Deer meat and spoil time

[fly]

How long (hours) would you let a dead deer lay in the woods prior to field dressing and harvesting and still eat the majority of the meat given a temperature of 55 degrees F? Say the arrow hit the lungs/heart (not a gut shot).

(Tried to post a poll, but couldn't get it to work right)

less than 2

2-4

4-8

8-12

12-16

16-20

more than 20

[Bowtech_archer07]

I would have to vote less than 2 hours on a lung/heart shot. That is a lethal hit, and I would probably be on the trail in an hour or shortly before an hour in order to recover that deer.

[JJL]

Assuming that the ambient air temp was a constant 55 degrees.

I would not go past 6 hours. Not because of spoilage caused by bacteria, but the fact that the meat did not cool down quick enough to hold it's natural density.

I'm a firm believer in getting the blood out and getting the heat out as quick as possible.

The deer was shot heart/lungs, that will get the blood out. Now you have a 100 degree animal wrapped in a fur coat lying in a 55 degree environment, Not going to cool down properly, ater 6-8 hours the meat will go PSE (pale-soft-exudated), not good.

If the animal bled to death, it needs to find a cooler ASAP.

[Tominator]

Not long. I'd have to go with jjl on this one. Man sounds like he knows what he's talking about.

[oldreloader]

I try to field dress mine ASAP.I feel like the sooner it starts cooling from he inside the better.jjl is probably right though about 6 hrs at 55 before it spoils.

[Doc]

There has been a couple of times when I was unable to recover my deer until the following day, and the weather conditions were similar to what you described. In those cases, I was unable to detect anything wrong with the meat. However, those situations did not involve the dead deer lying in the sun for any extended time. In fact both times, the hit was on evening hunts so the sun was not a factor at all.

It's always a tough call. Nobody wants to eat tainted meat, and the symptoms are not always obvious. I will be curious what others think about this question.

Doc

[TexasDeerHunter]

I dont know for sure. I always wonder about hunting shows, I see and hear the guys talk about letting the deer lay overnight and alot of times it looks pretty warm. Wonder how much meat they loose.

[Leo]

It also depends on the size of the animal.

The 55F mark is a tricky one. Size is definitely more important at that temperature. The colder it is the longer the animal will last and the less important size is. The 55F mark is that mark where if the game cools quickly enough to that temperature it will last quite a long time but it may not be cold enough for the animal to cool fast enough to last a long time. If it's gonna be below 50F for the night I'll feel alot better about leaving one over night.

A small deer can make it all night at that temp and not spoil. IE. Anything under 120lbs.

At that temp, when you get over the 120lbs mark (LIVE WEIGHT). The bigger the animal, the faster the animal will spoil. Big animals just don't loose heat quick enough.

[ksbowhntr77]

Assuming that the ambient air temp was a constant 55 degrees.

I would not go past 6 hours. Not because of spoilage caused by bacteria, but the fact that the meat did not cool down quick enough to hold it's natural density.

I'm a firm believer in getting the blood out and getting the heat out as quick as possible.

The deer was shot heart/lungs, that will get the blood out. Now you have a 100 degree animal wrapped in a fur coat lying in a 55 degree environment, Not going to cool down properly, ater 6-8 hours the meat will go PSE (pale-soft-exudated), not good.

If the animal bled to death, it needs to find a cooler ASAP.

I agree wholeheartedly, sounds just like my Meat Science teach would have said in college. To the cooler quickly and if the cooler is a long way off find a gas station and buy alot of ice in bags and put them in the ol' body cavity, I've had to do that before and it seemed to work.

[fly]

I dont know for sure. I always wonder about hunting shows, I see and hear the guys talk about letting the deer lay overnight and alot of times it looks pretty warm. Wonder how much meat they loose.

I wonder if the guys on the hunting shows eat any of the meat themselves???

