I see a lot of threads from time to time where deer are recovered the next day but no one states whether they're still able to harvest the meat. I know some parts of the continent its plenty cold overnight right now to still harvest the meat the next day but what about early season or the times when the weather is a little whacky and you get a warm spell. People take a lot flack about placing bad shots and even though the deer may be recovered the next day, if weather doesn't cooperate then what good is the hunt if you can't harvest the meat? Just curious what everyone's temperature threshold is when they keep the meat from an overnight recovery.
all depends on the temp, well that and was the deer in water when you found it. what was the time - temp when it was shot? and same for recovery?
The danger zone for microbial growth on meat is between 40 and 140 degrees F. Pretty much, if you just use good judgement on your situation and consider the meat safe you should be fine. If I gut shot a deer early season, with warm temps, I would be a little uneasy about consuming the meat.
Lots of variables. Shot placement, how long did it actually take to die, and outside temp. Ya just gotta get it gutted, skinned, and rinsed thoroughly. Then sniff the meat. Any funky smell at all to the meat and pitch it. I have been told that you can just cut into the leg or other meaty sections before you even gut them and give it a whiff. Any smell at all and leave it lay. I've never tried this though. Fortunately I have only had a few over my lifetime that were in question. One deer was found like 15 hours after the shot in fairly warm weather. 40°-50° The guts were so warm that we guessed he had just died within a couple hours of finding him.
Here is my 2 cents worth.... Here is a perspective from a guy who has been hunting all his life and is running his family's meat packing business which is in its 96th year. I've been skinning deer for over 40 years and i've seen just about everything and heard about everything when it comes to people not finding deer overnight. You have to realize that when you let a deer in the woods overnight that is not gutted,the bacteria starts to grow,then the gas starts to build up in the deer,that's if it isn't gut shot.Even if the steam comes out of the inside of the deer the next day,you still have a certain amount of spoilage.What you don't know is when did this deer die ? How long has it been dead laying there with the nasty bacteria growing in it ? Ever heard of BOTULISM or E-COLI ?? In my experience when I discover that the deer had the guts in it overnight,I ask the customer,"Would you buy something from a meat market that smelled like this ?" OR "Is it really worth getting your family sick over ?" What is it that people just don't get about this *I've had a deer brought in and showed the customer the green in the inside and he asks" Can you eat that ?" REALLY *and then they stand there and argue that they can't smell anything ,and it's green and smells like deer guts. !!!* When a deer lays overnight the meat will look pale(not dark red like it should) and the fat if any on the deer will look pink or reddish colored(it should be white).Those are tell tale signs of the guts in a deer overnight,not to mention the gut smell.All the cooling and aging in the world will not get rid of the stink or bacteria left from guts in a deer too long.Even if it is in the teens for temp. overnight, the deer hair is such a good insulator that the heat can't get out of the carcass.The bigger the animal,the bigger chance of spoilage.When a deer spoils, it usually is in the hams,shoulders and on big deer,the neck.These places are where the meat is the thickest and it is the last place the heat gets out. Ask your buddies you make sausage with if they want your deer meat that layed with the guts in it,, mixed with the rest of their good meat and see what they say !! Yes,,sometimes the meat might be ok after it has layed with the guts in it,but I've seen too much and smelled too much rotten deer meat in my life to tell someone to go ahead and eat an overnight non gutted deer. The bottom line is ,I won't let anyone eat anything I wouldn't eat myself and that seems to have been working for our plant for 96+ years.
Hard to argue with someone with those credentials but "even in the teens overnight"? is no good? I've seen TONS of deer recovered the next day in higher temps and everything was fine....guess its an idividual call for each situation
You are right... Every situation is different for sure... I can tell you this,when some one brings in a deer that laid with the guts in it,the spoilage will not show up right away....the deer will hang in my cooler at 35 degrees, for 4 to 6 days and the bacteria keeps growing.The green meat and smell really shows up around the hanging tenderloin where the kidney fat is, and most of the time that will be all you will lose. A few years ago I lost a good 10 pointer during shotgun season,only to find him the next morning around 10 AM,and that was with 6 inches of snow on the ground. The only thing I salvaged was the cape.... I am just wanting folks to be careful,and if I eat something and I get sick it's ok, but I sure don't want to make any one else sick,and it's my job as a deer processor to make sure that doesn't happen.
You are right... Every situation is different for sure... A few years ago I lost a good 10 pointer during shotgun season,only to find him the next morning around 10 AM,and that was with 6 inches of snow on the ground. The only thing I salvaged was the cape.... I am just wanting folks to be careful,and if I eat something and I get sick it's ok, but I sure don't want to make any one else sick,and it's my job as a deer processor to make sure that doesn't happen.
to be honest, i never even thought about this scenario, as I always assumed that everything was fine...apparently that was foolish. not that i have done so, but i WOULD have done so without questioning. meat guy makes a lot of sense. you always see them recovery deer overnight, i assumed they ate all of that and it had zero spoilage. thanks for the lessons.
totally understand, if your the one that has to make the decision, better to err on the side of caution! but isnt botulism killed with only a couple minutes cooking? also, and it may be a different bacteria, or local legend, but one of the best steak houses locally is rumored to keep meat hanging until it is green moldy looking, then scraped off and cooked!...not sure how true this is but have heard in different circles...
Out of curiosity, how long is overnight? How many hours are we talking about? I made a questionable shot on a doe and backed out for 7 1/2 hours. We found her after about an hour of tracking, 8 1/2 hours after the shot. She was field dressed and cooling 9 hours after the shot. All the meat was processed and some already eaten (yummy by the way). I didn’t wait overnight but I didn’t start tracking till 1am. Yeah, tracking a deer at 1am $uck$ but it was the price I paid for making a questionable shot. BWT my shot was much better than I gave myself credit for. The 7+ hour wait was most likely not necessary.
There is good bacteria and.. bad bacteria.The bacteria you are talking about is some of the good bacteria.This bacteria helps break down the meat fiber as the meat ages in a "meat humidor",this is where they put the beef loins,etc. to age them. This beef has a lot of fat and marbling on it and that is where the greenish/whitish mold grows. Then there is the bad bacteria...which could be a form of staph and things like that. We have to be very careful while we are skinning and de-boning deer because the bacteria will get into a small cut or scratch on our hands and before you know it ,there's an infection. We wash or hands every 3 or 4 hours with peroxide or an antibacterial substance to keep infection down,(we don't do rubber gloves).
