Meat color and smell is wrong.

[Jakey_boy001]

I saw some fishermen on an Alaska fishing forum complaining about not getting their same Halibut back from processing. None of the good cuts came back and multiple fish worth of the cheap cuts.

Do you see any of the good cuts? T-bones or Loin?

Well to start off with he told me I lost the tenderloins (considering I saw the smoker behind the butcher shop he probably ment they were delicious) I do have the back straps but not enough packages for how big the straps were, that’s the only thing that’s labeled what cut it’s from other than that it’s all labeled elk steak, elk roast and elk burger.
After cooking some tonight and finding more hair in it than I’ve ever seen in anything I’ve processed myself I’m convinced that I did not receive the meat I dropped off. My hanging weight when I dropped it off was 198 lbs I received roughly 75ish lbs back idk if that’s the correct amount for that starting weight.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Geez, if any of you around the Seattle area need help butchering an animal, contact me. I love it.

 

[ez_willie]

“My hanging weight when I dropped it off was 198 lbs I received roughly 75ish lbs back idk if that’s the correct amount for that starting weight.“
You’ve killed 9 elk ? What did your receipt show?

 

[Jakey_boy001]

“My hanging weight when I dropped it off was 198 lbs I received roughly 75ish lbs back idk if that’s the correct amount for that starting weight.“
You’ve killed 9 elk ? What did your receipt show?

This is the first elk I’ve had processed by someone else I’ve never weighed anything till this one. It doesn’t matter what it weighs when you are not paying for it. I used to live close to my dad’s house and had space to hang an elk and process it, now I live in a city and I don’t have room. And the invoice from the butcher only has the hanging weight because that’s what the price you pay is based off of.
I killed a mule deer a month later and I did that one myself and I got almost as much as the elk (comparing the stack sizes in my freezer I didn’t weigh it.)

 

[Cordell Walker]

If you’re hanging weight of 198 was deboned meat/quarters, I’d say 75lbs is a little light. Hauled 200lbs of deboned hind quarters and bone in front quarters plus scrape meat from an elk out of the woods last year and yielded 143lbs of finished meat. This years bull yielded 175lbs of finished meat from 225lbs of deboned quarters/scrape.

 

[Montana Slim]

Sure looks like it had some water contact somewhere along the way... not ideal

 

[KsRancher]

This is the first time I have seen anyone with an experience like mine when it comes to the texture of the meat when cutting it with a knife. But all of ours taste fine. I noticed it right off with the first elk I shot. Several of the cuts felt like I was cutting sandpaper. Other cuts the knife went thru smooth. Never felt it in deer or antelope. But every elk I have noticed it. I dont think that has anything to do with the color or taste issues you have

 

[Fireflyfishing]

You got someone else's bad meat.

This

 

[Coveyleader]

The meat soured is my guess. It doesn’t matter how it was handled in the field if the butcher doesn’t handle it properly.

trying cooking a steak and then save a portion for the next day. It’s normally twice as bad.

Sounds like a mess, been there with a butcher who was simply hanging my quarters in a meat locker for a couple days until we finished hunting. The cooler was warm for days, all of it was exactly how you described.


You can put as much seasoning in it as you want, it’s still shit. I’d toss it as that taste will stick with you forever.

If there is a positive, if you or a friend ever kills an elk and the recovery took longer than expected and you’re wondering about the meat, you, you alone will be able to tell as that off smell is forever stamped in your olfactory senses!

 

[Jbehredt]

Couple years ago a local guy had a freezer go down. Spoiled a bunch of meat. Instead of manning up he tried to hide it by spread loading what he could salvage. Everybody ended up with rotten meat. Fortunately mine was a rutty old buck. A friend had to trash his first ever elk.

 

[Chris in TN]

the butcher didn’t mark on the packaging what cuts the steaks were from they just said Elk Steak.

I’ve seen that and I’ve also seen cuts mislabeled. I’ve thawed stew meat thinking it was back strap and vice-versa.

It ruined me on processors. The last elk I shot went to a clean and organized processor who did everything well and I could see it just by looking at his process while dropping off and picking up. But the mislabeled packs of meat were the last straw for me.

If you want it done right, do it yourself. We went last year prepared to bring meat home deboned and that’s how I will operate in the future.

 

[butcherboy]

I don’t trust hunters. I’ll never process wildgame for hunters again. They always say it’s clean and never is. Say they quartered their elk and it’s just wacked up into unknown chunks and pieces. Have to put 3 shots all within 2”-3” of each other ruining more meat. Always gut shooting them or spine shots. Letting animals sit all night and longer with the hide on and guts in them. Always expecting more meat back than there actually is. I think all hunters are liars. So yeah, I agree, all hunters should process their own animals.

 

[FullValue]

We shot a couple bulls a few years ago in a nasty canyon. One of the bulls died hanging almost completely upside-down by its back leg/hoof at the edge of a drop off. . We didn't get to it for a few hours. Not 100% sure when it actually died, I don't know if it hung upside down alive or not or just after it died. The meat from that upside down bull looked very similar to the picture you posted. We boned out both bulls and it was very evident which bull was which by the pink color like yours. There seemed to be no blood left at all in the meat. It tasted ok but was tough. Maybe you got some meat from an animal that had something similar happen.???

 

[beesting]

The meat from my bull i got this fall looked like your meat in the picture. I was also concerned about the color. I processed the bull when I got home. It smelled and tasted great.

 

[jferre4842]

Alright so to start off with I’m not new to elk hunting, this bull I killed September 2025 was my 9th elk I’ve killed. This was the first time I’ve had someone else process my elk for me I just didn’t have time to do it. But I got two packages of elk steaks out to thaw yesterday and from one package to the other the meat color is so drastic I have no idea what could cause it. One is the dark ruby red color (to me that’s how it’s supposed to look). The other is a pale pink color and has an off smell not like spoilage or anything it’s just different and kinda off putting. But here is the kicker all of the meat so far has been that off pink color and weird smell and once you cook it it doesn’t taste right. Now I’m not a pro or anything but I’m definitely not new to elk and I’ve never seen anything like this. Does anyone have any idea what the hell the processor would have done to end up with this.

Im going with whoever processed that elk mixed in another. I wouldnt chance based on the smell.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

Meat that gets submerged in water, on ice in a cooler that isn't draining, in a creek etc etc. Will leach the blood out and result in a paler color like that. I'm not sure how that would happen once it got to the butcher though.

This is what I thought at first looking at the pics but it shouldn't change the flavor.

Anybody know if a sickness or infection could cause something like this? The grainy/sandy texture cutting through it is super weird.