Stinky Deer

[Steve-o]

This is for HD, or anyone else who has experience cutting up deer.

We processed 4 yesterday.  The buck I shot was stink-eee.  It was not gut shot.  Actually, the tarsal glands smelled mild; they weren't the source of the smell.

HD, what do you guys do when you get a real stinky one in the shop? 

[mike89]

did it have any wounds?? 

[glenn57]

Wadda mean stinky?? Like spoiled meat?, cut a chunk off, get away from the crtter and smell it then.

You'll know if the meat is spoiled

Did you have a 💩  pants!

[roony]

Just eat it or give it to glenn.

[glenn57]

Just eat it or give it to glenn.

give it to Mikey    I heard Mikeys eat anything! at least that's what they said in the commercials.   

[Steve-o]

No other old wounds.  At first I was worried there was some colon or urethrae tissue left in the pelvis, but that wasn't the case either.  No guts were perforated. 

Here is the rest of the story.  I spined it.  Two shots in the spinal region just in front of the tenderloins.  That is where most of the smell emanated from. 

The kicker is, when I was boning out the front shoulder, I accidentally sliced thru a lymph node.  (No tissue damage from bullets in the front half of the deer.)  I took a whiff of the lymph node, and it was the same bad smell from the massive wound area.  I'm thinking that spinal fluid is responsible for the smell.

Anyone else have experience with spine-hit deer or knowledge of how spinal fluid might affect the taste or tenderness of the meat?

(I couldn't find much on line.)

[HD]

This is for HD, or anyone else who has experience cutting up deer.

We processed 4 yesterday.  The buck I shot was stink-eee.  It was not gut shot.  Actually, the tarsal glands smelled mild; they weren't the source of the smell.

HD, what do you guys do when you get a real stinky one in the shop? 

I can honestly say, that I have smelled many a deer in various forms.
I can tell if the deer has a heavy rut smell, to rotting meat, gut shot, not cooled down properly, left in a cooler sitting in water or dragged through the cattle pen (yes, that last one is true)
If we get one that is rotten or has infection, we call the owner immediately before processing.
During processing, we even take notes on the condition of the deer to let the owner know what we find.
Some things are not noticeable till being skun  and examined. (old wounds, lodged broad heads, small rimfire slugs and car collisions)
Deer are very resilient creatures, they are tougher than one might think. We have seen deer with puss sacks as big as a grapefruit, and somehow the deer looked fine on the outside.
In some cases, we have had the owner come back and pick the deer up.
We won't run deer through our shop that are bad. Keeping our equipment clean is a priority, and running a bad deer through is not an option.

The best deer have always been the ones that have been hung with the chest cavity spread open to cool. The worst deer have been the ones left hot, closed up in the back of a truck bed. The quicker you get the meat cooled down and aired out, the better.
If they are gut shot, hosing them out is fine, but very soon after that the cavity needs to be opened up for it to dry.
Most people don't know, but water is a breeding ground for bacteria...and meat sitting in water is a bad combination.
We also have seen deer with some of the guts still in the deer. Everything must be removed.

I can tell you the worst deer I've ever had to deal with was a large doe that was in left in the back of the truck hot, with the milk sack cut right down the middle and having SEVERAL .017 slugs peppered through the body. NOTHING smells worse than rotten milk and puss with green meat....prove me wrong... 

[glenn57]

Yea i don't know  but the morning after a triple pac of taco bell and Busch lattes.... :rotflmao

Im no expert but HD  is right aboutcleaningout the deer throughly and gettingit vooled down ASAP.

And evrn more criticalwith a bear! :

[Steve-o]

Thanks, HD.  I'll admit, this one didn't get cooled down as quickly as I would have liked, but that smell was there from the get-go when I gutted it out. 

My only best clue is that the front lymph node smelled just like the tissue damage around the spinal wound.

Like I said, I couldn't find much on line.  The closest thing I saw was this blog post, but there was no authoritative response.   
Spinal fluid making meat sour?

[Leech~~]

Thanks, HD.  I'll admit, this one didn't get cooled down as quickly as I would have liked, but that smell was there from the get-go when I gutted it out. 

My only best clue is that the front lymph node smelled just like the tissue damage around the spinal wound.

Like I said, I couldn't find much on line.  The closest thing I saw was this blog post, but there was no authoritative response.   
Spinal fluid making meat sour?

