Monkey Spanker
Well-Known Member
If you shoot enough deer, then occasionally it goes a bit wrong as it did for me tonight! Whilst it was a perfectly humane shot, it was slightly messy! I get paid to shoot in this particular wood for contract culling and I'm under pressure to reduce muntjac numbers, so basically any humane opportunity is taken, regardless of carcass damage. So here we have a slightly oblique chest shot which has ruptured the Rhumen on exit. Small deer - 25.06 with CBT 115 grain Ballistic Tip!
So, what would you do to get the best out of this? Obviously this cannot ever make its way into the food chain via a game dealer, but why waste it? It can still be used for personal consumption or dog food if nothing else. If you gralloch it, it will be very messy and will stink out your chiller and spoil very quickly.
There is an alternative!
Whilst it is still warm, hang it up. This can be best done in the field whilst very fresh and not stink out your larder!
Plug both holes with kitchen roll.
Skin deer as you would normally without opening the abdominal cavity.
Remove shoulders, loin fillets and then haunches as best you can.
You should find that you are able to recover almost all of the useable meat other than the internal tenderloin.
This last photo shows the oblique angle of about 45 degrees, which even though I pulled it forward slightly, was not enough to avoid the rhumen! If the animal had been stood the other way around I may have got away with a liver shot though. Once the meat has been saved it is obviously wise to check as many lymph glands as you would normally to ensure that the carcass is fit to eat. As you can see though, very little waste and not much mess! The meat can be matured in the fridge if required as it would if still in the skin. Worth carrying some food safe poly bags and a roll of kitchen roll in your vehicle maybe?
Waste not - want not!
MS
So, what would you do to get the best out of this? Obviously this cannot ever make its way into the food chain via a game dealer, but why waste it? It can still be used for personal consumption or dog food if nothing else. If you gralloch it, it will be very messy and will stink out your chiller and spoil very quickly.
There is an alternative!
Whilst it is still warm, hang it up. This can be best done in the field whilst very fresh and not stink out your larder!
Plug both holes with kitchen roll.
Skin deer as you would normally without opening the abdominal cavity.
Remove shoulders, loin fillets and then haunches as best you can.
You should find that you are able to recover almost all of the useable meat other than the internal tenderloin.
This last photo shows the oblique angle of about 45 degrees, which even though I pulled it forward slightly, was not enough to avoid the rhumen! If the animal had been stood the other way around I may have got away with a liver shot though. Once the meat has been saved it is obviously wise to check as many lymph glands as you would normally to ensure that the carcass is fit to eat. As you can see though, very little waste and not much mess! The meat can be matured in the fridge if required as it would if still in the skin. Worth carrying some food safe poly bags and a roll of kitchen roll in your vehicle maybe?
Waste not - want not!
MS