onebullet

same here but if i can i let them hang 5 days if the temp allows

Medic

The weather has been so warm in the early season that I have been unable to let them hang longer than over night. So the next morning I quarter then up and place then in a cooler on ice for 3-4 days before processing. I also bag it in garbage bags to keep the water away from the meat. This has worked wonders in the taste for me. Even the garbage I grind up Hardly has any gamey taste to it.

1865

Lots of things contribute:

Age and sex of the deer
Shot placement(dead right there vs. a 100 yard runner)
Stage of the rut
Field dressing
Handling of the meat from field to freezer


You can't influence #3(except by choosing your hunting times), but the other things you can have an impact on. In my experience bucks and older deer tend more towards a gamey taste. Taking doe and younger deer mitigates this. Shot placement is crucial, as was mentioned here, a deer that has enough life to run has adrenalin coursing through them and that stiffens the muscle fibres. I shoot a high shoulder shot that breaks the shoulders and hits both lungs. I haven't had a deer take a step since I started doing so and have tasted the difference. Field dressing can make or break your deer. I do it quickly and as soon after dropping the animal as possible. We normally are able to start dressing the deer within 15 minutes(or less) of the shot. Be carefull to keep urine, bile, feces or milk(milk seems especially bad for some reason) off the meat. Keep several gallons of water handy and wash the carcase out as soon as you are done, or if you get any of the above mentioned items on your meat. I have a big 5 gallon Culligan water jug with a hose on it that I keep in my truck, it works perfect for this. What to do after field dressing varies in opinion to opinion, I can only tell you mine. The quicker you get your meat to the fridge the better it will be. I don't care for hanging or storing overnight, we go straight to the processor. I'm normally looking at about an hour and a half from the shot to dropping the deer at the processor and out meat never has any gamey taste. If you don't use a processor or can't get to them this quickly I would hang the carcass in a fridge or outdoors if it will be nice and cold. If you are taking a longer drive to a processor I would pack the cavity with ice and place the carcass in a cooler, truck box, etc where it can be kept nice and cool. Good luck and happy hunting!

onebullet

DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT put your meat in garbage bag-- the inside is coated with a chemical to keep odors from developing and is not good if ingested -[:-] if you want more on it i will find the article. i used to do the same thing--- i dont remember who posted it but if you can air condition a small place-like a garage or shed and get the temp down to 40-45 degrees-- it was a great idea

Champlain Islander

I always do my own deer meat and learned from a butcher who was a neighbor. It is important to thoroughly clean blood out of the inside of the body cavity and I try to let it hang in a cool place for 3 to 5 days if possible. I bone all the meat and trim all fat and tallow from the meat. No saws are allowed top touch the meat, just sharp knives. As far as the question of a deer being hit and dying a slow death which taints the meat I can only share my last kill. I hit the deer at 7 am and didn't make a particularly good shot. I had good tracking snow and followed it for over 6 hours. I jumped it multiple times but couldn't get off a good shot. It was getting noticeably weaker and I finally caught up to it in a bed and finished it off. The meat was really dark and I figured it wouldn’t be that good but was surprised at the wonderful flavor when I finally got the nerve to cook some up. It was a 2 1/2 year old buck. I have harvested dozens of deer and the only bad ones I have had were ones that were bow shot through the guts and didn't find them until the next day and it was warm.

jetblast

I've never had any gamey tasting meat that I've processed in 20-25 years. I've killed them and let them hang in a walk-in cooler, I've quartered them and thrown them on ice in a cooler. I've tracked them aways and had almost instant bow kills. The only common denominator I can see for all of them is that I trim all fat and slimey stuff before I wrap in plastic and freezer paper.

JimboHunter1

Bingo, jetblast.

Jack Ryan

I think it can be a combination of things gone wrong can take it from "a little gamey" to untolerable.

Bad shots that let it run live or other wise saturate the meat with adrenaline. I just don't think this can be fixed by marinating or anything else.

Trim off all the fat.

Assuming everything else is at least addressed in a reasonable manner I've never had any gamey taste at all. It still taste like venison but none of that bitter or at least that's what I call gamey taste.

Many times I've cooked a neck roast from one like this in a crock pot and cooked just like beef most people can't tell it from beef even when both are right there at the table.

Steaks still taste like venison but I don't do a thing different to them than I do to beef steaks.

shedhead

I believe it has alot to do with the cook and overcooking. I personally have only had one strong nasty tasting deer and that was a roadkill fawn that I pickup up in March after a winter where they were eating nothing but cedar and they were very stressed.

skulker

I don't have that problem anymore. A meatcuter i know told me to make sure the deer is cleaned well and cool it off. When you cut the meat there is some small glands inside of the hind quarters and front shoulders that look like small gray lima beans, get them out, if you cut them open anything the knife, your hand, or the gland touches will be contaminated and have a strong gamey taste. This can also happen with store bought meat such as lamb or beef. I've shoot deer in east texas and california, in texas the weather is cool to cold70 or lower in calif. it was near 100 and all my deer always run, good shots just bad luck so I don't think that running has much afect on the taste