what was wrong with this deer
Contributors to this thread:Whitetail Deer
From: beckerbulldog
30-Oct-18
So this is picture of the lungs from the deer my daughter shot last night. I've never seen anything like this. Will the deer be safe to eat?
From: TrapperKayak
30-Oct-18
Did the projectile that killed the deer hit the lungs? Looks kind of like hemoraging. Or some kind of lung disease. I'd contact a wildlife forensics lab, or send a sample or the whole lung (frozen) to the forensics lab in Ashland, Oregon (call them and show them a pic first). Meanwhile process the meat soon, don't let it hang too long. Maybe just to be safe, cook it thoroughly? Just my two cents. Beautiful buck BTW, nice job young lady!
From: mountainman
30-Oct-18
How long has the deer been dead? The organs don't look too "fresh" in that picture?
Gun or bow shot?
Where was the hit?
Is it trapped coagulated blood?
From: Zbone
30-Oct-18
Personally, I wouldn't eat it... Something ain't right... Something different about the other colors in that area, meat muscle looks brownish, even the stomach color doesn't look right...
From: beckerbulldog
30-Oct-18
They deer died 45 minutes before that picture was taken. The deer turned just as she shot and she got lucky and hit the artery in the neck. It bled out from the neck wound. No damage to the lungs.
From: BowhuntKS
30-Oct-18
Could be bivine tuberculosis. Do not eat the deer. A Veterinarian might be able to diagnose for sure.
From: altitude sick
30-Oct-18
Does it have bubbles attached inside the rib cage. Maybe TB?
From: BowhuntKS
30-Oct-18
Just to clarify my poor typing, Bovine Tuberculosis
From: altitude sick
30-Oct-18
Was the deer a heavy smoker? Or work in the shipping industry. Mesothelioma?
From: beckerbulldog
30-Oct-18
No bubbles on the ribs!
From: Brotsky
30-Oct-18
I've never seen anything like that and I've been in the chest cavity of a lot of deer. Maybe take a sample to the DNR? They could probably assist in testing or analysis. Really hope it's nothing too crazy, be a shame if your girl couldn't enjoy eating that fine buck!
From: JL
30-Oct-18
I was speculating bTB also. I would not eat it until a DNR bio or vet looks at it and gives an opinion. In this specific case....it's only a deer...there are others out there.
From: beckerbulldog
30-Oct-18
I sent the picture to the MN DNR and they forwarded it to a wildlife health specialist and here is his reply - "What you are seeing is post mortem artifact. When the body dies it does strange things, and what you are seeing is blood filling up the lung tissue as the animal was dying. "
From: B2K
30-Oct-18
Although a slightly different scenario, back when I was in college my dad had shot a buck with a rifle and we noticed a lot of dark blood spots within the backstraps. I questioned my anatomy professor about it and he said that can happen when a deer is shot in the neck. I hadn't told him that was where he had shot it, but it was.
Good to hear your meat is useable!
From: standswittaknife
30-Oct-18
My dad is a USDA meat inspector and have emailed him this. He'll know what's going on.
From: TrapperKayak
30-Oct-18
I thought it looked like hemoraging too, that had clotted. The color looks weird in that pic making it not look like its fresh. Looks like the body cavity was opened and left for a while until it could be photographed, just an observation - don't know. I would still consider sending a sample into a wildlife path lab though. The rest of the lung looks particularly weird, not pink like it normally should, and not 'wet'. Maybe just the camera? The liver looks normal, that's a good indicator of good health.
From: Zbone
30-Oct-18
beckerbulldog - That explanation from the DNR is ridicules... Probably some kid just out of college... Would take more heed from folks on here than that DNR guy... No way I would risk getting sick of diseased... Not to go on and on about DNRs, but they sure make a lot of wrong/bad decisions...
From: Dakota
30-Oct-18
I would also suspect tuberculosis. Two years ago a local rancher had tuberculosis go through his cattle herd. They killed every bovine on the ranch and also tested many wildlife species in the area. Some of the flyers that the game and fish send to hunters that drew licenses in the area had pictures that looked quite similar to that. This is just a wild guess I would have it tested also
From: standswittaknife
30-Oct-18
From my ole man.. “It’s hard to tell by the photo. It is not tb. If nothing else is wrong other that the lungs it was from the shot in the area that got blood into the windpipe then inhaled the blood. Not that uncommon in the packing plants where they cut the neck right after being shot. But if some of the other organs are not normal then it is a systematic disease and not safe to eat”
From: Zbone
30-Oct-18
BTW, make sure you wash good after handling that meat/blood...
From: beckerbulldog
30-Oct-18
Standswithaknife
All the other organs look great. Deer seemed like it was in good health, round and fat.
From: TrapperKayak
30-Oct-18
Try this as an observation: does it smell bad, infected, or foul in any way? cut open one of those red areas and see if blood issues out, and take a whiff. Hoping you still have that lung and did not discard it yet.
