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November is quickly approaching and one of my favorite times of the year, deer hunting season. What person would not enjoy getting up at 4:30 a.m. eating a good breakfast and going out into the subfreezing outdoors to sit still and watch for that elusive buck? Well maybe I don’t enjoy the cold or the getting up at 4:30 as much as I used to, I still enjoy deer hunting. What I really enjoy is the outdoors and challenge of a good hunt with friends and family. The other part of hunting I personally enjoy is making venison sausage. I get a lot of satisfaction from making my own sausage.
One benefit from making my own sausage from venison we harvest is that I know how the carcass was cared for from the kill to the table. From the time you harvest the deer it is vitally important that you keep the meat as clean as possible and get the carcass cooled down quickly. We have changed many of our field dressing practices over the last few years with the new awareness of diseases like Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). We always carry disposable latex gloves for dressing the deer in the field. The gloves keep anything from the deer from getting into cuts or scratches on our hands plus it keeps the hands clean.
Once we have the deer dressed and if we are not too far from home we take the deer home and use the garden hose to wash the inside of the carcass out with fresh clean water. This accomplishes two very important goals. First, most dirt and debris are removed and the carcass is cooled. This washing of the inside of the animal actually saves meat because less meat has to be discarded due to contamination. Next we hang the deer and no matter how tired we are after a day of hunting we skin all deer that night. The skinning makes sure the whole carcass cools properly and a fresh kill is easier to skin. When the weather is hot use cheesecloth and black pepper to protect the carcass from flies.
Muscle boning deer is a convenient way to take care of venison. It allows you to separate the meat into better more tender cuts, takes up less freezer space, and makes it easier to cook. Furthermore you will eliminate the spinal cord and lymph nodes, which is material that might be associated with CWD. Other parts of deer you should avoid consuming is brain, eyes, and spleen.
Hunters need to be vigilant for identifying deer displaying CWD symptoms and report suspected cases to wildlife officials immediately. CWD symptoms include: weight loss, stumbling, excessive salivation, loss of appetite, excessive thirst, listlessness, abnormal head posture and drooping ears. Except for the drooping ears, it reminds me of a person who has been at the local pub too long.
The source of this information was adapted from “Wild Side of the Menu No. 2, Field to Freezer” by Martin Marchello, Professor and Julie Garden Robinson, food and nutrition specialist, NDSU Extension Service.