Ask people who don’t like venison and they’ll say it is tough or that it has a gamey taste. Deer meat doesn’t have to be that way.

Much of that meat will end up as sausage, jerky or ground venison for chili, spaghetti and stroganoff. The remainder will turn up on tables as steaks, roasts, loins and cutlets.

With the right preparation, these cuts can be as mild as veal and as tender as a beef pot roast.

The first key to venison cookery is understanding that deer meat has no internal fat. Deer muscle tissue is free of the fat marbling that sets prime beef apart from lower grades.

This means venison doesn’t benefit from internal basting while cooking. To keep venison juicy, you have to preserve its natural moisture or supply extra water and fat.

When someone tells you the venison they have eaten was tough, it usually means it was fried or roasted too long without added moisture.

The other thing you need to know about venison is the age and sex of the deer. The older the deer, the tougher the meat. Venison from yearling deer (about 18 months old) is tender and has a mild flavor. Venison from fawns (about six months old) is similar to veal.

The sex of deer is important to cooks because mature bucks undergo a remarkable transformation each autumn in preparation for mating.

Steroid-like male hormones cause bucks’ neck muscles to swell, making them look a little like defensive linemen. They develop a musky smell, too, and their meat takes on a stronger flavor.

The older and bigger the buck and the more active it is in mating, the more pronounced the gamey flavor. However, such meat can still produce tasty meals in the right recipes.

The quality of venison also varies widely depending on the care it receives. A deer that is field dressed carefully and promptly after being shot and then kept clean and cool until it goes in the freezer will yield good meat.

One way to ensure against toughness is to cook tender cuts fast and serve them rare. An example is cooking tenderloins — the best of all cuts — in an oven preheated to 450 degrees. The intense heat sears the outside of the meat, locking in juices and flavor.

Cooking time depends on the thickness of the loin. For best results it should be pink in the middle. Loins from young deer cooked this way are five-star fare.

You can get similar results by sauteing half-inch slices of loin in a little butter or olive oil. Cook them just until they are lightly browned on each side. The key is not to cook them any longer than absolutely necessary.

The other way to prevent tough, dry venison is to cook with moist heat. In the case of old deer, pressure cooking or canning may be the best option. For average cuts, nothing beats slow cooking in a cast-iron Dutch oven.

Smoking or barbecuing also can enhance the flavor of venison from older bucks. Bass Pro Shops -sells a sausage seasoning mix that turns ground venison from older bucks into a savory treat.