You guys that are using ground venison, are you grinding your own? I've always just cut into roasts and keep all the trimmings for soup and stew.
If you are grinding your own, are you mixing in beef fat, using deer fat, or making it ultra lean?
I use a $450 LEM meat grinder at home. I first grind up the venison & some bacon using the course die. Then mix these two meats together with breakfast sausage seasoning(I buy this at a local butcher shop which is much cheaper than sporting goods store). This mix is ground a second time using the finer die into plastic game bags for freezing.
If making burger patties then mix in some grated cheddar cheese by hand before forming the patties. The extra fat from cheese & bacon and the seasoning throughout the meat will make the best burgers around.