Sounds like a sausage, burger buck to me!  😉

[Steve-o]

I lost the tenderloins, and the back third of the backstraps, but the front part of them looked and smelled good as I recall.  Those parts would have been away from any spinal fluid contamination.  I don't recall specifically if the hind quarter roasts were as bad as some of the trim meat, and they are all in the freezer now, but I will give them the smell test as they thaw.

Otherwise I'll keep the trim separate, maybe cook a sample, and if it tastes bad or even funny, I might not waste my money making it into sausage.

It was a surprisingly big deer for the size of those scrawny, deformed antlers (posted in the Opener is coming thread).  I'm thinking it was a old buck that didn't have the juice to grow a full rack.

Thanks, guys, for all the feedback and suggestions.

[HD]

I have found that bucks that have deformed antlers have either broken them off from fighting or smacked by a vehicle.

Yes, spinal fluid is a bad taste, smell at times. The lymph nodes are a good indicator... just like humans. If they are enlarged and stink, there could be a problem. (Just sniff someone's breath when they have strep 🤮)

But, I really can't give you a definitive answer unless I'm standing right there. Sorry

[Pulleye16]

I'd have to see a deer in order to shoot a deer in order to process a deer!

Quit bragg'en!

[glenn57]

I'd have to see a deer in order to shoot a deer in order to process a deer!

Quit bragg'en!

[Boar]

Was the buck running when shot or was running prior? Adrenalin can cause a stink and a huge flavor issue

[Steve-o]

Was the buck running when shot or was running prior? Adrenalin can cause a stink and a huge flavor issue

Yeah, good idea, and may be a contributing factor.  He wasn't hyped up beforehand, but after the first shot through the spine, I'll bet the adrenaline was pumping until I could finish it off. 

Still, the thing that makes me think the smell I smell is from spinal fluid is because the front shoulder lymph node smelled just like the spinal wound.  The adrenal system is completely separate from the lymph\spinal system.

So if the meat don't taste bad enough because it was tainted with spinal fluid, it could also be bad/worse because the meat was shot through with adrenaline.  I'll let y'all know how it tastes from a pan.   

[Leech~~]

Was the buck running when shot or was running prior? Adrenalin can cause a stink and a huge flavor issue

Yeah, good idea, and may be a contributing factor.  He wasn't hyped up beforehand, but after the first shot through the spine, I'll bet the adrenaline was pumping until I could finish it off. 

Still, the thing that makes me think the smell I smell is from spinal fluid is because the front shoulder lymph node smelled just like the spinal wound.  The adrenal system is completely separate from the lymph\spinal system.

So if the meat don't taste bad enough because it was tainted with spinal fluid, it could also be bad/worse because the meat was shot through with adrenaline.  I'll let y'all know how it tastes from a pan.   

Are you a Doctor or Vet or something?  Are you seriously going to look a guy in the hairy eyeballs and tell them I'm not eating my Deer because some whichmacallit fluid dripped on it!    

[LPS]

Never heard anyone talk about this before.  Three years ago I shot a deer feeding in the beans coming towards me.  Shot it in the lungs.  It went maybe 50 yards and dropped.  I gave it 5 minutes and went and gutted it.  Kind of smelled.  Brought it home and hung it and processed it the next day.  Taste like crap.  A skunky flavor to it.  I am used to deer eating corn but I don't think that would be that big of difference.    I shot it across the road from where I live so got it hung right away and it was cold out.

[Steve-o]

There is no question about it... some old bucks will have a stronger smell to the meat.

I processed the trim last night and it was easy to tell the old buck from the 3 button bucks.  The meat from the old buck looked different, had a different texture, and definitely smelled different.

I was really surprised that the old buck's meat seemed to oxidize/turn brown when exposed to air so much faster than the 3 young guys.  The discoloration was a clue, and where it was, that is also where most of the really off-putting smell came from.  I aggressively trimmed off anything that looked or smelled bad and saved the rest.  I ended up with about 15 lbs. of trim with neck, brisket, shanks, and misc.  Time will tell if it passes the taste test.

[mike89]

good luck!!

[Boar]

One can certainly tell an old buck meat versus yiumg huck meat.

[roony]

I prefer to eat the women.

[mike89]

I prefer to eat the women.

2 legged or 4??   asking for Glenn..   

[roony]

Tell Glenn he's a pervert.

[glenn57]

I prefer to eat the women.

i did not 

And I ain't eithet!

2 legged or 4??   asking for Glenn..