Venison & deer stalking – your views please

An ex’s father was a reindeer herder across Norway/Finmark. Chernobyl buggered that but I’ve still eaten enough venison to never want any more.
Stalking? If you can shoot fine. If you can’t get in the sea.

I’ve 650gms(about 1.4lbs) of sirloin in the piece, to do a roll for the oven, possibly tonight 😀 Yum.
When I trim and roll it it should be a bit over the pound.

Just realised how old this threadcis. I may have replied before..

Just got off the train to Ash (Surrey) and saw four groups of 4 muntjac. All within 100yds of housing estates, if it wasn’t a Patrick’s Day travellers wake in my local they’d all be in freezers by midnight…

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/mar/17/deer-destroying-habitats-venison-uk-food-banks

Be interesting to see how the FSA advice (don’t eat lead shot stuff) is navigated in this latest drive.

The only time it pisses me off is when the bloke at work who does it doesn’t bring me any back.

Be interesting to see how the FSA advice (don’t eat lead shot stuff) is navigated in this latest drive.

Non lead rifle ammunition is widely available and used by many deer stalkers.

Venison sausages with about 5% pork are **** devine.

Hard to get venison here despite it being gorgeous.

Needs to be made easier. Overgrazing is causing massive environmental damage.

I tried venison stalking once. Bit like shooting fish in a barrel…

I’d be really interested in your views on venison – have you tried it, did you like it, if not why not, what would influence you to buy it in future, would you know where to buy it, would you actively seek it out or is it an impulse buy, do you have an understanding of the process from field to plate? Those sort of general issues.

I appreciate that there will be folk who find the whole thing distasteful and don’t eat meat etc. I fully respect that view but I’d like to try and solicit the views of folk who eat other types of meat but not venison if possible.

Thanks in advance.

I love venison but it’s too expensive for me because the local butchers “see me coming”. They sell skinned rabbit for £10! I ain’t buying that. I can buy a small/medium free range or corn fed or organic chicken for that. I also like pheasants but again they “see me coming” so I ain’t buying.

Yes, tried venison many times and cooked them Chinese style with ginger, spring onion stir fried. With right preparation and recipe this is very delicious.

I will buy them whenever the price is right as often as I can because it’s a beef substitute for me.

Therefore, the more the better but must be at the right price.

Oh ya … I don’t buy meat that’s specifically killed for me. i.e. as in I order the animal to be slaughtered for my consumption. If they are available for general public I will buy at the right price. Also, I don’t consume beast of burden hence I don’t eat beef often.

I love meat but I really dislike strong flavoured stuff…I also don’t like undercooked so no pink for me. I like venison but depends on how it is cooked and how strong the flavour is – which isn’t great as it is hit and miss, so I don’t eat it often.

How many do you want? You could sit at my kitchen table and pick off a few – we have a herd of about 15 next to us. There’s at least 2 deer for every person here so no one would notice a couple. The taste of the meat means it does limit your menu, but venison and black pudding sausages are nice.

They look badly photoshopped, lawn is a state too.

😉

I’ll say what I’ve said for years: while red deer are an area if our economy that many rely on for income, and important culturally to many, I think we need to find a way to shoot well over half the deer (roe as well) in Scotland. This is on environmental grounds, and opens up new income opportunity around nature tourism.
How we get there, I’ve no idea.

https://www.scotlandbigpicture.com/

Some of the estates have done it – deer density varies hugely and IIRC Feshie is one – and oddly enough deer do not seem to move in to the vacant areas quickly as feared and in Feshie the trees are regenerating

Feshie has a zero tolerance approach to deer numbers and will despatch a guy with a gun if one is spotted. Feshie is also part of the Cairngorms Connect project, which covers many estates, all of whom are minimising deer numbers. It’s just a shame that the likes of Balmoral won’t co-operate as once you get over into Deeside and Angus the numbers of deer are much higher.

Haven’t replied before but I like venison. There is a venison ‘farm’ near us outside Brecon and I will pick up mince or chunks for curry if I am passing or if I fancy a cycle ride. I used apostrophes as the deer are very free roaming, more so than sheep or cattle but they are not wild. I’d happily buy and eat rabbit, I’ve had squirrels in the past when I used to shoot. Ok but a lot of faff. I was happier taking the carcasses to the local bird of prey centre.

I like venison but depends on how it is cooked and how strong the flavour is – which isn’t great as it is hit and miss, so I don’t eat it often.

Using the right marinate the flavour is minimum like beef which I prefer.

Rabbit, squirrel are fine with me too.

