How long for meat to spoil

[Stickslinger92]

Shot a buck this evening, but it ended up taking me a little while to get him to a cooler (Public land drag out) Wondering if I should be worried about the meat at all. Shot right at 3:55. Gutted a little over an hour later but didn’t get him to a cooler till about 7:30 so 3.5 hours total from shot to cooler. Didn’t even really think about it till I got home. Any chance the meat is bad with it being as hot as it is?

[huntindude]

Let your nose decide but I would think it would be ok


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[Buckshot-73]

Gutted in an hour, you should be fine.

[buckshadow]

Definitely if it passes the nose test it is probably fine. Also is you cook up a small portion it'll give off a bad smell if it's going bad.

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[McClain]

No worries at all, it’s fine.

[jaime1982]

People still gut deer?

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[Texas Grown]

As Buckshot-73 said, gutted with in an hour should not be much problem. Once you open up the cavity, it lets a lot of body heat out. And getting it cooled down in 3 hours should not be a problem with these temps. I've cleaned and broke down hogs in hotter temps. And the meat was fine. Deer too, in that much time and longer hanging.

[Stickslinger92]

Awesome. Thanks for all the responses. Hoping he will be okay then. He’s not quartered rn just gutted laying in a walk in cooler. Not being quartered shouldn’t make a difference?

[justletmein]

Awesome. Thanks for all the responses. Hoping he will be okay then. He’s not quartered rn just gutted laying in a walk in cooler. Not being quartered shouldn’t make a difference?

Nah you're fine. Meat lasts a lot longer than people think.

[Texas Grown]

Not being quartered won't make that much difference. You got it cool-n down in good time. It will be fine. But if you're not sure about it, I'll gladly take it.


The hide will help protect it some, for a little while. Lots of processors leave the hides on for a few days. I don't personally. I like to get the critter broke down and processed ASAP. And into the freezer ASAP. But other's, including some processors, like to "age" the meat.


As to hogs, I think it's very important to get the hide off ASAP. Especially big rank boars. And don't let the outside of the hide touch the meat if possible. I have however, killed hogs on snow and frozen nights. And found them early the next morning. When opening them up, they were still steaming inside due to the cold air, despite the temps being sub 28 degrees. But the meat turned out fine as it had begun to cool. Just the guts were warm still.

[Deerguy]

Doesn't matter what the temperature is as long as the meat is cooling (ambient temperature is less than body temp). Once the cooling stops, bacteria builds up and decomposition/spoiling begins. With the time frame you described, the meat should be fine.

[Greenheadless]

Took a health department class on food safety. Based on what they said, 4 hours is your threshold to starting to having problems.

[lovemylegacy]

Meat will be fine eating.

[RS3]

It’s fine.

[solocam_aggie]

People still gut deer?

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Seriously? I can’t imagine anyone hanging a deer in cooler with the guts still in


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