# Is a gut shot deer safe to eat?



## Liv4Rut (Mar 24, 2006)

I am not really sure. I have eaten gut shot deer before. I make sure to really hose them out as best that I can. I take them to the butcher and tell them up front that it was gut shot. I do not know what they do behind the scenes if you know what I mean. The meat didn't really taste all that bad or different. This one was shot in the winter though when it was extremely cold. A gutshot deer in october when it is 85 degrees out and sitting in that kind of heat all night I am not sure if it would be any different to tell you the truth.


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## lachance2535 (Nov 16, 2010)

I gut shot a doe this season with a shotgun. she was only 35 yards, but she stepped as I shot...
I put a finishing shot on her after 4 hours, jumping her once. After I gutted her I washed her out in a small stream I had to cross heading back to the jeep. I ate the last packet of venision yesterday. I like my steak medium-rare.


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## Sandilands (Aug 31, 2006)

Nothing wrong with it. And for reference I am a butcher and like my venison rare to blue rare, I have also been known to eat it off the block while butchering


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## BP1992 (Dec 24, 2010)

Yes


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## EZ Land (Apr 24, 2012)

I like to have water near by and wash it out really good. Also, I think the quicker you can get it gutted, the better. If it's really warm, I would be a little more cautious. I'm in Texas, where it doesn't get as cold as many other areas, so others may think differently.


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## bucknut1 (Sep 21, 2006)

your fine


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## CamoCop (May 19, 2009)

yes, just rinse the meat


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## sampsta (Apr 3, 2011)

Its fine i paunched my buck lat year. i quickly field dressed the animal and hung it up. next am it was at the butcher and a few days later we were enjoying some venison...


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## Deerhunter 28 (Dec 1, 2010)

Yes


PSE EVO 57 Lbs.
Blacked out


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## jlh42581 (Oct 21, 2009)

The only thing I dont eat on a gut shot one that lays is the inner tenderloins


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## mrbullzi (Jan 30, 2003)

I have only seen one gut shot deer that was no good. If I remember correctly it was earlier in the season and a little warm. My buddy shot it at last light and we waited until the next morning to get it. We could smell it before we found it. After gutting it we could tell the carcass had spoiled overnight. This was a rare occasion. I don't recomend washing out carcass in a stream. I would wait until you get home and hose out with potable water.


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## deadquiet (Jan 25, 2005)

jlh42581 said:


> The only thing I dont eat on a gut shot one that lays is the inner tenderloins


That's the best meat on the deer.......I can't tell any difference at all. I have my deer processed and I don't get them to seperate gut shot for non-gut shot......does anyone else? Its in yer head folks.


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## jlh42581 (Oct 21, 2009)

You probably dont even get your own deer back. You think they crank up those saws to cut each deer?

I process mine from the time it drops till we eat it. No one... not one single person has ever complained about gamey tasting venison. In fact, my inlaws said that the venison I give them tastes completely different from everyone else who shares with them.


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## PSEbabyG (Aug 13, 2010)

Yeah it's fine as long as it's washed out. I process my own also and have never had a problem with any meat. I've made just about every thing you can with deer meat, and nothing has tasted "gamey". The only deer we have thrown away were two that had been hit by cars and survived somehow, one had gang greene in one leg and the other had a growth behind one shoulder.


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## alpine (Aug 6, 2006)

yes eat it but if it lays over night depennds on how hot it is before I would


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## boilerfarmer12 (Nov 22, 2011)

if it were in the commercial production industry, no. all meat with that came into contact with any material from the gastrointestinal tract has to be removed from the food chain. so i guess it depends if you feel safe eating it or you agree with USDA regs for other meat


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## Arrowhunter (Jul 26, 2005)

same here


jlh42581 said:


> The only thing I dont eat on a gut shot one that lays is the inner tenderloins


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## cunninghamww (Jun 8, 2011)

I have only not eaten one gut shot deer...last light, let it lay overnight and could smell it from 75 yards away when we went to trail it at first light...


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## andyhunter3 (Aug 10, 2010)

Its fine, I would rinse it out real good and enjoy your venison. Be careful using the creek method. Creek water is very high in bacteria, that is why drinking creek water is not recommended. JMO!


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## montana_bow (Aug 16, 2010)

Should be good


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## Jwillman6 (Jun 4, 2007)

Yes.


