Safe to eat?

[Scattergun2570]

My buddy took a big doe today. We dragged it out and took it to a garage butcher. When he got to the last hind quarter,he grimaced... He was making that face because the smell of what looked like "puss" in  the meat was horrific.  He said the deer probably got shot,maybe with a small caliber,or arrow etc... He said of course he wouldn`t eat the meat from that section of the deer,,so we discarded the whole quarter. So... I ask you...do you think the rest of the deer is safe to consume?

[gonzoso]

The rest of the deer would be fine.  

The stuff around the infection that is breaking down would obviously be bad.  

To be honest if I was in need of food I would cut out the rotten part and just thoroughly cook the rest.  That's why we cook stuff, to kill the bad stuff:)

[Bjorn]

I'd eat the rest and not even mention the smelly part to anyone who is not on this board.

[David Yukon]

+1 with the above. And like gonzoso said, you only need to take the infected area out and not necessarily the intire quarter...

[straitera]

Yep, agree w/Gons. Some other I wouldn't eat either though. Please pass the tumor. No thanks.

[Zradix]

Originally posted by straitera:
.... Please pass the tumor. No thanks.

That's damn gross..yuck...lol

[skydog6653]

If you don't like tumors, but like bacon, don't ever go to a hog lot or auction!

Yes, it will be fine.

Bisch

[ranger 3]

I used to work at a big meat packing plant and when we would find a puss bad we would cut it out and wash our knife good and keep going. You be surprised how many we would find in a day mainly pork.

[gonzoso]

Originally posted by skydog6653:
If you don't like tumors, but like bacon, don't ever go to a hog lot or auction!

Mmmmm....tumors..

[gonzoso]

Honestly if you cook anything it will kill all the bad stuff in it.  I mean you could get meat off an old road kill and cook it up to proper temps and it won't make you sick.  It might taste terrible and the idea of it could make you ill, but if you kill all contaminants with heat you're good.

All my meat I get off my deer that gets messed up by the arrow I just cut out and toss in the grinder.

When I was in college living on my own putting myself through school I tested the limits of cooking on questionable meat:)  If you boil the hell out of anything it tastes good with ramen!

[Recurve50 LBS]

I'll take that puss infected, smelly rotten quater. My ex wife has been bugging me for venison. With what she puts me through she deserves every bite of that rotten meat.

Originally posted by Recurve50 LBS:
I'll take that puss infected, smelly rotten quater. My ex wife has been bugging me for venison. With what she puts me through she deserves every bite of that rotten meat.

WOW!!! I feel sorry for you, bud!

Bisch

[John Scifres]

I had the same thing a few years ago with a big old doe.  Looked like she had been wounded by an antler tip.  I removed the infected area of the hind quarter with a couple inch margin for safety and it was just fine.

[Recurve50 LBS]

Had a friend shoot a buck a few years back that was real skinny in the hind end but full/healthy looking in the front end. During gutting the buck we discovered that he was shot with an arrow and still had 1/3 of the arrow lodged inside the body cavity. The chest cavity was full of puss and another friend 300 yards down wind could smell that rotten scent. Needless to say we deep sixed the whole stinking mess. I'll never forget what that smelled like!

[lpcjon2]

Puss is natures tenderiser.McCormick make that flavor seasoning I think.

[jsirm20]

The bacteria will be eliminated by thorough cooking. Some bacteria create poisons that will remain in cooked food.

So its a good idea not to eat anything that is rotten.

I would carefully cut out the rotten portion and rinse the rest off.  As already mentioned, dont tell the family or dinner guests.

[Montanawidower]

2x Jsirm20.  Botuli and Clostridium bacteria are very heat resistant and their toxins are as well.  If I remember correctly it takes something like 250 F (thats beyond boiling) to kill Clostridium spores. Various E.Coli can also leave near fatal toxins behind.  I would not follow the "you can eat roadkill advice".  We developed biologically a strong adversion to sulfur smells for a reason... We are not meant to eat rotten meat!  

Personally, I would probably error on the side of caution and discard that whole carcass.  Kind of falls under that catagory of drinking untreated stream water, or hunting without a harness.  Yeah you can get away with it repeatedly.   But if you are wrong just once, you will pay dearly and never do so again.

My 2 cents