I ask this question because I've heard so many different things over the years and have shot deer at dark and couldn't find them till morning (about 12 hours). Most of the time the temp is below 40, but one time it was 50-55 and everyone I asked said not to eat the meat so I didn't. I've always wondered if I did the right thing?

So far it seems like most feel 6 hours is the max (especially if it's a large deer).

[Will_in_cky25]

I've be told alot of things on this subject also and its kinda rackin the ol grey matter so just to be on the safe side i've always stayed out as long as i could and just find the deer. but ive found all but one deer this way, now sayin that, the one buck i found after the meat went bad. my dad cut it up for catfish bait, i don't know why but it is good bait if your are juggin

[Doc]

So, of course, the most natural follow-up question would be: exactly how do you know the meat has gone bad, other than the obvious odor involved when meat has completely gone beyond question. I mean, there has to be a point where the meat is not going to last too long in the freezer, refrigerator, or counter-top, but has not yet shown the obvious odor of tainted meat.

So, are there any guidelines, rules, or telltale signs as to when you simply shouldn't waste your time butchering? I remember one deer that we butchered that showed no signs of spoilage, but when we cooked up some of the meat later in the year, there was no question that it had gone bad.

Doc

[ShaneB]

If it was a heart/lung shot i would wait 2 hours to be on the safe side and then recover it

[xOZx]

Unless I really question the shot (and it sounds like you know it was a good shot) I'd give it an hour and track it down. The only time I'd back out and leave it, whether it's 30 degrees or 60 degrees is if I know it was a bad shot. With a good shot you know it is gonna go pretty quick. With a bad shot it'll live for a while so waiting until morning may not actually be that long after it died depending on the shot.

[elkoholic]

If you made a good heart/lung shot, you should have the deer dressed out and be on your way out of the woods in one hour or less. I personally have never had to leave a deer overnight but assuming a non-gut shot deer (maybe a one lung or liver hit) I would be willing to bet that most of the meat would be suitable for consumption after laying out overnight, given a temperature of 55 degrees. Elk or moose would be another story as their size prevents adequate heat dissipation. As for what happens on the hunting shows/videos, I think that most of the animals they shoot are donated to food banks and the like, where it is ground into burger. It amazes me how they let animals lay out for hours after a well placed shot (documented on video). Bottom line, get the animal dressed, skinned and cooled down as soon as possible. Also, I believe that letting it hang to "age" it only gives it a "gamier" taste. I will cut, wrap and freeze any game animal asap.

[Guest swampthing]

I just wanted to share a recent bad unfortunate event with this.

My wife just shot a 212 lb.10 point white tail buck in the evening on Wed.11/5/08 with just 5 minutes left of legal hunt hrs.(4:40pm) We looked for a blood trail and couldn't find one.We both work the night shift and said that we would see better in the morning and went to work.The temp outside was acutually under 55 degrees infact it stayed just above 45 degrees all night.We found him at 6:30 am.the next morning (14 hrs. since the shot) and he had a heart/lung shot. We dressed him immediately.There were no signs of spoilage at that time but he was still warm inside.He did have some bloating going on in his ponch.

It was around 55 degrees with rain the day we found him and kept him on back of the truck for about 24 hours parked inside my garage wich is always five to ten degrees cooler than outside due to being an old garage with a dirt floor and well ventilated.

It has now been apprx.38 hrs. since she shot him.I hung and skinned him ,took off as much fat as I could and took out the inner loins and put them in the refrigerator. It was around 6:00 pm the next day when I noticed that the entire deer was spoiled.The inner loins that I had put in the frig were also spoiled.It was a very upsetting moment for us.It just didn't seem that there was enough time for the weather conditions to cause this to happen.The reason I say is because I took a spike horn on Mon. 2 days earler and let him hang for 2 days with his hide on and ther was no spoilage what soever. Although he was field dressed right after the kill.

I hope that our misfortune will help answer this question.

[wtnhunt]

I just wanted to share a recent bad unfortunate event with this.

