Archery Talk Forum banner

eating smelly gut shot deer

8K views 8 replies 8 participants last post by  cuzndave 
#1 ·
Hey All,

I shot a doe yesterday afternoon, quartering towards and entry was perfect, but passed through the gut, severe angle. Anyway, let her go the night and got her this morning. A fox nibbled on the rear and when I gutted her she stunk a bit. So I salvaged what I could and it smells a wee little bit, just a hint of gut won't hurt, right? I am letting the meat dry out in the fridge wrapped and on racks to let it age a bit. Are there any health concerns that anyone knows about that I should be concerned with?


:pukey:
 
#2 ·
We're having some stinky meat for dinner tonite. Wife put it in a casserole, not bad.

Since you said you "salvaged" I'm assuming you cut away all the meat that came in contact with gut. I think that is the most important part, and cook it thuroughly.

Mine was the only deer I took in Oct., so the date on the package is enough to tip us off
 
#3 ·
I guess you can do what your sniffer tells you to. But, I won't eat it. Not after talking to a deer processor in OH this past year. I shot a deer late in the evening and didn't find it until the next morn. I hit the stomach and the stuff went all over inside of it and I didn't get to field dress until the next morn. The processor wouldn't accept it. He said that bacteria (from the stomach) spread through the meat beyond where you can smell. I hated to lose that meat, but I'm not risking it. Sorry for the long response.
 
#5 ·
eric s said:
Hey All,

I shot a doe yesterday afternoon, quartering towards and entry was perfect, but passed through the gut, severe angle. Anyway, let her go the night and got her this morning. A fox nibbled on the rear and when I gutted her she stunk a bit. So I salvaged what I could and it smells a wee little bit, just a hint of gut won't hurt, right? I am letting the meat dry out in the fridge wrapped and on racks to let it age a bit. Are there any health concerns that anyone knows about that I should be concerned with?


:pukey:
Processing the meat right away is a good Idea as well. I missed that in the first post

A lot of meat can be salvaged from a gut shot deer. Mine layed overnight in 35-40deg. The tenderloin and some of the hinds were comprimised. I still managed to get 40+ pounds of boned meat from this deer. Processed properly and frozen within 48hrs of harvest, the meat is fine. A little odiferous, but fine.:D

I guess I can't speak for his meat or whether it spoiled, but I will not waste meat unless I'm sure it has turned.

Cooking to 160deg will kill anything that could be in the meat. Spicing or marinading will cover any minor oder left after cooking.
 
#6 ·
We use non pasturized milk. Cover meat and let soak in frig for awhile around a week. Meat will turn some strange colors, do not worry. Wash meat off and the meat will look fine. The milk has enzymes that will break down the meat making very tender and removing all tainted flavor and smell. My family has been doing this since my father was young growing up on a dairy. The only hard thing is to find the milk, you will have to know someone with a dairy.
Most people that we serve this to state that it is better than fine stakes that you will find steak house.
 
#8 ·
My rifle buck this year was gut shot, compliments of a thumbsize sapling. I didn't find the deer until the next day. About the worst experience I've had gutting a deer. Hosed the deer off at home and hung it up. That day at work I agonized over what I would do with the meat, the smell was still there, although not as bad. A friend at work said to mix equal parts of white vinegar and water. I skinned, quartered the deer. Tenderloins were junk, along with one rear quarter(torn up by bullet). I sprayed the remaining quarters with vinegar mix and backstraps. Put them in a cooler and chilled them over night. The next night I pulled out the meat, washed it off. Skeptical, I cut a steak, trimmed off any questionable meat and fried it up. Tasted FINE! I processed the deer, being ruthless about anything looking remotely tainted. This vinegar mix worked for me. The quicker you can get the meat clean and cold the better.
 
#9 ·
Also,I have done the vinegar and water treatment on tainted meat.It not only removes the tainted smell and or taste,but it also removes alot of the gamey taste.The only other trick we use is to also add pepper corns to the mix.We usually use this mix with all our deer meat,with exception to the meat we designate for jerky. We clean as much of the(silver) off of the meat and as much hair as possible.Then put in a cooler with the vinager,water,peppercorn mix on it and then cover it with ice.We leave it like that for a day or so then start to drain the water off every day adding ice when needed.We do this process for about 5-7 days then cut it up and pack it with a Food Saver vacume packing machine.If you have not tried this process and you like deer meat you will love it.Deer meat is our main source of meat for the year,so we like it to taste good ya know.Try it you won't be dissapointed.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top