Question about meat mix for snack stix

Hope this helps; I lived in Southeastern South Dakota and with those deer we used 50 - 50 mix of vension to boneless picnic shoulder ground up for the snack sticks. Then we sometimes added high temperature cheese (1 1/2 lbs per 10 lbs of mixed meat and sometimes some ground jalapenos ( grinding them frozen works well and is easier to stand around the grinder). We put the peppers in a ziplock to freeze ahead of time.

My self I use beef burger. Mainly cause I could get that already ground at a good price. I always try to stay in the 85% lean area of beef also. your venison will most likely be to lean for straight use. Being a diabetic my dietician said as long as I kept my summer sausage at 85% lean or better I could swap out my meat ration for the summer sausage. Also using beef for a filler you can smoke to 145 and rest or 150 area. My self I use 2lbs of venison to 1lb beef burger. Its what I like not a rule. Play with different mixtures and see what works best for you. Take notes especially if you are adding seasonings to your kit. I add cayenne pepper on average of 1/3 teaspoon per lb of meat. That generally gives you an after bite that you don't know where it came from. If your hanging your sticks to smoke you might want to put a small hole in the bottom bends of the sticks. Fat has a tendency to build up at the bottoms when hung. Hope this helps.

I have never made them before but I would guess a 60/40 ratio since deer is so lean.