All things venison

Yes, in most of the midwest and eastern states, deer were wiped out. Thankfully due to extreme regulation and management, populations are back to sustainable levels. One of the guys I hunt with.. a direct decedent of D. Boone, says that when he was a kid 60-70 years ago, there was no deer season, and to see one was something very special..

Elk were exterminated here in Kentucky in the 1800's. But.. 20 years ago, just about when I got out of the army, they started to reintroduce them.. This article is a decade old now.. But the population has done so well that many B&C bulls have been taken here. I put in every year for tags..

Linky to the story..

Originally posted by furpod BTW.. the absolute biggest problem with cooking almost all game, and especially venison, is it's near complete lack of "marbling" or fat of any kind. Most people overcook it. By a lot. You HAVE to aim for rare.

That is almost exactly what I was going to post until I read your post. Yes, most wild game tastes too "dry" for lack of a better word. This is mainly due to the fact that most wild game, regardless of species, does not have very much fat.

One of the best turkeys I've ever tasted was a couple years ago. A neighbor had shot a wild turkey on his property, and his partner fixed it by wrapping the dressed bird in bacon. Oh wow, was that good.

The secret is to lay long strips of bacon across the meat ............................helps substitute for the marbling and give bear and other meats some extra fat for cooking.  

We deep fry all our turkeys. I just had 13 in the yard. The old Tom was not happy he could see himself in bumper of my truck.

   Change the subject, how about including reptiles. Snakes, alligators and frogs. Not venison but in the south it's something on some menus.