Warm weather hunting - bad venison?

Got two doe last weekend. Field dresses and hung from a tree. No way to keep them cool (ice had melted - poor planning).

I’ve had venison hang above 40 degrees in the past with no issues, but this got me thinking. Is the venison likely to be fine?

24+ hours hanging once field dressed then 2+ hour trip to processor.

 

Anytime it's above 39 degree I cut up within a few hours. I never bring the whole deer to the butcher. Keep the back straps and the rest gets turned into hamburger. Had a buddy who let his deer sit above 40 and the meat was rotten

 

Probably should have skinned and quartered. It’s taken me a couple early September days to get elk quarters to the cooler before. No loss of meat.

 

Just talked with a local chef who is trained and works with venison. He put my mind at ease that the meat will be fine. In the future, I'll still plan to take a larger cooler and more ice. Ideally, the temps during hunting trips would be below 40 and we wouldn't have to worry about it!

 

Not nearly as much mass in a deer vs an elk, but getting everything as cool as possible as fast as possible is key. As Jason said, skin and quarter so that the deep/thick spots get some air and some cooling too. You did get it hanging, and that's important. I've seen elk spoiled by people that left them laying on the side/back even in temps near freezing - there's a lot of mass in that back/shoulder area that becomes insulated by the fur, fat, and ground under it.

 

24 hours hanging at what temp?

 

I process my own so I skin, quarter, bag, and put on ice as soon as I get back to camp. I never let venison sit in water. I put frozen gallon milk jugs on the bottom of the cooler and open drain. I also never field dress a deer. I dump the guts in bucket after skinning. I have LEDs in my cargo light and have skinned and quartered a deer using them.

 

How do you sharpen the LEDs?

 

50-60

 

They are self sharpening

 

24 hours at 50-60 wouldn’t concern me a bit. Get the hide off and hang it in a shaded area with as much air circulation as you can get. Honestly 48 hours at that temp wouldn’t have me overly concerned.

 

I agree with this 100%. Hunting in the desert southwest, it is rarely lower than 40 degrees at night let alone during the day...skin it, hang it in the shadiest tree you can find, and hope lots of air movement. Just my $0.02