1) I married into a family of hunters and fishermen. I have difficulty separating myself from the Bambi image and rarely eat the meat. I do understand that it is necessary to thin the herds and my guys are actually very in tune to environmental issues. I have found that I can eat the sausage, they use pork fat to season it because venison is so lean. I can use the ground meat in chili and meatloaf because of the way I season it. We have found that our local food bank will accept deer meat if it is professionally processed. We also know a family with 6 kids that love deer meat, This year Richard is hunting for them since their Dad, our plumber, has not had time to hunt. This family uses deer meat every way we would use beef. Since they have always ate it they aren't put off by the "gaminess." There are several hunters on Humzoo that could probably give you some recipes. I have found soaking it in milk first, helps and then marinating it. The boys cooked their grandma a roast using beer as the marinade, she had no idea and thought it was wonderful. One Christmas, Alex fixed tenderloin wrapped in bacon on the grill and both of my daughters ate it and like it and usually they turn their noses up at it. I know you have heard this arguement before but I believe it is true. A good hunter respects and honors his game in a much more humane way than a poor beef cattle slaughtered in a meat packing house. dannie   Sunday, November 16, 2008

2) Good advice, Dannie. Jason has super high ethics when it comes to hunting. I think that is why he didn't come home with one last year. One was in close range, and I can't remember the reason he had for not shooting it. I think maybe it didn't have enough points or something. Can't remember.

If he gets a deer, he'll be dropping it off at our local butcher http://www.johnsbutchershoppee.com/ tonight to be processed. I will *try* some. I've heard that the deer sausage is great.

He brought his camera with him, so if he did get one, I'm sure that I'll have some photos of the experience that I can post. Jenn   Sunday, November 16, 2008

3) It's official. The guys got no deer again this year. lol He said the good news was that none of the other deer camps had any deer hanging either, so it must have just been a bad weekend because of the wind or something. Jenn   Sunday, November 16, 2008

4) Please send them to North Carolina,because we have a deer for every human here. BeanCounter37   Sunday, November 16, 2008

5) Deer sausage can be great - just depends on the maker. I have not had any from professional meat processors that I would consider bad. I have tasted some made by locals that I didn't care for - way too spicy! I have gotten into making different sausages from venison, very good!!
Most of the deer I harvest here in central Illinois are, for the most part, corn fed, so if properly field dressed and then processed, there is very little game taste; there might be in the older bucks, though. I love to eat venison so I go for a doe or a young buck. I wouldn't pass up an opportunity to take one with a lot of points - but those points take days and days of cooking to become edible!!! stheinz   Sunday, November 16, 2008

6) That must be why -my guys have been hunting so long that they just want to go for the big ones. Last year Alex had an 8 pointer that scored over 160 class (Boone and Crockett)Aren't you impressed that I know about that? I really don't have a choice because they live and breathe hunting from bow season on.Fletcher is learning taxidermy as a hobby.
Richard is only allowed to hand dead things in his den or the basement:> dannie   Monday, November 17, 2008

7) Does anyone hunt anything other than deer? I know some people around here hunt all kinds of things... pheasant, rabbit, squirrel, duck. The list goes on and on. I've still never convinced myself to try eating any of it, but the hunters all seem to love it. Snelly   Monday, November 17, 2008

8) I actually really enjoy hunting but don't have the opportunity for it. No deer hunting for me tho - just quail and pheasant. But I do like deer sausage - yummy and the ground deer meat is really good to use in spaghetti and chili. Very low in fat. justmeg   Monday, November 17, 2008

9) If its in season my guys hunt it. dannie   Monday, November 17, 2008

10) I've heard that deer is good in things like spaghetti. And it's a bonus that its much lower in fat, so it's healthier. I wouldn't mind trying that. The only thing I've tried yet is the deer sausage and it was pretty good.

Dannie, do you cook up anything that the guys hunt? If so, any special recipes to share? Snelly   Monday, November 17, 2008