I just had deer sausage....and I liked it....

[jus_the_facts]

....always hated it when I was a kid...just the smell would make me gag...but since I am broke as fuck and given some out of someone's freezer...annnd beggars can't be choosy....I have to admit...this ground venison sausage mixed with green onions and cheese was damn tasty. :blush:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

1. Preparation is everything.

I've just discovered a local sausage store that makes really good stuff. Chorizo, bangers, kielbasa, linguisa, andouille, they do it all.

[jus_the_facts]

4. I was very surprised...

...since it revolted me so much when I was younger.

[jmowreader]

2. The WAY it's made is very important

Sausage isn't good unless it has fat in it, and venison has very little. If the sausage maker knows this, and adds some fat to the meat while he's making the sausage mixture, deer sausage is really good.

The best deer sausage I ever ate was made by one of my brothers-in-law the year he killed a deer and a fall bear. (Idaho has two bear seasons--fall and spring.) Fall bears are extremely fatty. He collected all the bear fat, mixed it with venison in a 4:1 ratio--four pounds venison, one pound bear fat--and seasoned it really well.

Bear fat is good for other things too. I really would love to get hold of a nice big hunk of bear grease--you melt a pound of bear grease, add a pound of beeswax and you've got the finest leather waterproofer in the world. This stuff nearly killed one of my cats, though--my dad waterproofed his $350 Nick's boots with it, and the cat ate a very large piece of one of them. I guess it was good that Nick was slow that time of year and was able to replace the panel the cat ate on a walk-in basis.

[jus_the_facts]

5. When my parents moved to Idaho...my dad decided not to hunt anymore....

...he'd been an avid hunter his entire life...but quit after goin' on a bear hunt with friends there.

[jmowreader]

14. Bear hunting IS a rough thing

I don't know very many people who actually do it on purpose. The ones I know who do are about half nuts. (Floyd is COMPLETELY insane.) My dad buys a bear tag every year just in case he accidentally runs into one. So far, thanks to his extensive knowledge of the woods, he's never run into one--he knows exactly where they are, and stays the hell out of those places.

[Blue_In_AK]

3. We eat lots of reindeer sausage up here,

and it is DELICIOUS. The hot version is especially yummy. It's like a nice spicy kielbasa.

[jus_the_facts]

6. We got another mix too that's really spicy....

....it's good but not as tasty as the green onion/cheese kind.

[pokerfan]

7. I had some last night

I mixed it with a rice pilaf and it was excellent!

[jus_the_facts]

8. I'm gonna make some dirty rice with some....

...hope it turns out excellent too!

[madrchsod]

9. yup...good stuff and natural too!

[pitohui]

10. oh yeah but i like the spicy italian even more!

the green onion type deer sausage isn't half bad though!

i should mention now that i've read all the comments -- in louisiana bears/bear hunting would be rare, the type of fat added to venison sausage is almost always going to be pork, and who can't love some nice pork!

[AwakeAtLast]

11. My cousin made some really good deer jerky

I like the sausage, too, if it's made well.

[cynatnite]

12. My husband loves it. His mother sends him some every year. n/t

[Lasher]

13. Ground venison is great in chili.

It's the only kind of meat I will use in Lasher's Double Flush Chili. I make it 5 gallons at a time, not counting the beans. I pig out, give lots to neighbors, and freeze the rest.