Downed Deer - Spoiling Meat?
 

I had the unfortunateoccurrence of not being able to track a downed deer. I found hair and blood (deep red) whereshe stood when I pulled the trigger. After tracking for a while the blood trail ran off intoa deep thicket. In the end, I never found her.

As I was looking for her, I began to think how long until deer meat spoilson a downed deer. Our nights are now in the 20's-30's and days in the 40's. I've read a variety of literature suggesting meat spoils after a range from 4 hours to 24 hours. As bad a not retrieving a deer is, it would be inexcusable to feed bad meat it to friends & family.

Any have ideas? Experiencehere?Thanks.

RE: Downed Deer - Spoiling Meat?
 

When its as cold as you stated as it is that cold here in Wi as well it woudl takew a bit for the meat to spoil. I have had deer down for 10 hours or more beforeI found it. The only stench from the deer is usually blood. After you get it cleaned, make sure you clean out thecavity with cold water and hang. As long as the meat is kept cold and clean you should be ok up to 24 hours. After that i wouldnt use the meat. But please make every attempt to find the deer. Make grid pattern seaches with 2-3 more people. Good luck.