Thread: Questionable Deer Meat- Help Requested

Originally Posted by tiroatedson

Big one is don't put freshly shot meat into plastic. Let it hang for a bit n put into a mutton cloth type of thing. Plastic bad......


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Cheers for that, yeah it wasn't in plastic but was in a meat bag.
Just boned out the front legs this morning and smell is in that so while the meat looks okay it is too smelly for me to take a risk. Kind of like meat that has went a day or two over its best by date.

Only safe option is to bin the animal which is a big shame.
Bugger, Bugger, bugger.

if boning the animal out in field which is what I do as im normally miles from the car, I always let hang and cool before I put meat in a pillowcase, makes a good option instead of plastic and if you don't have a meat bag.
Has anyone thought about actually having a big chilly bin in the car with some frozen bottles and put meat in there? It keep it cool straight away , esp on longer jornery home in summer

Originally Posted by Willie

Cheers for that, yeah it wasn't in plastic but was in a meat bag.
Just boned out the front legs this morning and smell is in that so while the meat looks okay it is too smelly for me to take a risk. Kind of like meat that has went a day or two over its best by date.

Only safe option is to bin the animal which is a big shame.
Bugger, Bugger, bugger.

Yeah it sucks when this sort of thing happens. I've had happen to me too. Slightly different circumstances but resulted in a whole deer been fed for dog tucker. Not a complete waste I know but still gutting.


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I use an old fridge in the hot weather, it is surprising how much meat will fit with the bone removed in a good sized fridge. When I arrive home skin and break down, removing all the bone from hindquarters. Leave in the fridge for 5-7 days. I'm only an hour from where I normally hunt so it makes it a lot easier than guys who are away for a few days. If you are away overnight the animal needs to be removed from packs or it's skin in hot weather and hung in mutton cloth or similar in the breeze and the shade. The higher up off the ground the better.

A couple of the guys have hit the nail on the head already.
Plastic bad real bad.
Hanging in the shade with muslin cloth or meat bag and making sure it can breathe seems to work for us.
If a deer is hanging and it can breathe it dry's out and will last days hanging without a chiller.

Plastic is bad if it hasnt cooled. The meat sweats and is bad all round, if it has cooled threw plastic is fine,after all its what it is in in the supermarket.

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Plastic is bad if it hasnt cooled. The meat sweats and is bad all round, if it has cooled threw plastic is fine,after all its what it is in in the supermarket.

Except in the supermarket they normally use gas flushing to make it last longer.

Originally Posted by MDub

Except in the supermarket they normally use gas flushing to make it last longer.

Yea but we are talking days verses a few hours to get home.

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A trick I used to do was to joint the meat and then hang it off my ground spear (used to find drains) in a chest frezzer with the lid slightly open till i was ready

Originally Posted by Gapped axe

A trick I used to do was to joint the meat and then hang it off my ground spear (used to find drains) in a chest frezzer with the lid slightly open till i was ready

The same one you use to find blocked septic tank pipes with?

Shot a stag on new years day, a long way from the ute. Removed legs, hung in tree for an hour of so with skin removed. Then boned out and packed into mutton cloth bags and took to hut and hung in trees over night. All good.

Normal sort of practice for this time of year and you don't have long on the warm/hit summers days.

Yep straight vinegar works a treat. Great for cleaning up green meat too, dissolves the rotten layer and leaves nice clean meat

This sounds a little strange that the meat could have gone "off " so quickly ?
The time frame of gutting and getting home , 2 hours , would of meant the meat would of still been hot . So what is your meat bag made of
?.
And another possibility might be what you could call the fresh meat smell ,personally I can't stand it .Especially when you get that hot meaty smell from a whole deer when you're carrying it . Heat can send meat off fast but I would also expect a slimy ,almost sticky nature to it ?.

Originally Posted by Tankd

This sounds a little strange that the meat could have gone "off " so quickly ?
The time frame of gutting and getting home , 2 hours , would of meant the meat would of still been hot . So what is your meat bag made of
?.
And another possibility might be what you could call the fresh meat smell ,personally I can't stand it .Especially when you get that hot meaty smell from a whole deer when you're carrying it . Heat can send meat off fast but I would also expect a slimy ,almost sticky nature to it ?.

Hey Tankd, just a straight old meat bag from the big green shop. The smell wasn't fresh, more ammonia and off meat. It stank and certainly nothing you would like to put in your mouth.
Not quite at the sticky stage but certainly not at the hey this is nice and fresh meat either.
Will try the vinegar trick next time but this was more coming from deeper in the flesh.

Hi All

I'm by no means an expert on how to hang my animals and take care of them. But I cocked up with my first deer last week and learnt the hard way as it was all fu**ed.
Went to a local home kill / commercial butcher who then gave me a lesson on what to do.

Obviously skinning and gutting ASAP. Then if it is a long drive home, putting bags of ice into the body as quickly as possible. When home, hanging it by the back legs, opening the ball joints and brisket. Then replace the ice with fresh bags or big juice bottles with frozen water to keep it cold until it can go to a chiller.
He also said that I shouldn't have wrapped it in muslin cloth as it doesn't allow enough air around the meat even with fans. But instead I should have got a mosquito net and created a Cinderella drape to allow lots of airflow and keep the flies off.
This is what he wants me to do just in the few hours before I get the animal to his cool store, even will open on a weekend for me!

Just my two cents.