Thank you so much, your reply answered most all of my questions, however I was wondering if I can use those brown papery casings in the meat market, you know, the ones printed venison sausage? I know that may be a dumb question but I don't want to assume that it is ok to use them. These casings are about two foot long and brown/mahogany color, when we would pay to have our sausage made it came in these. Other than that, I think you covered my topic very well. Stuff, smoke and bake...no hotter than 160. My tip is on freezing...we can't eat these fast enough believe it or not so I tried many methods for freezing, some without success as the venison would spoil. Cut the sausage in serve-able sizes, what you would consume in a few days, wrap each in wax paper, then in paper towel and then vacuum seal. This is the only way I can keep the venison from spoiling. Of course, we are only able to keep it around for a few months but I have found it keeps better and thaws just like fresh sausage. Maybe someone has a question about freezing...anyway thanks again for posting a reply. I will keep you posted with our results, my son and hubby are eager to fill the meat locker with venison!