Paul Rattray

Virtues of Venison

How to kill,
prepare and cook
deer meat or
venison properly.

Contents

Dark Marinated Venison in soya sauce, Cassava Leaves in Peanut

Sauce, Mango and Chili Sambal, with White Rice.

1. Book 1 - Shooting Game

1.1 Best Times to Kill
1.2 Game Meat
1.3 Tools of the Trade
1.4 Field Dressing Deer
1.5 Cutting and Carrying Gear
1.6 Venison Cuts
2. Book 2 - Cooking Venison
2.1 Marinades and Sauces
2.2 Satay and Kebabs
2.3 Curries and Casseroles
2.4 Smoked and Salted Meats
2.5 Rissoles and Roasts
2.6 Stir Fry and Steak
2.7 Salads and Sides

Venison marinated overnight in a salty or sweet soy sauce cooks

up dry yet remains moist minus a strong taste.
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COPYRIGHT

Paul Rattray, 2015

Virtues of Venison: How to kill, prepare and cook deer meat or venison properly
This book may not be copied, reprinted or distributed in any shape or form, except with the expressed permission
of the author, other than for quotations for research purposes.

Book 1

Shooting Game
Carrying out a caped stag during the rut or mating season.

In many kingdoms killing red deer and eating their venison could
bring a death sentence to the hunter unless he or she was a royal.
Thankfully we no longer live in those times! In fact, with the ranges
of deer, especially red deer increasing ever year, particularly in Australia, red deer and their venison has never been more accessible to
the hunter and householder.
However, one of the problems with venison, like all game (wild)
meat is that it is gamey. It naturally has a stronger smell and taste
than domestic meat. Unless you grew up in the jungles of Borneo
and have lived in the Australian bush like me, hunting, catching,
cooking and eating game meat most of your life, you are probably unaware of when to kill red deer for meat and how to prepare and cook
venison properly.
Most red deer are, unfortunately, shot during the rut or mating season that, in southeast Queensland, Australia occurs during March to
May. During mating season is when stags (mature male red deer)
and hinds (mature female red deer) are at their gamiest. Many people have tried this gamey red deer meat and decided that venison is
not for them.
Virtues of Venison challenges these stereotypes about venison by
showing you how and when to kill, prepare and cook red deer meat
to get the best flavours out of this incredible meat.

Most people try venison taken during the rut and roar and are
turned o by its gamey taste.
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Best Times to Kill

Red Deer Calendar

To understand red deer seasons in detail, especially for skilled

hunting, refer to my red deer hunting and management book, Secrets of the Reds. Secrets of the Reds is a complete step-by-step
guide to skilled hunting and shooting techniques, so in this book
these factors only focus on meat hunting.
Because red deer are supercharged with hormones during the
rut, it is best not to take their meat during the mating season unless you are shooting a spiker (a male less than two years old) or a
yearling hind.
For venison, animals of less than two years of age are the best targets. If you are going to take more mature animals it is advisable
to shoot hinds during group season, before they are heavily pregnant and stags during solitary season when they are in velvet.

Shooting a Deer
Unless you are an excellent shot with a flat-shooting and highpowered rifle do not to try and head shoot red deer. They have
proportionately small heads to body size and normally move
their heads around a lot, especially when disturbed.
A shot placed slightly behind the lower part of the shoulder is
much more likely to destroy vital organs, like the heart and lungs,
leading to a humane kill. The minimum recommended rifle calibre for the amateur shooting red deer is a .270, 7mm or .308.

The best times to shoot red deer for venison is during the group
and solitary seasons, rather than the rut or mating season.
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