Calling all you great white hunters

[Snakeoil]

Okay, I was a bird and rabbit hunter. Never shot a deer, although I've eaten more than my share of venison as either a guest or given as a gift. We have a good friend who is a serious hunter and who does not eat meat. He always gave the tenderloins and chops to his mom. But mom passed and now he gives it to us. I've never had a bad piece of meat from him... until tonight. Now, being in NY and the fact that with mild winters and a shortage of hunters, big bucks are not scarce by a long shot. So, he will not shoot a deer (rifle or bow) unless it is at least a 10 pointer.

Tonight, for Christmas Eve, the wife and I had a venison tenderloin done on the grill with lobster tails and a nice bottle of Moet Chandon. The venison was as tender as could be. But it tasted like liver. It was not bad (I hate liver) but it was not what one might call "lip smackin' good". So, is it just the luck of the draw. Was this from an old buck? Do they get gamey tasting as they get older? And more importantly, was there something I could have done with the meat (cuz we have plenty more) that could have countered that liver flavor?

Okay, that's it. Thanks for any suggestions/insight.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

 

[Tomme boy]

The hormones in a full rut buck can make the meat taste funny. Might be part of it. It also can make a difference on what the deer has been eating over the last year. I have taken deer ere on some of the islands that are on the Mississippi river. They taste different than deer that are out here that have been in the corn an bean fields. The deer that came off the islands are more gamy. Or the taste is a lot stronger taste of deer than the ones in the fields. If that makes sense.

 

[richhodg66]

The deer in this part of Kansas live on Milo, soybeans, corn, winter wheat,they're better fed than beef catle and taste accordingly.

I shot a few deer while stationed at Fort Sill (SW Oklahoma) that lived on acorns and whatever else, no agriculture. Significant difference in how deer taset between those two environments.

A serious hunter who doesn't eat meat?

 

[JWFilips]

Hey It is venison! Not store bought beef! I relish the flavor! It is the taste of the wild....that is why we hunt.

 

[RicinYakima]

Late Fall? Mild Winter? Late rut!

 

[fiver]

Liver,, huh.
i've had sagebrush, grass, bark, and buck brush flavored deer, but Liver is a new one on me.
lot of ducks i've ate taste like liver though.
if i want it to go away i do a salt water soak for a few hrs. or about 1 in some milk, it seems to mellow things out.

 

[RicinYakima]

I like liver with a milk soak, same as catfish.

 

[Winelover]

My opinion on the flavor of venison is how carefully the deer is handled after the shot. I've eaten Michigan farmland deer (corn, soybeans & winter wheat) and now in Arkansas where there is no farm crops, except for wheat. Plenty of acorns, though. No difference in taste between the one's I've harvested.

I don't find much difference in taste/flavor between age groups, either. I strictly harvest mature bucks...........6 points or more. Many taken during the rut. All the same to me. BTW, I hate organ meat and it's left in the woods for the scavengers, unless I know someone that wants it.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

........Tonight, for Christmas Eve, the wife and I had a venison tenderloin done on the grill with lobster tails and a nice bottle of Moet Chandon.

Clearly you needed a second bottle of Moet & Chandon

And thanks to you, I now have the lyrics to "Killer Queen" bounching around inside my head.
" She keeps Moet et Chandon, in her pretty cabinet
"Let them eat cake," she says, just like Marie Antoinette "

 

[richhodg66]

I ate the liver of the buck my son shot over the course of about a week and really enjoyed it. The one I shot got sliced up and frozen for later. I had stopped saving the livers years ago, not sure why, but I will be keeping them from now on.

 

[smokeywolf]

My mother used to say her favorite part of the deer was the liver; prepared and eaten the same day the deer was taken.

 

[Snakeoil]

Hey It is venison! Not store bought beef! I relish the flavor! It is the taste of the wild....that is why we hunt.

Never said I wanted it to taste like beef, JW. Never had venison that tasted like liver.

I have always hated liver. My Mom made me eat growing up. She would make it with bacon. There is not enough bacon in the world. Later, lived with a girl who loved liver. Asked if she could make it for dinner. I figured my tastse had changed so why not. Came home from work, opened the door and after one whiff, the memory of the taste returned and I said, I'll be right back. Came back home with burger and fries.

 

[blackthorn]

I like liver as long as it is not over-cooked. To prepare liver from a fresh killed deer; I put the liver in the sink and cover it with clod water. Leave it there for a few hours, slice it up and fry it with onions and bacon.

Point of interest: I notice that you all seem to count all the antler points on the Deer. Where I grew up and even where I now reside, we count only one side, i.e. a Deer with 5 points on one side and 4 on the other is a 5 point. For what it is worth: With respect to "gamy" tasting Deer, I was taught to remove the scent glands from the Deer's back legs as soon as possible. Does it help? I don't know but I have taken several good sized mule deer bucks that had swollen necks and smelled very strong and never had one that tasted "gamy". My hunting partner (years ago) shot, wounded and had to chase down a mid-size buck and the meat was so strong the dogs would not eat it.

 

[Winelover]

Points are dependant on whether it's Eastern or Western count. Eastern counts 1" or better points on both sides. Western count is only the points on one side. So it's a geographic thing.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

I agree with most every post above and yea its partially luck of the draw. In the Age, time of year Condition of animal as well as its main source of sustinance and IMHO handling after the kill all have large effect on table fare.

I smoked two footballs for Christmas eve. Every one loved it. Myself and my father said same thing. Dosen't taste like venison.

It was tender, flavorful but id swear it was not venison.

As for "liver taste". Never found that. Often a liver consistancy has been observed and maybe this is closer to true for your experience. As you know Venison is very lean and one should NOT eat its fat or especially its marrow as that alone can RUIN the taste. Band sawing steaks is a sure fire way to RUIN the steaks as it spreads that foul marrow across both sides of each steak. Want steaks? Bone out femur, wrap with twice and THEN band saw or better yet hand cut.

CW

 

[Hawk]

We always soak our venison in an ice chest for a week after the kill.
Drain the water each day and top off with ice.
Then process.
Takes all the gamey taste out.

 

[CZ93X62]

What Fiver said. Also, I don't hunt deer in warm weather, and most of our deer season (Columbus Day until Veteran's Day) is quite hot. Most of my deer have been taken after Nov. 1, and they are all forkies--big deer in my area taste like tire sidewall in skunk scent marinade. Been there/done that.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

That was my first recollection that what they eat makes a difference. A family
Member hit a deer middle summer called and I was there as police showed. We took deer and butchered that day. Wow that deer was FINE EATING!! (No acorns in May!!) much different taste.

 

[Tomme boy]

If you have a deer that is scored you count ALL the points that are 1" or larger. That is how you measure them. Never could understand counting only one side

 

[Ian]

Liver-tasting venison in my experience is too much blood in the meat, or the meat not being aged sufficiently in a manner that promotes blood and lymph drainage from the meat. The liver taste us distinct and nothing like the various wild or "gamey" flavors venison can have.

I quit hunting red deer on account of every one of them tasting like liver, and the less the meat drained the worse it was. Killed two whitetail does within seconds of each other, one I hung up and let drain and the other I gutted and quartered on the ground. The hung one bled out and tasted great, the other one might as well have been liver loaf.