HuntingWildlife Tips

How Long Can A Deer Be Dead Before The Meat Goes Bad: Farm To Table

Do you love to it deer meat? Do you know how long can a deer be dead before the meat goes bad? 

A lot of people especially those who are living in the North American part of the world loves to eat deer meat. The good thing about this kind of meat is it’s organic. This must be the reason why most people choose deer meat over the other kind of meat in the market. Studies show that deer meat is less saturated and less cholesterol compared to chicken meat. Thus, there are only a few individuals who know how to preserve the meat and the life span of the meat before getting this spoil. For hunters, really know how to make things easier whenever they can are able to catch a deer and sold in the market. 

On the other hand, if you are an individual who is curious what are the proper ways in preserving deer meat and also its health benefits from eating it, you need to read this! 

Here is the information that might help you in the future, whenever you decide to eat a slice of dear meat. 

Why You Should Try To Eat Deer Meats: What You Need To Know

Sausage deer meat
Deer Meat Sausage

1. Its unique smell and the taste of the meat

For some people, they find deer meats smelly the reason behind why they stop to eat this. But, the fact is it does have a rare smell of meat but the taste is different. You can get the true flavor from this kind of meat when the preservation process is right and good at the same time. 

The best thing about this venison meat is you can have this in a succulent slice to taste. You can choose either you want to grill the meat or try the other recipes for the whole family. For all the meat lovers, find this kind of meat perfect for all occasions.

2. It is beneficial to your health 

Some people are not aware of this fact, but one of the best things about eating a slice of venison meat is knowing that it’s healthy and safe. Deer meats are organic and there are no antibiotics or other chemicals involved in growing. Hunting is the way people can catch and eat this kind of meat.  

Deer usually roams to the forest freely where wild grass and trees are involved in their growth.

3. You can save money by hunting a deer

Hunting a deer before and until today is popular and in some cases, people tend to treat this as their way of living. Yet, there are some countries, especially those that preserve their forestry animals or endangered species. 

Hence, for some countries, hunting is legal especially for places that are not that civilized. Hunters can save money from buying their main dish for a longer period can more healthily Catching a deer helps you to save money, aside from the fact that you can sell it to the market, you can as well preserve it. Preserving deer meats help you to secure your foods especially during the winter season.

4. Less cholesterol when eating

The best thing about it is you can get less cholesterol than eating turkey and chicken. According to the research, deer meat is less saturated than the other kind of meats in the market. So, whenever you decide to eat this meat, you can expect that this will not affect your body that much. This will help you to keep your cholesterol regulate.

So, whenever you find the time and chance to eat this kind of meat, grab that one. See the difference from the other meat!

5. Helps your metabolism

If you are an individual who has a problem with their metabolism, this kind of meat can help you. The deer meat has vitamin B2 or also known as riboflavin. Another nutrient that can be found here is B3 or niacin. Both of these helps you in boosting your energy and keeping your metabolism normal. 

The meat also contains iron, which helps you in keeping high energy and helps blood circulation at the same time. So, for the people who have these kinds of problems, it’s always an option for them to have this on their plate! 

6. Good for the people who suffer from digestive disorders.

Food allergies, constipation, gastroenteritis, and other digestive disorders, this is the perfect meat for those people who are suffering from this kind of problem. There are some studies which this kind of meat is advisable for people who have this kind of situation for a long time. 

This will not only help you to reduce having this but as well as giving you the best option of meat. A great alternative to meat for you! 

7. Helps you to build muscle in the body.

When you are planning to have a summer body and aiming for a great muscle appearance, you might want to include this in your diet. The meat of the deer can give you less saturated cholesterol, which means a low amount of fats can give your body. 

Hence, the good thing about it deer meat is rich in protein but less in fats. For those individuals who love to build their muscles and have their gym goal, serving this is a good one! 

8. Venison helps you to decrease the chance of having high blood and heart attack. 

Knowing the fact that high blood is the main cause of stroke to an individual especially for the elderly. Heart attack is also a risk when you are high blood. To make yourself safe from all of these, what you need to do is choose your foods to help you prevent this. 

