I prefer does over bucks (not looking for trophies, just meat), but I wouldn't ever waste any deer unless it was sick and I was concerned for my health. And if I didn't want or need the meat, I'd donate it or give it to a friend.

Bucks are good for making jerky. They have the fat run off of them from chasing does. The lean meat is great for this. Even if it is a tough old buck, jerky is tough anyway.

Ya got me! I grill the bigger ones too, just not as long!

You have to cook deer differently. Ground deer for burgers just doesnt do it for me. Never tasted good so I dont do that. But ground meat does taste good in say chili or spaghetti or manwiches, you have to brown it up and throw out the juices and start over. deer steaks have to be done medium rare on the grill and they are awsome. I can use a whole deer just making jerky. another just for sausage. Just have to expirment.

I wish I could say I've had more experience cooking rutting bucks, but I don't...

I gotta go back to the guys, field dressing properly & cooling is the key. One thing my Father-in-Law advised me to do is to soak the meat for a couple of days in a cooler in brine. The brine is enough water to cover the meat, a bottle of reconstituted lemon juice, & a container of salt. Mix it up good, I make sure to put some ice in it - after the first day, pour out the brine & make another batch for night 2, then process the meat. I did this with an accidentally killed button last year & it worked great. Hopefully I can do it with a bit of an older buck this year - &/or several tasty does!!!

Ok, I have a few suggestions for you, and some of the rest of you, alot of the bad taste on any deer comes from not cutting as much fat as you can get off, and all of the slick stuff you see on the meat, this makes it tough, and bad tasting, another thing you shouldn't just take a deer and cook it right out of the deer, after cutting it up and freezing and your'e ready to cook your deer, unthaw it, then put your meat you have chosen into a bowl or something that will hold them, then take a cup of vinegar in it, a 1/2 cup water and then a tablespoon of salt, this will get rid of the bad smell and "gamie" taste. You only have to do this for a couple hours, then you can do what you want with it, but I prefer to do as I said then to take it and thinly slice it, then take it and season and flour it and fry it in canola oil and butter, then take warmed cream of mushroom soup over it, it kicks @SS!...but right now im expirementing with jerky, never made it before, always made steaks.

Well I've read all the replies and I still think big bucks taste the worst of any deer, especially if they are in rut. I believe if you have to marinate, brine, or add some kind of soup you are just covering up the taste.
Just my 2 cents worth doesn't make me right.
Thanks for all the imput.

if you field dress it, get it cooled down and leave it hang for a few days and can keep it 35 ish or so before getting it processed in a timely manner then you should be good to go.... personal experience is that poorly tasting venison is a direct derivative of poor processing and preperation. Fat on a deer is not like fat on a steer.... it is tallow more or less... ie wax... and not pleasant when it solidifies on the roof of your mouth... better left for the coyotes and coons and possum to nibble on...

i process all of my own game... and spend a lot of time doing it.... and no one complains about it... ever... even fi it is a non corn fed deer (ie non southern michigan deer)...

#1 live by the boning out method....

#2 deconstruct the carcass muscle group by muscle group as much as possible.. not as important if you are going to trim and chunk to grind as you can trim and seperate later

#3 get every last bit of fat off that you can before you even cut into the meat... torch hair that may be stuck to meat, off with a propane torch.

#4 get all of the membrane and remaining fat off of the muscle... a fillet knife works great for this... LEAN is the key word here...

#5 get yourself a vacuum packager...

#6 when you cook vension don't cook it well done... i prefer medium... overcooking dries out the meat and makes it very tough and really brings out any "gamey" flavor.

i distinctly remember, when i was very young, my aunt and uncle would have a yearly venison dinner from deer taken the previous fall... overcooked, fatty, membrane laden and cut with the meat saw generally... just like beef... it got to the point where i wanted nothing to do with it... these days on the other hand, now that i process my own meat... i might have a few extra hours into trimming and packaging after initial butchering but the quality of the meat is no where even in the ballpark to what i grew up with... it is well worth the extra effort you put into it... to get it as lean as possible... steaks or cube meat to be ground...

so again... processing, care, packaging and preperation.... all key....

JMHO

J

I'm not a big deer meat fan. I like beef that I get from a friend.

On my deer, other than the backstraps, the whole thing gets ground up with beef fat added. My family likes it this way. Way better than a straight grind.