shot placement & meat quality
 

Hi,

I am a novice hunter and was wondering how shot placement affects the quality of deer meat. Will a shot that stops the heart result in better quality meat than a head shot or a hit in another part of the body?

Thanks.

RE: shot placement & meat quality
 

Nope. Smaller deer sure are tender though.

RE: shot placement & meat quality
 

If you make a bad shot and the animal is able to run for a while before expiring they will produce lactic acid in the meat therefore makin it taste more gamey and tough, so the fast you drop it the better.

RE: shot placement & meat quality
 

Hmm I thought that was a myth *shrug*
Lactic acid is natural at death, no?

RE: shot placement & meat quality
 

I have had young deer tougher then old deer, had relaxed deer tougher then none relaxed deer, does tougher then bucks, farmland deer tougher then forest deer,etc. Other then a poorshot ie: gut shotI think it is more the hand your dealt when it comes to venison in many cases. Saturday I shot a mature mulie dry doe, she was chalked full of fat and was already starting to stink. Honestly i figured she'd beheaded straight for the grinderbut in deboning it tonight I found it hard to cut as she was so tender. My partners was a younger doe and she was nothing like mine. Both deer were relaxed, standing, never travelled a step after the shot, same food sources and care after the shot. Sometimes you are the butt, while others your the boot. Though i certainly believe a clean harvest is always the best and as such the vitals IMHO are the best shot placement to ensure this.

An importantfactor is the care after the shot quick cooling of the carcass(FD, skinned & hanging asap), relax period of 24hrs (if temp allows), debone, remove fat, silverskin, hair,etc. When it comes to cooking rare is best and no more then med rare. Remember meat continues to cook after it is pulled off so factor this in your meal plans;).

Enjoy and best of luck this season.

RE: shot placement & meat quality
 

You certainly do not want to shoot in the guts because that will be messy and spoil the meat.

RE: shot placement & meat quality
 

Whatever makes them drop in thier tracks makes for good meat. Longer they are stressed, and longer they run, the wilder the meat will taste. The faster you can make the animal's blood pressure to shoot down, the better. I have hit deer in the neck and they bleed out quick. And if you hit that artery just right, they will bleed out so quick, they will fall within a few steps. I don't do the neck shot anymore. Second deadly shot is the femoral artery. I have seen deer die within seconds of hitting it, and they get out alot of blood quickly.

I still just aim for the lungs.

RE: shot placement & meat quality
 

Check http://www.tnoutdoorsmen.com/killzone.htm for the deer anatomy. If you are a beginner just go for the heart/lung area. That will maximize your chance of success.

RE: shot placement & meat quality
 

Another flash deer shot placement/anatomy thingy: http://www.justinwp.com/article_26.html

RE: shot placement & meat quality
 

Eventhough most hunters are men, I think there are more "old wives tales" in hunting than in most other things! I surely would think that it's best to make the quickest, cleanest kill possible, but I don't think anyone has ever proven for certain on how the meat of a deer killed instantly to one who may have lived for a while before it expired really differs. I don't think it could really be done, mostly because NO two people cook it up the same way(even the same person, on different days) and as with humans I am sure the muscle mass of any two deer will differ considerably which in turn will have an effect on taste and texture.

I also have never bought into the theories that aging the meat, draining it in milk or ice, or any other special procedure will make it any better than just simply cutting it up and freezing it promptly after it was butchered in a clean environment. Again for the same reasons I mentioned in my first paragraph, I don't think anyone can prove that any special handling of the meat will improve it.

RE: shot placement & meat quality
 

Doesn't need to be proved, just plain ole common sense.

RE: shot placement & meat quality
 

Steve, I agree with the first part of your message or to be more accurate I just do not know any better. However on the second part I disagree. In France it is very usual to let the meat age for 4 to 7 days at a temperature slightly above freezing. It is called "faisander". The meat processed that way has a more gamy taste. Trust me you will know it when you eat it and you will have to drink a good full body red wine to wash it down. Yummy!

Note: If you let the meat age for 6 or 7 days make sure you do it in perfect conditions because the meat can acquire some nasty organisms and allergens.

RE: shot placement & meat quality
 

Yes, I do know that this process has been used for a long time. The French are world reknown for their cooking so I wonder if it is their cooking skills or the hanging part that makes the meat taste better? Most hunters don't have a place to hang it in such perfect conditions, so it is best that they never attempt something like this in my opinion. Even the hunters who have it processed by professional butchers, how many will hang a deer for 6 or 7 days for you? I have never heard of any since most want to process as many deer as they can in the shortest period of time. One can do a much better and cleaner job at home than these professional butchers will.

RE: shot placement & meat quality
 

No consensus I guess. Harvest it, process it, enjoy it.

RE: shot placement & meat quality
 

Deer have femurs??:eek:I just process my own, then you know what you're getting.

RE: shot placement & meat quality
 

The best deer and elk I've had have been ones I processed right away with little or no "hanging" or ageing. Since deer/elk have so little fat in the meat comparred to beef, I think the rules are different in that respect.

For me, kill em and freeze em is how I like mine.

RE: shot placement & meat quality
 

I agree with steve863. Meat does not age so fast that the quality becomes an issue unless it sits over night in hot woods. Take a good clean kill shot rather than the "MEAT SAVING" shot.
http://www.wideworldofhunting.com/shot%20placement.html
Me personally, I like a high shoulder shot. Breaks the animal down immediately. Possibly breaking the neck.
Clean meat, vac pack and freeze right away. Never soak in milk or water. Always tender and clean.
Good Luck!

RE: shot placement & meat quality
 

FWIW I don't believe in "aging" game either. As Power points out the process has more to due with fat which game is basically void of in the meat. Aging is nothing more then a controlled rot, the problem with wild game and aging few have the ability to control this process (aka the hanging temperature). If you can keep the animals core temperature 33-37 degree then by all means hang it, if not you are much better to get the core temperature down (body temperature out and to ambient temp- air) then process. If you allow the meat temperature to swing or stay up you run a risk of green rot, which starts at the bone.FYI, being"aging" is rot the higher the core temp. the faster the process. On the opposite side freezing stops the process.

What I do believe in is a relax period, this is basically allowing the carcass to come to ambient temperature and rigor mortise to be completed. Rigor is the processof sugar to lactic acid and then back to sugar. This process is completed within 24 hours of death. Personally I don't like hot boning, it's just easier to cut. As far as hot boning leaves more blood in the package, quality IMHO is uneffected. Tenderness marginally but as i mentioned earlier you don't know what your getting till you got it..so I can't honestly attributeit to hang time alone.

RE: shot placement & meat quality
 

I never bought into any of those theories before either, but after shooting a pig and putting one of it's backstraps on the grill that night and finding it tasty but somewhat tough I asked about how to tenderize the meat and got several suggestions of soaking the meat in salty ice water for several days and draining the water periodically and I tried it.

The same pig, the same cook, the same grill the opposite backstrap a week later was MUCH more tender than the first one.

That's as close to proof as I can come up with.

P.S. - The only problem was that I got a little carried away with the amount of salt and there was no need to add any salt to the meat at the table that's for sure!

RE: shot placement & meat quality
 

http://www.chefdepot.net/agingwildgame.htm