The key to quality venison is timely heat removal.
The sooner you can get the carcass cooled, the better and less gamey the meat is going to be. Gutting is the easiest way to remove the most heat from the carcass. The next most important step is to remove the skin.
That gamey taste? Really not much to do with "game". It's really the taste of spoilage.
This. I can't imagine not gutting a deer.
