How do you stop venison from spoiling?

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phil mcwilliam

New member
Just got back from 7 nights camping in a remote area where I was deer hunting & trout fishing with a few mates.
I shot a hind (doe) mid trip. I butchered & skinned the deer in the cool shaded spot where I shot it & the hauled the meat back to camp.
Back at camp I lightly washed the meat of any grass ,dirt, & leaves & then placed the portions in plastic bags & packed into an esky (cooler), with a bag of ice.
About 1 hour into my 10 hour trip back home yesterday, I had to stop the car ,as the smell coming from the esky had to be investigated. The meat had spoiled big time, with one leg covered in maggots. I had replenished the ice the day beforehand & all seemed ok. There was still ice left in the cooler that I had wrapped in a hessian bag.
The average daytime temperature on the trip was not hot at 16 degrees C (60 Degrees F).
Where did I stuff up? Got to admit I could only carry back to camp one rear leg at a time, so I guess by the time I came back for the second leg it had been laying in the shade for a couple of hours. My thoughts were this second leg may have started to spoil first ,& then contaminated the other meat.
Any thoughts?
 
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Sorry about your game loss, it shouldn't have happened.

I live in a warmish climate and routinely store and "age" my venison in an ice chest for 8-10 days quite safely. I make a cold brine solution by adding about a pound of table salt and ice to a 48 qt. cooler and enough water to completely the meat - no bags. Any fresh water will soak into the meat but the brine will actually pull blood and excess body fluids OUT of the meat, leaving it as fresh and clean looking as market meats. After the first addition of ice to enough water to cover the meat completly, I add just enough ice each day to keep some chunks visible. doing that holds the brine AND the meat at about 34 F, fine for aging and preventing spoilage until I'm ready to cut it up for packaging.

Just a tip if you do your own butchering; seperate the muscle bundles individually and trim off all fat and as much sinew/tendon as you can. Body fat stores the chemicals from their diet that causes the "gamey" taste. Removing the fat, along with the brine's effect, will make for much tastyier eating.

Suspect your quarter got fly bit as you guess, but if you had gotten it cool all the way through and kept it that way it probably wouldn't have spoiled. Wrapping the meat in bags probably prevented the ice from chilling it as well as it would have if it had soaked in brine.
 
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phil I also hunt in warm weather and it is difficult to keep meat from spoiling. It sounds like you did everything the way I do with one exception. I carry mesh game bags (similar to cheeze cloth) on extended camp trips. You have to get the meat in the bags directly after field dressing and skinning. It will keep the flies off the meat until you can pack it all back to camp and finish the final cut and package. The mesh bags also help the meat cool better than if it is wrapped in a solid weave bag. It only takes one fly a few minutes to lay eggs and ruin all that hard work and good meat. I have used these bags to age meat at 50 degrees f which is 10 degrees higher than suggested temperature for aging meat but at the higher temperatures you have to age for much less time or it will spoil from bacteria. The bags did keep the flies off until the bags were removed. Hope this helps save the next harvest. Good luck and happy hunting
 
+1 on staying away from plastic bags... something about the gases that are given off... have to "burp" them if you use them.
 
There is also the fact that bacterial decomposition creates it's own heat. While it is not a lot it is enough to make a difference.

In the fishhouse we MIX ice in with the fish so that they do not all stack directly on top of one another. A box of grouper that is properly iced, and that is reboxed with new ice after a couple of days, will hold a lot longer than a box that is not handled properly......even with them both being in the same walk-in cooler.

Getting the meat ( Or fish ) cool promptly and then keeping fresh ice on it is a key.
 
Plastic bags the problem. Use wraps specially made for this, they allow air circulation and keep the buggies out.
Still, I admit, warm weather hunting does present this kind of difficulty. Be prepared next time.
 
I hunted with a muzzel loader for 13 years. Here in S NM the temperatures may hit 80 degrees in Sep. If I killed a deer on opening day, Sat, I would normally take the deer home and cut it up on Monday. I never had a hint of spoilage.

You should cool the animal as well as you can by gutting it immediately, propping the body cavity open with sticks, and hanging it in cloth bags. If you can get the body cavity cooled, a deer will not spoil within a few days. Getting rid of the body heat is the secret. In cooler weather I often hang a deer in my garage for about 5 days.

Regards,
Jerry
 
Thanks for the responses. I now believe I see the errors in my ways. I will replace the plastic garbage bag in my pack with a hessian sack - for packing the meat out. I will also try the brine/ ice mix in the cooler for next time.
Its a pity cause I actually had on hand 20 pounds of salt in case we had to cape out a stag, & numerous hessian sacks, that we were using to wrap ice in -to make it last longer.
On reflection, the heavy duty plastic garbage bags I placed the hind quarters in prior to placing on ice, probably insulated the meat from cooling properly in the first place.
Most game meat Ive harvested in the past has been on private property, where I have had the use of the propertys walk-in coolroom, so trying to keep meat using coolers & ice has not been an issue. You live & learn.
 
wncchester-
Does the brine affect the taste of the meat when you prepare it?

Do you rinse it before final packaging?
 
