seasons

One thing that a lifetime of gathering wild foods and spending time outdoors has taught me is, wait for it, everything in its season.   I know that sounds trite, but its true.  For each food there is a season, or for each season there is a food.  That is except here in the northeast, in winter.

Winter was the season of hunger for many cultures thru out history.  Here in the northeast it was a time when you hoped you had preserved enough food for the next 4 months, dried, smoked, salted, cured you name it this was when your food gathering skills were put to the test.

Few fresh foods were available (um, actually that's kinda the same now).  Jerusalem Artichoke and other tubers could be gathered before the ground froze.  But mostly it was a time for hunting. and this makes sense as meat provided the protein and fat necessary to survive the cold. Meats not eaten right away would be preserved by smoking and drying. A word about smoking; Today we do this mostly to add flavor, and many smoked meats are hot smoked, basically cooking them.  Think smoked jerky if you want to live thru the winter.  The smoke kept bugs away while the meat dried....and the creosote from the smoke also helped to kill off bacteria.

Venison Jerky
Take the flank or neck meat from the venison for this and slice into very thin strips.Build a small fire with a rack above it about 3 feet.   Drape the venison pieces on the rack and pile the fire with rotten wood or bark (hickory works well) and allow the venison to dry to a leathery consistancy.   Make sure its not raining out when you do this or it won't work.
OR
you could try this
marinate your venison strips (cut to no more than 1/4" thick)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4cup maple syrup
1-2 table spoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (or some wild onion paste)
liquid smoke or smoked paprika to taste
ground black pepper and salt
you can also add a varity of other seasonings, savory (rosemary), hot (chipotle peppers) etc.

Keep in the fridge overnight. In the morning, remove from the marinade and pat dry.  Place on racks in an oven set at 160-200 degrees.  Crack the oven door open a bit and let dry for about 2-4 hours.  Check regularly to see when its done (leathery and dark in color).
When its done store the jerky in the fridge.
(please note that jerky is a RAW meat product and all safe food handling practices should be observed)