Opinion on"bloodshot" meat damage on animals taken with body shots

[knipmes]

I do not know if this matter has been discussed before. If so my apologies.

I would like to get the opinion of other hunters on the topic of "bleeding" a animal as soon as possible after it has been shot

Some background to my experience regarding this matter

I am 70 yrs old and have hunted since my teens. I also managed a game / hunting farm for 16 yrs. Experience with bow and rifle hunting

I am aware that there are many causes for bloodshot meat such as high impact velocity, fragile bullets, wounding shots, etc In my view one of the factors that causes the extensive bleeding in the meat, tissues, etc is the time that lapses between the shot and the "bleeding" of the animal

Some hunters do not cut the throat/ arteries of the animal to bleed it at all. In most cases this results in a lot of the blood going into the tissue around the wound channel. The distance a animal travels after taking a body shot also influences the amount of blood that seeps into the surrounding tissue.

As far as I am concerned the animal must be bled asap. When it it is skinned the shoulders must be cut loose between the rib cage and the shoulders so that blood can run out. The "jelly like" blood must also be scraped off with a knife. The result is you will have a carcass with a lot less apparent meat damage to take home

[carlp]

Informative.



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[driepootx]

Opening up the carcass has its downs as well. Flies, dust and other matter can now settle on the meat. An effective cover is required. Thinking of the "wrap a buck" carrying bag or similar to keep the foreign matter away.

[Messor]

You sit with one of 4 scenarios.

You take a headshot, the heart still pumps and most of the blood is drained through the head wound.
You take a lung shot, the heart still pumps and most of the blood collects in the chest cavity.
You take a heart shot, depending on the damage to the individual chambers you have nothing pumping the blood through the artery system, cutting is ineffective.
You hit a non vital, in which case you screwed up and cannot compare the scenario.

The problem with bloodshot is the effect is mainly the rupturing of blood vessels, blood doesn't flow easily into tissue, so like water it will follow the path of least resistance, which is usually exposed arteries in the primary wound path, or the organs that was hit.

Hence cutting, may or may not achieve anything, depends how well the hunter knows the anatomy and workings of the animal he shot.
And sad to say, most hunters does not.

[Zuku]

The old Ooms on wh'os farms I began to hunt in my first few years always stated "cut the throat and cut the balls". Most of the butchers that gives presentations also stated drain the blood as quick as possible. I think in hot weather it is important to drain as quick as possible and remove the insides to prevent contamination of meat.

[Ds J]

Interesting topic. For many years I also believed in cutting the throat until I started thinking about it in the way Messor explained. I saw the large quantities of blood in the thorax after a heart/lung shot and concluded that the animals died of blood loss. What is the point of cutting the throat if bleeding happened internally?

I have shot two stomach shots in my life where I nicked or severed the large blood vessels running beneath the vertebrae- the animals bled out completely and I had two clean carcasses to take home.

We try to hang out the carcass for seven to ten days if possible. The meat ripened well .

[jdpretorius]

As many if us I was instructed te same by the old ooms, also to try and elevate the back legs to assist with "bleeding" it. The reason given for this is that the animal's adrenal makes the meat taste soapy.

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[Ds J]

The meat of a wounded and chased animal looks and tastes different than the meat of a cleanly shot animal.

Bleeding a traumatised animal does not help much.

[jdpretorius]

The meat of a wounded and chased animal looks and tastes different than the meat of a cleanly shot animal.

Bleeding a traumatised animal does not help much.

Have to agree with you.
So I'm not realy convinced that bleeding makes much of a difference in that regard but I suppose you realy do not have any thing to lose ether.

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[SBB]

I don't bleed an animal and my steaks taste pretty tastey and tender.

Preparation in the coldroom and kitchen is where tablefair quality arises.

Adrenalin in an animal is by far the biggest contributor to gamey tough meat than anything else imo.