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Southla1 · April 16, 2001, 08:21 PM

There is an old tale that I hear quite often that always goes like this "if you kill a deer that has been run by dogs (or you can substitute an old buck in rut)the meat is not fit to eat. Well I have killed many that have been run by dogs and many old bucks that had only one thing on their minds

, and for the life of me they tasted just fine. Now a wounded one that ran off and took a while to find is not too tasty at all, as solo mentioned. Another way that meat can get ruined by a "bad shot" is a shot in the hams with a rifle. That can blow up and turn many a fine roast into mush flecked with bone and lead and bullet jacket material (sounds like experience talking huh?).
Still another way that meat can be ruined by a bad shot is a gutshot deer. All the fine stuff contained in the stomach and guts gets blown into the good meat and all over it. Besides that it is not the most pleasant job to dress a gutshot one. I have been known to be skinning and dressing and drinking a beer (or 3 or 4) and eating a sandwich all at the same time. I forego the sandwich sometimes on a gutshot one.
Probably the MOST COMMON way that meat gets ruined is by not field dressing it ASAP and cooling the meat ASAP and then getting it cut into at least quarters, and getting that into an ice chest and covered with ice. I always gut em the second they hit the ground, and usually have em cut and in the ice chests within an hour. If its good and cold (temp in the low 40's or lower) you can extend the time that you have to cut em and get em on ice, but you should still gut em the second they hit the ground and try to hang em and take a stick and hold open the gut/chest cavity for quicker cooling. Its probably more critical for me to do that due to the fact that almost all of my hunting is done in South Louisiana. It just don't get that cold down here!

April 16, 2001, 08:21 PM	#3
Southla1 Member In Memoriam Join Date: March 19, 2000 Location: Jeanerette, La. Near the Posts: 1,999	There is an old tale that I hear quite often that always goes like this "if you kill a deer that has been run by dogs (or you can substitute an old buck in rut)the meat is not fit to eat. Well I have killed many that have been run by dogs and many old bucks that had only one thing on their minds , and for the life of me they tasted just fine. Now a wounded one that ran off and took a while to find is not too tasty at all, as solo mentioned. Another way that meat can get ruined by a "bad shot" is a shot in the hams with a rifle. That can blow up and turn many a fine roast into mush flecked with bone and lead and bullet jacket material (sounds like experience talking huh?). Still another way that meat can be ruined by a bad shot is a gutshot deer. All the fine stuff contained in the stomach and guts gets blown into the good meat and all over it. Besides that it is not the most pleasant job to dress a gutshot one. I have been known to be skinning and dressing and drinking a beer (or 3 or 4) and eating a sandwich all at the same time. I forego the sandwich sometimes on a gutshot one. Probably the MOST COMMON way that meat gets ruined is by not field dressing it ASAP and cooling the meat ASAP and then getting it cut into at least quarters, and getting that into an ice chest and covered with ice. I always gut em the second they hit the ground, and usually have em cut and in the ice chests within an hour. If its good and cold (temp in the low 40's or lower) you can extend the time that you have to cut em and get em on ice, but you should still gut em the second they hit the ground and try to hang em and take a stick and hold open the gut/chest cavity for quicker cooling. Its probably more critical for me to do that due to the fact that almost all of my hunting is done in South Louisiana. It just don't get that cold down here!