OTish - Deer hunting question.

[mklwhite]

We were watching a hunting program and in this program (as I have seen before) they shoot the deer near dark and left it overnight to track and find it the next morning. The weather in the program made you think the day temps were in the 50s and the night in the 30s. Here is the thing, my grandpa always said get to the meat and get it cooled ASAP to prevent spoilage. Having seen them do this a couple times on these hunting shows I'm left wondering if they are even planning on using the meat. If I shot a dear that close to dark, which I wouldn't do, I'd be out there with a flash light and a spray bottle filled with hydrogen peroxide trying to track the critter down. Anyhow I was wondering if anyone has done this and if grandpa (and by default; I) have been wrong on the subject of how quick spoilage would set in. (I know temperature is an issue, but say with the night below 40.)

[Hobie]

I would not do that. Have been out to 10PM looking. Mike wouldn't either, even in COLD weather.

[Marc]

I had one deer that I couldn't find at night. It was a short shot and in the open. Trouble was he fell in tall wild oats and there were rocks scattered out in the oats. Rocks and deer looked exactly the same in the dim light. All I had was a Mini-mag flashlight which is close to worthless for that kind of thing. It turned out I had practically walked on him and didn't see him.

Anyway the night was quite warm. It probably was over 70 degrees. The deer was fine in the morning. It did have a little different flavor but it wasn't spoiled. The one thing I did notice was that I had hit him in the neck so he didn't bleed out and there was a lot of blood in the meat. The other thing is that since it was a neck shot there wasn't any damage to the internal organs. He may have spoiled if I had scrambled his innards and his chest was full of blood.

So I would say to Grandpa, "It depends!"

[O.S.O.K.]

Where I hunt, the evening shot is about the only shot you will be getting - sometimes morning but 9 out of 10, they show at dusk. We always search and find them most of the time -but now and then, we can't and get them in the am. If the temps are down, then I see no reason not to use the meat - you may want to be very selective but it should be good.

[marlinman93]

I've never had to leave one out over night, but I sure would rather get them gutted as soon as possible. I've had to search for a hour or so for deer, and in daytime temps of close to 80, I've found the meat is a bit stronger tasting. I don't want to find out what it's like if left over night.

[El Chivo]

I wonder how long beef sits out before it gets put in the supermarket. Some gourmet cuts of beef are aged which means they get set out to spoil slightly.

I found my deer right away but it took me most of the day to get it home. It went down at 6:45 am and I started butchering it around 5 (it had been gutted right away). High temp for the day was probaby 85.

The meat was fine. I didn't get to the neck and left it out overnight, in 45 degree temps. I decided not to use it, but not for that reason. The next morning the meat that sat out still looked and smelled good.

Anyway, a deer recovered the next morning wouldn't have sat much longer than that. I would take a cooler (with wheels) and put him on ice as quickly as possible!

[mklwhite]

I wonder how long beef sits out before it gets put in the supermarket.

I know that when they age beef it is at a controlled temperature and after it gets gutted and skinned.

[Nath]

I once shot a doe and kid on dark, the doe went straight down. When I nailed the small kid (both were 140yd shots with a 30/30 Marlin) it ran into black timber and I had no light!
I could not find any needles or blood and thought I had missed!
I had to go back the next day to look for the kid but instead I found needles that could of only come from the kid and so entering the dark timber line found it dead just in side. I set to on cleaning it out and was surprised how well he dressed out and it was just fine.

Nath.

[Pete44ru]

It'll usually be just fine, unless a gut shot has spread filth into good meat, tainting it.

I'd be more concerned that Coyotes would get to the carcass before I did, if left overnight - as has happened a time or two, here in quaint old New England.

I've found that the best-tasting venison we've had was some that were aged by hanging outdoors with the hide on for a few days (field dressed) - providing the night temps got below 40, and the daytime no warmer than about 50 degrees.
It seems the alternate heating/cooling tenderizes the meat nicely.
Call it: controlled by nature.

.

[JerryB]

The one I killed last Monday morning was gutted, skinned and quartered in about an hour. This time of year north Arkansaw can get pretty warm during the day. I have had venison given to me that had a gamey smell and taste I don't care for that, you can't smell food poison.

[Jarhead]

I've never had to leave one out over night, but I sure would rather get them gutted as soon as possible. I've had to search for a hour or so for deer, and in daytime temps of close to 80, I've found the meat is a bit stronger tasting. I don't want to find out what it's like if left over night.

