i double wrap my venison in brown butchers paper (freezer type) and use a good packing tape and my meat has never gone bad or been freezer burnt. Mind you I don't usually have much left by the end of summer. Legally in my province we are not supposed to have any after June each year.