Funny tasting elk...spoiled?

[Fastass350]

The bull I shot this year was gutted and quartered right away and hung in the shop in about three hours from the time of kill. It hung at upper 30s at night to low 40s even high 40s during the day for 8 days. I never noticed anything when cuttin and wrapping but the last two packages I have cooked has that sour smell and bite to it. I'm contemplating just having it all made into summer sausage but I'm not sure that will mask the taste. Anyone ever had experience in doing this?

Thanks
Chris

[jrebel]

The temps it hung in would not scare me.  I don't quite know why you would have hung it for 8 days though  .  Hard to tell unless I could taste it.....  Spoiled game is almost unbearable as far as the smell goes and the taste is not far behind. 

[Goldeneye]

  If your meat did sour the first to go would be the hams, where most of your round steak/roasts etc come from.  That's the thickest meat and most susceptible to spoilage.  I would try some shoulder steak and back strap to see if the taste is there as well.

  I agree at this point there really much you can do to mask the taste of spoiled meat.  Hopefully some of it is OK.

[kckrawler]

You pop the piss sack and not get it cleaned out??? I've heard that will spoil the meat...

[washelkhunter]

Looks like you wont need dog food for awhile.   

[kentrek]

did you lump it all in the freezer at once after wrapping ??

[Sitka_Blacktail]

  If your meat did sour the first to go would be the hams, where most of your round steak/roasts etc come from.  That's the thickest meat and most susceptible to spoilage.  I would try some shoulder steak and back strap to see if the taste is there as well.

  I agree at this point there really much you can do to mask the taste of spoiled meat.  Hopefully some of it is OK.

Any chance your freezer lost power recently or the door got left ajar?

[JLS]

When you cut and wrapped it, did you spread it out evenly in the freezer or did you stack it in there?  Meat takes a while to freeze if you don't leave room around it for good air circulation.  When I am putting mine in after butchering I like to single layer as much as I can, then after it's frozen I'll sort it into boxes in the freezer.  When I do burger i don't stack the freezer bags more than two or three deep.

Edit:  I guess a short answer to your question is yes it can spoil in the freezer.

[turkeyfeather]

I agree I would maybe try another cut. Did you just recently start eating some of it? When did you shoot it?

[rtspring]

You got a bad one!!

In all my years of elk hunting I have had one elk that we could not eat. It was a spike shot on the eastside. I have a father who is anal about cleaning game. it was cold out and everything was perfect in the cleaning. got it back from the butcher and we threw it all away....  only one Ive ever had that was horrible tasting....

[turkeyfeather]

You got a bad one!!

In all my years of elk hunting I have had one elk that we could not eat. It was a spike shot on the eastside. I have a father who is anal about cleaning game. it was cold out and everything was perfect in the cleaning. got it back from the butcher and we threw it all away....  only one Ive ever had that was horrible tasting....

That was the other thing that I was thinking. Would something like hoof rot cause this?

[bobcat]

You got a bad one!!

In all my years of elk hunting I have had one elk that we could not eat. It was a spike shot on the eastside. I have a father who is anal about cleaning game. it was cold out and everything was perfect in the cleaning. got it back from the butcher and we threw it all away....  only one Ive ever had that was horrible tasting....

In this case, you really don't know the bad meat came from the elk you brought in.

Or, if it was the same elk, maybe it hung too long at the butcher shop before they butchered it.

[kentrek]

You got a bad one!!

In all my years of elk hunting I have had one elk that we could not eat. It was a spike shot on the eastside. I have a father who is anal about cleaning game. it was cold out and everything was perfect in the cleaning. got it back from the butcher and we threw it all away....  only one Ive ever had that was horrible tasting....

That was the other thing that I was thinking. Would something like hoof rot cause this?

ive heard yes and no..

a guy brought over an elk with a old broken leg (years old) and that quarter actually stunk..we tossed some of it but the guy took an ate alot of the "smelly" meat..he said it tasted just fine...btw the rest of the elk smelled fine

[Sitka_Blacktail]

Read the OP again. He butchered it himself, didn't take it to a shop so he definitely got his own meat. Said he didn't notice anything when cutting and wrapping.

[turkeyfeather]

I'm almost thinking you just got a sick animal. That sucks!

[JCKILLSHOT]

You got a bad one!!

In all my years of elk hunting I have had one elk that we could not eat. It was a spike shot on the eastside. I have a father who is anal about cleaning game. it was cold out and everything was perfect in the cleaning. got it back from the butcher and we threw it all away....  only one Ive ever had that was horrible tasting....

In this case, you really don't know the bad meat came from the elk you brought in.

Or, if it was the same elk, maybe it hung too long at the butcher shop before they butchered it.

