Trad Gang

If you shot a deer and found it dead the next morning laying out in a pond would it be safe to eat or would the water cause problems?

I would eat that.

I would think it depends on temp and if water got into the body cavity and how clean that body of water is.

QuoteOriginally posted by chopx2:
I would think it depends on temp and if water got into the body cavity and how clean that body of water is.

I agree as to what the water quality is and temp

I would think it will be fine, I would eat it! The water should have cooled it down nice and fast too!

I've heard of deer dying in cold streams and the meat being good several days later.  If the meat smells good and is not iridescent, it's good.  You could always try a bit, cook it up, and sample.  If all else fails remember Lewis and Clark would just scrape off the green until they got to some red flesh...okay that's a bit too far.

x2 for temp and water quality.  Mainly temp.  The water is unlikely to do much to the meat, but if it hasn't been cool to cold there could be spoilage going on.  Around here in Arkansas, it's rare to have days this early when you could leave it overnight without something funky happening.  Later in the season, sure. Up there in Illinois, you might be alright.  Dunno how cool it is up there.

I would eat it-unless the pond belonged to PG&E or that aluminum company in Hungary   :bigsmyl:

Process it and try it...what have you got to loose?  A little time.  Man I love venison.

Hams, at least, should be good. Shoulders good. Backstrap good. Rib and tenderloin... smell it and see.

I think you should drink the water first and see what happens...   :goldtooth:

Air temp was around 60 and got down near 40. However the water temp was probably still 60ish. Very shallow muddy pond. I guess my concern was about water getting inside the body cavity and breeding bacteria. I had read somewhere that that accelerates spoilage that plus the water temp was pretty warm.

I may have to pass on eatting it . A few years back I shot a deer in Sept.( still warm here in N.C. in sept. ) that I did not find untill the next day in the river . My buddys told m that the meat would be ok even though I thought things didnt smell or look just right . I wound up getting sick and some of my family got sick so I just cant take that chance again .

Mike

The water has nothing to do with the condition of the meat.  Two most important things are  time since death, NOT since poorly shot and temp of enviroment.  The skin of the deer is a natural insulator so it is some what irrelavent what the water temp is.  The conditon of the meat is more caused by the time since death.  If you shot a poor shot and had to wait past the normal 30 minutes to go after it, you probably shot it close to dark.  Depending on the shot placement of course, it has been my experience that it really does take a gut shot deer 4 hours + to die from a gut shot.  Back in my early years  I would find them still barely alive at sun up the next morning.  I think in general it is safe to assume a liver shot deer lived at least 2 hours after being hit.  So say you shot the deer at 5 PM in the late season, the deer will probably not die until 7 or 8 PM.  You don't sleep for beans and get up and go after it about 7 the next morning when the sun is up enough so you can see.  This is only 12 hours since death and in the late season shoudln't be a problem.   If it is early season, you would shoot it about 8 PM and the deer would die about 10 PM.  Sun up the next day is around 6 AM so it is about 8 hours.  Even though it is warmer out the time is less.  If it is warm the water is cooler and if it is cold the water is warmer.  The natural insualtion of the skin and hair maintains a rather cosntant body temp so I think most all of the time the meat would be good to eat.

Most important is to get the animal opened up and cooled down as best you can.  

I think alot of guys use the "spoiled meat" thing as an excuse to not go look for the animal and thus not have to admitt that they shot a poor shot.

Just my 2 pennys worth, two old tarnished pennys with 40 some years of experience.

Kip

My dad the butcher would tell you to smell it, if it stinks dont eat it, if it smells fine eat it. That always works for me with any kind of meat..........so far.

As in humans,the moment the heart stops bacteria in the blood starts the decomposition process. So its decomposing and bacteria is breading already. So it's a crap shoot. When in doubt, its fertilizer. cheaper than getten sick. JMHO

 I think you should. Inspect it as you butcher it for smell and looks of the cuts of meat. If you're still unsure use it to feed your dogs or dispose of it.

Eat it.

i would eat it. Your gonna freeze alot of it and cook it too. Im sure its fine. The guts may stink a bit just dont let that scare you. make sure your giving good clean meat the sniff test and not basing your opinion on the smell of the paunch, ESPECIALLY IF ITS PUNCTURED.

Wacknstack.....  what did you do....

Its been warm here but you know that.  If you got to it the next morning I would say eat it.  I would have to bet the gutting operation would have been fun.

Come by my place and we can shoot a doe and leave her in the pond by the house and check.....

Eat it...

If the temp was cool enough, I would eat it.

I would eat it, espacialy that you will likely cook it befor hand!

For me temps freezing or less and need to find the deer early the next morning.

Is it really worth taking a chance? are you hungry,if not why risk it. JMO

Kip H,  Just to clarify something since you decided to make your own assumptions. The shot was not poor. It entered about 3 inches behind the front shoulder. I simply didn't get an exit hole. I lost the blood and decided to back out and get up and drive back (Got up at 4am and drove 90 miles)  the next morning to look for it since it was goin to be pretty cool. Found the deer about 60 yards from where I had found the last blood the night before(maybe 150 yards from where I had shot it) I wasnt sure about the affect of the water getting inside the body cavity. I decided it wasn't worth the risk of getting myself or family sick since I wasn't sure. I was just hoping to get the opinion from someone more knowledgeable for future reference since this was a situation I hadn't encountered before.

Huntschool, I'll come shoot a doe with ya anytime but would prefer to pass on the pond testing. Still think of your story every time I sharpen my broadheads btw. I'll likely be down your way for a few days next week. Haven't been down there yet this year and am looking forward to it.

What disease/illness would you get from eating meat in this case?  Just curious.

I would eat it in a heartbeat unless it smelled bad.  The smeller's the teller for me.  I hate wasting meat.

FYI by this time I think the meat would be bad if your still deciding.   :goldtooth: