First deer... lots of questions

eco

eco

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Ok, so I have joined the club. Tagged my 1st buck! :dancingbanana:

Perfect shot, just behind the right shoulder blade, it damaged some ribs, took out the lungs, but all other organs were fine. He dropped 30ft away.

Field-dressed it, skinned it, and quartered it all by myself! (all thanks to YouTube's how-to). 2 front legs, 2 back legs, neck, and the midsection, so 5 pieces in total.
Had no issues at all (I did bend my good knife, mad about that, had to use 2 knives bcz I didn't have anything to keep the 1st one sharp - otherwise everything went smooth) It sat outside overnight in couple of closed totes (temp was around 0* C).
Got home today and I decided to give it all a quick rinse to get off the extra blood and hair off. I toweled it off and wrapped it with saran wrap. My brother in law is coming over tomorrow to show me how to cut the rest of it (he used to be a butcher way back).

Now questions;

Where the shot got in, it broke few ribs. I noticed quite a lot of blood accumulation in that area. It had pooled inside of the membrane that sits on top of the muscles. Is this normal and will it affect the meat? I have tried to wash it away, doesn't work.

Similar pooling had also occurred at the bottom of all the big pieces where they were touching the bottom when they sat overnight.

Some of the meat around the edges has started to brown a bit. Why is it doing this, given it's only been a day and fairly cold outside. Do I just cut it off, or is it still good?

Did I screw anything up by rinsing it? Not sure if that affects anything.

The temp is still around -1c, I will leave it again outside on the deck as I have no room in the fridge. Is the temp cold enough or will it screw it up?

Thanks
 
Well, I'm not sure if my answer will be right as I only go off of what I know.

I don't really see the problem with letting the meat sit in totes. It's not the norm but it's the same idea as having a steak sit in the fridge on a plate I guess. However, not a great idea to let it sit in a damp area in it's own blood as this is how bacteria is formed.

The blood will naturally accumulate at the areas that received trauma while the animal was still alive. Bloodshot meat is generally cut away, but your BOL will probably know all of this. To actually get the blood out of the membranes you have to wash and scratch at it, but there's really no point.

A lot of people rinse their deer. I'm also not sure if it actually affects anything.
 
Congrats on your first deer kill.
You could try and hang it till your bil comes over and allow the excess blood to drain out.
The blood pooling under the thin membrane is normal, but without pictures of it I can not be certain.
It is cool out so should be safe to say there isnt any spoilage, but then again was the meat warm when you placed it in the totes?
It is best to remove the plastic wrap and let it air and let the blood drain and the water from the cleaning you gave it.
Anyways, lets here about the events leading up to you taking the shot now, you know, range and gun/bullet combo.
Rob.
 
Hey man

Congrats first off. I also got my first deer this year as well during rifle season. A similar shot by the sounds of it too. I field dressed it and left it whole til I got it up to the barn on the farm I was hunting on. I skinned it there and again left it whole and hung it up in a tool shed. My entry wound went through a rib, the double lung and out in between the ribs on the other side. I wasn't sure what to do so I asked the farmer who had quite a bit of experience. He told me just to cut the sections away as they were no good. I also used bottled water just to get the hair off it and I trimmed the fat off the meaty sections as I was told it would make the meat a bit tough. I let it hang for a day then placed a game bag over it and it was similar temperature to yours about 0 to -2 range. I let it hang for 3 days total as I had to wait for the butcher to be available. It worked out fine for me but I'm sure there were a couple things I should have done different.

Sounds like you did everything right to me IMHO. Good luck!

Cheers
 
out side at that temp is fine. but if you're de-boning guys usually like it firm not frozen.

as for blood clot @ projectile entry /exit we usually scrape it all off with a knife.

any thing to ugly goes to the dogs / cats

"Similar pooling had also occurred at the bottom of all the big pieces where they were touching the bottom when they sat overnight.

Some of the meat around the edges has started to brown a bit." = not sure what you mean please post pics if possible, but likely not going to be an issue.
 
No need to quarter it next time...it's fine if you have too but not necessary. Field dress and bring it home hide on, it will keep it clean in transport. Hang it and skin it at home. Wash the inside if you got stomach contents or urine on it (it happens). Best not to wash the outside, wipe it down with a damp cloth if you got dirt or blood on it but wet isn't good if you can avoid it. You want it to harden up. Trim out the gellied blood as it will spoil first but don't worry too much about the shot up bits. The idea is that the outside will harden up and protect the meat underneath. It will get trimed off when it gets butchered.
Totes...again, if you have too but it will hold moisture in (not good) and wont let heat out. Meat will hold heat around the bone for a long time, if it can't get out quick enough you can get bone sour (not good). Bone sour is more common with creatures larger than deer though...moose, elk etc. I would suggest at this point to get it out of the totes and hanging asap. Other than that I'd say you did a great job for a first and congrats on the deer.
 
Ideal hanging temperature is between 0 and 5deg.C. Minus a couple of degrees won't hurt it either.
Cheers
 
eco said:
Ok, so I have joined the club. Tagged my 1st buck! :dancingbanana:

Perfect shot, just behind the right shoulder blade, it damaged some ribs, took out the lungs, but all other organs were fine. He dropped 30ft away.
Click to expand...

Good job. Welcome to the club.

eco said:
Field-dressed it, skinned it, and quartered it all by myself! (all thanks to YouTube's how-to). 2 front legs, 2 back legs, neck, and the midsection, so 5 pieces in total.
Had no issues at all (I did bend my good knife, mad about that, had to use 2 knives bcz I didn't have anything to keep the 1st one sharp - otherwise everything went smooth) It sat outside overnight in couple of closed totes (temp was around 0* C).
Click to expand...

Don't sweat the butchering. I learned by carving on my deer too. Over time, you will find what does and does not work for you.

eco said:
Got home today and I decided to give it all a quick rinse to get off the extra blood and hair off. I toweled it off and wrapped it with saran wrap. My brother in law is coming over tomorrow to show me how to cut the rest of it (he used to be a butcher way back).

Now questions;

Where the shot got in, it broke few ribs. I noticed quite a lot of blood accumulation in that area. It had pooled inside of the membrane that sits on top of the muscles. Is this normal and will it affect the meat? I have tried to wash it away, doesn't work.

Similar pooling had also occurred at the bottom of all the big pieces where they were touching the bottom when they sat overnight.
Click to expand...

I was taught that is the bloodshot meat. Just trim it off and throw it to the dog. The blood should be dripping out the bottom end to drain better.

eco said:
Some of the meat around the edges has started to brown a bit. Why is it doing this, given it's only been a day and fairly cold outside. Do I just cut it off, or is it still good?

Did I screw anything up by rinsing it? Not sure if that affects anything.
Click to expand...

The discolouration is part of the draining and hanging. That is the natural colour of the meat without blood to make it red. It is brown, hard and fibrous because it has dried out. Trim it off and give it to the dog.
eco said:
The temp is still around -1c, I will leave it again outside on the deck as I have no room in the fridge. Is the temp cold enough or will it screw it up?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Don't leave it too long or the meat will freeze through and be impossible to butcher into manageable cuts.
 
Honestly if you have a butcher coming just clean off all the hair and crap that you obviously don't want to eat and let them show you what gets cut off. I've butchered a few and you can cut off the dried up/dirty/bloodshot after hanging at that temperature. Bone fragments and blood clots are marginally edible but I usually try to be really thorough with what I send off to get turned into sausage and cut out everything that isn't clean red meat.
 
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