I shot a buck last night and the temps dropped to 44F here. Never found the buck that night and went back in the morning worried. Spent another 3 hours finding and then following the trail. By 11am I gave up, end of trail, and it was already 65F.

Was it spoiled if I found it? What temperature is it ok to come back and find it in the morning?

No, the meat should be fine. I shot one at in the morning one time around 8:00AM, I came back that same night to find it, but couldn't next morning, I did a more extensive search as was able to recover the deer around 11:00 AM. That day (the day I shot the deer) the temperature reached about 70 degrees. The processor said the meat was fine. We ate the deer, no problems at all.

I hate to be the reaper of bad news, but i had a similar scenario happen with my first deer...I shot her at about 7pm (just before dark) and found her the next afternoon the meat appeared to be fine, but (this part is JURU and i shouldn't even talk about it) my doe meat (had a bacterial infection) It really really sucked<img src=icon_smile_dissapprove.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_dissapprove.gif border=0 align=middle>...I wish you best of luck in the recovery of your deer, i hope all goes well
-Jon

&quot; My Name is Bocephus&quot;

A few years ago, a buddy and I both shot bucks at 6:00pm. We had a terrible time getting his buck out of the woods (got lost in a new area) and had to wait until I got off work the next day to go back for mine. The temps were in the mid 70's and we found mine at about 4:30pm. I had a meat inspector &quot;inspect&quot; the meat and she said it was fine. I butchered it and it was some of the best we've ever had--no ill affects whatsoever.

I think alot of folks mistake stomach bloat(gases) for the meat actually being bad. It probably is not bad...yet. It really doesn't take long for a deer to bloat after it is dead, if the temps are up. They can lay for quite a few hours, and the meat will still be fine. Clean it out and get it on ice.

One problem could be flies. Maggots only take about 3 days to hatch. I have been told that the main reason for bad tasting meat is the distance the deer ran before it dies. They get a build up of adrenalin in the muscles which taints the meat. You can tell if that is the case when you quarter it. It will have holes in the rump meat if a lot of adrenalin has been injected.

X-Pat Brit Livin the good life in NC

Thanks guys (or gals too). Sounds like it was not wasted time to go back and look the next morning, even though I did not find it. Good.

This isn't exactly on the same subject, but it's not far.
This will help after you find your deer, and all the butcher shops are closed, but you still need to keep your deer cold.
Go to www.thebiggamecooler.com