HELP! Infection in meat - is any safe to consume?

[mikdor]

Hi Monika
The same thing happened to me many years ago the buck had been hit across the chest and stank real bad when we took the hide off. We trimmed it well back of the wound and it looked and smelled good and there was nothing wrong with the rest of the meat.But I would check with a butcher. Now don't let this ruin your memories of this BEAUTIFUL BUCK That you did one heck of a job of harvesting.mikdor

[TPM]

Thanks everyone!!!

We kept the haunches. The rest is gone to the coyotes.

The haunch meat looked & smelled totally normal. The hind end smelled a bit like a buck - which is what it was!

We'd had the tenderloin for supper last night and we're still here to tell about it.

After doing the reading, speaking to that friend with the similar experience, and looking around the internet, I'm feeling good that the haunches were still good.

Monica said the deer was moving like a normal, healthy buck... (you know, like the ones she's seen on TV. ) His coat and hooves and everything else were in good condition.

[gerald strine]

we had a buck with a broad head wound between the shoulder blades puss/ snot ect we cut the area out and ate the rest no problems or side effects were encountered .
we took our chances if it was me I would eat the hams and loins .

[VixChix]

No pus - just the white membranes in the area were green.



There was a black spot in a area of fat which seemed to be the source of the infection - looked like it might have been some lead shot or a slug fragment? We didn't dig further to find out what it was.



The outside of the shoulder looked normal but the "armpit" area was affected - up to the brisket. Since the ribs were pretty wrecked from the slug we decided not to salvage anything forward of the haunches except for the backstraps. I cut those a bit short too from the front.

I have to admit, I'm a bit done with meat for a while... but I'm always that way after butchering!

[DirtyGun]

I have to admit, I'm a bit done with meat for a while... but I'm always that way after butchering!

My wife, as you know, is an Organ and Tissue Coordinator for Trillium Gift of Life, on call, when she's not working her full time nursing gig.

After being in the OR for a number of donation cases, she will not eat meat off the bone (I have to debone everything I butcher or cook for her) nor will she eat meat for a few days afterwards. Stuff like that bothers her.

Me...well...not so much. Nothing like throwing backstraps on the BBQ after a day of butchering.

[VixChix]

After being in the OR for a number of donation cases, she will not eat meat off the bone (I have to debone everything I butcher or cook for her) nor will she eat meat for a few days afterwards. Stuff like that bothers her.

Funny how that is, huh? Might be a girl thing. Apparently we sense (smell, taste) things differently and more strongly than most guys. I have to be honest and say that I usually find venison a bit too strong tasting for me to really enjoy - I'll eat it, but it's not my #1 choice.

I can't stand watching people get needles. It gives me an awful visceral feeling.

I can give needles to horses and dogs - but I couldn't do it for my Dad when he was dying.

I have held skin together while the vet sutures for both horses and dogs too - doesn't bother me. Watching a deer being gutted or getting my hands bloody doesn't bother me... but I'm not good at watching surgeries on TV. Weird.

Even now after butchering and bleaching the tools and counters I "think"/imagine I can still smell meat. I know it's all in my head, but it feels real.

[j.krug]

Good to hear that you salvaged some of the meat Vix.
I'm a little late to the party here but had it been me I'd have discarded the bad quarter and proccessed the rest without concern.

[Louvp]

I ran into the same thing a few years ago on a deer I shot it was all nasty looking front shoulder with stuff oozing out from a wound.I played it safe & just disposed of the front shoulder. ate the rest of the deer.

[wheelie]

I would despose of the bad and keep the good. 90% of mine are made into jerky anyways. I figure jerky is cooked as good as it can get. You never know anymore about anything. When all the geese were dying along the shore lines here I quit hunting them and stopped eating fish from the bay as well.

Maybe coyote will be eatable now! LOL

[Big58cal]

So we finally figured out just "how" Monica was able to get a deer. One came stumbling through the woods, nearly in a coma, with only a few more minutes to live, and Monica shot it. The mystery is solved as to why she was finally able to get a deer.



Just kidding Moni!!!!!

Like you all did, anything that looked or smelled bad, I would have trashed and then kept the other stuff. I've gotten a few every now and then that would have an old wound of some type. Anything that looked/smelled bad was trashed.

Something else you may want to do............ Soak the meat in salt water for a day or two before cooking. The salt lowers the pH of the water, inhibiting bacterial growth, and it draws a lot of the blood out of the meat. I think it gives the meat a better flavor. I want to think DJH did an article in the ACF magazine about it. Give it a try. Either way, it ain't gonna hurt nuthin'.

[JohnDoeHunter]

I don't think I'd risk it.

[Leonidas]

I say, bury it somewhere, nothing is worth chancing your health.

Even if you don't get another tag, at least you will be around next year to try again.

Cheers

I agree with this 100%. Not worth it.

[Hi5]

Mary had a little lamb,

One day her lamb did sicken,

So they sent it of to Packing Town

And now it's labled chicken.


If there is a wound that is the obvious source of infection, it's no big deal. Just cut away the good parts and discard the rest.

An animal that shows no external wound may be another matter. It might be a sick animal. Still, I'd be less worried about eating well cooked meat than getting infected from handling raw meat and not using gloves. There's a lot more reason for concern of being harmed by infection travelling from raw meat to a break in your own skin.

TSE is a whole nuther matter. Cooking doesn't destroy that stuff. However, if you know the animal was infected from an external injury there's no reason to worry about TSE, and cooking will destroy bacteria and viruses.

[rayman]

I've killed or seen numerous deer and hogs with wounds from gunshots or from fighting. Also sick looking animals with no visible wounds. If the animal appears to be in poor health, I drag it off somewhere. If it looks fine other the wound, use everything but the piece with the wound.

leonk wrote:

that's what I said in not so many words

Proof that your a smart guy

The more info the better. I found it interesting that internal organs may show signs. I think moni is ok to trim out the infected tissue. imagine the things we eat that we cannot see in an otherwise healthy animal.

My Dad said he went to a big butcher house where they made hot dogs once when he was in FFA in High School. Said he couldn't eat hot dogs for years after that.

[bucont]

(you know, like the ones she's seen on TV. ) .

Ouch!