Because of the fact that deer meat is rich in vitamin B, B12, and B6, these nutrients help to reduced the chance of heart attack and high blood. This helps to lower the presence of homocysteine in your blood. Through this, you are able to live in a healthier way. 

9. This helps you to increase your red blood cells.

Anemia is one of the common diseases when an individual has a lack of having red blood cells on their body. Deer meats have a natural way to increase your red blood cells or hemoglobin. What you need to do is to eat this kind of meat. 

Deer meat is known as rich in iron, which is the essential nutrients your body needs when you are experiencing anemia. 

10. Boost your energy when hunting a deer. 

For hunters, catching a deer can be that exciting. This is one of the reasons why people love to hunt. They enjoy moving around the forest, the thrill and maneuvering could boost your energy. This is considered as the natural way of exercising your body at the same time. 

It could bring a great feeling and when you are with your friends who want to hunt a deer, it’s more exciting! 

10 Ways To Preserve Your Venison At Home And In Wild 

1. Freezing the venison.

This is the most common way of preserving your venison. There are the right steps on how to freeze your venison at home. The first thing is to wash deer meat carefully. Make sure that the meat is clean. It’s a plus thing if you decide to put the meat in a transparent container or food plastic. Before putting this in the freezer, you need to ensure that there is no air to prevent the meat from spoiling. 

Another thing you can do before freezing it is to wrap it with butcher paper. This absorbs the water from the meat and helps to keep them fresh. You just need to be resourceful in every way so that you can preserve well this kind of meat. 

2. Curing or also known as salting. 

This is one of the best options you can have whenever you’re in the wild and not at home. Salting is known as a good preserving process before and until today. Usually, bacon and pastrami are the common foods under this kind of process. 

The good thing about this process is it’s more economical and practical. You don’t need to spend a lot of money for your energy consumption in preserving deer meats. You can both do this way of preserving venison when you’re at home or even in the wild. What you need to have is salt as the main and only ingredient you will be needing. So, what do you think about curing?

3. Smoking

Most of the Chinese people do this kind of preservation. This is also one of the oldest methods when you decide to preserve meat. The method usually performs at home, but it’s a good option to try on the wild. 

You just need to have an isolated area, where only the smoke and the venison are present. Make sure that the right amount of smoke can suffice to dehydrate the meat. This is the common preservation process especially if you have a   backyard to do this thing. 

4. Dehydrating your deer meat. 

This is where you can save so much money when you choose to go this way. Dehydrating is free with the help of air and you can choose. To elevate this preservation process through electric and solar dehydrators. 

The solar dehydrator is more practical to use as it is free. Knowing the fact that solar energy is free from the sun and you can use this anytime even if there is an electric outage. 

5. Marinated

This is the common kind of preserving process that everyone knows. The ingredient may differ from each other processes but one ingredient for sure you can’t marinate without the vinegar and salt. 

Another is you can mix it with garlic, pepper, brown sugar, and soy sauce. This will depend on the taste you want to achieve for your venison. Most people especially those who want to grill and fry the deer meat, try this preservation process for them to eat the best taste. The best thing about it is the longer days it was marinated the better taste it will have, and also it can last even if you choose to put this outside the refrigerator. 

6. Keeping the meat in lard

This one is very common, especially for the hunter. You can use any fats from the animals to produce lard. Lard can be turned into an oil and can be used as well in cooking. The reason why you need to keep the deer meat on the lard is to keep it fresh. This will help prevent the bacteria, the reason why food gets easily spoil. 

What you need to do is layered the meat with so much lard and put this on the container. Put the container in a cool and clean place at home. This one could be your best option in preserving meat, not only from the deer but also beef and lamb meat, when you’re at home. 

7. Brining

This process of preserving deer meat is very simple, anyone could try. What you need is water, sugar, and salt. These are the only ingredients you will be needed when you want to try this brine at home. Through this, you are able to save more money compared to the other process of preservation. 

What container you need to use is a crock. The crock is the oldest container used by the elderly for marinating their food. This has a lot of purposes, but when you brine this one suits!

8. Confit

This is one of the easiest ways of preserving various kinds of meat. A very simple one, where everyone can try to do this. What you need to do is to fry the meat on its own oil. You just leave the meat on the pan, and slowly cook it. Wait for the right time, where you can see the oil from the meat. 

