Q. 400) My son killed a doe and took her to a meat processing house for processing. After 3 weeks we called to see why they had not called us to pick up the meat. They told us not enought deer had been brought in to start processing them. How long can that deer hang in a cooler before it is no good to eat?

Q. 399) A very good friend of mine shot a deer 8-30-08. He processed it himself wrapped it and put it in the freezer. A few days later noticed a lot of ice forming inside the freezer. I assumed that it was because of the amount of meat he put in the freezer was why the ice. The other day I cam over and noticed the ice and we thawed out a couple of steaks. I found that he didn’t use freezer paper (No Wax) I think it was drawing paper or something. The meat stuck to the paper even after a complete thaw. My question is what can we do? Can we thaw out the meat in the refrigerator and re-wrap with freezer paper? What do you suggest...

Q. 398) I arrow shot a doe at 6pm kiddne&gut shot found next day at 2:30 field dressed&rinsed cavity with cold water while hanging within 2 hours of field dressing. Temps were right around 39-40 most of the night vary cloudy next mornning and still a little cool maybe around 50 degrees quarterd & deboned at7pm and rinsed with cold water put in freezer emediatly just interested in yor opinion friends say it is fine a strong oder detected when field dressed but meat when butchering smelled ok.

Q. 397) After my husband cleans his deer, he sections it out and puts it in a small refrigerator and lets it sit a few days before wrapping and freezing it. This time he left it in the small refrigerator for 7 days. Is the meat still good? I took a ham out and cut the shank off because I was going to bake it, but think I'm smelling a hint of not so fresh meat, but can't quite tell if its my imagination or not. Appreciate your advise. Thanks!!

Q. 396) We live in KS and bow season starts in Sept. The current temp is in the 80's. What should we do with the deer after we shoot it? Can we go ahead and process it ASAP or should we wait? If we wait, should we keep it in a refrigerator? Thanks

Q. 395) I shot a small doe last December. She's been in the deep freeze with the other deer. We have been eating the ones shot earliest first. We cooked this one in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, and when it came out, everything looked fine, but it had an odor to it. It's not a foul odor, but a really strong Deer odor. When I shot her it was about 30 degrees outside, and I had her skinned, quartered cut and bagged within 2 hours. Has this meat become Coyote food?

Q. 394) If I get deer on 70 degree day. How long do I have before I need to get cold?

Q. 393) Thank you for the great website. The content is very informative and useful. I have been hunting for 5 years now and this year I want to handle the processing of my own deer. I have talked to many friends and received mostly the same information and rituals about cleanliness and timeliness of getting to the butchering process. This I fully understand and your site reiterates this primary function.

What I didn’t know was the many cuts of meat that you could actually get from a deer. I have always perceived the return as roasts, steaks, chops or burger. The pictorials will make a huge difference as I approach my first time at the process. The FAQ’s section is a great reference also!

Please keep up the good work and offering of information on the site.

Q. 392) If flies laid maggot eggs on my deer but they have not hatched, is the meat still good? Or what can I do to ensure that they don't hatch?

Q. 391) I like to use processors but I am never sure if I am getting back the correct amount of meat from my deer. Is there a percentage of dead weight that you can use as a guage? I know that some of this can depend on meat around the wound but most of my kills are neck shot to avoid loss of meat. What percentage of either dead weight or hanging weight should I expect to get back from a good processor?.

Q. 390) Question: I live in Central/Southern WI and during bow season we often have temps in 70s to 80s during the day. The closest proccessor is 40 mins away and you are out of luck if you shoot a deer in the afternoon since they close at 5pm.

I have a extra 20 cu ft refigerator /top freezer in the garage that I plan on plugging in so it will be cold during the season just in case I need it however it is not big enough to stuff a whole deer in it unless it where quartered.

If a person were to shoot a deer and have it recovered, field dressed, and the inside rinsed with cool 50 degree water within 1 1/2 hrs what would be the next best course of action?

-Immediatly skin, quarter, remove loins, tenderloins and neck meat and place in refrigerator
or pack the deer cavity with ice to bring the temp down and then skin & quarter?

-What is the maxumuim time a person has to skin and quarter the deer and get it refrigerated at this point? 2 hrs? This depends on how cool the area is where you're hanging it and if you pack it with ice.

Would it be better to refrigerate or freeze the quarters until final deboning and cutting occurs 24 hours later?

Would it be best to wrap the quarters in wax paper or plastic to keep it from drying out until the the quarters are ready to be deboned and final cutting takes place?

Beside common sense that that bacteria will rapidly form at temps above 40 degrees, does the FDA or USDA have charts showing how long meat will last at given temps immediatly after the kill? (i.e at 50 degrees you have 4 hours to get it in a enviroment of 40 degress or less before it forms too much bacteria; at 60 degrees you have 3 hrs from time of kill ect.

Q. 389) If I shot a deer in 80 degree tempature how long before the meat goes bad. (sometimes you have to track one for a distance.)

Q. 388) I would not listen to this idiot about deer fat or tallow. If you leave it on you will not only taint the meat but when you cook the meat the tallow will stick to the rough of your mouth worse than peanut butter.

Q. 387) I have been hunting all my life and this year I hope to butcher my own deer. I am wondering why you need to add pork and/or beef to the venison in order to make burgers. Do you have to put it in? What will happen if you don't? Thanks in advance!

Q. 386) I have three deer cut up in the freezer. Somehow the freezer got unplugged,and the meat was completly thawed when I found it. I plugged the freezer back in and refroze it.Is the meat safe? it did not smell,and looked fine. What happens to meat when it is refrozen?

Q. 385) I have some deer meat that has dated dec 06. I remeber putting it in the freezer is it still good? P.S. I killed the deer. I have never waited this long to eat deer meat before so therefore I am clueless.

Q. 384) Can you eat fresh deer meat killed in the off season? (from crop damage tags)

Q. 383) My freezer went out. If was fine last night but by the time I went out there this evening, most of my venison is thawed, or only partially frozen. I have always followed the rule, when in doubt throw it out. And I have read all your previous asked questions about this problem. However I have lots of meat that is good: sausage, cutlets, steaks and roasts. Can any of these items be cooked and refrozen or would that even be good? Do you have any suggestions on what to do with everything or bulk recipes? It's only the 3 of us and we can't eat it all. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!

Q. 382) Could you please tell me how long it is okay to keep deer meat in the freezer. My fiance has some in the freezer from 2004 and he won't let me throw it out. Is it still okay?

Q. 381) We recently cleaned and dressed a deer but on the way home the deer meat was in a cooler with ice and some of the meat got wet, is this a problem? How can i tell by looking at it if it is water damage or if the meat went bad at camp?

Q. 380) I was wanting to know does anyone use brown freezer paper anymore and if not why?? as a young kid growing up around my dad slaughtering beef/pork, when we picked up the meat from the cutter is was in brown paper. I have looked and can not find it anywhere, Im kinda old fashioned and would like to find some to use for my meat processing. Thanks

Q. 379) We purchased a Cabela's model 08-2201 meat grinder (which I believe is the same as a Weston) and the auger pin is broke. Cabelas need to check with manufacturer to see if part is available and that takes a week. How can we contact Weston direct for part? I tried on line www.westonsupply and apparently tha web site is no longer active. Can anyone help?

Q. 378) I would like to try venison liver. My friend says there are two livers.
Im not sure I believe that. There is one that looks like a liver and another organ that is red and has kind of a white skin over it. Do I want both of these?

Q. 377) A friend of mine shot an elk (cow & pregnant?) When he went to quarter it out, in the field he said the meat had a blood redish color "gel" and slime all through it between the hide and meat. Got any ideas? Thank You Your site is so great.

Q. 376) Hello, very informative site. I want to know the best way to harvest the tenderloin bone-in. I would like to have about 2 inches of bone frenched and cook like a rack of lamb or loin chops. Any ideas? Thanks

Q. 375) How long can vension sit in a refrigerator (without being fronzen) until it goes bad?
I shot a doe the last week of December '07, deboned and quartered it, and put the meat in Zip-Lock bags in my spare refrigerator. It is now the second week in February and the meat is holding a decent color. I planned to make sausage out of it, but with 3 kids under 4, time is difficult to come by. Did that deer die for nothing? Has the meat spoiled by now?

Q. 374) Need a receipe for ground vension for a deerhamburger.

Q. 373) What seasoning mix is the Italian Base as is mentioned in your recipe for the Stuffed Italian Meatloaf?

Q. 372) Need a receipe for ground vension for a meatloaf.

Q. 371) My wife and I are new to cooking deer meat. We like the flavor but my wife has a hard time with the smell of the meat while cooking. Is there anything we can do eliminate the odor or at least minimize the smell until she gets used to it.

Q. 370) I just found your web site and I wish I had found earlier. I have processed the last couple deer I harvested on my own instead of taking it in. I feel I get more out of the hunt doing it that way. I want to utilize the most I can out of the deer and I know I can if I do it myself.

I recently harvested a small buck (2 days ago) and the temperature has been in the single digits. I field dressed the deer within 1/2 hr. of it being shot. It froze that night and is still frozen. I believe I will have a hard time skinning and processing it frozen. Do you have any recommendation as to how I can thaw it safely? I have it in my garage now. I do have a kerosene torpedo style heater but I am concerned about the emissions from the heater making the meat taste bad. I would like to process ASAP but it looks like the weather won't cooperate by warming up in the near future. Should I bring it in my house and let it thaw overnight??? I don't think my wife like that too much.

Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Great web site and I look forward to using in the future.

Q. 369) No offense but i am tired of taking my meat to a locker to have slim jims and what not made i understand that there may besome trade secrets to processing but are there some websites or advised to someone that wants to process his own venison to walk them through or is the best thing to buy instructional videos to learn procedures and recipies i love venison bacon;)

Q. 368) I was looking at your link on meat yielding from a dressed deer. I am wanting to know what a deer will dress out at, example the live weight of a deer would be 100lbs what would the dressed weight be. Thanks and you have a great website, I wish you were closer to Georgia.

Q. 367) People occassionally give us deer meat they have leftover from their hunts. Of course they keep the prime cuts for themselves and I should simply be grateful. Your site was very helpful when we got a couple of shoulder pieces the other day. I've tried every which way to stew and slow cook and pressure cook venison leftovers in the past and always end up throwing the whole inedible mess out. I hate to waste the meat and I also hate to waste all that time and energy cooking it. Contrary to the guy who gave it to us, (he told us to fry the meat) I realized I did own a meat grinder and that the best thing to do was just grind it up. I hacked all the useful looking meat off the bones and according to your instructions I did not just grind it straight without adding fat. I ended up with about 4+ pounds of venison and added a 12 ounce package of the cheapest, fattiest, raw bacon, sold as unevenly sliced. I mixed and ground 3 times and it's not half bad ground meat after all. I formed a patty to test cook and it held together well, unlike another woman's complaint. My question is though, hubby told me he thought I was supposed to soak the meat in salt water to get the blood out. I did for one day and then rinsed the bloody water and then soaked it a second day in fresh salt water and rinsed it all again before grinding. Really it seemed to add quite a lot more appeal to the look of the meat. It looked more, well, meaty and less bloody and gross. But my ground product, combined with the salty bacon, was quite salty tasting without adding any salt during cooking. I won't be eating that much of this, so the potential unhealthy levels of salt are not the problem. What should I have done? If I used unsalted pork fat from a butt roast that would help, but what about the salt water? Does soaking in plain unsalted water do the same thing to make the meat less bloody?

Q. 366) I shot a buck in november and I have hameburger and deer back strips in my freezer.I want to know how to cook this meet and not have it be tuff. I herd its real hard to cook deer and I want to do it wright this time. What do I do?

Q. 365) I hunt in Tennessee for deer season and I have always wondered how long do I have to get my deer to processing after I field dress it? It seems like the temperature is usually between 40 and 50 degrees.

Q. 364)I was given some frozen venison at work in a styrofoam cooler. Unfortunately, I forgot to take it home and when I got back to work the next day, the meat was thawed. Is it ok to refreeze? I've always heard you cannot refreeze meat once it is thawed but no one can tell me why not. Thank you so much for your answer.