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## bowhuntermanpa (Mar 15, 2007)

Sandilands said:


> Nothing wrong with it. And for reference I am a butcher and like my venison rare to blue rare, I have also been known to eat it off the block while butchering


Eating it off the butchering block, you are CraZy man.


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## BB58 (Sep 8, 2011)

jlh42581 said:


> You probably dont even get your own deer back. You think they crank up those saws to cut each deer?
> 
> I process mine from the time it drops till we eat it. No one... not one single person has ever complained about gamey tasting venison. In fact, my inlaws said that the venison I give them tastes completely different from everyone else who shares with them.


Same here, saves money, I know its MY deer, adds satisfaction, and tastes better!


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## Kighty7 (Feb 7, 2004)

Funny you asked this question. I was wondering the same thing. I gut shot my buck this year. Had to let him go over night. It did get down in to the 40's overnight and I found him the next morning, still warm. I took him to the butcher and he said he cleaned out any meat that he would not eat. We took a roast out the other day and mixed up the stuff we usually do with a roast. When I got home from work, I could smell the roast and it smelled not very good. We ate it and realized, it did not taste very good either. We opened up some burger and cooked it too. Same smell as we were cooking it. We are unsure of what to do exactly. Any suggestions????


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## PaBone (Feb 4, 2012)

I eat gut shot deer, It just has a little extra smell to it. Just add a little more garlic


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## Viper69 (Feb 4, 2003)

I dont think you will have a problem as long as it hasnt sat too long and you get it rinsed out quickly...


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## Ches (Aug 3, 2009)

The butcher spoke, he will know best. I hunt with two butchers and the third (who taught me) does not hunt any longer. We have never thought twice about eating them. We try to get as little on the meat and wash them at times, but don't like to if we don't have to. We do let them air out after cutting a few hours on the deck if it is cool and in the shade or put them in the refrige if it is hot out. Just what we do.

Ches.


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## DocMort (Sep 24, 2009)

We used to take ours to grizzlys custom cutting in wny he processes all kinds of game. That said unless you take a bunch at once to most places your not getting your own back. 

We cut grind mix all of ours. Only thing we don't do is make hot dogs and we are in the process of that as well. It takes about 50 lbs of chunk meat to guarantee you get your own back at most places. 

Big time money saver to learn his to process your own. Start up costs suck but at 60 plus a deer it makes it up quick 


Sent to you from my wireless leash


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## STKA (Apr 4, 2011)

jlh42581 said:


> You probably dont even get your own deer back. You think they crank up those saws to cut each deer?
> 
> I process mine from the time it drops till we eat it. No one... not one single person has ever complained about gamey tasting venison. In fact, my inlaws said that the venison I give them tastes completely different from everyone else who shares with them.


Same here. Never had a deer leave my sight from field to table. I gut shot a doe with a 10ga, she turned as I shot. 2oz slug went in her front right shoulder and exited her rear left quarter (through the bone). Field dressing was a nightmare, but got her home rinsed out with city water (never in a creek for me) and butchered the next day. Only lost some meat from entry and exit holes, anything that was contaminated. Actually just came across a pic of the old girl. 














Kighty7 said:


> Funny you asked this question. I was wondering the same thing. I gut shot my buck this year. Had to let him go over night. It did get down in to the 40's overnight and I found him the next morning, still warm. I took him to the butcher and he said he cleaned out any meat that he would not eat. We took a roast out the other day and mixed up the stuff we usually do with a roast. When I got home from work, I could smell the roast and it smelled not very good. We ate it and realized, it did not taste very good either. We opened up some burger and cooked it too. Same smell as we were cooking it. We are unsure of what to do exactly. Any suggestions????


Did you loose power to your freezer at some point?


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## JD BC (Sep 23, 2009)

Clean it up as quick as you can and it should be fine. I butcher my own and if I come across any meat that I question do to smell it gets thrown in the freezer for trap bait.


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## YooperKenny (Jun 21, 2006)

*Every Situation is Different*

I've nicked the guts on a few deer over the years that fortunately all died quickly and I agree with everyone here that you just wash it out and move on. These deer were all recovered within a few hours and cooled down fast; the meat was perfectly normal.

However 2 seasons ago I had a different experience. Shot a decent buck with my bow but he moved as I released and my arrow entered the paunch on one side and penetrated deeply into the hind quarter on the other side. Spooked him during initial tracking so I backed out until morning. Nightime temps were in the 30s.

Took up the chase at dawn but wasn't making much progress until our faithful Norwegian Elkhound Ursa focused my attention on a single spec of blood. Long story short, that led to discovery of the dead buck a couple hundred yards away along a nearby lakeshore around 1pm. Temp was around 50 degrees.

I tagged and gutted the buck and soon had it hanging and skinned. Pulled out the tenderloins and brought them into the kitchen for the wife to clean up, wrap and freeze while I continued cutting meat.

A little while later she came out with the tenderloins and reported "This stinks". She has a more sensitive nose than I do and upon closer inspection she was right. I kept cutting hoping it was just the tenderloins but all the meat on that deer stunk like sewer even the quarters not penetrated by my arrow.

My layperson's theory is that intestinal bacteria got into the bloodstream while the buck was still alive and was pumped into all of its tissues causing a systemic sepsis i.e. blood poisoning. 

Never wasted a buck like that before and was sick about it...

So I recommend you trust your nose (or the sensitive nose of a loved one) and act accordingly. If you've ever had food poisoning you'll err on the side of caution believe me...


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## Mallardbreath (Dec 7, 2007)

I shot a doe through the intestines in 2000. Easy shot and I made a horrible hit on the deer by rushing my shot. Snuck out and left her overnite and found her next morning about 100 yards from where I shot her. She was laying on an island in a stream. Heavy frost so it got plenty cold at night. She was one of the best deer I've eaten.


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## redlehr (Nov 3, 2013)

*Deer left overnight with guts in it*



Jake L said:


> I know that if you gut shoot a deer and you have contamination of the local meat with the gastric contents you chop that off and throw it away. Lets say that you have had to let a deer lay over night, letting the infection take its toll and then recover your deer. As the infection spreads, it enters the blood so theoretically you have a completely contaminated deer. Does this affect the allocation of the deer meat, ie since it was gut shot only making ground meat that is going to be well cooked? I know I like my steaks both deer and beef around the rare-med rare so I would have a hard time eating steaks from a deer like that. Is this faulty thinking?


Here is a perspective from a guy who has been hunting all his life and is running his family's meat packing business which is in its 96th year.


I've been skinning deer for over 40 years and i've seen just about everything and heard about everything when it comes to people not finding deer overnight.
You have to realize that when you let a deer in the woods overnight that is not gutted,the bacteria starts to grow,then the gas starts to build up in the deer,that's if it isn't gut shot.Even if the steam comes out of the inside of the deer the next day,you still have a certain amount of spoilage.What you don't know is when did this deer die ? How long has it been dead laying there with the nasty bacteria growing in it ? Ever heard of BOTULISM or E-COLI ?? In my experience when I discover that the deer had the guts in it overnight,I ask the customer,"Would you buy something from a meat market that smelled like this ?" OR "Is it really worth getting your family sick over ?" What is it that people just don't get about this I've had a deer brought in and showed the customer the green in the inside and he asks" Can you eat that ?" REALLY and then they stand there and argue that they can't smell anything ,and it's green and smells like deer guts. !!! 
When a deer lays overnight the meat will look pale(not dark red like it should) and the fat if any on the deer will look pink or reddish colored(it should be white).Those are tell tale signs of the guts in a deer overnight,not to mention the gut smell.All the cooling and aging in the world will not get rid of the stink or bacteria left from guts in a deer too long.Even if it is in the teens for temp. overnight, the deer hair is such a good insulator that the heat can't get out of the carcass.The bigger the animal,the bigger chance of spoilage.When a deer spoils, it usually is in the hams,shoulders and on big deer,the neck.These places are where the meat is the thickest and it is the last place the heat gets out.
Ask your buddies you make sausage with if they want your deer meat that layed with the guts in it,, mixed with the rest of their good meat and see what they say !!
Yes,,sometimes the meat might be ok after it has layed with the guts in it,but I've seen too much and smelled too much rotten deer meat in my life to tell someone to go ahead and eat an overnight non gutted deer.
The bottom line is ,I won't let anyone eat anything I wouldn't eat myself and that seems to have been working for our plant for 96+ years.


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