Well, it comes down to this:

If you don't mind some venison hair in your meat, don't soak it.

Yeah Jafo I guess you've got a definite point there! Do you use it like you would ground beef? I guess I wash mine so well it gets all the hair off, but I soak it to remove some of the "gamey" taste.

I never soak wild game.

Instead I just brush it with a soft cloth, moistened with a vinegar/water mix. Any hair comes right off.

For high-liquid dishes the ground venison should be fine. Just don't cook it as long as you would beef. For hamburgers and the like, I would want to add some fat. Ground pork works well, or even some beef suet if you can find it.

BTW, unless they've been eating red acorns, if the venison was field dressed, butchered, and frozen properly there should be no gaminess about it. The "gamey" taste people complain of usually comes from semi-rancid fat.

The leg quarters I was speaking about are perfect for grinding. As KY said, most of the gaminess is from the fat and I usually cut that out of the meat wherever I can.

As for soaking, that is probably the wrong word. You are only leaving the meat in the water for a couple minutes. It just helps dissolve the blood on the meat so it will release the hair. The blood gets sticky when it is exposed to air, such as when it gets skinned and quartered.

Thanks KYH & Jafo for the helpful hints. I certainly needed them. Semi-Rancid Fat YUCK!!!
CCCathy