Okay guys here is the dill. I shot a deer last night, hit her a little far back.. so iwaited a couple of hours and went to find her, when i came to her i notice that she was still alive but not very consious (sp) so i tried to walk up on her and slit her throat but when i was about 3 yards away she jumped up and tried to run away but fell a couple of times while trying to run..... so i backed off,knowingwhere she would be in the moring.So the next moring frost still on the ground i walked up to her and went ot work. she was very bloated and there was a good number of intestine gunk in it. My shot was a quatering away shot where i came in far back went through intestine through the liver and clipping her right lung. Not my proudest moment but a good kill shot (just took time). But here is my question, is the meat sitting over night good like the tenderlions and backstraps? i am sure the shoulder and leg meat is good i am just worried about the tenderlions becuase when i took them out there was a funny smell (not rotten but more like gut) to the inside of the carcass. well please give me some insight about the meat, i'll post pictures of my doe as soon as i figure it out.

If the tenderloins don't smell right I'd soak them in heavily salted water for at least 24 hours in the fridge. Change the salt water every eight hours or so and see if the smell gets better. Worse case scenario you can marinate them and hide that gut smell pretty good.....

but is it edable?

Your meat will be fine in my opinion. Where was your bow when you were tracking and found her? You should have finished her off.

In my opinion the meat will be fine. Sometimes the body cavity will smell but hte meat should be good. take it to a butcher if you aren't sure

guys i hate to be nagging, but please through out some opinions i have this deer in my garage and i am about to butcher it but i want to make sure its safe for my family

You'll be good. Especially if there was Frost on the ground!!!! She was probably bloated because of the arrow's path, but honestly, i dont think you'll have a problem!

But here is my question, is the meat sitting over night good like the tenderlions and backstraps?



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All the meat should be fine except the inner loins. With a gut shot deer I once tried cleaning them up and cooking them. They were nasty smelling and I had to trash them. That is such a small percentage of your meat, all the rest is yours to enjoy so why take a chance....Dabow

I agree, I would probably not eat the tenderloins.
The rest of it will be fine for your family.

I do know a little about what I'm talking about, I grew up and worked in the meat business for about 20 years.

If your not eating those tenderloins, send them this way . Soaking htem in salt water will help get rid of the smell, as will maranading. As long as you cook them, it will kill the bateria.