"We make lots of deer jerky and always season it with Dales Seasoning(www.dalesseaoning.com) then add red pepper to some and leave the pepper off some for the kids.
I think that since this product is made in Birmingham Al it may not be available in many areas but it's worth looking for.
We always grind the venison and use a jerky shooter, this way there's no need to marinate just mix the seasoning into the ground meat and shoot it onto the dehydrator trays. It doesn't take much seasoning as a little goes a long way.
We also use it on beef steak and perfection is easy to achieve, Pour about two Tbs into a dinner plate and start your charcoal, then lay the steak into the Dales and wet one side turn over and wet other side.
Don't marinate for a long period of time as the steak will get too salty.
The reason I gave the website is because I've looked for this stuff in Fairfax Va and Houston Tx with no luck, they've never heard of it.
One other thought is that Dales also makes a low salt version of this seasoning, it isn't very good, you control the salt by how long you marinate or how much you use."

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I was first introduced to Dale's while visiting my son at Ft. Rutger's Alabama about 15 years ago. I loved it. I couldn't find it locally for several years but finally started appearing here. I've hooked a lot of family members to it. I use it on everything except fish. It's especially good as a marinate for venison jerky (along with red pepper flakes). I had my wife buy 10 jars of it on her trip thru Alabama last Summer to her Mother's house in Florida. It's a staple in our household."

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You said you can't bring yourself to eat deer, is it because of the taste, if so have you put the deer meat in a cooler with ice and let the meat bleed out first. once that is done the wild game taste is gone.

just currious."

I use "Hi Country" seasoning. You can get different spices such as pepper, hot, mysquite, etc. Each package has the cure and seasoning and will make about 25 pounds of jerky. The recipe calls to let it set overnight -- I let mine set refridgerated for 2 days to help it cure. Then I put the seasoned meat in my smoker and smoke it for 4 hours, turning the pieces once after 2 hours. I slice my jerky to about 1/8 in and 4 hours in the smoker is perfect. The thicker your pieces are the longer you need to keep in the smoker otherwise it doesn't dry out as well. Cabela's (cabelas.com) has the packages of Hi Country. They also have the Cabela's brand but the seasoning isn't as good. This is a dry rub type seasoning so no water is needed....just sprinkle it on the meat.

That was the problem- reminded me of a livery taste-- i like liver but this taste??? maybe thats the gamey taste that folks talk about- i think my first experience turned me off for good. The first ones had a strange (( liver like ) taste to it. A friend gave me a extra fine cut that was definitely properly handled and i couldnt bring mself to even taste it-- I guess my imagination ruines me.

BTW Thanks for the reply

I use Dales sometimes, but most of the time I use Alegro, and my own blend of spices. :)

"cooter the magic is in not marinating for too long, you have to experiment and figure out how long to let any meat soak in Dales!
I have found that about 10-15 minutes is perfect for an 1-1/2 "" rib eye, maybe 5-10 mins or less for any cubed meat.
Dales is a strong seasoning but you have complete control over the effects and the end result, it's all a matter of timing!
I usually will use about 3TBS to marinate one steak, just place it in a dinner plate and lay the steak in the dales let it set for a few minutes, turn it over and and after another few minutes throw it on the grill, it's kinda hard to screw a steak up using this method!
You add in a baked potato with butter and sour creme and it's Slap Yo Mamma time!"