Elk rotting???

[BGbowhunters]

Last week my friend gut shot a 5 by 5 Roosevelt just before dark, so the next morning we went out to find the elk. We found the elk after an hour but the elk was still alive. After a couple hours my friend got a brisket shot and we tracked the elk and found it dead. We dragged it out and brought to his shop and skinned the elk. The next day we brought the elk to a meat cutter. The cutter called my friend a week later and said the elk rotted and 75% was distroyed. He had to pick the elk up so the rest of the meat in he shop didn't rot. What happen ? Could there have been some bloodshot meat still in the animal or was it the gut shot.

[Indian Summer]

Hmm. Meat doesn't rot as log as the animal is alive. Some can be tainted by stomach acids around the entry and exit holes on a gut shot animal. When he shot it the second time did you make a quick recovery?

Also.... meat that is spoiled shouldn't contaminate other meat. If the other meat was cooled properly it should remain edible. Bone sour or spoilage doesn't spread like a virus or parasite. The whole thing has me scratching my head.

[BGbowhunters]

It was a quick recovery after ghe 2nd shot. I think the meat cutter didn't want to cut the meat up , and if any rotten meat mixes with our meat then it will rot that meat

[Gypsumreaper]

After you skinned it did you get it cooled or just let it hang? My question is why it took the guy a week to let you know it was bad, a good butcher would realize fairly quickly after you drop it off it it seems to warm or bad, and most would inform you rather quickly that the meat a. Seems a little warm still, b. has a funny smell or c. Has a high chance of being bad but sounds like you did ur part I kinda wonder if his cooler shut off. Nothing against the butcher but the guy I know that butchers game always gets the story time of kill and how the animal was handled so he can make good assumptions on if he needs to check the meat now or if it's gonna be ok

[Gypsumreaper]

And how long did it take you from recovery to dragging it and getting it to the shop? Elk meat needs to get cooled quickly and I always skin and quarter elk on the spot even in winter, right to the game bags hide holds a lot of heat and that could be park of bone sour meat

[elk.addict]

Like Gypsumreaper asked, how long till you got it skinned? How long were the guts in? I've never lost any elk meat due to spoilage, and I've shot quite a few in temps around 75°. Something's doesn't seem right, but I've also always quarter/deboned right after the kill so maybe that's why my experience differs. But if you got the hide off in a reasonable time, seems like it should of been fine. I think it's been pretty warm over on the west coast, right?

[Indian Summer]

It doesn't really mater how long it took to cut it up. Average is 2 to 4 hours. The big thing is whether or not the animal sat for any length of time before the process even began. You said it was a quick recovery. So as long as you got it to the vehicle and to the processor in a reasonable amount of time after that it should have been fine. That is assuming he got it into cold storage, as he should have, until he was able to complete his job.

Any respectable meat processor inspects game when it arrives. It's for his own good. My guy hangs it on the spot, skins it if the hide is still on and gets it right into cold storage. If it is dirty as in dirt, ashes from a burn, or lots of grass he will clean it up too and if it's really bad he will bitch and charge a cleanup fee. Calling a week later doesn't give me a whole lot of faith in the place where you took it. Have you used them before?

[Indian Summer]

Looking back at your post you said you "dragged it out". Must not have been far from the truck. I'll assume you gutted it. But you left it whole which means it takes way longer for heat to dissipate. How long from the time you dressed it out until you skinned it at the processor? And what was the temperature outside then?

If I had to make one suggestion it would be to break down the animal on the spot. You can leave the hide on but at least get it quartered so the individual parts can begin to cool quicker. That's why I prefer the gutless method. It gets the main portions of meat away from everything else right away.

[BGbowhunters]

We dragged it to the road which was lucky for us was only 100 yards to the road. It wasn't a week it was about 4 days till the cutter called.

[Huntrgathr]

Last week my friend gut shot a 5 by 5 Roosevelt just before dark, so the next morning we went out to find the elk. We found the elk after an hour but the elk was still alive. After a couple hours my friend got a brisket shot and we tracked the elk and found it dead. We dragged it out and brought to his shop and skinned the elk. The next day we brought the elk to a meat cutter. The cutter called my friend a week later and said the elk rotted and 75% was distroyed. He had to pick the elk up so the rest of the meat in he shop didn't rot. What happen ? Could there have been some bloodshot meat still in the animal or was it the gut shot.

Some info missing about temperature, time of transport, etc but sounds to me like you didn't get it cooled out fast enough ( barring any funny business at the processor). Indian and I will disagree on this but I think it's critical to get the hide off ASAP after the kill. If that hide can keep an elk insulated through sub zero winters then it surely can hold the heat in long enough to spoil your meat. One year, I shot a bull just befor dark, just as it started to downpour. Back then I still gutted animals so i did that, skinned it as far as I could in the tangle, propped it up on as many sticks as i could shove under it to get it off the ground, and hiked back to camp. I was back to that bull early the next morning with horses, no more than 14 hours after the kill, (in cool, rainy weather) and all of the neck meat and part of one front shoulder were completely ruined. Just where I wasn't able to get the hide off by myself.

If it's quartered and elevated you can get away with Leaving the hide on. If it's a whole animal in hot temps, good luck. If you drug it a long ways without gutting it you can stop there. That ruined it. The retained heat, along with the punctured paunch could have been enough on it's own. Most likely, if you had gotten it to the processor without keeping it overnight you might have had a chance...any elk that's taken care of can hang for a week no problem.

I'm thinking if the processors cooler went down or something like that , you'd be hearing that a whole lot of people's animals got ruined. True that a good processor would have assessed quality at drop off but this time of year those guys get sooo busy...

Just my 2 cents...

[StartMyHunt]

Could not agree more. I believe in getting the hide off as fast as you can and the meat into game bags. Many years ago, I was up hunting with my Dad and brothers and it was cold. Very cold. We had a cow hanging from the meatpole that was totally skinned and gutted except for the upper portion of her neck about a foot below her ears. While we were making dinner at camp that night, we started to hear popping all around us, like somebody shooting off a 22 or something. We all dove to the ground. Long story short, when we woke up in the morning, we found out what was making the "gunshots". All of our beer and soda had started to explode, and it was all inside the cooler. For some reason, I walked over to the cow that was hanging to check on her, and she was frozen solid where the hide was off. However, I slid my hand up under the hide around her neck, and there was still warmth. Warmth will make the meat spoil. Just my two cents.

[StartMyHunt]

Just a little something to think about. Game meat spoils fast if left warm. The only reason I would leave the hide on is if I had to drag it out when I had my pack full. Otherwise, skin it and wrap it in game bags and then pack it out. If you do leave the hide on for whatever reason, once you are back at camp skin it and hang it up on a game pole and let it cool for the night. If anybody is interested, I have an incredibly awesome story to tell about the insulating properties of an elk hide that was was left partially on the animal.