There are easily as many venison recipes as there are for beef, and indeed many beef recipes were actually converted from recipes designed for wild meats such as venison. This stands to reason, since venison not only has a richer, fuller flavor, but it has the same cuts of meat; steak, roast, ribs, ground, and so on. Deer are just much smaller. A good-sized buck will dress out at usually less than 200 pounds, though a few get a little larger. Some species rarely get much over 100 pounds. (Mule deer, the largest species and the one I hunt the most, have been recorded that were field dressed at almost 400 pounds, but these enormous sized bucks are very rare.)

The methods of cooking are as varied as with beef, too. Deer meat can be fried, baked, broiled, barbecued, braised, steamed, boiled, grilled, or even pit baked. It also makes dried meat and jerky even more readily than beef, partly owing to the fact that deer tends to be leaner, since it is wild. Beef is often raised to purposely put on weight quickly, which means more fat within the muscles. While marbling is desired for beef, it is not for venison.

I have many favorite recipes, based on part, on what cut of meat is being cooked. An important factor actually comes into play long before cooking; proper aging and treatment of the meat. If this isn't done correctly, venison will have a gamy taste regardless of how it is prepared. If done correctly, the meat will have such a good flavor that it becomes almost difficult to cook it wrong.

I mention here, only a few of my most favorite recipes, out of many hundreds.

Fried Back strap: The back strap is an oval or circular piece of meat that lies on each side of the backbone, and near the upper part of the ribs. Both pieces of meat run the full length of the deer, but are about 3 inches in diameter. Gristle and fat is practically absent, and the cut of meat tends to be naturally tender even in older deer. This is cut into steaks across the grain so that you end up with many 3 inch steaks about 1 inch in thickness. The steaks are dredged liberally in flour until well covered, and then cooked in medium hot grease on the stove, sprinkling with salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Covering the fry pan helps retain some of the flavor that can be lost during cooking. Cook until it is cooked as done, as you want it. As a tip, since deer is wild, it should be cooked more than corresponding cuts of beef. Unlike beef, it doesn't

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