The taste of venison can vary a lot of from deer to deer. The more you know about what impacts the flavor of your meat, the more steps you can take to ensure the most tender and flavorful venison possible. On today’s episode I talk about seven factors that impact the taste of your meat.
Take Aways:
Most of this is not unique to venison, it effects beef as well. But beef is raised, slaughtered, butchered, and sold like clockwork in a well tuned and managed system that ensures quality and flavor. When it comes to deer, many of the flavor effecting factors are in your hands.
What happens between the hour before you pull the trigger until when the meat enters the freezer makes all the difference. Even the most skilled cooking cannot set right things that were done poorly in the field.
Cooking certainly does make a difference though…
Venison is not beef, you cannot treat it just like beef and expect to get the same results. It must be cooked differently with different recipes and methods.
Venison can taste better than beef, but the measure of “good” is not how much it tastes like beef. Venison is unique, distinct, and should be enjoyed as such.
You should not need to soak your meat in milk, vinegar, or anything else before cooking it. That should only be a last resort for if it was mismanaged in the field.
Listen to the episode for the seven factors that impact flavor.
The right pair of hunting boots can make the difference when it comes to comfort, managing terrain, warmth, and scent control. On this episode I talk about how to pick the best type of boots for your deer hunting needs.
Take Aways:
Here are four major boot needs and what features address them.
Distance – If you need to hike a lot, more than a few miles, then you need a boot that is light enough for the distance, has enough support for the terrain, and fits snuggly for foot and knee health.
Warmth – Even if it’s only mildly cold, after sitting still for three hours you will find cold creeping in. A cold weather boot needs to be warm, windproof, waterproof, and have room for toe warmers.
Water – If you want to cross a stream, swamp, or even a little mud you need a boot that is not just waterproof but completely sealed up to your knee. Remember, wet pants can drip into a water proof boot and fill it from the top.
Scent – Leather and fabric can hold alot of scent and rub it on everything you walk through. A good rubber boot minimizes your scent trail and lessens the chance you will spook deer.
The rules can change in deer hunting between the early season and the late season, and your strategies should change to boost your chances of success. On this episode I talk about tips to help you tag out this season and I share my tag out story when I took my third deer and final deer this season.
Take Aways:
Tagging out simply means you used up all of your game tags in a particular season and you are not able to hunt any longer.
Sometimes people are sad when they tag out because they are done hunting. Other times they are excited because they been thoroughly successful and can now rest satisfied.
This was my best season ever so far. I took three deer in five hunts. And where I hunt, having over a 50% success rate is amazing. Thanks be to God!
Tip #1 – Be mindful of the wind and your surroundings. Watching the wind for you is always important but this time of year you need to think about how other people’s scent is impacting your hunt and the effect of the wind is amplified.
Tip #2 – Use other hunters positions and activity to your advantage. Other hunters will push and spook deer. You can capitalize on that by anticipating where the deer will move to, often they go to places they may not normally be at during that time of day.
Tips #3-#5 – Listen to the episode to hear the rest.
Bonus Tip – Morning hunts can become harder after the midway point of gun season. The easier plan may be to hunt evening food sources.
In general a ground blind is not the best tool for deer hunting, but there are situations when it may be the best choice for you. On this episode I talk about the best times and most effective ways to use a ground blind, including a story about a deer I just took from one.
Con’s
Tree stands are generally more effective than ground blinds, when you have the right tree in the right place.
Your scent is now at nose level in a ground blind, making wind management all the more important.
Deer pay much more attention to what is at eye level than what is in the trees.
Pros
Ground blinds can be used where tree stands cannot go.
Ground blinds can provide better concealment than tree stands when it comes to hiding movement and outlines.
Ground blinds can be safer, more accessible, and faster to setup than a tree stand.
The goal of orange gear is to keep you safe in the woods, but it can be a drain on the wallet. On this episode I talk about the most versatile, most cost effective, and most concealing blaze orange strategy for new hunters.
Take Aways:
Blaze orange jackets and coats look great, fit great, and work great. But you don’t need to buy half a dozen orange coats so you can comfortably hunt in all weather conditions.
You do not need to end up with a closet full of orange coats that really cannot be used for any other purpose.
Sure they make cheap little orange vests but they make noise, look bad, fit bad, cover your pockets, and don’t last long.
Solid orange baseball caps create a liability for deer hunting, there are better and equally cheap alternatives.
Download and listen to this episode to learn more and get the full blaze orange gear strategy.
There is no shortage of great marketing in the deer hunting industry and it can be difficult to sort out what is useless, what is useful, and what is really needed. On this episode I share 10 items that new hunters do not need to worry about researching, spending money on, or longing for.
Take Aways:
Long range precision rifles. These guns have their place, but new hunters have no need to spend this kind of money on a gun they are unlikely to be able to fully utilize where and how they hunt.
