# How Long Will the Meat Keep in the Early Season Warm Weather?



## jhass12 (Dec 20, 2006)

Reading the thread about tracking deer, conjured up thoughts of my biggest dilema. How long can a deer be left in the woods before the meat is tainted? It is a major concern of mine as the early season roles around. Most of September and into October up here in CT is usually in the 50's to mid 60's with the occasional 70 degree days. For example on a deer that is gut shot your are suppose to let the deer be for 6 to 8 hours before tracking but with temperatures that warm will the deer spoil? I know that the deer will not be dead for that entire time period, but will the meat still be good if say it died three hours early and the temps were in the 50's or 60's. About 4 years ago I gut shot a buck(with a gun) one December evening, but it was mild and only got into the low 40's that night. I let the deer go overnight and recovered it the next morning around 9. It was a nasty field dressing experience and the entire deer had the smell of gut and we could not get it out. I would hate to push the deer around in fear that it will not be recoverd, but I would also hate to leave it to long and spoil the meat. Can you guys help by maybe giving some of your personal experiences?

Thanks,

Josh


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## Whitefeather (Jul 27, 2003)

I work in food service and the rule of thumb is up to *4 hours between the temps of 40 and 140 degrees*. Any more than that and you can call it coyote bait..

JP


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## RMac (Feb 4, 2005)

I have left two deer lay overnight and I will never do that again. Like you said, the field dressing was very smelly to say the least. ukey: If I shoot another deer in the evening, I will give it a couple of hours and then back out with a lantern, which is what I should have done with those deer. I must say, these deer were shot 20 years ago and I have learned alot since then. Just my .02,


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## jhass12 (Dec 20, 2006)

Thanks JP! I am assuming that is from the time of death. So I guess the toughest part is going to be gauging how long the deer was actually dead.


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## Mike Trump (Sep 3, 2004)

RMac said:


> I have left two deer lay overnight and I will never do that again. Like you said, the field dressing was very smelly to say the least. ukey: If I shoot another deer in the evening, I will give it a couple of hours and then back out with a lantern, which is what I should have done with those deer. I must say, these deer were shot 20 years ago and I have learned alot since then. Just my .02,


Same here. I will never do that again either. Even if that means I've got to track a deer at 2:00 am, that's what I'll do. 

Remember, deer have a pretty thick coat of fur which really holds the heat in. So, even if it's below 40 degrees outside, it will still take HOURS for a deer carcus to cool below that important 40 degree mark. That's why the sooner you recover your deer the better so you can at least open up the body cavity and cool it down. However, even then the rear hams and will hold in a tremndous amount of heat if they are not skinned out quickly.

As a testamony, last year I began skinning and quartering my deer myself, often times within less than a half hour of being shot. After skinning and quartering, I immediately placed each quarter/backstrap/loin/etc in a clean white trash bag and put it in a big cooler full of bagged ice. This has DRAMATICALLY improved the taste and quality of my deer meat. So much so, that I will never take my deer to a processor again.


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## huntfish25 (May 29, 2004)

Whitefeather said:


> I work in food service and the rule of thumb is up to *4 hours between the temps of 40 and 140 degrees*. Any more than that and you can call it coyote bait..
> 
> JP


i think this is a good question, but how can you tell if it bad. i kill one it was 80º and my father inlaw told me in a hour the deer was no good. i butch it any way and eat it. it has been around two hous i will said befor i got ice. he said killing any animals above 60º is wrong. i dont get time to hunt so i hunt when i can. i just figure animals body tempture is around 100º i know it dont have blood flowing through it.


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## heilman181 (Mar 24, 2006)

huntfish25 said:


> i think this is a good question, but how can you tell if it bad. i kill one it was 80º and my father inlaw told me in a hour the deer was no good. i butch it any way and eat it. it has been around two hous i will said befor i got ice. *he said killing any animals above 60º is wrong.* i dont get time to hunt so i hunt when i can. i just figure animals body tempture is around 100º i know it dont have blood flowing through it.


Well, there goes 97% of my hunting season here in North Carolina! :wink:


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## fliowa (Aug 10, 2007)

I have taken several deer and hogs down here in Florida when the temps were in the 70's.80's,and 90's. Let me preface this buy saying shot selection is extremely important to me. I don't take anything but a broadside or slightly quartering away shot at deer within my comfort zone of thirty yards or less. I have taken between a few minutes and and two a half hours to locate a downed deer. You can figure at least another hour or more for me to quarter deer and get it into a cooler on ice. I have never had a problem with spoilage. I would not wait 6 to 8 hours for a stomach shot deer in hot weather. That time frame is for deer shot in colder weather. I would wait maybe two hours and then go after it slowly with bow in hand. You may find it dead or you may get a second shot at it.


