Once we shot a couple of mature mule deer in full rut,they were the rankest deer I ever smelled.anyway,we hung them for a couple of weeks and trimmed every bit of fat off,they were about the finest eating venison I ever had,not a trace of bad taste or smell
back when I had a butcher, he suggested I use the WT Doe fat for my peperoni.... used all that trimmed fat in the double smoked peperoni he made and it was awesome...no foul taste at all and it saved me a few bucks for not buying pork fat...point being, i'm not so sure I would blame fat for an uneatable cut of meat
Rapid field dressing, skinning, removal of blood shot meat, and cooling along with meticulous cleaning (hair, dirt, etc.) and careful handling after harvesting is a must. I will clean the carcass with water and a bit of bleach - recommendation from an experienced game butcher. Bleach in water won't harm meat. I will clean the carcass thoroughly once at time of hanging and then again the next day to make sure I got everything. If it is warm out, I'll get it processed quickly. There are butchers that bring their operation to your garage, etc.,. I prefer to use those butchers as then you can see what they are doing and make your wishes known at that time. I've shot rutty bucks before and they smell on the ground but once field dressed, the carcass should smell normal. If any contamination happened from the glands, bladder or gut, the meat will be tainted badly for sure. Also, if it was hung prior to butchering, the outer dried silver needs to be trimmed off or it will leave a bad/gamey taste. That's my checklist of things of what can go wrong.
Regards,
Ltbullken
Freelance Wildlife Population Manager
Animals - If you can't eat 'em, wear 'em!
Thank you so much for your kind words albravo!
Just another update: I tried another pack of ground last night and I could still smell it but not nearly as strong as the previous pack. I cooked it up and had some spaghetti and we weren't able to detect any taste of it! Super happy about that. It looks like I'm just going to have to assess each piece as I go but I'm really pleased that some of it has turned out ok.
In regards to some of your questions, I trimmed all fat and silver skin off the steaks prior to cooking but I can't say for sure what/how much ended up in the ground. I've tasted both before and although it's agreeably unpleasant, this awful taste was very different. It was a good boiler room kill and I was careful not to puncture the bladder etc. Although, I'm not sure about organs like the gallbladder.
Thank you again to those who've already offered their insight and another thank you to those who've just recently chimed in. You've offered some additional, helpful information that I hadn't thought of before.
I'm going to head out on a solo hunt tomorrow to try for a last minute wt buck so hopefully my next update will be that I'm butchering my own
Have a great weekend everyone!
Tracy
Yikes, why the hell would one ever use bleach, on food a person intends to eat?
When 10% cleaning vinegar is readily available?
I always bring a 2.5 l jug of Allens along with me.
Soak a clean rag with it to wipe down what's needed.
Usually water is enough, as long as one has enough of it!
Last edited by Ohwildwon; 11-29-2019 at 09:24 PM.
He's anything but a hunter.
More like another, Rain Coast Sociopath Fraud. Living off the prevails of his chronic lies, like the rest of them...
It's an issue, because these sociopath environmentalist's, will dilute the facts.
To the point you or Joe public, won't know them any more..
They count on that big time..