Mountain Cur

3 weeks ago tomorrow I was bowhunting in the evening and stuck a big doe, when I climbed down and looked at my arrow it was green and slimy from tip to stern, showing absolutely no sign of a good hit. I'm thinking a straight through gut shot, needless to say you can imagine how I felt. Well, I didn't even attempt to trail the deer, I just quietly left, planning on waiting a few hours and coming back. When I got home I called a friend with a dog to see if we could use the dog, we got to talking about it and he said the best thing to do was wait until in the morning because the deer would probably still be alive, I agreed because I'm thinking pure gutshot myself. The temps at night were around 50 degrees. At daylight the next morning I get the dog and go back, I really didn't expect to even find the deer, but we didn't go 75 yrds, and I looked up on the ridge and saw her laying, went to her and she was dead, but she was still warm under and around her flank area, the area where she was laying was tore up in about a 20-25 area, leading me to believe that she lay a good part of the night and had probably been dead only about 2 maybe 3 hours. The arrow went in right smack in the middle of the ribs a little high, and came out low in the last couple of ribs, so I must have gotten one lung a little bit, then probably the liver. I carried her home(only 300-400 yards away) and gutted her, I didn't skin her because the processor I use only charges 5 bucks extra to skin a field dressed animal. Anyway, I know that I did the only thing that I could do, there was absolutely no blood trail, and If I had tried that night I would have succeeded only in jumping her. That's not why I am writing this, the reason I am writing this is because my wife cooked me some chili the other day, and she said the meat stank when she cooked it, keep in mind she is paranoid of the fact that the deer was gutshot and layed out all night. But this was a very old doe, no little ones and no milk, I told her it was just like the big 200 .lb 8 point my brother killed a couple of years ago, he was real strong tasting also, and wasn't hardly fit to eat either. We rely heavily on deer meat in our family, I live in Louisiana where the limit is 6, and I try to get at least 4 per year, we don't buy much beef during the year, only an occasional ribeye to blacken! What do ya'll think about this meat, think it is because it's an old heifer. I'm thinking about taking the hamburger back and getting sausage made out of it, haven't tried the steaks yet. Oh well enough rambling, one point though don't never give up on a possible gutshot, as you can see things aren't always what they seem. Good luck to everyone the rest of the season<img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>!

peppi

My husband and I have found that sometimes if a deer was gut shot and then you have it processed and they make burger it taste's bad. I dont think they cut out the bad meat that gets tanted from the shot. so if its a gut shot then he cuts all the bad meat away before we take it to be processed.
Thats me! <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

BOWFANATIC

As for the processor (meat market) I can say from experience that all bad parts of the meat (bloodshot wounds) are cut out and thrown away. No meat processor (around here anyway) wants to risk sending bad meat home with a customer.
As for gut shot deer , if she was still warm when you found her and wasn't as stiff as a board , the meat should be o.k. , but you have to wash off the meat that may have been contaminated by stomach acid. A gutshot deer will spoil the meat faster than anything. You can do some searches on the subject and find alot of helpfull info and guidelines.

Mountain Cur

I know my processor, and although I didn't have to, I told him to cut the flanks out and through them away, and I know he would have cut out the areas around the entrance and exit. I use him because he has to be clean, because he is open year round for cow,hogs,etc., and he gets inspected by the state, and I think he has to be U.S.D.A inspected also. By the way, I forgot to mention that I ate the chili and it was good, but spicy chili can disguise bad taste.

BOWFANATIC

Sounds like your good to go! As far as being an old deer with a gamey flavor , if you soak your steaks in milk for at least six hours before cooking it , it'll get rid of it.

farm hunter

Congrats on your success. Its probably not because of the placement of the shot, some deer seem to taste different, I think it has alot to do with their diet.

I will say, if your processor hasn't removed the silver skin, or the bones, it probably won't get any better tasting over time. Try a different cut, maybe from a hindquarter - it'll give you a better idea of the flavor.

Iowa Monsterbuck

Maybe a factor could be that the deer was obviously stressed. You mentioned an area 20-25 Feet? in diameter all torn up. That would indicate a lot of thrashing and pain the deer must have experinced during the night and a highly stressed deer can dump a lot of chemicals through it's system that can really effect the taste of the meat.

dick_cress

Helped a friend recover a pure gutshot doe three weeks ago. She had only been dead 2 or 3 hours. We cut the tarsal and metatarsal glands off then gutted her and opened her from the pelvic bone to the neck then put her in a rushing stream and thoroughly washed her out and made sure there was no stomach/intestinal matter left in the cavity. Then we skinned her out and bagged her up for the trip home.

The meat was absolutely perfect.
My opinion:

I have NEVER had bad tasting venison and think cooling out the animal quickly, proper handling and processing are the fundamental reasons. Even a nasty old 4X5 Blacktail I took six years ago was tender and sweet too.

Bowhunter

Straightarrow

Like Dick Cress, I think proper field care is key. Each deer is cooled quickley. If gut shot, it is washed out and then dried. I'll usually have it skinned and deboned within a few hours of being shot.

I also always process my own deer. I've heard horror stories about some commercial processors. If you go to the right one, I'm sure your meat will be okay, but I prefer the attention to detail I can take, that no one else is going to give my deer meat. I always completely debone the meat and all muscle membrane and fat is cut away. Double wrapped, vacumn sealed bags, seals the deal for the best tasting venison you can get. It's worth the few hours it takes to do it right.

jimmya

i do all of my processing also and deer meat stinks to me it just stinks. nothing wrong with it taste good but it just stinks