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## Todd_ID (May 15, 2007)

Good question and good thread for information. To answer the question about how will you know if it's spoiled: you'll have no doubt in your mind at the first smell of the meat. 

The biggest thing in meat care is to get the body heat out of the animal and keep the air circulation going. Meat will spoil if left to lay in the snow without getting any circulation around it. Make sure to split the brisket all the way and remove the entire windpipe; leaving it in will cause many spoilage problems. Once you get the original body heat out of an animal, then you can get away with warmer temperatures and longer times. I've talked this over with my step-father who has been an outfitter for 50 years and knows more about this than anybody. He uses creeks to submerge the meat for a couple hours inside garbage bags to get the core body heat out. Then he hangs the meat in the creek bottom until the client's trip is over whatever the temperature. Don't forget, though, that the temperature in that cool creek bottom will be 5-10 degrees less than the surrounding area. He says that it's possible to keep the meat hanging for one week at 75 degree high days. Remember that meat must age dry and aired! You'll lose the meat if you keep it wet at 40 degrees, and you'll lose it if you don't allow air to circulate around it, and you'll lose meat if you don't get the original body heat out of it. Either hang the quarters in the shade in a cool creek bottom or build a grid of sticks to get the meat off the ground.


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## TRUCarbon (Apr 4, 2007)

I shot a doe opening weekend last season 60 degree's shot deflected off a rib into no mans land and i didn't find her till the next morning. It was a bit stinky gutting her out but we cut out the back straps and took it in to the butcher shop and donated it...Grilled the backstraps up for lunch, and let me tell you, I'm thankfull that my buddies dog stole one off my plate cause it tasted like rotting (fill in explicit) we told the butcher shop and they contested that the meat was fine that they had ukey:


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## jhass12 (Dec 20, 2006)

Thanks guys for all of your in put. I thought this would be a good thread to post with the season coming and warm weather upon us.

-Josh


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## Whitefeather (Jul 27, 2003)

heilman181 said:


> Well, there goes 97% of my hunting season here in North Carolina! :wink:


Not at all. We do a lot of 'Red Tag' hunting in Pa. The season starts on August 1st every year and the temps run around 80 - 90 degrees and up. Before each hunt we'll fill up a big cooler with ice. If a deer is shot it is immediately quartered and deboned and into the cooler. We also don't even bother to gut them as it is precious time we could be deboning.

We've never had a problem with spoilage this way neither after several deer. It's somewhat of a pita the do it this way, but saving venison makes it worthwhile.

JP


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## jace (Jul 16, 2005)

heilman181 said:


> Well, there goes 97% of my hunting season here in North Carolina! :wink:


Aint that the truth, shortsleeves in Nov and December. Heck I still use thermacell mosquito repellant in December.


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## scottnm (Jun 18, 2007)

I have shot elk and oryx in 80 degree weather. the trick is to gut and skin immediately. Proceed to quarter up and get air to it by hanging in tree real shaded. The night time gets cool usually in sept. So this method will bring temp down. If morning kill get ice on it asap and head to cooler, if evening get it quartered and hangin overnight and get up early and get it iced and to cooler. I still have a little great oryx and elk meat in fridge right now.


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## sjb3 (Mar 5, 2003)

I have hunted North Dakota for about 7 yrs during the opening week of Sept. Its usually some where between 70 and a 100* most of the time we are there.

We also 1/4 the deer with out field dressing to save time, and then put the 1/4s in a cooler without ice to keep the blow flys and flys in general off the meat. Then we debone and put the meat in white garbage bags and then in a cooler with ice and leave the drain hole open to keep the water off the meat. We have never lost any meat. If you don't debone it I have heard that the meat will spoil from the bone out because of the heat in the bone and marrow.

Good Luck,

sjb3


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## scottnm (Jun 18, 2007)

I agree about deboning. I do this also. You buy some time by doing this and that is what you need under hot conditions.


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## Newhunter1 (May 20, 2003)

*One time three years ago...*

I made a bad shot on a small buck and gut shot him. I lost the trail 4-5 hours later and came back around 11pm. Still could not find that buck...so I backed out again and went home. Came back in the morning and found him at 10 am. I shot the buck at 4 pm (or so) and 18 hours or so later I found him. Talk about a disgusting gut job...next time I'm just going to cut the back straps out, the hams and front quarters. I'm leaving the inner loins and the rest of the carcass. To answer your question...the meat was fine. The temperatures at night that night was in the 50's, and I was very fortunate to salvage the meat. 

I have never lost any of the meat of my deer...except for one inner loin that was gut shot. Talk about disgusting!!ukey:ukey:ukey:


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## healthdoc (Mar 15, 2006)

Some of you have mentioned bagging in white garbage bags on ice and it's important to note that "black" garbage bags contain a chemical coating that is toxic. It's even better to try to get the meat into a tub or box lined with freezer paper and get it cold ASAP.


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## kaborkian (May 26, 2007)

Had a deer sit out in 80ish degree weather for about 4 hours. We found it when the carrion birds were circling and eating. It was nasty to say the least. If it's warm, as has been mentioned, find it quick.


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## txcookie (Feb 17, 2007)

I have had 2 wait 2 hours before and the temps ere in the 80s. Got to the doe and then had 2 wait another hour before I could get a light to help me dress her!! Uper 80s the whole time! 3 hours. Got her home took an hour to find a place to skin her. now were lookin at close too 4.5-5hours. QTRED and skinned in 1 hour. Took me about 6.5 hours to shoot recover gut skin qtr. Meat was fine!!! I getem as fast as I can and get the guts out as fast as I can as wel! Get everything out from the but to the wind pipe!


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## ShepFL (Aug 28, 2006)

heilman181 said:


> Well, there goes 97% of my hunting season here in North Carolina! :wink:


Ditto for me in FLA!!


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## txcookie (Feb 17, 2007)

Yea I have killed deer in December back in good ole TX and had sweat on my brow! so I would say TX is in that 97% as well


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## Davy C (Aug 29, 2006)

Instead of garbgage bags I go to my local butcher and get large food grade storage bags for about 5 cents each. They are big enough to put a deboned quarter deer into so you need about five for a deer. I also bring a meat thermometer to camp so I can monitor the temp of meat.


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## Midlife Crisis (Mar 24, 2004)

Instead of buying bags of ice I take emptied 2-liter soda bottles, fill them 90% with water, cap loosely, freeze standing up, fill to 95%, cap and freeze again. I put 2 in my cooler. Both go into the body cavity after field dressing and dragging back to the truck. I refreeze them (rinse exterior and place inside an old grocery bag before putting in freezer) and reuse them all season long. Saves a few $.

I like to hunt in the morning so I have plenty of time (if necessary) for a recovery during daylight.


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## zara_puppy (Sep 10, 2006)

*Lesson Learned...*



fliowa said:


> I would not wait 6 to 8 hours for a stomach shot deer in hot weather. That time frame is for deer shot in colder weather. I would wait maybe two hours and then go after it slowly with bow in hand. You may find it dead or you may get a second shot at it.


I stomach shot one last year very early in the season and it was around 60 degrees so we couldn't wait too long to go get it. We jumped it about 150 yards from where it was hit. Then jumped it again on the other side of the river. The last time I saw it alive I found it laying about 10 feet in front of me, looking right at me - but my bow was back at the stand! Tired as it was from blood loss and pressure from us it still managed to get up one more time and run. That was the last I saw of it. I will never, ever track without my bow again (provided it's within legal hunting times).


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## ecm (Oct 7, 2005)

I think we need to hear the answer from the southern hunters ...guys in SC,FL,GA,AL, MS TX. They've been doing it for years.


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## Campo (Sep 20, 2006)

Tough question.
I just go by the old saying...
"When in doubt, give it to the neighbors who you dont like!" :wink:


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## Bow_Rep (Sep 14, 2006)

The very second that a living animal dies it begins to "go the other way". From that very second, what slows this "rotting" process is to cool the animal as fast as possible. Anything that facilitates that end from the moment of death is a good thing.

Let your conscience be your guide. You are the one that must eat it.


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## Clayfish (Sep 12, 2006)

My 2005 buck was killed on Nov. 11 in 80 degree weather. I loaded him in the truck and showed him off for a little while then went to the taxidermist to get some help caping (I never had to do it before and wanted to make sure to get it right). I'd say it was about 4 hours before we got him quartered (I don't gut at all. I hang, skin, quarter, get the backstraps and loins, and the carcass gets dumped). That deer tasted just fine. Season starts here in just over two weeks and it'll be in the mid nineties until October and won't get really cold untill January.


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## DocB (Jun 27, 2006)

TRUCarbon said:


> It was a bit stinky gutting her out but we cut out the back straps and took it in to the butcher shop and donated it...QUOTE]
> 
> I was thinking earlier about starting a thread about this topic. Is it cool to just cut the straps out and donate the rest? Should I talk to the butcher before hand about doing this? If this is the case I'm gonna start killing a lot more deer. Also, does everyone do this? I hope I'm not highjacking, if so I will start another thread.


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