Oh stop with the venison snobbery.
Those of you claiming such have never had well-done elk jerky, moose jerky, bison jerky or the absolute best (in terms of texture) .... big axis jerky.
Jerky making is an art and, as my Grandpappy used to say, a good jerky maker can turn a frozen dog into a tasty piece of dried meat. It's more about the seasoning than the meat. Once dried, dehydrated, most red meats have very little distinguishable taste variables. Muscle meat is muscle meat, the protein structure on a molecular level is nearly identical in all red meats ... the only difference being the difference in chain lengths of the actual protein molecule.
Jerked fish and fowl (not smoked mind you) are relatively new to the human scene but jerked red meats have been around for millenia beginning with the Incas (some claim .... although common sense causes me to question that quite honestly) ... the Incas apparently were jerking lima in the 11th century. Muslims were apparently smoking camel in the 16th century according to written record. Jerky is not the same as smoked ... smoked fish and fowl are the oldest forms of protien preservation and can be dated back 5000 years or more.
Seasoning is what makes the difference when it comes to actual jerky (as some have alluded-to in this thread) and the protein to moisture ratio, when combined with the seasonings, is what makes it both shelf stable and appealing to human taste buds. There is an art to it. The meat itself is more about the 1st cut (the actual section of the animal from which the meat was taken), the pre-aging process and the 2nd cut (the way the 1st cut is dissected into strips to be cured and dried ... cross grain, long grain, diagonally, etc.).
Sweeteners are a very new addition to the process ... molasses, brown sugar and natural stevia are corruptors of the process imho and should be considered criminal. Salt, peppers, smoke and various dried herbs are a purist's ingredients with very careful consideration given to the smoke, the wood used and to never ever allow the heat to reach above 155° F .... which, pre-thermometer days, required an experienced jerker.
Proper jerky making leads to something even better .... pemmican. The shame of modern mass produced so-called jerky is that it is a half-hearted attempt at a cross between jerky and pemmican that has been bastardized into something barely edible covered in nitrates and sugars and sold to an ignorant public as jerky ... when it would more apropos to label it slow-poison meat.
Venison is good because we hunt it, butcher it and preserve it ourselves ... and there is a lot of it eqch season. Well, most of us do. We take pride in our kill and our recipes and the nourishment it provides us ... there is satisfaction in the process. But for some of us who raise our own beef we take equal pride and find equal satisfaction in our beef jerky. We're surprised at just how good our turkey jerky has become. We love the opportunity to jerk moose and elk when tags allow.
No offense, but "deer" jerky is not a worthy descriptor of a "best jerky" asked-for by the OP friend. It's almost patronizing .... it'sdefinitely dismissive and nonchalant. It's like answering "oil" when asked for a favorite painter or "guitar" when asked for a favorite musician or "big" when asked for a favorite dog.
Vension that has been over salted or poorly cured or put-up with too much moisture and turned rancid is some of the worst jerky one might ever encounter.
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