Delayed gralloch

[John Gryphon]

A stalked stag in two halves.

Oh adding that the face paint is black ash from the camp fire,we didn't have face masks in those days (most important)

 

[baguio]

If I'm sitting up a high seat for 2 hours in the winter I'm not getting down until it's too dark to shoot. Any deer shot during those 2 hours will be gralloched at the end so some may have sat for nearly 2 hours. Never had any issues at all.

 

[Mungo]

Sounds like what we really need is a controlled experiment. Head shot deer, left different lengths of time in identical conditions.

Assessed blind in a larder by someone who wasn’t involved with the shooting and gralloching.

 

[Mungo]

I think there’s likely to be a big difference in outcome between head shot and chest shot. Head shot, the gastrointestinal system remains sealed, and while it will keep the body warmer than is ideal, there shouldn’t be much (or any) movement of bacteria out into the surrounding meat. The membranes are waterproof, and until they start breaking down, should contain the microbes. So it probably all depends on how quickly it takes the membranes to deteriorate to the point that bacteria start leaking through.

 

[VSS]

If I'm sitting up a high seat for 2 hours in the winter I'm not getting down until it's too dark to shoot. Any deer shot during those 2 hours will be gralloched at the end so some may have sat for nearly 2 hours. Never had any issues at all.

That would be normal practice, I would have thought?
No-one would be daft enough to climb down for every deer shot, surely?
And in the case of a group cull, leaving the highseat before the end of the session would probably be forbidden anyway, on safety grounds.

 

[jthyttin]

The membranes are waterproof, and until they start breaking down, should contain the microbes.

How do you think the nutrients get harvested (sorry for silly wording, couldn't come up with better one) in the digestive system? Your guts are not a pile of garden hose where foodstuff travels and magiically gives the nutrients away.

I've let myself be told, that the transfer of microbes/bacteria/whatever starts quite immediately after death. On the other hand, if delaying the gralloch several hours would be some kind of major problem, things would be done differently in traditional European driven hunts. I rather do a suspended gralloch in clean environment, having running water etc. than a botched job on the field (here carcass is also more often than not skinned before hanging, and it's easier/cleaner to do before gralloch).

That said, I do understand that some UK stalkers are very well prepared for field gralloch. Essentially having converted their truck to "moving larder" (running water, hoist etc)

 

[Mungo]

How do you think the nutrients get harvested (sorry for silly wording, couldn't come up with better one) in the digestive system? Your guts are not a pile of garden hose where foodstuff travels and magiically gives the nutrients away.

No, guts aren’t a hose. But they’re also not a porous fabric sleeve. Nutrient transfer is active (the cells actively transport stuff they want, and keep out stuff they don’t). How do you think the vast microbial community that lives in the guts is kept there? It’s why any puncture to the guts is so dangerous: it lets the microbes out.

There will be a period after death when the stomach and gut lining retains the barrier capacity, and contains the microbes. I imagine it’s the rate at which this barrier deteriorates that determines how long it takes for the haunches and the rest of the carcass to get contaminated.