Sitka I believe bobcat is talking about rt's post it says right there got it back from the butcher.

[buckhorn2]

If the meat was all right one thing you can do is soak it in milk overnight it can help take the gamey taste out.

[Hunterman]

Bone sour meat will stink up your house in a hurry. I too have killed a bad tasting elk once. Well it just didn't taste like the rest of the elk I've killed. It was a cow from Idaho. Anyway, the way you butchered it sounded fine. How did you thaw the meat out? I've known people who would thaw out some meat in the refer. and get busy with life and go to cook it a couple of days longer than they intended to, only to find out that it tasted "funny". Maybe not spoiled, but with a refer taste. You know like the skin on ice cream. On a sider note, maybe keep an eye on your freezer. If its a frost free keep an eye on the heating eliment, it may be getting too warm for to long..

Hunterman(Tony)

[Bob33]

If the "high 40s" were really the "low 50s" for eight days, then I believe it could spoil somewhat in those temperatures. Hanging temperatures should not exceed 40 degrees.

Hoof rot can be a cause of inedible meat but I think you would have observed that when it was killed.

[billythekidrock]

I agree with a few of the previous posts and would bet that it is a combination of things.

Hanging for 8 days is way too long if you can't precisely control the temperature and the hams will hold heat for a long time. If the packages were lumped or stacked in the freezer and not laid out in a single layer than it can take up to 3 days to freeze solid.

Have you tried any other cuts? 

[Fastass350]

Thanks everyone for your responses and input. To answer a couple questions;
It was thawed and cooked the same day, left in the burger bags to thaw. The only other cuts I have tried was some steak a couple weeks ago.  That's when I first noticed a weird flavor.
I didn't have a chance to watch the elk before the shot so I couldn't answer anything on hoof rot. If I could find the hooves would I be able to visibly tell?  The only shot I had when I dropped it was about 8 inches forward of the tail on the backbone. So it broke his back. Then a kill shot in the head after he went 20 yards and layed down.
I think it was all lumped in the freezer, my girlfriend unloaded it and put it in so there's a huge chance it just got tossed in.

[billythekidrock]

If you were to make sausage out of it I would start with a half batch.. about 12 lbs. Fry some up as soon as it is mixed and see if it is tolerable.

[steen]

You got a bad one!!

In all my years of elk hunting I have had one elk that we could not eat. It was a spike shot on the eastside. I have a father who is anal about cleaning game. it was cold out and everything was perfect in the cleaning. got it back from the butcher and we threw it all away....  only one Ive ever had that was horrible tasting....

  Are you sure u got YOUR elk back?

[kentrek]

I think it was all lumped in the freezer, my girlfriend unloaded it and put it in so there's a huge chance it just got tossed in.

could be the issue...maybe try some of the meat in the very back next time maybe put a divider after each row of packages  to let air move around abit 

[Tman]

Keep checking packages from different parts of the animal. Before I started doing all my own butchering, I had a butcher leave some glands in some of my roasts, steaks, and presumably grind in some.of my burger.  every once in a while ide get a package that just wasnt right.

[RadSav]

Was the 30-40 degrees at night and high 40's during the day the temperature inside the shop or the temperature outside the shop?  Did you have a fan moving the air around or was it stagnant?  The enzymes break down the muscles within 5 days at a maintained 40 degrees with plenty of circulation.  On an elk quarter without good circulation it would be nearly impossible to bring the internal temp down to 40 after a long day of warmer temps in the shop.  Especially if those were outside temps the meat would not have reached the level of refrigeration one would need to hang an elk for eight days.  Smaller cuts of meat maybe, but I'd be leaning toward the possibility you had some bone sour if not a lot of bone sour in those hind quarters.

If you had shot an elk with hoof rot you would have immediately noticed it when field dressing.  The infection is quite putrid.  I am about to burn my J107 pack after more than 12 months of repeated washing with Simple Green, Orange Juice and dog shampoo for skunk spray.  It's NASTY!!!

The only time I let an elk hang for more than 4 days is when the temps at the meat are consistently in the 30's.  Eight days is way too long if you ask me.  I had a bear spoil in three days hanging in the shade outside in temps between 45 & 50.  My steaks might be a little tougher these days, but I still enjoy them.  Three days to the freezer max for me now.

Live and learn.  Sorry to hear about the spoilage.  But at least you will be sure to have good eating next time.

[Austrian Hunter]

You got a bad one!!

In all my years of elk hunting I have had one elk that we could not eat. It was a spike shot on the eastside. I have a father who is anal about cleaning game. it was cold out and everything was perfect in the cleaning. got it back from the butcher and we threw it all away....  only one Ive ever had that was horrible tasting....

  Are you sure u got YOUR elk back?

BINGO