I always wonder what happends to all the meat of the deer I see hunted on TV, A lot of the time these animals are shot at dark in the evening and dont get retrieved untill the next day.

My question is would this meat be still good. I have always been fortunate to find my animals in a short enough time. But 2 years ago I shot a calf moose and it ran off 3 or 400 yards, took us 2.5 hours to find it and the stomach was already swelled quite a bit but the meat was fine..

So a is a deer left overnight still good eating??
Thanks,Rodney.

Depending on overnight temperatures

Deer cool off pretty quickly. Elk or moose keepheat inmuch more efficientlyand will spoil if left in the woods overnight (usually). It seems to me that most of those people on TV don't give a crap about the meat at all as long as they get their horns. That's sad.

AGREED! I see it on line all the time... Guys just worried about the horns!

As for the meat, normally hunting is in the fall, and the cool night temps will keepa deerfrom spoiling durning the night. I've never had a moose spoil over night either...

DM

Thanks, I too am more of a meat hunter than a trophy hunter, but last fall I lucked out and got my meat as well as a trophy.And this year no moose but maybe next year!

I think a reason many of the folks you see on hunting shows wait until the next day isn't because they think the animal needs that long to die but because they'll have better light in the morning for the video of them finding it. sad!

Many of them use outfitters that donate meat to food banks.

Many of the "next day" finds are really re-enactments from the night before. They do this so they have camera light. Check out the deer, especially bow kills, have you EVER seen a deer kill that clean? The hunter tends to be all cleaned up as well.

I am sure they don't let the meat spoil.

Elk will spoil in a matter of hrs. if not gutted and skinned!! I have always wondered about some of these hunters that shoot an animal and then just walk off and leave it till the next morning...not very sporting if U ask me ....well they think they hit it hard, but not for sure so we'll just wait and let it die slowly!! I had d boss that did this they hit this deer late in the evening and figured it would lie down and die overnight ...well they were wrong, the coyotes got after it and worriethe wounded animal to death t...there were about 5or 6 places were U coould see where the deer had tried to get away only to be cornered again and slowly chewed to death!!!!
I would take all night to find an animal I had hit rather than let it suffer needlessly!!!

I have a freind that owns a locker plant and she will refuse to processa deer that has been out all night in weather above Forty degrees for fear of contamination. They process about 2500 a year so I believe she knows what she is talking about. A deer can sour pretty fast when temps are high. Quality of the meat will really suffer with higher temps. http://wyomingtaxidermy.blogspot.com/

I believe if you shoot an animal it is your responsability to that animal to look for it no matter what time of day or night. I have only ever come back the next day when blood trails have ran dry and repeated attempts to find it have not been successful, or when do to terrain and the elements the saftey of myself and those in my party is put to risk if we continue the search after dark.