question about spilled intestine contents

[Bumpkin74]

I'm not real experienced with deer but I 'harvested' one tonight on the way home from work. Someone hit a button buck near 35E and B, and a passerby called the cops. It was resting on the shoulder; the poor thing was alive but in misery. I pulled over and said I was interested in taking it home. The passerby left, the cops came, capped it, and gave me a tag. I took it home and gutted it. The stomach contents (all manner of grasses) was spilled all over the abdominal cavity. Some of this material has stuck to the hindquarters meat, despite washing with a garden hose. It's hanging in our back yard now, with hide on. The question is, can I keep the meat that's been exposed to the grass/stomach juices, if I carefully trim/fillet the outer layer off? Here's another question: How does the grinding work, in terms oif the product? If I don't have a casing on hand, are you forced to make patties? My wife has a grinder but no casings. Thanks for any replies. Dan

[JeffB]

After washing it down as you did just do a good job trimming the exposed meat and you'll be fine. If you keep the meat cool you can go to the store to get casing at a later time.

[Deitz Dittrich]

jeff has it right.

[Monkster]

Hey Bumpkin - I drove right past you going east on B. I think I saw an SUV and another car there so I didn't stop. I figured one of you were planning on getting the doe. St. Jude holds quite a few deer there, but I haven't seen the bucks that I used to.

A couple years ago a huge 10 point walked across Cty Rd B right at the RR tracks in front of my son and I. That could have been the point that my son was hooked!

[BobT]

Quote:

It's hanging in our back yard now, with hide on.

Get that hide off! You need to cool down the meat and the hide will hold that heat for a long time, especially in this weather.

[Black_Bay]

Cut off the tainted meat ASAP. Washing with water can actually make thing worse if you don't wipe the meat dry. It creates a great medium for bacteria.

[jeffreyd]

look for a post called eat or not to eat, i just posted a reply from the game and fish vet here in az about a similar thing. good luck

[Deitz Dittrich]

I did not see that it was still hanging with hide on.. Thats not good.. too warm today..

[Bumpkin74]

Thanks everyone. This is a good site for help and advice. I'm going to go for it. I'll keep the backstraps and probably grind the rest. The more I think about it, the more I think I'll have a butcher do it. I'm just a lowly turkey hunter who basically only knows breasts. Yes, I'm a breast man. All these cuts and special muscle groups; I think I need to see a video first... Monkster - small world - the power of the internet. Yes, that was me - right next to St. Jude Medical. I always look in that field on my way home. Didn't see any tonight, however.