How many of you use deer meat? We love it. I like having it made into hamburger. we use a lot of hamburger so this saves me alot of money. My DH used to hunt and goes occasionally but he is handicapped and it is harder for him to go now. My DS loves to hunt. He has gotten 10 so far and it isn't even shotgun season yet. He has been hunting a special season in Coralville as they needed to thin the deer.
He feeds his family on deer meat all year with all he puts in the freezers. I keep reminding him I need some hamburger! LOL He and my BIL process them themselves. My BIL is really good at dressing them! Nathan has kept the legs on a couple and brought them over for my DH to make jerky. My DH is so patient and makes the best jerky!! Nathan asked his dad to make some jerky for him and he did. But we ate part of it before he got to take home the rest! LOL

My SIL has some of theirs made into bologna and sticks. That's ok but I would rather have the jerky and hamburger. We eat alot of chili all year round and beefburgers etc. If they get a young one and they process it right it is so tender and deer meat is leaner and better for you than beef.

So what do you do with deer meat?

Rhonda, I tried it once and didn't like it. I didn't grow up in a hunting family and it creeps me out :) My DH's brothers hunt. They eat tons of it and love it.

I like to make Mincemeat. The neck is good for this.

I really miss having deer meat. We always had it while my husband was able to hunt. Now that I am alone I don't have it and really do miss it. Elk was probably my favorite type of game meat.

my family didn't hunt I missed out on this part of my area. I will also say that I have eaten bear and moose but not deer. I would have to not know what I am eating. We have too many of the cute little things running around in my yard :)

I wish my family hunted, I sure could use the break on my grocery bill.

Love venison. I grew up with it, but haven't had any in years. I remember one summer at my aunts in Canada; my cousins shot a deer and we had fresh deer steak that night, cut right off the leg and tossed into the fry pan. Delicious!
They also ate bear meat too. I wasn't too crazy about that though.
They could see the Game Wardens car about 2 or 3 miles down the road. Amazing how quickly any evidence of deer disappeared.

I'm not super crazy about it only because it's not your normal everyday grocers meat. But I have a neighbor that will give me a ham roast, back strap and the neck. The neck I like for BBQ, I use the rest for stew and roast. Back strap is the most tender so it's good lightly fried like chicken fried steak. I don't tell the grandkids and they'll eat it fine. BUt yeah, it saves on money these days and glad to get it when I can. My Brother went to Canada to hunt bear, everyone says it's a bit stronger in taste but good. Anyhow he makes dear sausage like Summer Sausage you buy in the stores. Only his is sooo much better. Hope this helps! :thumbup:

My DH loves it. Me, no way i'm a beef eater. He gives most of his away to the homeless shelter.

We love venison. We use the hamburg all the time. We are hoping to get 2 deer this year. (just for the hamburg) Saves us tons on the grocery bill.
We process the deer ourselves.

I love the hamburger too. My favorite is the tenderlionson the grill though...........yum!!!!!!!!!!

I love venison. I haven't been hunting in a couple of years & I'm starting to really miss it.

Quiltforme - what does bear taste like? (please don't say chicken)

I like to pressure can some. It's great for stew or meat and gravey over potatoes. It's great for a quick supper.

I love deer meat but have no hunters in our family. DH and I are always talking about joining a rod and gun club so we can supplement our freezer with deer meat on our own. I am always on the lookout for friends who hunt who may be willing to share some. Unless it is the tenderloin, I like slow cooked or ground up. I made the most delicious sausage out of deer meat. I also make lots of slow cooked stewing type recipes with it. My two favorites are Venison Paprika and Venison Korma. Korma is an indian/pakistani dish normally made with lamb but substitute deer meat for the lamb and it is YUMMY. Deer meat stroganoff and of course deer stew. I also love love love deer meat jerky. Beef jerky doesn't hold a candle to venison jerky.

One year when my sister- in-law was pregnant she couldn't stand the smell of deer meat cooking. So they were moving and they gave us their freezer with the deer meat. My DD was about 14 and as I was working she cooked most meals. She made all sorts of differant meals with the deer. Her favorite was to dice the meat and make "beef tips with mushroom gravy"

All of my sons hunt, hubby and I used to, but too old now. They bring the ribs and I make bar-b-qued ribs, Love them. Love venison in any dish, so much better than store bought meat that has too much who knows what processed into it.

You're right about Deer Jerky! This is the right time of the season to start making it for Christmas! My grand children love the stuff, also my brother, my daughters, sisters and on and on ...
:D :D

I have deer hunters, but I don't cook it, and don't want to eat it. I have eaten it, but don't care for it now. I prefer beef, but really don't eat a lot of meat at all.

Love it. Jerky was a childhood fave. We used to eat ox, deer, boar, rabbit and buffalo. Ah, the good old days.

Been checking where everyone is from as I read your comments. I'm from central IL and the hunters are too many here! We have a hard time even finding ground here to hunt-everyone "saves" their ground for out-of-state high paying hunters! My family LOVES deer meat, and we also butcher and freeze all our own, when we get them, and also help several other people if they get a deer. My children don't even eat hamburgers at a resturaunt! they say those taste "funny"! We love wild turkey and dove too. We don't have the opportunity for much else, except maybe rabbit...

All that long neck makes the best mincemeat in the world.

Brown some of the steaks on both sides in a hot skillet, roll up and stick in canning jars with small onions and small carrots, fill with water and process. When this is opened it makes the best smothered steak in the winter time you have ever eaten.

Bones slowly simmered or crock potted for hours with garlic, onions and vinegar. This will make some of the best stock ever.

If you think about it, deer and bear and other wild animals are far healthier than commercial meat animals. They have not had the masses of antibiotics or medicines or feed they were not programmed by nature to eat in feed lots, etc.

I met a nurse once who swore she was allergic to chicken..so I convinced her to go to farms and find a range run chicken and eat it. She did and came back to work convinced enough to become a health food nut. She's still working at a late age.

When you get some, cherish it and thank the donors well. Maybe they'll give you more. With prices rising all across the board, wild meat will be more in demand than it ever was.

Love venison but no longer have a hunter in the family. Sometime wives of hunters will pass it on because they don't like to or don't know how to cook it.