Is it safe to eat?

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slammer1

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Greetings,

I shot my Whitetail doe yesterday morning (Yay!). My thought was "she's a ways off of Boone and Crockett- but she'll taste nice...")

This was a neck shot deer, so I could look at everything in the chest. During butcher time, I reached in through the ribs and was headed for the heart when I noticed a little bubble attached to one of the lungs. It was about an inch across and when I lanced it, clear liquid shot out. Weird...

Nothing smelled off with the carcass. Should I be worried, or should I fire up the bar-b-Q? Anybody had a similar experience?
 
I don't think there's anything to worry about. Not entirely sure what it was.. tried to do a quick search to see possibilities, nothing to worry about from what saw. Could be wrong. But doesn't seem like something that should be of issue, just an organ, and the meat is cleaned and cooked.
 
there's almost no parasites in deer than can survive our digestive system. Deer's stomachs are much less acidic than ours, and so many of the parasites that they can carry will not survive ours.

It's theoretically possible (but never documented) that deer can carry trichinosis worms, which could infect humans. There's also a non-zero (but also never documented) possibility that chronic wasting disease could infect humans, if you're in an area where CWD exists.

It *is* more possible that you could get a tapeworm from deer, though even medium-rare cooking temps will kill that particular nasty. And treatment for a tapeworm is usually very simple, even in the extremely unlikely circumstance that you're infected.

Heck, a lot of parasites won't survive a few days in the deep freezer.

I've seen liver flukes in deer before, and a heart worm as well as some odd lumps and bumps on lungs and windpipes. But I've never gotten sick eating deer meat, and I've never (deliberately) cooked it past medium rare. As a kid, I ate more wild meat than domestic - possibly that's the case now, too. I feel as safe eating wild meat as domesticated.
 
slammer1 said:
Greetings,

I shot my Whitetail doe yesterday morning (Yay!). My thought was "she's a ways off of Boone and Crockett- but she'll taste nice...")

This was a neck shot deer, so I could look at everything in the chest. During butcher time, I reached in through the ribs and was headed for the heart when I noticed a little bubble attached to one of the lungs. It was about an inch across and when I lanced it, clear liquid shot out. Weird...

Nothing smelled off with the carcass. Should I be worried, or should I fire up the bar-b-Q? Anybody had a similar experience?
Click to expand...

Are there a lot of Elk in that area?

Just make sure there are no other lesions attached to the inside of the rib cage.
 
Just don't eat that bubble on the lung. Or drink the clear liquid that shot out when you lanced it.

Do you usually eat the deer's lungs?
 
What area of Albertahoot this deer.That is the first question.TB lesions are pussy by the way.Any bad things leave lesions that are red and look like puss in them and also they attach them selves to the rib cage.Most likly just a pocket of fluid from the deer breathing in a stray particle of something.
 
I'd eat the meat. Man, there's probably lots of weird #### growing inside you as well ! Kidding !! Its probably nothing, animals get all sorts of things growing in, or on, them. I'm surprised you had such a thourough look at its guts ! I usually try to dispense with that stuff ASAP, although, next time I'll probably keep the liver.
 
I could have probably thrown the deer over my shoulder and walked out, but, dragged it becasue I didn't want to get shot ! Hanging next to the two other bucks that were taken was kind of sad.... SHe could have fit inside thier body cavities, although, I ate some stew and had some of the loin done in a Treager type smoker and the meat is the most tender venison I've ever tasted..
ps, there's a wolfhound in our hood in Ottawa and it must stand 4 ft at the shoulder
 
Yeah... Likely an english wolfhound... Mine is a russian... Borzoi as they are called...

I don't shoot deer that small... But that's me... I eat veal and love it ... So I won't ever point a finger at anyone...
 
I think it would be OK but you could call a Conservation officer and tell them about this,they can often answer these types of questions or know someone with the answer.
 
I don't know if deer get the hydatit cyst, or not.
But a friend and I once butchered a moose that had round white balls in the lungs. We cut a whole lung out and took it into the game biologist, laying it on the counter in his office. My friend was also a member of the game department.
The biologist litterly recoiled back from it, after only a quick glance at it. He said the fluid in that ball looking mass, is filled with fluid that has millions of, I think he said eggs, or maybe larva, in it. He said if you were to have cut a finger and that fluid got in it, you would die. He said by the time they cut all the cysts out of your lungs, you would have no lungs left.
It's a major disease in moose, with the dog family, wolves principally, being the in between host.
 
Original post here, thanks for the advice. I figure that the old doe is okay for consumption. I mostly enjoy well-done stews out of the meat (excluding back straps and tender loins of course). My thought on inspecting the lungs was that usually I explode these things with a bullet, but with the neck shot I'll finally get to have a peek (I kind of liked that whole dissection part of science class) .
I shot the doe North of Rocky Mountain House (some elk in the area- but I didn't have the time or access to chase them). Those of you still in the hunt, I wish you success!
 
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