Deer Retrieval and Meat Quality

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Rob loper
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Re: Deer Retrieval and Meat Quality

Unread postby Rob loper » Sat Feb 24, 2018 10:38 pm

Ive read and have been told by butchers that you should skin a deer asap. No matter what temp is. Then try to clean off whatever foreign matter is on the deer meat
Then for best results hang in refrigerated cooler for 10-13 days. I guess it kinda cures the meat? Or sets the meat for processing. Thats what ive read and been told what to do. If a deer ends up floating all night or in a creek or river. What are gonna do it happens. I really dont think it hurts anything.


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Re: Deer Retrieval and Meat Quality

Unread postby PK_ » Sun Feb 25, 2018 7:34 am

checkerfred wrote:
PK_ wrote:If swamp water spoiled venison I’d have starved to death by now :D

Let me first say, I agree with all the posts that you should field dress, skin, quarter get the meat cold as fast as you can especially in warm weather.

However some people can say some things on this subject as if they are biblical commandments. I will give you a couple examples that should ease your worries as I believe these situations are pushing the limits more than what most people will find themselves in unless a deer goes unrecovered for more than a day in warm weather...

Last year I shot a buck too deep to get out that night. Then realized I forgot my knife :shock: I drug him to a shallow slough and let him soak. Temps were in the 50’s that night. I gutted him before light the next morning and hunted a few hours. I drug him to a cool flowing stream and let him soak while I walked back out and got the cart. Once I got the cart to the deer it took another 2 hours to get him to the truck. He tasted like any other deer I have eaten.

Couple years ago I shot a buck in early Sept in south FL, I believe the heat index was 112’ that day. I shot him 3.5 miles from the truck at 9:30am. I couldn’t get him to a place where I could gut him until noon. He was visibly beginning to bloat by then. I got him to a shaded area and had to gut him in the water, like literally he was submerged. On the way back to the truck I sunk him in every deep and shaded hole of water I came across in an attempt to keep him cool. But I was floating him out on my paddle board the whole way and the sun got him so hot that the thin meat overtop the ribs was turned a whitish color (cooked). Getting that deer out took much longer than expected and I was afraid the meat would not be good. I finally got him hung up around 3pm and all the meat was fine. No smell. I am pretty particular about preparation, cleaning, trimming and cooking of my venison and it truly tasted just like any other venison I have had that was properly cleaned (removal of silver skin and fat etc...) and cooked properly.


You definitely pushed the boundaries on those lol. I just like to take care of mine as quick as possible. I’m ocd on that...same with skinning, I’d rather go slow and not get hair on it. On your two scenarios above though, what kind of shots did you make? A good lung or heart shot I’m sure you have a little more time. Bust the guts and your clock is running. It would be interesting to do a taste test side by side with a deer like from your story above and one taken care of fast.


Yea man I agree with you. If at all possible get it taken care of ASAP. Both these cases I simply found myself ill-prepared in the moment. I wasn’t at all trying to tell anyone not to worry about it, but sometimes circumstances can get out of your control and you have to make due with the situation. Like submerging a deer into water isn’t ideal, but if it helps it stay a bit cooler than it is the lesser of two evils...

I will say I made sure to hard freeze all the meat from those deer before eating any of it. (Still aged them 5-10 days on ice before freezing)

As far as the taste test I put each of those deer in the freezer with other deer taken those years that were cleaned in a much more timely fashion and I honestly could not taste a difference from deer to deer and I was purposefully looking for a smell/taste difference (which can sometimes create it in your mind).

Both were shot through both lungs. Yes a gut shot would have probably been the straw that broke the camels back on either of those deer...
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Re: Deer Retrieval and Meat Quality

Unread postby Jackson Marsh » Mon Feb 26, 2018 6:23 am

I tend to gut them where they lay and have drug a few through water in the marsh. I usually try to use a sled to keep the deer clean from the water and muck.

I DO NOT split the pelvis. Splitting the pelvis tends to expose part of the hindquarters meat to the elements.
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Re: Deer Retrieval and Meat Quality

Unread postby checkerfred » Mon Feb 26, 2018 10:45 am

PK_ wrote:
checkerfred wrote:
PK_ wrote:If swamp water spoiled venison I’d have starved to death by now :D

Let me first say, I agree with all the posts that you should field dress, skin, quarter get the meat cold as fast as you can especially in warm weather.

However some people can say some things on this subject as if they are biblical commandments. I will give you a couple examples that should ease your worries as I believe these situations are pushing the limits more than what most people will find themselves in unless a deer goes unrecovered for more than a day in warm weather...

Last year I shot a buck too deep to get out that night. Then realized I forgot my knife :shock: I drug him to a shallow slough and let him soak. Temps were in the 50’s that night. I gutted him before light the next morning and hunted a few hours. I drug him to a cool flowing stream and let him soak while I walked back out and got the cart. Once I got the cart to the deer it took another 2 hours to get him to the truck. He tasted like any other deer I have eaten.

Couple years ago I shot a buck in early Sept in south FL, I believe the heat index was 112’ that day. I shot him 3.5 miles from the truck at 9:30am. I couldn’t get him to a place where I could gut him until noon. He was visibly beginning to bloat by then. I got him to a shaded area and had to gut him in the water, like literally he was submerged. On the way back to the truck I sunk him in every deep and shaded hole of water I came across in an attempt to keep him cool. But I was floating him out on my paddle board the whole way and the sun got him so hot that the thin meat overtop the ribs was turned a whitish color (cooked). Getting that deer out took much longer than expected and I was afraid the meat would not be good. I finally got him hung up around 3pm and all the meat was fine. No smell. I am pretty particular about preparation, cleaning, trimming and cooking of my venison and it truly tasted just like any other venison I have had that was properly cleaned (removal of silver skin and fat etc...) and cooked properly.


You definitely pushed the boundaries on those lol. I just like to take care of mine as quick as possible. I’m ocd on that...same with skinning, I’d rather go slow and not get hair on it. On your two scenarios above though, what kind of shots did you make? A good lung or heart shot I’m sure you have a little more time. Bust the guts and your clock is running. It would be interesting to do a taste test side by side with a deer like from your story above and one taken care of fast.


Yea man I agree with you. If at all possible get it taken care of ASAP. Both these cases I simply found myself ill-prepared in the moment. I wasn’t at all trying to tell anyone not to worry about it, but sometimes circumstances can get out of your control and you have to make due with the situation. Like submerging a deer into water isn’t ideal, but if it helps it stay a bit cooler than it is the lesser of two evils...

I will say I made sure to hard freeze all the meat from those deer before eating any of it. (Still aged them 5-10 days on ice before freezing)

As far as the taste test I put each of those deer in the freezer with other deer taken those years that were cleaned in a much more timely fashion and I honestly could not taste a difference from deer to deer and I was purposefully looking for a smell/taste difference (which can sometimes create it in your mind).

Both were shot through both lungs. Yes a gut shot would have probably been the straw that broke the camels back on either of those deer...


Yeah you gotta do what you gotta do...it’s better than just wasting it. I wonder how much more bacteria, if any, does a typical swamp have in it? I’m not talking about a little shallow pool. I know it has tannins in it too usually from hardwoods/acorns.

Lung shots help too. As for freezing that’s a good point. There’s a guide online but I think it’s 60 days in a home deep freeze to kill trichonosis. I like cooking my tenderloin/loin medium but if you like it less done this is a must to keep from getting it.


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