I'm with you on this one. Since i've started butchering my deer myself i've yet to taste a gamey flavor. Just never know what you're getting from a butcher, and if you've seen the piles of deer in the back room of some of those places, you'd see where that gamey taste comes from. Also over cooking venison causes proteins in the meat to break down and release an enzyme that also gives an off flavor. Medium rare is as far as any venison needs to be cooked. This is from a local chef who specializes in wild game. I can also say it's not from the blood, cause i've had many a rare to medium rare backstrap steak. People cook the crap out of venison till it's tough, and it's just not right. You cook a beef steak long enough till it's dry and hard and it will have a gamey taste as well.