Making jerkies less salty
You can also crust the meat with salt, removing the crust after dehydrating (or smoking).  The goal is to 


pull the moisture out, and
to season


Note that traditionally, some bacons and hams are preserved by burying the meat in coarse salt, then hanging + smoking.  You can jerk in the same manner, by using salt to pull out the moisture, then remove from the salt (or remove the surface salt) and dehydrate. The trick is in balancing the need to remove the moisture, and the desired flavour.