spoiled meat

[Fil]

Thought I'd ask people's opinion here.
My dad shot a fork horn Friday morning with the bow. (in MA)
He made a decent shot, mid body, but 3/4 high. (mostly internal bleeding)
Decent blood trail until he went into the edge of the swamp about 50 yards after the shot. The swamp is pretty wet and washed alot of the blood away and watered it down enough to make the trail disapear. After searching all day Friday he gave up, thinking it made it into the swamp and died in there.
Sunday he went back to look again and decided to just comb the area after the last blood was spotted and found it.
He gutted it, tagged it and brought it home, he says the meat looks ok.

You think its still good? It was rather warm and rainy Saturday, temps in the open areas were in the high 60s.

Let me know. Thanks.

 

[jshooter]

How does the meat look? After it is butchered that is. If it looks normal and doesn't smell bad I'd give it a try. I would bet there is an odor if the deer is still hanging so don't make a judgement on the meat until it is cut up. There surely is a real good chance it is bad but you never know. I think people owe it to the animal they kill to make absolutely sure it is edible before using it a coyote bait.

 

[Mike-Mike]

it was warm Saturday. Buy I think some of it will be fine. Make sure you cook it completely.

 

[hunter46spring]

Go by smell as you butcher it. Unless it is green or clearly dosnt look right smell is the best bet. If it smells clean I would say it is ok. I would probally pitch the tenderloins though as tyhey are exposed in the abdominal cavity

 

[Harleynut]

Here is a link to New Hampshire fish and game that talks about aging meat. I found this interesting. I normally get concerned eating anything that has been stored above 42 deg for long.

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/natres/06503.pdf

Here is part of what they say but read the whole thing yourself.

Aging
The purpose of aging is to make meat more tender. If the entire carcass is
to be processed into ground meat or stewing meat, there is no need to age it. Do
not age the carcass longer than necessary, however, to eliminate excess carcass
shrinkage and bacteria growth. The following aging recommendations are at 40
degrees: antelope, three days; deer, seven days; cow elk, seven days; bull elk, 14
days. No research data are available to make specific recommendations for other
big game species, although it seems logical that periods of one to two weeks
would be acceptable.
Temperatures warmer than 40 degrees will shorten the recommended
aging period. If the carcass is exposed to 60 or 70 degrees during the day,
butcher and freeze in a few days. Always age a carcass in the shade. If the hide is
removed, reduce the aging time to avoid drying out the carcass.
After aging, the carcass is ready for butchering and the freezer.
Hope this helps.

 

[Fil]

that is very interesting. We usually do 3-4 days in the shed as long as it doesnt get over 50 durring the day. Otherwise we only do a day or two.

 

[arlow]

When you cut the meat it should still be blood red. Any meat that has turned brownish trim away and you will be fine.