I tried a little experiment a few years ago. I had a particularly good year, and as some of you know, I'm a Pro-Staff for a company that sells hunting products. So I had an opportunity to hunt several different states as we were demo-ing a new product. I bagged 7 deer that year, and I tried different methods of hanging, cooling, and skinning. What I found was:
1) Cooling the deer immediately after dressing is the single most important factor. I found that filling the chest cavity with snow, or rinsing in a very clean brook had a HUGE impact of the taste of the venison.
2) Hanging them for anything more than a few hours (especially if it's not very cold outside) did not enhance flavor in a positive way.
3) Skining is much easier when warm. Cutting is better done after chilling the skinned carcass.
I will generally field dress my deer immediately. Then fill the cavity with snow, or submerge in a VERY clean brook before dragging the deer out of the woods. I will hang it for a couple hours, then skin, and then if it's cold enough outside, I will let it hang overnight to stiffen up before cutting and packaging meat.
I also have a friend, Chef Myron, who has created, in my opinion, the best venison marinade on earth. I find that Myron's 20 guage sauce will make even the toughest old buck taste awesome. His stuff is sold commercially at major stores, such as Stop & Shop. You can also order online at
www.chefmyrons.com/20gauge.html. One other major factor that I have found that will greatly enhance the flavor of venison. You absolutely MUST remove all the fat, gristle, and tendons from the meat before cooking. Most of the gamey flavor is in the fat.