Found after 2 days, meat worth anything?

[Pete112288]

So I am beside myself. I thought I had a clean miss on a bull 2 days ago. Driving rains made blood non existent. I looked for the rest of the day found no elk, no blood. Looked on the bottom of every fern and leaf I came across. Well, felt like every one. Grid searched the area. He had not acted hit and took off with the herd. Saw the herd later that day in the timber and thought I saw the bull I shot at. Turns out not. I was looking for a good spot to answer nature's call and found him this morning. I had walked within 20 yards of him multiple times. He was in a slight depression, overgrown with ferns. Is there any chance that any of the meat is still salvagable? Its been in the 40s until today. But I know that does not make up for the hide still being on and guts in. Turns out it was a very high hit, nicking the lungs. Not how I had envisioned my 15 bull elk points being used. But I punched the tag, done hunting. And its a long pack, so if its a loss, id rather not pack all the meat out. Is there a way to tell if it is still good if I cut into the meat?

[jrebel]

If the meat is bad, you will smell it and it will have a greenish tinge to it.  start skinning it and look at the meat....you may be pleasantly surprised. 

[rainshadow1]

Have to investigate with knife and nose, quite a bit might be ok. Contact with guts or wound might need careful inspection. 40's is borderline, so you might have plenty to process.

[HntnFsh]

Im betting most of it will be good. Especially at those temps!

[Tbar]

It's very likely spoiled.  With the hide on outside temps matter less and less.  They have an internal body temperature of 104 with very robust insulation.  Look at the meat,  as said it'll have an off color and off smell.  Bone sour happens even when skinned right away especially in the neck areas and hind quarters.  Another indicator is the soft tissue it will often begin to decay. I've salvaged a lot of animals and have never saved an elk after two days.  Best of luck and I would teach out to the local enforcement and give them a full rundown.   

[Blacktail Sniper]

It may well be too late, but as others have said, your nose will be the biggest indicator.

Also, how the animal was laying may benefit as well, say if it was on its right side, gravity will send all the fluids & blood in that direction to settle & pool leaving the left or upper side somewhat drained and possibly fine, so definitely worth the time to do some investigating.

As an additional level of caution, consider when cooking any that you salvage, cooking it to well done if steaks or just grind it all into burger/sausage so it gets completely cooked all the way through.

Good luck, let us know what you decide and how it turns out!


 

[The scout]

I would be surprised if it was still good.

[PsoasHunter]

It could go either way. You owe it to the animal to at least start skinning and check it. Hopefully you're pleasantly surprised.

[jrebel]

A lot will also depend on how quickly it died.  Where was the shot?  If it was a less than ideal shot, it may have been alive for some or most of the time it took to find it.  Point being.....if it was alive for the first day, the meat will have a better chance of being fine.  Can't go solely on when the shot took place and when the animal was recovered. 

[Kingofthemountain83]

Cut out one back strap and check it out... The parts that spoil first are going to have more bone... It keeps the heat in... The front shoulders first... Ribs... Neck... Rear quarters... But 40's for 48 hours, it may actually only be dead 24 hours... 

[millerwheeler]

I agree if that stomach hasn’t been opened very unlikely, but investigate  could be wrong and surely hope I am

[boneaddict]

You will smell it.   As stated, right on the border but likely bone soured

[Fidelk]

I've shot deer and field dressed (guts/esophagus) them pretty quickly. Then might have taken a couple hours or more to drag them out of the woods and skin them out. So, maybe 3-4 hours since they were killed. Once the skin started coming off......I would see a substantial amount of steam being released. Outside area was cold but it wasn't getting to that residual heat under the skin.

[blackveltbowhunter]

Low odds, but I would personally check. The topmost area farthest from bone is your litmus. If that passes the sniff test keep going till you hit sour.

Congrats! It sux when it doesnt go as planned, and this rain makes it so difficult to track anything. A recovery and closure is much better than a wasted critter. Sounds like you put in excellent effort and concluded the hunt. Solid work.

[Threewolves]

The  neck and the thickest parts of the meat around the bones in the rear quarters go first...

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[jamesfromseattle]

Give the anthropological papers on rotten meat a quick google. Not saying you should eat it if it's rotten, but red meat is surprisingly durable.

If it passes the smell test, I'd eat it.

[Doublelunger]

Trust your nose. The side that was on the ground will go bad first. You might get lucky with saving some meat from the side that was up.

[gutsnthegrass]

Trust your nose. The side that was on the ground will go bad first. You might get lucky with saving some meat from the side that was up.

This, and I’ve found that if it’s sour, there will be some discoloration in the deepest joints (hips). If it passes the sniff test, you might be ok. The side he was laying on would have held the most heat.

[BA Mongor]

Bad shots happen and animals are sometimes lost. What I don't understand is, why would anybody who found their animal not start cutting into it immediately to see what can be salvaged, versus going to a forum and asking for input about the meat being good? I read he didn't want to pack it out if it was bad, I get that, and it's actually pretty stand-up to tag the animal after finding it (2) days later, but most everybody can tell when something is rotting.

Interesting

[MADMAX]

Well ?

Did you salvage anything ?

[Fidelk]

Well ?

Did you salvage anything ?

MADMAX......with our digestive tracts, we would have eaten all of it.....right?

[JWBINX]

Cut out one back strap and check it out... The parts that spoil first are going to have more bone... It keeps the heat in... The front shoulders first... Ribs... Neck... Rear quarters... But 40's for 48 hours, it may actually only be dead 24 hours... 

Good advice there!!

[MADMAX]

Well ?

Did you salvage anything ?

MADMAX......with our digestive tracts, we would have eaten all of it.....right?

There’s no “We”

[Pete112288]

No good meat. I thought the up side front quarter and a little other meat was good. But by the time I drove home the game bags were green, like bright neon green. Took the meat out and it looked like someone injected it all with green dye.

[MADMAX]

No good meat. I thought the up side front quarter and a little other meat was good. But by the time I drove home the game bags were green, like bright neon green. Took the meat out and it looked like someone injected it all with green dye.

That’s a shame but kudos for tagging it

[addicted1]

Bummer, those ferns can really hide animals. Hate it when deer die in them if the blood trail is bad, you won’t see them until you are stand in on top of them.

[lewy]

Bummer but it does happen, even when you do everything to avoid making a marginal shot. Good news is, it happens less with experiences like this one, you will learn from it and be even better in the future.

[NWBREW]

Yeah, two days is too long. That’s too bad.  I killed a bull once right towards the end of shooting light. Dropped down in the twenties during the night. Found the bull first thing in the morning and lost both hind quarters and the neck.

[lewy]

Yeah it doesn't take long for an elk to sour. To much mass, bone structure and hide.

[Bob33]

Elk have remarkable insulation.

https://cowboystatedaily.com/2025/12/08/montana-photographer-captures-daring-elk-rescue-near-bozeman/

[C-Money]

Sorry that happened...Congrats on your bull...How big was he?

[HillHound]

Sorry that happened...Congrats on your bull...How big was he?

He posted a pic in the 2025 elk thread.

That sucks but if you hunt long enough it will happen. I shot a deer with my bow during a thunderstorm. Hit looked good but with the monsoon I could not find blood and the tracks I had quickly washed away. Found him the next day 75 yards away in a hawthorn patch I had done circles through and around with a bear eating him.