help me im a moron and think I spoiled my deer meat

thanks for the responses and sorry for the smart ash comments yesterday i was really frustrated and mad at myself. i have learned a lot tho from this thread (obviously field dress right away) that i wouldnt have known otherwise like using different knives for gutting and taking meat and using game bags vs plastic bags. it was a lung shot so there wasnt trauma around the meat areas. and it was gutted (not the best as it was my first time) and then i took the meat (but used the same knife). you guys mentioned jerky is my best bet. is that because it will kill the bacteria and make it safe or is it too late? i was going to go pick up a dehydrator. it smells gamey not sour or funky or anything. the color of the meat looks fine i have it trimmed and on ice in a cooler with the plug open so the blood drain. i do this with pig meat and it helps so hopefully it will help disguise any poor flavor in the venison. is that good? thanks

 

I bet the meat is fine. It just smells funky. Cut off the dry bits.

 

Can you eat it? Ya sure have at it, if you can stand the taste.

Should you eat it? Probaly not.

Like others have said, once it's down it's a race against time. The most important thing is either gutting the animal or quartering the meat off (without gutting). The main goal is to separate any good meat from the guts because the guts will retain the animals body heat longer thus spoiling the good meat faster.
Also, the hotter it is outside the faster you must process the game.

Trash bags are OK. For temporary transport, like less than an hour and just to keep the meat clean. Any longer and your risking it because plastic bags will trap the moisture. Think about how your skin gets all mushy with a bandaid.

What you can do is place the meat in a game bag and than in a plactic bad (useful if its raining) and the game bag will act as a membrane.

 

I'm voting the meat is OK as well. Sound like it was boned and iced within 3 hours or so, not too unreasonable at 80 degrees. If you think about it, inside the body is sterile except in the food canal system and around any area that was wounded. Key is not to puncture the stomach/intestines during the hunting or cleaning process and don't let the meat sit around unchilled too long after its dressed.

 

5 hours til debone and 8 hours til iced on an 80 degree day... Hope he has ALOT of marinade/spices/pepto.

 

Don't beat yourself up about it just don't make the same mistake twice. I know farmers that shoot 30 in a week and just leave them to rot wherever they drop. Now that's a shame but when deer are overpopulated you have to do what you have to do. When I was younger we had damage stamps and the game warden told us not to touch the deer after we shot it.

 

True, I didn't read it close enough at first.

 

Personally jerky is the LAST thing I would do with it personally. Jerky leaves the best chance for botulism spore growth especially if you dont know what you are doing. If you must Jerky it I would 100% use a cure to help prevent bacterial growth and would probably smoke it to help kill some of the flavor you added by not caring properly for meat.

If you are going to eat it cook it well. Cook it better than game meat should ever be cooked. Itll be dry tough and probably not taste near as good but at least you dont waste the complete life of this animal.

 

^ +1

I would never make Jerky with questionable meat. To be safe he should cook it fast and to a very high temp. A better choice when preparing it might be to use it for something like cheese steaks, or anything else you can make with chipped steak. He could slice it really thin, put a lot of seasoning on it, and cook it extra long this way.

 

hunter here gratz on the kill, field dress after game is taken make sure the meat is cool with dry ice and you be set for the day or the next.

 

i ended up getting a dehydrator and making jerky and it came out fine i never got sick. I have learned my lesson though. i wont chance em again

 

In the summer don't ever leave an animal laying on the ground. 5 hours is a long time in the heat. In the winter when it's below 50 you would have been fine. I wouldn't eat the meat