So Friday night. I shot a buck at about 6pm. I couldn't quite tell what kind of hit it was, there was a mix of different signs from the deer reaction (Jumped straight in the air and kicked, and sprinted like hell), arrow blood (medium red blood, but what seemed to be particulates in it), hardly any blood trail. So, I waited an hour and a half to track the deer. It was 85 degrees out so I didn't want any spoilage. When i came on him, he was alive and took off. I inspected the bed area and it smelled like gut, but blood was deep dark red, very little blood. I thought the deer was just gut shot so i waited till 2pm the next day to resume the search.

Long story short. Found came back at 2pm to where he had bedded down, about 10 yds from a reservoir to start looking. I checked the reservoir first because i know that sometimes gut shot deer go to water. Went looking for the deer. Came back 30 minutes later and found him in the reservoir that i had just checked. Once i got him out of the reservoir it became apparent that he had been in there for some time. I field dressed the animal and found that i had hit liver, one lung and the stomach. The overnight temperatures were 68 and day temps were 74, the reservoir temperature much cooler (50-55). I quartered him up saved the backstraps, hindquarters, and shoulders and left the rest in the woods for the coyotes. I washed and rubbed the salvaged meat in vinegar and stored it in my deep freeze immediately. Seeing as he was submerged in the cooler water from his death to when I found him, do you think that the hindquarters, backstraps, and shoulders are still safe to eat despite the fact that it was a warm day? I threw away all meat that had been exposed to dirt and guts.

Any thoughts. I just hate wasting meat. Id like to get it made into sausage at this point, but if it isn't safe Ill just give the rest to the yotes. I just need more experienced advice, im kind of a rookie with this whole hunting thing. The meat didn't stink any more than a shot deer regularly does... "I thought they smelled bad on the outside."
Thanks
Ben

If the meat wasn't strong smelling it should be fine . I would cook some and see if it still smells OK , that will tell you if it stinks when you cook it .

Shold be o.k. sinse it was in the water and that should of kept him alittle cooler inside..If in doubt you could always give the meet to someone you just don't really care for!  :rolleyes:  Just kidding...

Considering the meat was covered and in the cool water I would assume your good to go. Think of our pioneers that would let an animal hang for days while they feasted. It's not exposure to temp that is the suspect, its bacterial growth - which you would smell.

Way to stay after it and find your deer.

cook a chunk. if it smells funny(and you will KNOW it if it does) its bad. I'd guess its fine though.

I'd say you were lucky he was in the water. Do the cook test and you will know. It should smell if bad, but just to be safe only eat a small portion and give it a day. It won't kill you if it is bad but you will know.

Well, walk through what makes the meat spoil.  Either bacterial activity on the opened carcass (or from the gut), or protein breakdown.  

If the animal was found intact, the skin provides a pretty good protection against bacterial ingress for most muscle areas.  If it was chilled down (in the water), it retards protein degeneration. For it to have been in the water, the deer was alive at that time (to get in there in the first place) so it began cooling immediately.

Heck, folks hang deer at those temperatures for days, albeit generally with hide off, but the water bath likely will cause more rapid cooling anyway.

I think there is a very good chance that the meat is fine.

ChuckC

the only way to tell is cook some up and see..
probably going to be ok.

My Dad has been a meat cutter for forty years and I have seen animals that were brought in that on the outside seemed fine but were not. You need to open up one of the quarters and smell the bone. The heat starts to spoil around the bones on the inside of the meat and work its way out, that is were it holds the heat longest and is called sour bone. Open up one of the round to the bone and smell the bone. It will be apparent right away if the meat is bad. If no sour smell it should be fine.

Thanks for the input and advice guys. I cut some pieces of meat from each of the areas and cooked them up. No smell. Checked for "sour bone" it didn't really smell. So I tried some. Ill let you know in the morning  

Sounds to me like the meat is okay.

Did you check the water temp? If not, I would be surprised that the water temp is that low. Around here, river water temp runs right around 160 degrees this time of year. Lake temps are higher than fast running water.

Well congrats on a successful hunt and I'm glad you have good meat in the freezer!

I've heard that if you can pull tufts of fur out of the hide, the meat is spoiled. Never tried it. I did shoot a buck with an ML one year that we had to let hang for a few days in some warm m weather and it turned out ok

Ishoot4thrills, we had a long period of rain that night and day which is why I think it was colder, but no I didn't check it with a thermometer. I had to swim out to get it.

Sounds like it's OK. We are a little too cautious these days. Ever think how people down here in the hot and humid SE took care of their meat before refrigeration? One old trick, if the animal is gut shot, wipe the cavity out with white vinegar to arrest the bacterial degradation. Also, sausage was invented to make slightly off meat edible!