Meat freshness

[mark v hunter]

Hey guys. First post in awhile. Hope everyone is well.

I shot a deer last night at 6:00. Didnt find it and had to work this morning. Went back after work and found it about 12:30 today and field dressed it. Got down to 45° and is 55° now as I'm getting home with it at almost 2:30. Is the meat still safe? It got warmer today than I had hoped.

Thanks in advance.

[sschefer]

Hey guys. First post in awhile. Hope everyone is well.

I shot a deer last night at 6:00. Didnt find it and had to work this morning. Went back after work and found it about 12:30 today and field dressed it. Got down to 45° and is 55° now as I'm getting home with it at almost 2:30. Is the meat still safe? It got warmer today than I had hoped.

Thanks in advance.

Probably won't matter, I've found them in worst conditions and the meat was fine. The only time you have to start worrying is if the meat gets wet and then it gets hot.

[musicman]

I would say to process some of it, and fry it; see if there is any "oddness" to the taste, or a little bit of "funky" smell.  Even though it was semi-cool weather, you have the hide of the deer, and the fact that it was not gutted, working against you.  Think about it, the hide insulated the meat to some degree from the cool air, and all of the entrails still in it stayed warm for a long time.  Had it been gutted, the cool air would have chilled the meat from the inside of the cavity; maybe not cooling the hind quarters as much, but still cooling them some.  If your weather would have been ten degrees cooler, it would have been better.
 Then again, I have been semi-deep into Mexico, and saw the open air un-refrigerated meat markets with goat carcasses hanging in 100 degree weather, albeit, in the shade.  I could SMELL enough of that, that I CERTAINLY would not have eaten any of it.  I have had gutted squirrels go bad on me; sitting in the field bag a little too long from a long afternoon hunt in the Summer.  I am sure that many will respond with much more experience on this than me; this is a good topic for discussion.  MM

[oregonmarkv]

I would not eat it. It doesn't take long for it to sour and start to rot.

[badsection]

When in doubt...…….  It is good you found it and shows your class!   

[DW5]

When in doubt...…….  It is good you found it and shows your class!   

+1. Good on you.

[grizzly340]

18  1/2 hrs. I bet its ok. I would test it as mentioned. But as long as it wasnt got shot. I think your ok.

[Downeast]

I have friends that bow hunt in late August and they routinely find deer that they shot the previous day. We're talking temps in the 80's and they still process the meat. Mostly they just cut out the backstraps and remove the hams and leave the rest. They never open the body cavity. Doesn't seem to bother them and I've eaten plenty of it off the grill.

[257 Shooter]

The meat will be safe. It's a matter of how it tastes. If the digestive tract is not torn up it should be all right. Get it skinned and cooled off. If the meat smells fine it will be all right.

[zonie]

I'm with oregonmarkv on this one,  but I'll throw in some what it depends also and just my personal opinion nothing scientific or specific.  Bacteria starts setting in immediately when an animal dies,  it's no doubt worst depending on size of animal , how thick the hide is, what the outside temperature is, has the animal died in the shade or open sunlight area,  and also where you hit the animal.  I'll use elk as an example  because I'm primarily an elk hunter but deer can be thrown in there also.  This is one reason marksmanship is really important e.g. gut shoot it and it spreads all sorts of bad  things all over inside the animal none of which is good for you if you don't get it cooled down and cleaned up asap and especially true if it's warm out.  I've killed elk/deer and it was so cold out we didn't even skin them until the day before we left for home, BUT we  field dress them and take out the esophagus  and pry open the chest cavity to let cold air in.  Usually when it's this cold the animal freezes and not a big deal if you have done the above,  better yet would be to skin them when first shot more because it's easier and you can clean up any blood shot areas that the hide may be hiding.  I'm going to use elk as an example they are big /heavy and have thick hide and don't cool down fast in cool to mildly cool  weather, when it's warm you will lose them to bacteria if not cooled down immediately.  You can smell it ,  where it starts to spoil first  no specific order on large animals is the neck area, deep down in the heavy bone areas like next to the hip bones and such, might feel cooler to the touch on the burnished areas on the outside, but stick a knife it  to the bone and feel the inside meat temperature only to find it's not cool at all. In Arizona where we live even in the mtns 60 degrees out during the day you better get that meat cooled down.  We've had to pack 200 lbs of ice in an elk cavity to save it.   if it smells bad at all  you will know the meat is bad.  Deer are much smaller and will cool down faster , but 40 to 60 degrees out on an animal that hasn't been gutted and field dressed and left for that long I don't know.  To be honest with you I'm not so sure even if you can't smell it soured it still might be bad, in any case if it's bloated at all,  done deal it gone.

[musicman]

Once, when hunting doves down in Mexico, maybe seventy miles in, we were driving into a little town for some minor supplies.  We saw an already bloating dead cow on the side of the road, legs already sticking out a little.  Our main guide said, "I'm surprised nobody has butchered it yet."  When we were returning from the little town, there was a family, of five or six, cutting it up.  The several of us in the crew cab truck, kind of all "sphinctered up" a little.  But then again, the natives there can drink that water without dying either.  Coming soon to America, unless we build that wall.  MM

[terminator]

Mark V Hunter: What was your decision keep it or not? We have not heard from you so hope that is not a bad omen.

[224KING]

Can you say "back door trot"

[mark v hunter]

Hey all. I'm sorry for the delayed follow up. Unfortunately, my father and I decided to not risk eating the deer.

Like mentioned above, had I not field dressed it, I probably could have salvaged the hing quarters and back strap. But the body cavity had already went bad. Green meat around ribs and all. I got it home and tried to rinse it off with a hose but the smell and washed onto the rest of the deer from the field dress.

I learned some valuable lessons with that deer that I will hold onto forever. I hated to kill an animal that didnt make it to my table, but I can say I did all I could do to make that happen.

Thanks again for all of the wisdom. You guys never let down.

mark v hunter

[Chris338378]

I think you made the right choice, as much as it sucks to waste the deer it's a better choice than getting food poisoning.   I had that once and I don't EVER want it again.