You don’t need money to do this thing, as the only ingredient is the meat itself. This is perfect for the people who want to save money and take a convenient process. 

9. Take advantage of the whole season

Most people forget about this whenever the season changes. But you can take advantage of the weather especially if you are located in a place where dry and winter are part of the whole year. For the winter, you can use this weather for storing meats. You can get a container to put down your meat. Wrap it carefully and the container should be durable enough to store the meat. This is needed for you to prevent any growth of bacteria. 

During summer, you can use the whole season by drying the meat under the sun. you can do this both with the help of the proper equipment to store the meat. What do you think about this?

10. Canning 

This method of preserving meat is for the longer run, this may help you to have the best taste of the meat. The meat can lasts for years, which is the real advantage. What you need to do is to put the meat on the container or can, and ensure that air can’t pass for possible contamination. 

You can do this kind of preservation for all the seasons in the whole year. 

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: How long can a deer be dead before the meat goes bad?

A: This always depends on your environment. Thus, you can’t leave a deer for a day after they died as the meat is not good to eat. After hunting a deer and you can leave it for 8 hours before its blood will spoil the meat. When the meat is already spoiled then you can’t eat the organ and even the meat itself. 

Q: Can you eat a dead meet?

A: If the reason why a deer is dead because of hunting then “yes” is definitely the answer. However, for other reasons for instance you just saw a dead deer on the streets, you need to further examine it. There are many factors that may be the reason why you can’t eat a lump of dead meat including the climate, the location, and the reason for the death of the deer. 

Q: What is the temperature to address that the meat is already spoiled?

A: You can eat this deer meat at the temperature from 32° F and 36° F, and will not exceed 40 ° F. Temperature is a great factor if you want to eat fresh venison. 

Q: What is the cold temperature that is not applicable for venison overnight? 

A: You need to ensure that you freeze the venison 32-39 degrees. With this temperature, it will help you to reduce the presence of bacteria that will cause the meat to spoil. 

Q: Can you get sick when you eat a slice of spoiled deer meat?

A: Just like the other food, this also may harm your health. You can get a digestive disorder for a period of time or worst you can have this permanently. So, you need to make sure before eating this kind of food that it is clean and safe to eat. 

Q: Is the deer meat good for your health?

A: Studies show that venison or deer meat is rich in protein but the fat you can get in this food is very low. This is the reason why a lot of people try to include this food when planning to build muscle in their bodies and to be slim at the same time. 

Q: Is it safe to eat deer meat knowing that there is a tapeworm on their livers and lungs? 

A: Yes, eating the deer meat is safe knowing this kind of fact. The tapeworm cannot be transferred to humans. So, rest assured that you won’t be affected by this. 

Q: Is this kind of meat good for the heart?

A: The fact is deer meats are rich in iron, and other nutrients. Thus, the good thing about this is it has very low cholesterol. We all know that cholesterol is the main reason why a lot of people suffer from a stroke and even worst to a heart attack. So, if you are an individual who has a heart problem, you can eat meat but this kind of meat is suitable for you.

Q: Can you eat the deer meat after catching/ killing it? 

A: For hunters, especially if they are in the wild they would choose to clean the meat right away for them to consume. Yes, this is the answer to this question. You can actually eat after killing the deer so that you can taste the most flavorful meat as it is fresh. 

Final Thoughts 

To have a huge food at home might be a problem. You need to think about how not to waste all of it. The reason why different methods of preserving foods are discovered before and until now. Through this food will not spoil and you can maximize well. Various kinds of meat are the foods that you want to preserve especially deer meats. 

The success of any chosen preserving process depends on the season, temperature, location, container, and the ingredients you will be using. To avoid any spoiling of the meat, you need to remember considering this thing may help you a lot. 

When you decide to store your food like meat, you don’t need to worry about the near season, especially if winter is fast approaching. We all know that it might be tiring looking for the foods during this season. So, whenever you have a preserved venison, you can cook this all for the rest of the season. As well as during the dry season, where you can do more outdoor activities, preserved foods can be your foods for trips and adventures.

So, if you think you would travel with the whole family, try to preserve foods!

From the above method on how to preserve deer meats, which one would you prefer?