Used to be that you would get it back to camp and hang it for a day or two, but that's only if your temps are lower than say 35 degrees or so. But if they are higher such as 40 and up, I'll run mine to my slaughterhouse as quick as possible! In the wild you have to chill the meat quickly, be it coolers or spring water, whatever you can get. But it needs to be dried because bacteria likes wet carcasses, the drier and cooler it can be made the better!;)
 
Your meat can spoil covered by ice in a cooler very easily. You did not mention if you boned out the quarters. I have seen deer spoil in 40 degree weather that simply had the rear qtrs not propped apart. You must get the bone out and the hide off as soon as practical. Never wash meat rule number one in safe handling of meat. If dirt and stuff gets on exposed meat wipe with dry paper towel. Cut away any meat contaminated by guts or stomach contents. When cooling it in the cooler put ice in plastic bag gallon ziplock bags. Keep the meat in single layers in cloth meat bags then layer of ice in bags until cooler is full. This will rapidly chill the meat and keep the meat dry. Meat can spoil in the freezer if you butcher warm meat and stack it all together the center meat may start to get gamey before it freezes . This does not apply if meat is chilled before freezing. Taking care of game in warm temps is possible. Get the hide off, bone out the meat it doesn't hurt to pepper it to help keep flies off while putting in cloth meat bags. Hang in shade with a breeze or put in coolers as described above.
These methods have served me well over the years
Mwal
 
warm hunts

I get grief for this regularly, but I do not regularly gut an animal in the field. I can usually get out and home easy enough and gut the animal after I skin when it is on the gamble. If there is a bad shot, or it is very hot as in 70 degrees and up, I will gut on the spot. My typical drill for warm weather deer kills is to skin and quarter the animal as soon as possible. I then pack the meat, bones and all, in a big cooler packed with ice. I try and make this happen as fast as possible. I make an attempt to keep the mix even and not stack the meat. Once packed, I sprinkle a bit of common table salt across the top. No real measure, just an even dose, say a dozen good shakes?

I keep the plug OUT of the cooler, and let the melt drain off, and angle the cooler slightly towards the drain to facilitate same. Now and again, I'll pop the lid and add some ice, perhaps a bit of salt. Even in a camp out, somebody makes a run to town and there's more ice in our hunts. A good bit of blood and mess gets pulled from the meat in this process and the result is clean, bleached looking, washed meat. I have had zero probs with a briny taste and not lost a deer. I read often about not soaking/washing meat in water and getting the bones out first, but have not had a problem. Sorry 'bout your luck.

I'll butcher in 2-3 days,and be done by 5. In real heat, 80 degrees plus, I'll ramp up the process and be done in 3. This has worked very well for me for a number of deer and years.
 
In the cooler, I put boned-out meat in 2 gallon zip-lock bags. It keeps the water out and if it is really hot all week I keep an eye on the ice and add as needed. When I get back home the meat is so cold it numbs your hands when you work on it. Never had a problem. I guess you had the problem before getting it to the cooler. I have used salt water with small game and it works well, but it is more work with bigger pieces of meat. What ever you feel comfortable doing, I guess.
 
I agree with what has been said above. Additionally, we always take a great big can of black pepper with us and liberally sprinkle the pepper all over the meat surface to discourage flies. I'm not sure if it helps a lot, but it doesn't hurt. One year we had a moose hanging in camp and had forgotten to apply the black pepper before we had started to hoist it up. Being lazy, one of my buddies took out his can of bear spray and figured to just spray it with red pepper. It worked out, but we had neglected to think about how wide that pepper spray mist is dispersed. Our eyes burned for a couple hours!
 
Messed up

The two problems I see are this.. One never wash meat in the field.. When you do this you are just adding or spreading bacteria around.. 2nd it sounds like the meat was not properly cooled before you put it in the plastic bags. If that was the case the bags served to hold in the heat and spoil the meat..
 
Down south, We just use ice & a cooler, Let soak 4 days after we debone it.
Drain the water off every day & add more ice and we are good to go ; )
Y/D
 
I still believe the brine/ice slurry would best serve my purpose. The biggest challenge in this hunt was the remote location. Driving into town for more ice was not an option as this would require a 6 hour return trip. We did have a portable fridge/freezer but this was only capable of producing a bag of ice per day & was not large enough to store hind quarters in.
Thanks again for your responses.
 
Phil, I'm not much of a fan of venison. As mentioned in my humor thread in the rifle forum, I have a supply of fresh, home-raised beef. I know this doesn't help you much but I have found a foolproof method for keeping venison from spoiling: I don't shoot deer. I never have spoiled venison that way. :D
 
i hunt in washington where it is a little cooler but still to warm to store meat. We rely ion the meat cooling off at night and hoping it doesnt warm op much in the day. Daytime temperatures can reach in the 60s but we have never had any spoilage. Next time try tokeep the animal in one piece till you get it to camp, hang it and skin it being carefull not to cut into the meat. let it hang and dry out covered with a good canvis game bag. Do not alow the meat to get wet again untill you butcher it. dont trim the fat off till you are ready to butcher it. once you cut into the meat its best to package and freeze it ASAP
I have had dear hang 5 days in relitively warm fall weather, and no spoilage. Still if the weater is too warm and you plan to hang out for a while find a local butcher and take it there, far better to pay for cut and package then to throw away an animal that you killed.
 
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