It’s all about price for me because I ain’t paying gourmet price.

I do a bit of stalking in and amongst and enjoy a bit of venison. One of the reasons the deer population has flourished to such levels in Scotland is because a lot of estates (and farms) relied on visiting recreational stalkers. Many English stalkers would hold a share on the sporting lease for various parcels of Scottish land, paying reasonable money to do so. This is especially true for Roe Deer.

Red Deer stalking on commercial estates is a bit of a different story, and best left here.

The various lockdowns meant there were very few deer taken over the last few years, and the boom in the population was/is starting to tell.

There’s a very broad spectrum of issues at play across the whole piece. I’m not convinced there are any one-size-fits-all solutions, but many estates now employ contractors to clear Roe from Forestry as land-use diversifies. Game dealers are offering a pittance for venison, as it’s coming into them in industrial amounts.

All I can say is if you know anyone who shoots deer, get yourself a chest freezer and learn to butcher a carcass. Go on the various Game sites on FB and bid for the meat. Make sure the person selling or giving it to you has a deer-management certificate or game meat hygiene qualification, otherwise you might as well be buying roadkill…..

In the next few years we expect to see a complete ban on lead projectiles for Deer, but commercial contractors and forestry deer-managers will, in all probability, already have made the switch.

I’d love to try it tbh, we have quite a fancy butcher so I’m tempted to ask them if they ever have any in.

Only ever had venison burger or sausage before, as down here in the South you don’t see much around. I’d love to try a steak!

What’s the best cut? Is there an equivalent of a rib eye?

Haven’t eaten venison for years mainly cos it was very hit and miss as to whether it would be tasty. Didn’t make any difference as to what type of deer it was, crumbs even the dog refused to eat muntjac!

Guilty secret: there’s a chap on Youtube called MeatEater and do find any vids featuring hunting (white-tailed) deer with a bow to be rather appealing. Just seems kinder all round. They use a mixture of public land where they’re given an official ticket or invited to someone’s country property.

Deer are classed as a pest here so culling is encouraged. That means lots of venison available for me.

Mmmm, backstrap lightly fried in garlic butter on sourdough toast. S’cuse me, I need to make a phone call.

well we are having a fallow doe rump pan fried with juniper rosemary and garlic, finished in the oven with butter and red wine and shallot sauce. crushed new potatoes, carrots, tender stem broccoli, runner beans and savoy cabbage, and a yorkshire pud.
many tummy rumbling noises going on. dog has just had some muntjac with the fur on as i just couldnt be bothered to skin it – i left it hanging in the garage a few days as it was well below 5c, and i think that might make it harder to skin.

back strap is probably the best bit, it melts in your mouth if you do it properly. gave a lump of rump to a mate a while ago and he marinated it, covered it in bacon and roasted it a highish heat for a shortish amount of time. looked incredible in the pics. his kids loved it. Another mate took the neck of a fallow buck we had and used a Jamie Oliver burger receipe, which again involved a load of pork and he said his kids pester him constantly to make some more. I want to have a go at making sausages.

What’s the best cut? Is there an equivalent of a rib eye?

Loin or saddle. This can be subdivided into Top Loin and Strap loin.

The Strap loin (the lower portion) on a roe makes a great steak for one hungry diner. It has a bit of silverskin to cut away, but I pan sear them for about a minute each side in a cast iron skillet heated ’til it squeaks, or sets the smoke alarm off, splash of oil and a knob of butter. I then wrap in foil and allow it to stand for a good ten minutes in a warm place. You could roast in the oven if you want it nearer medium, but this is a cut you can serve “blue”. A good char is essential, so a going over with a blowtorch works well.

The toploin (up towards the shoulders) can be left in situ and half a dozen chops cut, but it’s another fantastic tube-shaped steak for one either side otherwise. I often turn this into Carpaccio: Marinaded overnight in a rub of olive oil, dijon, garlic, szechuan pepper and salt, wrapped tightly in clingfilm to maintain its cylindrical shape. Then wipe off the wet marinade, roll in a good layer of crushed peppercorns, and sear in as hot a skillet as you can achieve. It literally takes a few seconds on each side, turning it as you do to make sure all the outer surface is seared. Take it straight off the heat and into the fridge. You need to stop the inside heating through and cooking too far. You could pop it in the freezer, it needs to chill completely. Once it’s completely cold, slice it as thinly as you can with a sharp knife, then roll out the disks between sheets of greaseproof paper so they’re more or less translucent. Serve with cornichons (gherkins) and root vegetable crisps as a starter.