$40 boxes of ammo. Deer are not that hard to take down. All you need is average ammunition for the conditions that most new hunters will encounter.
Scents and cover scents. New hunters are more likely to use scents to create a problem than a benefit, and there is so much more you can do to improve scent control by simply being careful and thoughtful. Pass on these for the first couple years at least.
When it comes to deer hunting, it is critically important for your bullet to deliver a clean and fast kill. The bullet matters for you and for the animal. On this episode I cover the basics of deer hunting bullets and what new hunters need to know.
Take Aways:
There are three major categories of deer bullets.
Cup and core bullets make up the majority of the market, and while there are many variations and proprietary features, the general concept is a jacket holds a lead bullet together to control its expansion and penetration. It is a good type of a bullet that will get the job done. The downside may be less power and accuracy at extreme range.
Ballistic tips are essentially plastic or polymer tipped and give you a more aerodynamic bullet that delivers more speed, less bullet drop, and better accuracy at long range. If there is a downside, it is that bullet expansion and penetration may vary a lot at short and long rang. The bigger issue is these kinds of bullets may lead hunters to think they are better long range marksmen than they really are…
Multi stage bullets have a forward section that provides quick expansion and a rear section that holds together to provide more penetration. These bullets are important and very effective for taking bigger game like elk, bear, or moose. They are generally more than you need for deer but they will of course work well.
Some deer hunting principles are universal and some apply more specifically to the rut. In this episode I share the story of a great hunt and the 5 strategies that enabled me to take a buck this year during the peak rut.
Take Aways:
Location, Location, Location. Almost nothing matters more than where you decide to setup. But the strategies you use all year to judge a good location need to change for the peak rut.
Habitat Improvements. Small efforts that have a small impact on deer movement can have a big pay off come the rut.
Always Mind The Wind. The wind is the friend of those who consider it, and the it is the enemy of everyone else.
Scent Control. Small, free, thoughtful actions can make the difference between a good hunt and empty woods.
Knowing when to be still and when to move. One wrong move can literally ruin a hunt, and even a whole day.
Deer calls are very popular and many types exist which can overwhelm a new hunter. This episode does two helpful things, it reassures new hunters that you don’t need any calls to be effective and we cover the four main types of deer calls and when those may be helpful.
Take Aways:
Rattle calls mimic the sound of two bucks locking antlers in a fight or sparring match.
Bleet calls mimic the sound a doe makes during the mating season.
Snort wheeze calls imitate a challenge that one mature buck may issue to another.
Grunt calls try to arouse a deer’s curiosity by letting them know there are unexpected deer over here.
Overall, calling is likely to be more of a liability to new hunters than a benefit. I do not recommend you include calls in your hunting strategy.
Calling is a risk, it draws attention to the hunter and often arouses suspicion in deer, you need to weigh the pros and cons before doing it.
The deer attractants, scents, and lore’s industry is enormous and confusing and there are big marketing budgets trying to get your attention. On today’s episode I talk about the fundamental things new hunters need to know about this subject to be successful. You do not need to pour money into scents to hunt deer, in fact, they may hinder your hunt.
Remember, there are things deer need, deer like, and deer are intrigued by. They need food, every day, about 5 times per day and if you can give them that or find where they go for it, you will have an advantage that is much larger than any scent. They like edge, cover, and habitat diversity, and if you can locate or create that, you will give them an area that they enjoy coming and staying. Whitetails are intrigued by licking branches, mock scrapes, and other whitetails. Adding those can sweeten the pot to draw them to an area day after day, all season long.
The best attractants focus on what deer need and like. Deer are going to go somewhere to eat and bed, every day, no matter what. If you can find or create that, you have no need for lures and scents. The lures are only useful for a short time each season, but good habitat and food is useful every single day of the season.
The less helpful attractants are only helpful some of the time. Lures may help sometimes, but they may also hurt sometimes. Other times they have no effect at all or they only interest younger bucks while repelling older ones. The cons often outweigh the pros. And the costs can be high. If you can find out what deer must have and use it to your advantage, you will have the best chance for success.
It is true that bucks are looking for does during the rut. But there is something else they are looking for on those days, and every other day before and after. It is best to provide what will perceive as more natural. Scents and lures may come across as natural but often they are not applied naturally, they get mingled with human scent, they are put in areas that bring deer in downwind from the hunter which causes other issues. Food, cover, and bedding don’t have this problem. So, remember that the value of an attracting scent can be overridden by the liability of the human scent you leave behind trying to spread it.
You want to avoid marketing gimmicks, no matter how tantalizing they may seem. Even things that do work, usually don’t work half as well as their marketing promises. And many things don’t even work that well. Scents and lures are of questionable effectiveness most days. Better to apply funds and focus on things that appeal to deer year-round and do not depend on the perfect day, wind, and chain of events to help you.
Listen to this podcast episode to hear more!
If you are looking for ways to see more bucks during the hunting season, check out this video I did as well:
