Is my buddies meat bad?

[Muleyman88]

Last October my buddy got a pretty decent deer in Idaho. He quartered the deer and froze it in his game bags. No plastic no butcher paper just game bags. He thinks the deer is going to be fine to eat. Im skeptical. What do you guys think?

 

[Zackcarp]

Cut off any freezer burn and cook right, no problem.

 

[archp625]

Why the heck did he wait so long to get it out of game bags and processed. Kinda disrespectful to the animal if you ask me?

 

[Broomd]

Ya know, without trying to sound like an a-hole, that deer deserved better re. meat care. If a guy can't properly take care of the venison he harvests shouldn't be out there killing it.

What you described is some piss poor diligence. Frankly, it's disgusting.

 

[EastMT]

Yup, trim it up it will be fine. I’m the old wives tale about not freezing/refreezing comes from bad thawing practices. Thaw it out at a low temp, like 40 deg. Leaving it at room temp can cause problems as far as bacteria growth etc.

 

[String&stick]

I'm just scratching my head as to why it was frozen in game bags to begin with, then allowed to stay that way for 10 months. . . Like others have said, probably ok if you trim it up, but may depend on what condition it was in going into the bags. Was there bloody shot through meat? Was there dirt on the meat? Was it deboned and in a ball? I just have a lot of questions knowing that the meat went home In game bags and hasn't been touched since!

 

[FLAK]

Grind it up, cook it up!!!

 

[BuckHunter24]

Grind it up, cook it up!!!

Yep

Sounds like a lazy s.o.b he ought to get it ate before he goes hunting ths fall

 

[MeatBuck]

Your buddy is a or an..... fill in the blank.

Why kill it if you aren’t going to do anything with it?

Let me guess, he’s got a shoulder mount or a euro mount done and hung up on the wall meanwhile the meat is nearing dog food stages in the freezer.

Is he a shitty cook or why not have it eaten or given away by now?

Seemingly senseless.

 

[rayporter]

i agree with all the above and will add if he took as good care of the meat before it went into the bags as he did after it went into the bags, well........................................

 

[Muleyman88]

I was pretty bummed to find out he didn't process it as well. He has it in his fridge now thawing out so hopefully that doesn't stay in there for long.
Ill take partial blame. This was his first big game animal and I sent him home with his meat quartered and never talked about it after that...

 

[NMframed]

I agree with quite a few of the previous posts. Sounds like this deer didn’t get processed properly because it wasn’t made a priority, probably more fun things to do than spend a day cutting and wrapping meat. Me and my family probably spend an average of 5 to 7 days a year cutting and wrapping game meat and if we have more than we can consume I usually give some to my sister and her husband who have four kids and are always grateful.

If the meat does just end up as trash it is no different than wanton waste, leaving the meat in the field to rot while you take the head as a trophy to brag about. There are more game animals than any of us could count that this happens to every year. It is disgusting! If he has a tag this year and plans on handling the meat the same way he should be ashamed of himself. A huge disrespect to the animal to let it go to waste and a huge disrespect to other hunters that could’ve had that tag and fed their family with that meat.

 

[flyinsquirel]

To answer the question asked, +1 to what Coop said.

 

[Runningwater]

Should be fine provided it was ok before being frozen. I often freeze quarters to work on later after the seasons are over - just don't wait a year....

 

[BuzzH]

Pretty tough crowd, the meat is fine.

I kept half a whitetail I shot last year for a wild game processing clinic I put on here at the house. Stored the quarters in the freezer, whole in just game bags. Put them in there in November, put the clinic on in February and they were fine. In fact, if the outside of the quarters are dried, that protective rind that forms on the quarters would keep them from freezer burning.

It kept so well for the time I had them in the freezer, if I had more room I'd consider leaving some quarters in the "round" and cutting them as needed.

I've also froze whole deer and pronghorn fronts, wrapped in plastic wrap and freezer paper (all cleaned up) for up to a year. I smoke and then bake the fronts whole...no problem with freezer burn.

Mountain out of mole hill I think, as long as the deer in question gets processed soon, I don't see the faux outrage...

 

[BuckHunter24]

BuzzH muley88 just shed some light on the fact that his friend was a new hunter. He made a mistake putting quarters in the freezer in a game bag alone. He can grind it up while its still partially frozen and be just fine. But to say that its a fine method of meat care cmon man.

 

[tt_johnsclist]

What coop22250 said. Don’t worry about the drama, plenty of deer meats gets treated way worse than that.

 

[BuzzH]

BuzzH muley88 just shed some light on the fact that his friend was a new hunter. He made a mistake putting quarters in the freezer in a game bag alone. He can grind it up while its still partially frozen and be just fine. But to say that its a fine method of meat care cmon man.

Opinions vary...and some have processed more game than others...some a whole lot more.

 

[BuckHunter24]

There's no drama. But no reason to pretend chunking quarters in the freezer for 10 months without tending to them is a okay

 

[BuckHunter24]

Opinions vary...and some have processed more game than others...some a whole lot more.

I'm not sure how to interpret this.