I defrosted a steak. My wife says it smells bad. I say it smells like a piece of red meat you buy at the food store. She says meat should not smell at all.

Last year, my meat did not smell at all.
this year, it got up to 55 degrees at the butcher... for a few hours.

She has me all paronoid. My nose is not the best. But I can't accept that's it's rancid. looks ok.

Does your meat smell at all???
and if so, like what ??

Smells like blood i guess.
Bad meat smells bad.
Venison smells more than beef. 50 degrees for a while troubles me not at all.
A skinned deer hanging with deer with hides and or cooling will have more odor too.
Rancid is nasty,hard to miss.
The answer to your question would be a venison steak will have odor. An exception could be if it was washed repeatedly and not smelled very close.

You'll definitely know it if its bad in my opinion, I mean really. Smells like death, gets in your nostrils and won't let go for quite awhile

If you have any doubts, cook a bit longer.

SHOULD have a smell. Raw, blood-like smell.

Rancid or rotten meat will smell just BAD. Turn-your-stomach bad.

If you have a question about it, slice off a small corner and fry it in a hot pan with oil, no salt or pepper.

If bad, it will taste as bad as it probably smells.

Don't mistake gameness for bad or tainted meat. Venison should NOT taste like Cow.

YMMV.

what color is the meat? it should be red if it was just thawed. Like others said gamieness will smell a little but not in the rotten meat type smell.

+1 Rotten meat really stinks -- even if your nose don't work so good.

It dosnt sound like its bad to me, DD said about cooking a small piece you will no instantly if its good or not.

I always tell my wife if cant tell if it is bad or not then it is fine, because if it were bad you could tell.

It is probably good if it doesn't have a rotten smell, but the best approach would be,,,, If in doubt, throw it out! Better safe than sorry, and sick.