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Atmanyof mypresentations and seminars, I’m surprised by the number of people who don’t likethe“Wildtaste”of wildgame Aftermakingthatstatement, Iaskthem,“whatdoeswildtaste like,” many times, they’ll come back indicting the fishy taste in certain fish, or the wild game taste in venison.

The most important thing, you need to do first is to take careof thegame,toprocessthem properly, which means, getting the entrails out of the body, and cooling them down.

Justbecauseit’swildgameor a fish, there are several things you can do to start out right, before you do anything else, is to cool it as soon as possible, by doing that, the better the meat is going to be.

According to “BUILT LEAN” web site, wild because they are raised in in their natural environment.

Take for instance, venison, venison meat is leaner than beef, as deer is wild and grass-fed, generally naturally leaner than cattle.

Trimmed of fat, a 3-ounce portion roastedprovidesabout135calories and3gramsof fat.That’sonly 1 gram of fat per ounce of meat.

My dad and grandparents always cleaned the animal, pheasants, ducks,geeseanddeerassoon as possible allowing the inside of those to cool down as quickly as possible.

They did the same thing with the fish they caught, gutting the fish and the filleting the meat off.

For larger fish, such as catfish, I’ll fillet the fish and then put it in a plastic tub, run cold water over it until the yellow fat, no longer show up in the tub.

Alotof thefolksupnorthinWatertown, S.D. where I was raised, always soaked their game in salt water, which drew the blood from thebirdorfish,leavingitovernight intherefrigeratoruntilthethawed meatshouldbehandledinthesame way as fresh meat.

Be sure to thaw frozen meat properly, either in the refrigerator, inamicrowave,or,if vacuumpackaged, under cold running water, but never at room temperature.

When storing and handling meat, preventing cross-contamination is important. Prevent meat juicefromdrippingontootherfood items in the refrigerator and clean all surfaces and utensils that come in contact with the raw meat or its juices with hot, soapy water and rinse well.

Always cook raw game meat, birds, and fish to the proper internal temperature. This internal temperature needs to be reached or exceeded baking, roasting, frying, or boiling in order to destroy bacteria that can cause foodborne illness. When roasting meat and poultry, use an oven temperature no lower than 325°F.

Cookgroundmeattoaninternal temperature of at least 160°F, cook game bird breast meat to an internal temperature of at least 165°F.

Use an instant-read meat thermometer to ensure that all meat has reached the proper internal temperatureasquicklyaspossible.

There is numerous website that have seasoning for corn fed animals, with the best I've found forbothwildgameandfarmraised critters is the Hi-Mountain Seasonings Facebook page at https:// www.facebook.com/himtnjerky/ ( Photo Courtesy of Hi-Mountain Seasoning) Over the years, and thousands of miles, we discovered numerous excellent wild game recipes, and included them in our Outdoorsmen Adventures Cooking Gone Wild cookbook, everything from waterfowl, upland game, venison and numerous other wild game recipe at www.garyshoweysoutdoors. com

By looking over these Facebook pages and web pages, I’m sure that you’ll come up with numerous recipes you’ll enjoy. www.GaryHowey’soutdoors. com