Feature Articles
Deer hunters should keep food safety
in their sights
Eileen Yager, Communications Officer, Extension & Ag Information, University of Missouri, yagere@umsystem.edu
Deer hunters devote hours planning for the hunt, scouting out the ideal spot and then spending hours in a stand waiting for a deer. If food safety is not part of those plans, however, hunters might as well have stayed out of the woods.
Hunters who train their sights on a few simple food
safety steps will end up with a freezer full of venison
instead of a breeding ground for food-borne illnesses,
according to a meat scientist at the University of
Missouri-Columbia.
Andrew Clarke, an MU associate professor of food
science, said the key is cooling the carcass as quickly
as possible.
“Getting the carcass cooled is really simple,” said
Clarke. “Hunters can purchase some big bags of ice and
pack the chest cavity, or they can break up the carcass
and pack the parts in a cooler filled with ice.
“I know from experience, there have been some pretty
warm hunting seasons,” said Clarke, who is a hunter
himself. The forecast for the first week of firearms
hunting season, which begins Nov. 12, is for mild, sunny
weather.
Hunters should have clean, potable water to clean the
cavity. Clarke said hunters also can use an organic
rinse containing 2 percent acetic acid to reduce
bacterial contamination. The rinse can be made by
diluting 2 parts of distilled white vinegar in five
parts of clean water.
Deer should be field dressed on site, and hunters should
examine the animal’s overall condition, said Sarah
Janicek, an extension associate in food safety with MU
Extension nutrition education programs.
Janicek said the meat should be firm, deep
reddish-purple and free of blood spots -- a sign of
previous gunshot wounds. Deer that lookly sickly or
behave abnormally should be reported to a conservation
agent, who can arrange for a replacement permit.
Hunters also should examine the organs for parasites
while field dressing the deer. Clarke recommends wearing
rubber gloves while handling the deer “to limit exposure
to the small critters” -- a precaution against
wildlife-borne diseases and parasites.
Though there are few official reports of food-borne
illnesses caused by deer, Clarke suspects the number of
cases are underreported, since many hunters process
their own meat.
“Most people don’t get sick. But if it’s your deer, it’s
your problem,” Clarke said, which is why he recommends
taking the deer a commercial locker on the same day it’s
killed. “They can get the hide off and get it into a
cooler.”
But for many hunters, processing their deer is as much a
part of the experience as the hunt itself. Clarke said
hunters should take great care in processing the carcass
to prevent spoilage.
Hang the deer and allow it drain, checking the cavity
for any pockets where water may have collected during
the rinsing process, he said.
He recommends that the deer be aged for no more than a
week, especially if aging outdoors where conditions are
poorly controlled.
Weather conditions can have the most impact on the
meat’s quality. “Parking it in the sun on a 70-degree
day is not a good idea,” he said. “If the temperature is
too high, you could have some bacterial growth.”
Ideally, daytime temperatures should be in the 40s and
50s in the shade and in the 20s or low 30s at night.
‘You can even have a little temperature fluctuation
during the day,” Clarke said, “because the carcass will
retain some of the cooler temperature from at night.”
By keeping food safety in mind this deer season, hunters
will be rewarded for those long hours in the woods with
fresh venison on the table.
Resources:
Andrew Clarke,
clarkea@missouri.edu
Sarah Janicek, Former Nutrition Extension Associate
Last Updated 10/25/2007
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