throwing a couple strips of bacon in (about 5-7% percent by mass,) and a sprinkle of onion and garlic powder, with the small trimmed off venison scraps,
before you grind them up makes a decent basic for venison burgers if your going to use the ground venison that day or freeze it in patty form for later use.
Ive generally frozen a few for days when you really just want a burger and don,t really feel like cooking, they tend to go well with B&M baked beans and toasted ONION rolls.

There's really no right answer to that question. Just depends what you want. I like a coarser grind for some things, like making jerky from it. And a smaller grind for other things.

Just have to try different ways and decide what works for you in my opinion.

I've also mostly quit adding fat. It can easily be added while cooking. But you can't seperate it out later. I prefer the lean grind. Although occasionally chop up bacon to mix in with burgers when I cook them

-Jake

This is a regional thing. Having done it both ways, I'm not sure that one is better EVERY TIME than another. For long distances packing them out is certainly better. But for 10', dragging and hanging is cleaner and easier for me. I don't even gut on short drags. I bring them home hang them and gut them directly into a large garbage can then wheel that to the woods with all the scraps and dump it.

Just depends on the situation I suppose. A 10' drag isn't hard though.

-Jake

I wouldn't skin, bone, or do anything to a whitetail other than field dress it in the field. Dirt, hair, and leaves have to be in play while quartering, boning, and skinning in the field. I suspect there are ways to alleviate cross contamination. I just can't picture them other than being very meticulous which takes more time than I want to spend in the field with a downed deer.

I prefer hanging my deer to remove the skin, bones, and meat. Dragging on flat ground is no big deal. Uphill can be work.

To the OP, rinse it. Hair/dirt/sand will affect the taste more than a water rinse. If bloody water is dripping out of your grinder, strain or blot the meat prior to grinding.

I always rinse the meat off. Especially the back legs where the meat is exposed after field dressing. There is always some hair and blood on it. Doesn't affect it in the least. Like others said just pat off the excess water with a paper towel.

I make up a solution of vinegar and water and wipe down the freshly skinned carcass. This takes care of most, if not all, of the cross contaminants from transporting and skinning. Just keep the towel wet with the solution while wiping. I always hang my venison for 3-5 days and sometimes up to 7 if it was a particularly old animal.

Didn't the deer have the hide on it while you were dragging it?

Next time rinse it before you skin it and you only have to rinse the exposed meat. Or you can just trim a thin layer off where the meat has been exposed. Be careful when field dressing to leave as little meat as possible exposed.