My wife just shot a 212 lb.10 point white tail buck in the evening on Wed.11/5/08 with just 5 minutes left of legal hunt hrs.(4:40pm) We looked for a blood trail and couldn't find one.We both work the night shift and said that we would see better in the morning and went to work.The temp outside was acutually under 55 degrees infact it stayed just above 45 degrees all night.We found him at 6:30 am.the next morning (14 hrs. since the shot) and he had a heart/lung shot. We dressed him immediately.There were no signs of spoilage at that time but he was still warm inside.He did have some bloating going on in his ponch.

It was around 55 degrees with rain the day we found him and kept him on back of the truck for about 24 hours parked inside my garage wich is always five to ten degrees cooler than outside due to being an old garage with a dirt floor and well ventilated.

It has now been apprx.38 hrs. since she shot him.I hung and skinned him ,took off as much fat as I could and took out the inner loins and put them in the refrigerator. It was around 6:00 pm the next day when I noticed that the entire deer was spoiled.The inner loins that I had put in the frig were also spoiled.It was a very upsetting moment for us.It just didn't seem that there was enough time for the weather conditions to cause this to happen.The reason I say is because I took a spike horn on Mon. 2 days earler and let him hang for 2 days with his hide on and ther was no spoilage what soever. Although he was field dressed right after the kill.

I hope that our misfortune will help answer this question.

That is a shame. Does not do you any good now, but for the future a bag of ice inside the cavity can help keep the temp down. We are usually faced with having to skin and quarter our deer pretty quick here due to it not being cool enough. Very rare that we are ever in a situation to let one hang past overnight.

Your wife's deer was a great deer though. Congratulations to her again.

[csualumni21000]

Anyone with a background in the meat industry have an educated opinion.

[slaw]

Well , the decaying process starts as soon as the animal dies. I was always a firm believer to get MY meat in a cooler as soon as possible. I would say at 6 hours (at 55 degrees)that meat needs to get on ice quick. I will not try to salvage a deer that has set overnight.....when in doubt....throw it out ! coyotes got to eat too. MHO.

[fly]

Well I'm not a meat expert but here's what I know from experience.

I shot a doe a couple weeks ago right at dark. I hit it back a bit (no lungs, not even the liver). I let her sit all night. I found her the next morning around 9am (about 13 hours). I'm not sure when she died? However, the low was 28 degrees and by 9am it was 40. I took her to the processor in the afternoon. I got the entire deer made into sausage. I got it back a few days ago and it is great!

Now, I shot another doe Saturday night at 4:45pm. I hit her pretty good (got one and maybe both lungs). I still let her lay over night (cloudy with a low of 35). I found her Sunday morning again around 9am (13 hours). The high Sunday (today) was 40 with cloudy skies. She's hanging in my dad's garage until tomorrow evening when I get off work and have time to process. Low tonight is around 35 degrees. We'll see how it goes?

[Ravin R10 man]

Well theres your mistake man...ya should have gotten it registered and immediatley yanked off the hide within an hour or two after finding him! Nice buck..but what a needless waste. You MUST get the meat cooled down to 40 degrees or cooler as soon as possible..at that temp it can then hang four several days.

Edited November 10, 2008 by Mathews XT Man

[Swamphunter]

I field dress em' where they lay. Never had a deer seem to be afraid of a gut pile....

[Adjam5]

Yes that bites...A few weeks ago I shot a doe with the bow, and had to leave her overnight because the blood trail ran out. I picked it up the next morning and we found her 50 yards away. What I had on my side was cool 40 degree weather and no sun.

If you skin the deer as soon as you get it, it comes off real easy. I have used a ATV winch to pull that deer hide off like a coat to accelerate cooling. Like wtnhunt said, we get a bag or 2 of ice in that chest cavity asap or get it to the butcher so it can hang and cool down a bit. Hang it upside down, all the good meat in the hind quarters, let the blood drain down to the head. Spoilage starts as soon as the heart stops pumping. No oxygen to keep everything alive.

Good Luck next time.

But what a nice buck!