From: drmike
30-Oct-18
That is not bovine TB! The lobular pattern would be conducive if the shot was in the neck, and then blood drained into the trachea and lungs. I would say without any other lesions in other organs it is OK to eat.
From: beckerbulldog
30-Oct-18
DRMIKE - The shot was in the neck.
From: standswittaknife
30-Oct-18
Just an FYI my dad has been a USDA Meat Inspector for over 30 years and a meat processor for over 40. We ran a wild game processing plant for many years in addition for ten years. This is in his wheelhouse. If the other organs are ok, eat the deer. He understands all diseases that hit these animals.
From: Kevin Dill
30-Oct-18
I think when you have a state wildlife health specialist AND a USDA meat inspector agreeing the deer is safe to eat....you're good to go.
From: Franklin
30-Oct-18
I agree with Trapper on the organs being exposed to air and taking on oxidation muting it`s "freshness" look.
From: TrapperKayak
30-Oct-18
JVT, no wonder Doc Holiday went to Glenwood Springs to die. That is just freaking pure evil looking. (
From: spike78
30-Oct-18
I agree with the blood settling in the lungs after death.
From: cervus
30-Oct-18
Looks like an interstitial pneumonia although you can't see much from the picture.
If you take a chunk of lung to your veterinarian, he/she can fix in formalin and ship to U of Minn diagnostic lab or SDSU if that's closer to you. They can examine under the scope to be sure if you're worried about it. Be about $40.
From: GLP
30-Oct-18
I would listen to standswithaknife. Greg
From: pointingdogs
30-Oct-18
DVM here. Does not appear to be Bovine TB. What concerns me is that the fat under the skin and the omentum covering the abdominal organs both "appear" to be "yellow" in color. I often see this as a sign of a general septicemia (infection that has spread through the blood into other organs). If it is truly yellow I would avoid eating the animal. It may just look like that due to the camera.
From: JMG
30-Oct-18
Regardless ... use it as a learning opportunity for you daughter and tell her this is do to the effects smoking cigarettes.
I would take a precautionary approach and not consume any of this animal. I don’t think anyone would fault you for safety reasons.
From: Zbone
30-Oct-18
Yeah I'm with pointingdogs, there's yellowing all around that area that should be white...
From: Brian M.
30-Oct-18
I would process it and keep it separate from other packages until a sample is tested. Can always toss the whole thing later, but may not be able to save it if waiting for results before processing.
From: bumpinblaze4x4
30-Oct-18
I'll give you my two cents; take it for what its worth (i'm a veterinarian). To me those look like normal lungs from a deceased animal that laid on that side; if both sides of the lungs (left and right) are like that then it would be a bit odd BUT usually the down side (if the animal died lying on its right side) those lung lobes will fill with blood (regardless of the shot placement).
What i see are normal lungs (pink) that are congested with post mortem blood. I second the comments by DNR and a few others. There is no reason to think that it is TB or that it is unsafe to eat the meat form this deer.
DCS
From: bumpinblaze4x4
30-Oct-18
dup
From: Missouribreaks
30-Oct-18
Necropsy, but likely too late. Anything else is mere speculation.
From: GF
30-Oct-18
“og - That explanation from the DNR is ridicules... Probably some kid just out of college... Would take more heed from folks on here than that DNR guy... ”
Here we go again - “don’t trust anyone who has studied the subject - just listen to whoever responds on the internet”.
No wonder things are so screwed up in this country.
If the animal appeared healthy, the meat smells fine and the DNR and the meat-packer/inspector agree that this is normal and easily explained as such....
From: KsRancher
30-Oct-18
I am not an expert by any means. But anytime i post a dead calf and see lungs that aren't pink it's because of pneumonia. Pretty easy to tell if lungs were working or not. Pink vs not pink
From: Thornton
30-Oct-18
It's fine. Eat it
From: Zbone
30-Oct-18
GF - Won't even respond.... I'm out... But will say after 50+ years of killing, gutting, and cutting up whitetails, there is no way I'd eat that meat even if it didn't have a tainted smell, but if person is that hungry for venison, it's only their health they're risking...
From: milnrick
31-Oct-18
I sent the pic to a Veterinarian friend in S TX.
He suspects it had pneumonia and recommended taking a sample of the lung tissue for culturing and a histopoligic exam to confirm what was wrong. He also recommend the deer NOT BE EATEN.
From: TD
31-Oct-18
Looks like blood clotted inside the lungs to me. Like they said above, he inhaled his own blood. We're just used to seeing the blood go the other way......Deer looked healthy, other organs healthy, meat looks good...... i'm eatin' it.
I think you'll find many if not most professionals are going to err on the CYA side of things. Depending, they can be held libel for their advise. Me.... I don't care if you sue me...... you don't want to own this business anyway.....