Q. 363) I shot a doe this past Sunday eveing and I found no blood only some whitish hair. Not wanting to jump it up, I left it overnight and found it the next morning. The buckshot penetrated high in the lungs mid ribs and high in the rear ribs(probably liver shot). The temps were in the high twenties overnight. However when I field dressed it the blood seemed to have a pungent smell. A butcher told us it was "outgasing" and it would be fine.
The smell seems to be disappating. I plan on hanging the deer until the weekend. Should be in the 20's and 30's. What do you think?

Q. 362) I have a whole doe due me by a friend next week. Venison cuts are new to me.

Are their any cuts of Venison you would avoid?

What are the best cuts of Venison?

Q. 361) I have a whole deer backstrap and I want to cook it in a slow cooker...what is the best way to do this without having to cut it up?

Q. 360)I bowshot a buck two evenings back around 5:10 PM and didn't find it until the yesterday morning, my arrow deflected off an unseen twig. He went about 250 yards and looked to have dropped and died. The night temps were in the 50's. By the time I got the deer home and skinned and in the cooler it was around 1:00 pm [yesterday of course].  The backstraps and shoulders were cool when I got the skin off, the butt was warmer. The meat smells like buck venison to me.  Not bad, but gamey.  How do I know if it's spoiled?  I have read many of the other questions about dealing with stomach contents [etc] on the meat.  Some gut drainage was under the skin of one ham in the groin area, the deer actually had a hernia with some gut sticking through, so there was no way for me to get one ham of without getting some of that on the meat.  Should I do your baking soda trick on that and then trim of anything that still smells off? Last question. What does "spoiled" smell like? I know what rotten or putrid smells like but can I tell if spoilage is starting or has started? Deer smells strong to me even freshly killed and dressed.

Q. 359) Would you be kind enough to tell me where I can buy processed venison in bulk? In viewing your website I figured you are the go-to people to ask! - Many thanks and Merry Christmas!

Q. 358) My wife and I and 3 children have lived off venison for the past 15 yrs (not buying meat in stores) which 80% we use is ground mixed in casseroles etc. We were wondering if venison could be ground by itself without adding fat from pork or beef.

Q. 357) A friend of mine gave me a back strap from a smaller buck that he shot on November 21. It was dressed and hung for two days then put on ice until the 28th at which time we cooked some of it and the larger portion was placed in a zip lock back in my refigerator set at 32 degrees. Obviously the intention was to eat it before today but... Still there, do you think it is okay. The meat is whitish color and a fair amount of water is in the bag.

Q. 356) Hi, we had back straps of a doe frozen in vacume sealed bags. WE thawed 3 and only ate 2, we kept the other one in the fridge (still sealed) for 13 days and just ate it tonight...thinking it smelled fine, and that cooking it would keep us safe. We Barbecued it to at least medium and had it marinaded in BBQ sauce for about 20 minutes. Are we likely to get sick...or worse??

Q. 355) I live in North Carolina, And I'm trying to saLvage whats left of my life and childrens. I would like to open a deer butcher, take out foods shop, but I don't know who to go about it. I love your shop - if you could give me any advice I would greatly appreciate it.

Q. 354) We killed 8 deer this year in wv. The first two were killed on the 15th of nov and for the next 8 days. I got home on a friday the 23rd to florida which is a friday at night. Could not take the deers to the processor till mon morning the 26th. I told the processor the dates when I dropped it off. Its now the thursday the 6th of dec and he calls me to say its ready. When I picked up the meat he told me it has been done a few days but its not even frozen yet. One of the empty coolers smells bad but not the meat itself. I would hate to kill these deer and go to waste. I know you yelled at the guy from ohio and told him to take up golf. Can I eat the meat or should I tell the processor to take up golf. He swears its fine cause hes done it before.

Q. 353) Hi I was talking to a friend I work with and he wants hot dogs made out of his deer, I have a #22 grinder with the adapters to make sausages would they be used to make the hot dogs and could you explain to me what I need to make hot dogs with the deer? Thank you.

Q. 352) My son got a nice buck this year,we had it butchered at a very wellknown butcher (all animals)not just deer. When my son picked up the meat, he told my son the deer had an old wound that had puss sacks an infection around it, he told my son he cut it all away an that it is all right to eat. Is this true? I talked to a lot of other hunters an they said they wouldn't eat it.

Q. 351) With venision brats when you boil them first will they float and does that mean they are done? Thanks