RE: if you have to let one go overnight before tracking...
When you say "the meat" it leaves out much of the story. SOME of the meat may be bad, yes, but not all of it will be. I clipped the stomach of a deer a few years ago and found it after 6 hours of tracking. Some of the meat on the belly was already green, but the rest of him was fine. Just cut off the bad parts and eat the good.