+1

[dr walker]

We often shoot deer just before dark. Sometimes it is a difficult to find, but in the last 6 years between 4-6 hunters we have only let one stay out over night. We found it first thing in the morning, frozen solid, man was that a tough one to skin. I did not notice any bad taste or funny smell in the meat.

[Modoc ED]

We often shoot deer just before dark. Sometimes it is a difficult to find, but in the last 6 years between 4-6 hunters we have only let one stay out over night. We found it first thing in the morning, frozen solid, man was that a tough one to skin. I did not notice any bad taste or funny smell in the meat.

Was that in FL? Never got that cold in FL that far south when I lived there (Venice, FL).

[BigSky56]

If game meat cant be cooled down it will heat sour especially around bone, the bigger the animal the worse the souring, game cannot be cooled down if its whole because the hide acts like insulation and holds heat. Big animals have to be halved or quartered and cooled. Deer (mulies) at least need to be gutted and air to get to the inside. Ive seen elk still sour when temp was 15 to 20 at night, they have alot of good hair and body mass. Theres a reason why most hunters dont shoot at dusk unless their sure of the shot. danny

[marlinman93]

I wonder how long beef sits out before it gets put in the supermarket. Some gourmet cuts of beef are aged which means they get set out to spoil slightly.

It's not how long it ages, but how long it ages with the internal organs still inside. I've been in camp with a deer hanging for 4-5 days, with daytime temps into the 60's or even 70's, and it didn't hurt the meat, but I had it dressed withinminutes of harvesting it, and got it cooled down right away. A deer's body temp is naturally pretty high, so you need to get it dressed soon to reduce the internal temperature as it begins to degrade.
Most butchers reccommend that beef be hung for 7-10 days at 45 degrees to aid in flavor and tenderness.

[Pete44ru]

I've found that almost all "gaminess" in venison's taste & smell comes from excess adreneline, secreted by the excited aminal and pumped throughout it's muscles, while trying to escape from a less than "clean" killshot.

.

[2571]

I was taken by the comment about the poster's grandfather.

I'm an American Indian. My family has been hunting a long time and they are adamant about butchering procedure. My grandfather insisted the deer's trachea (windpipe) be the first thing removed in cleaning.

Couple of years ago, I watched a tv interview with a some husbandry professor who said it's ok to leave the windpipe in the carcass. He said modern refrigeration makes unnecessary most traditional cleaning customs. Guy seemed to know what he was talking about.

However, I won't leave deer out overnight & I start by removing the windpipe when processing a deer. If the system worked for 10,000 years, I'm not gonna be the guy who changes it.

[jkbrea]

If game meat cant be cooled down it will heat sour especially around bone, the bigger the animal the worse the souring, game cannot be cooled down if its whole because the hide acts like insulation and holds heat. Big animals have to be halved or quartered and cooled. Deer (mulies) at least need to be gutted and air to get to the inside. Ive seen elk still sour when temp was 15 to 20 at night, they have alot of good hair and body mass. Theres a reason why most hunters dont shoot at dusk unless their sure of the shot. danny

You're right about the elk. My brother and I tracked a bull he shot at 7 PM until about 11 PM. We could not find it and went back at 5AM and found it. The temperature was about 30 that night. We found it about 6AM and the meat was bad. I also wondered how on TV hunting shows they would come in the next day to find the animal. As long as you get it opened up and the guts out, you can leave it overnight. Elk retain a tremendous amount of heat and it will spoil the meat.

[m.wun]

In cali. it can be real hot.But between wild dogs,coyotes,crows,buzzards,mt. lions and bugs of all
sorts you may never find it.Every gut pile I have ever left was gone that night...

[Travis Morgan]

A guy here in Kansas did that. He put up pics at Gander mountain. Those coyotes didn't leave enough meat to make jerky! In the pics, he looks downright upset, and when you talk to him about it in person, his voice quivers. He is now a HARDCORE coyote hunter!

[brucew44guns]

Sounds like several of you guys have found the deer the next morning and dressed it out ok, the meat was good. But rib cage shots, or other bad shots would leave a lot of gore, that stuff can be absorbed by the meat in my opinion, if its left overnight. Gut shots and ruptured bladders and such are the source of many a "gamey" tasting deer, not that the deer was just old or tough. Field dressing, bleeding it out, and cooling are critical in my case, or I would probably pass on eating it.