Sooooo.
Let me make it up to you. Tonight it's Red Deer Venison.
First of all I want to start by saying a few thing about deer. In past postings I harp on about how to shoot various animals in order to eat them. If you bothered to read it you'll know I like to recomend the right tool for the job. In Australia Red Deer have adapted to the environment very well and thus have become quiet gigantic in size. So it goes with out saying that gigantic stoping power is called for. Simple, right. Sorry, not so easy. Deer are smart. If you want to eat one you'll really have to work at it. On average you'll be hikeing through the bush for a good half day before you get a shot off at 3/4 of a mile away. Then you'll have to butcher the bugger on site, because it's too big to drag back to the 4WD at around 400KG!
The trade off is: After all the effort you'll end up with a shit load of ultra lean, ultra fresh, very high quality meat. Not to mention the exceptional pelts, (Skins), and the versitile stag horn.
So to sum up what I am trying to say is: Go for muzzle velocity over bore size, and get a range finder. Do the whole winddige thing, and get a heart shot first shot......
If you can't be assed with all that, just pop down to the butchers and grab a few choice cuts. Saves heaps of time and effort that way..... Remember, Venison is not the easyest meat in the world to cook. Treat it like you would fillet beef. Cook it quickly on a very hot grill. Use the finger meathod to test for doneness, and err on the rare side as Vennison will dry out in a flash.