the blur

My neighbor the new hunter shot a deer, let it sit for 5 days, but NEVER field dressed it. 40 degrees outside for the most part.

He's showing me some of the meat from the butcher, and some of it looks green. Like the roast meat is green on one side.

The steaks look good for the most part, 1 of them are greenish.
I'm not so sure I would eat it.

Whats your view on meat from an ungutted deer?

Should I tell him to trash the whole thing ??

Stonewall308

Tell him he is lazy and disrespectful to the animal. Then tell him to eat it, he deserves what he gets.

Champlain Islander

Years ago when I was a kid I killed my first deer and didn't have anyone to advise me on what to do with it so I left it hanging after gutting for too long and it was warm. The area all around the shot turned green and the meat didn't smell right. I ate it after I trimmed it all up but it was not a good deer. I wouldn't eat a deer that wasn't gutted. If you wound one and it dies in the night and is found the next day it can often be tainted especially if it was warm. Letting it hang like that for 4 days wouldn't be a deer I would even try. Smell the meat and it will probably stick.

bhensley

I'd trash it personally. Hows it smell? 5 days and not even field dressed, I'm surprised the butcher ever took it and processed it.

skb2706

Curious how he got thru the gutting part. The thing had to smell pretty bad and that would have been my first clue that there may be a problem.

Champlain Islander

If he eats it tell him to keep a roll of TP in his truck and an emergency pile of it in his pocket because he will need it. A packet of anti bacterial wipes will come in handy too since it will be loose and messy.

DeppedyDogg

Tell your buddy it's a common mistake to make but he needs to toss the venison.

After an hour or so of unchilled, ungutted rotting, bacteria begin to form. The bad type of bacteria. He will get sick if he eats it even if it's not green. Stomach contents will produce gasses that permeate and taint meat. So does urine as well as glandular secretions (hocks, etc).

Tell him the faster he cools the meat (AFTER gutting) the better it will taste. And I don't buy the bulltiki about aging the meat. Professional Chefs, slaughter houses and beef houses do this in temperature controlled, humidity controlled lockers. Hanging a carcass on a rack for a day in 25-30 degree temps. may be ok but that venison starts out gamey. Aging will do nothing to add flavor.

Not only do I immediately gut him, I seperate the carcass from most of the hide right there at the site of the kill. This does more to cool down the meat than anything and cooling down the meat is key to good tasting venison.

My $.02

Ghost of the hardwoods

After processing many thousands of deer over the past 17 or so years, it never really surprised me what some guys would bring in to be butchered. We would NEVER give a hunter " green " meat, infected meat, clotted meat, Gelled/ liquefied meat that usually surrounds the area that the bullet impacts. You wouldn't believe the amount of deer that are brought in with the bladder still inside or ruptured and leaking down all over the inner loins " tenderloins " When we see this we immediately inform the hunter/ hunters of the issue. We recommend for them not to eat the meat at all. When we are skinning a deer and we find areas of gangrene , we inform the hunter not to eat the meat at least the meat in that area. It however does amaze me when processors will hand back bad meat to the customer. Or throw clotted and gelled up meat in with the grinds.... The worse part is, the hunters usually never know about it. I hope your buddy will learn his lesson from this and maybe you could show him how to gut a deer or atleast tell him to gut the deer asap next time

sgtbowhunter

I would have to agree with the other posts. I would tell him to throw the whole batch away and learn from this episode. Explain the proper way to field dress a deer and why you need to do it asap. Make sure to tell him he also needs to wash out the chest cavity with water as soon as possible after field dressing. Of course he will also need to cool the deer (with ice if it is warm out) and get the deer to the processor as soon as he can. He can hang the deer if it is cool enough outside but the need to be in the shade. I'm sure you probably went over this with him, but rehashing it never hurts.

the blur

The conclusion: I opened up 4 of the vacuum packed packages. 1 roast, 1 steak, 1 chop, etc. THE NASTYIST odor you have ever smelt in your life !!! smelt like sulfur.

I have no idea how the butcher would even think of cutting this meat. I would NEVER use this butcher again. The butcher should have thrown it out.

and I will mention, the green wasn't the problem, as most of the green tinge was that silver lining, the odor was putrid.

and this butcher gives out free samples of summer sausage, bolonga, jerky, so you know he's skimming meat.