Would you eat this? (Infected deer due to old injury)

[Finch]

If you knew a package of beef (in the store) came from an infected animal which was put down, would you purchase it and feed it to your family?

With the deer in question, I wouldn't have even skinned it. That's partly because a diseased deer once made me sick for over 2 months and I was on medication most of that time.

Good point and funny you mention that. I asked my wife to ponder how many infected beef products we've probably eaten over our lifespan. I'd say we truly don't want to know.

Deer has been tossed btw.

 

[justjonesin]

It’s not worth the risk. I just had a conversation about this with my family doctor and he advised that if it looks sick in any way just leave it.

 

[Kevin Dill]

I strongly recommend washing and totally disinfecting every last thing which came in contact with the infected deer. You really have no way of knowing what pathogens are involved, or how long they may survive in/on your gear. A simple scratch or nick can be all it takes to introduce a nightmare bug.

 

[bsnedeker]

Man, we got some softies in the forum!

Your nose will tell you if the meat is bad or not. Toss what smells bad, eat the rest. It's a shame you wasted all that good meat.

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[sixn2thirds]

My dog eats a lot of deer meat. I wouldn’t feel bad feeding it to her, but she also eats cat shit.

 

[String&stick]

Good point and funny you mention that. I asked my wife to ponder how many infected beef products we've probably eaten over our lifespan. I'd say we truly don't want to know.

Deer has been tossed btw.

Actually I'd say you've probably purchased and eaten very few infected beef products. Beef is pretty strictly monitored. First anything sick looking is sorted off and doctored prior going to slaughter and there is a withdrawal period on the drugs used so you have to wait a long time before it can be slaughtered. Then the animal gets sent to slaughter where if anything looks funny it's not killed. Once it is killed the inspectors pull anything looking odd as well as a random sample to look over. So overall most beef is pretty damn safe.
Local butchers aren't USDA inspected but you'd play hell finding one that wants to cut up and hang a sick animal.


Now freshly broken legs or the like, that's a different story! If they can walk in they get killed.

I'd say good call on pitching the deer. Not with the risk, but solid work putting her out of her misery!

 

[slatty]

Just want to make the comment about how damn tough animals are, literally half rotten and still kicking. Wow. Definitely glad you ended that for her.
I don’t have anything to add about the opinions about the meat. When it comes to the “good looking” meat, any choice here is reasonable as long as you cook it through well. Given it’s for a friend, I wouldn’t pass that on to anyone.

 

[awasome]

I'm glad that you tossed the deer. You said it was going to a buddy, so if you gave him the meat, you would risk him getting sick on a questionable deer. Coming from food service, it is one thing to risk getting yourself sick, it is another thing to risk getting someone else sick.

 

[Kevin Dill]

Back about 200 years ago ( ) I killed a beautiful bull caribou after a stalk. The bull was by itself and bedded....somewhat unusual I remember thinking. This was a NWT hunt and by necessity we had a guide. The bull went down after a good arrow. While the guide was busy butchering....about halfway through....I noticed a swollen area above a hoof. When we examined it, there was a nasty wound which had gotten seriously infected. Yellow-green pus around it and some odor. When the guide saw it I could tell he was disheartened. The camp policy was NO meat from any animals showing illness or infection could be brought to camp. He had me carefully photograph the wound to document it, then he dumped all that precious caribou meat beside the bull's carcass for some grizzly to eat.

I was able to salvage the head (after skinning it) but could not bring it into camp. It stayed outside camp and soaked in the lake until time to leave. The owner of the outfit assured me the guide did the right thing, as nobody in camp wanted anything to do with an infected animal. There was no issue of wanton waste according to the regs at that time. I was severely disappointed at the time. Today I understand.

I've seen local deer processors refuse to butcher wound-infected deer, and I've known of more than one deer which got disposed after notifying the hunter and local conservation officer.

 

[Finch]

Man, we got some softies in the forum!

Your nose will tell you if the meat is bad or not. Toss what smells bad, eat the rest. It's a shame you wasted all that good meat.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

Back about 200 years ago ( ) I killed a beautiful bull caribou after a stalk. The bull was by itself and bedded....somewhat unusual I remember thinking. This was a NWT hunt and by necessity we had a guide. The bull went down after a good arrow. While the guide was busy butchering....about halfway through....I noticed a swollen area above a hoof. When we examined it, there was a nasty wound which had gotten seriously infected. Yellow-green pus around it and some odor. When the guide saw it I could tell he was disheartened. The camp policy was NO meat from any animals showing illness or infection could be brought to camp. He had me carefully photograph the wound to document it, then he dumped all that precious caribou meat beside the bull's carcass for some grizzly to eat.

I was able to salvage the head (after skinning it) but could not bring it into camp. It stayed outside camp and soaked in the lake until time to leave. The owner of the outfit assured me the guide did the right thing, as nobody in camp wanted anything to do with an infected animal. There was no issue of wanton waste according to the regs at that time. I was severely disappointed at the time. Today I understand.

I've seen local deer processors refuse to butcher wound-infected deer, and I've known of more than one deer which got disposed after notifying the hunter and local conservation officer.

Cool pic but hate to hear you had to dump the meat. Thanks for the reassurance!

 

[BladeRimfire]

I can't stand to see wild game wasted but I definitely wouldn't eat it. Had to make the exact same decision 3 years ago.

 

[rsw669961]

No. I wouldn't even ask.

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[Lhook7]

No

 

[Hunter79]

I had a similar situation a few years ago. We didn't eat the deer and I don't feel bad about that decision. I wasn't SURE it was good so I didn't take chances and feed it to my family.

 

[kit_man_duu]

Definitely not worth the risk eating an infected animal. You did the right thing by ending her suffering.

 

[slvrslngr]

In cases like this it’s best to call the CO and tell them what you found and they’ll likely come out, take a look and if they agree, issue you a replacement tag. Doing it this way, you avoid the possibility of being charged with wanton waste.

 

[Yoder]

I would have ate the hind quarters until you showed that growth. After seeing that I would throw it away. I wonder if they would give you another tag if you showed a Game Warden?

 

[Marbles]

That is a large area of infection and the deer was acting odd, so tossing it was justified. That said, while I would not eat it rare, I probably would have kept it and labeled it as 'cook fully.' Slow cooking at 250 overnight it would kill almost anything. A pressure cooker will get the temp up to sterilization levels and will kill everything.

The bear I shot this spring had an old wound that was infected. The bear was acting normal and the infection was localized to an area a little latger that my hand. I cut off the fat around the infection and kept all the meat. No issues. But, bear also gets cooked well.

 

[wayoh22]

If you have to ask, it's most likely a no

 

[TxAP21]

That'd be a definite pass for me..