Dark Spots on Deer Meat

[Happyworker]

Hi All,

Shot 2 deer last year and noticed dark spots all over the meat on 1 of the deer.
I didn't want to waste the meat so I butchered both dear and kept them both separated during the entire process. I've already finished eating the first deer (without the spots), and now I'm about to start consuming the 2nd deer but I'm a little concerned and don't want to get my family sick.

Has anyone seen this before?

https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...ht?usp=sharing

Thanks in advance.

[338win mag]

My opinion...it looks as though the fat in the one pic is a bit yellow, and the meat looks as though it was from a animal that wasn't recovered right away. I have only seen something like that when I couldn't recover it in the evening and I found the animal the next morning.
Sausage is good too, sausage it.

[butcher]

They’re stress marks. Really common in pigs when you butcher. Seen them in many, many animals. Hundreds. Totally safe to eat.

[Osprey87]

Like butcher said there stress marks, also referred to as firing. It's caused by a spike in stress levels which results in a higher pH level that doesn't balance out properly after death. Perfectly safe to eat just looks odd, see it in pigs and cows commonly

[walks with deer]

i would have guessed it had been fightingbor had a bad fall just before death and or hit by a car lol

[Hidehanger]

Why not ask the professionals? Maybe see you can submit a sample t be sure...there is contact info on the first link.
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/e...dlife-diseases
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/en...guide_2017.pdf

[Happyworker]

Thank you everyone for the quick response and information, I feel a bit better.

As @Hidehanger mentioned, I'll probably just give the professionals a call too and see if I can send them a sample.

Thanks again!