I actually won a chilli cook off with venison as the meat and did'nt reveal the ingredients until after the contest. Actually had people that had never tried it before wanting me to bring them some next time we processed. And by the way, keep the hotdogs away from my backstraps!
I did the BBQ circuit for a couple of years, and always used venison for my burger in the chile cook-off. Amazing how many people commented on the good flavor.