Pus Pockets and the Like

[rtraverdavis]

I killed a cow elk this past season, and when I was skinning her (gutless method) something happened. When I got to the inner part of one of the hind quarters, a jet of fowl smelling, chunky, beige liquid shot out from where I'd just cut, and blew all over my legs and feet. She wasn't gut shot, and I had not pierced the abdomen with my knife. I'd say a good half gallon or so of this liquid came out. Maybe more.

After wiping down and recomposing myself, I went back to skinning the area. It appeared as though this was some sort of crazy infection. The tissue up against the hide and meat of the inner thigh was thick and gelatinous, but the nastiness didn't extend through the muscle membranes themselves. The smell was so bad that I couldn't bring myself to go digging around the pocket that the liquid came out of to look for a source of infection, so I really have no idea what could have caused such an unholy mess. Nor do I have pictures of it, as I just wanted to get the damn thing cleaned up and done with.

I was kind of worried that whatever the problem was that it would negatively effect the meat, but I've eaten a whole lot of it now and it's fine. So I'm wondering if anyone else has run into something like this. We're you able to determine the cause? Am I wrong about it being a giant infection? The bull I killed in 2018 had an infection on his lower leg, but it was nothing like this.

 

[Tradewind]

A small bull i shot a few years ago had the same thing. I figured he got speared in the back end after losing a fight during the rut.
He looked fine through the binos before i shot him

 

[rtraverdavis]

A small bull i shot a few years ago had the same thing. I figured he got speared in the back end after losing a fight during the rut.
He looked fine through the binos before i shot him

Yeah, same thing with this cow. Nothing appeared wrong--no limping or anything--while I watched her before the shot.

 

[Hunting Wife]

I’ve seen quite a few animals with things like you describe. In particular I remember a bison that had a nasty gore wound up under the inner thigh that was pretty much gangrenous. We knew we were dealing with a massive infection before we even got hands on him because you could smell it from 12 feet away. He wasn’t dead yet, but obviously wasn’t right so we euthanized and necropsied him. The muscle tissue was gray- like overcooked roast gray and he had gone septic.

The only really nasty one I’ve seen hunting was a Mule deer buck I shot. He was an old buck (we aged at 9+), cruising around looking rutty. Outwardly appeared normal. I was saving the cape but he was coming out whole so I cut to the brisket then reached up to remove heart/lungs. Immediately nothing felt right. Upon further examination, he had one of the worst pneumonia’s I’ve ever seen. Lung tissue was fibrous and consolidated, lungs and pericardial sac were adhered to each other and to the rib cage. There were abscesses and pus everywhere. I estimated he maybe had 10% normal lung tissue left. But the infection was so extensive, it had to be systemic. I doubt he would have survived the winter. I chose not to eat that one. Called the game warden and he disposed of the carcass.

 

[runningmt]

I killed a cow elk this past season, and when I was skinning her (gutless method) something happened. When I got to the inner part of one of the hind quarters, a jet of fowl smelling, chunky, beige liquid shot out from where I'd just cut, and blew all over my legs and feet. She wasn't gut shot, and I had not pierced the abdomen with my knife. I'd say a good half gallon or so of this liquid came out. Maybe more.

After wiping down and recomposing myself, I went back to skinning the area. It appeared as though this was some sort of crazy infection. The tissue up against the hide and meat of the inner thigh was thick and gelatinous, but the nastiness didn't extend through the muscle membranes themselves. The smell was so bad that I couldn't bring myself to go digging around the pocket that the liquid came out of to look for a source of infection, so I really have no idea what could have caused such an unholy mess. Nor do I have pictures of it, as I just wanted to get the damn thing cleaned up and done with.

I was kind of worried that whatever the problem was that it would negatively effect the meat, but I've eaten a whole lot of it now and it's fine. So I'm wondering if anyone else has run into something like this. We're you able to determine the cause? Am I wrong about it being a giant infection? The bull I killed in 2018 had an infection on his lower leg, but it was nothing like this.

Ha!

I thought you were going somewhere else with this post!

I truly don’t mean to be a jackass, but “Pus” only has one “S”

I got a kick out of this. Again, not trying to be judgmental.

 

[Tony Trietch]

I have found nasty pus filled wounds on a couple bulls and countless bucks. I have to believe fighting with pointy antlers causes the majority but vehicle collisions and just running through the timber can cause damage. I had a lead cow walk right up to me in a burn two years ago that got to where I could have touched her. When she realized what I was (I intentionally moved my hand so she wouldn't run me over), she spun so hard and fast that her head hit a burnt tree that was next to her. The wood from the impact exploded as she about knocked herself out. She staggered away but I can't imagine she was unscathed. I checked out the tree she had hit with her skull and it was damn near petrified. Hard as a rock.

 

[Deleted member 40728]

I shot a nice buck a few years back that had what appeared to be a cyst right on his shoulder. I knew it was there since I had several pictures of him and watched him frequently in the field. Well as luck would have it, that thing exploded with the impact of the bullet. It was like following a pus trail in the woods. I wanted to see what it really was and upon skinning it I noticed the pus pocket was only on the hide. Never affected the meat in that area even though I stayed clear of it. It was like a giant pimple. Pretty gross.

 

[JV842]

Worked at my uncle’s wild game processing shop n owned my own for close to 2 decades and have come across countless animals w infections and such. It is amazing what some animals survive through. The meat is generally fine away from infected area, if at all possible don’t cut into the infected area, if u do clean ur knife or change the blade. U can usually tell where the infected area is. But in all cases use ur best judgment on what is edible n what isn’t. Look, texture, n smell

 

[kwyeewyk]

I found an encapsulated pus pocket in the front shoulder of a buck, was able to cut it out without breaking it. After I was done processing I cut it open out of curiosity and inside was a broadhead with two blades left, never found the third blade. I've heard a story of a horse that was wounded out on range that sounded similar to the OP.

 

[mdeerjunkie]

I found one on the back leg on a jackrabbit I shot. Always wondered what it was, but guessed it was some sort of infection. I accidentally popped it, that was disgusting. It was horrible smelling, so I didn’t end up eating the rabbit.

 

[diamond hitch]

We have killed a cow and a bull with muzzy broadheads totally encapsulated in scar tissue. Thankfully there was no infection but certainly a sizable disruption to cutting steaks. It tends to make you cautious while you are probing around with your hands.

 

[deer_shooter]

One of the antelope does I shot last year had a oozing hole in her thigh. After getting the hide off, I was able to cut whole mess out - about the size of a tennis ball. There was no smell and the sounding tissue looked normal. I shot a whitetail buck years ago that have 'growth' stuck to his ribcage close to his spine. When I cut it open there was a muzzy broadhead in there.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

Please no one make this a picture thread.

 

[Wy067]

She could've gotten cut by a bulls hooves when he went for the mount or gored by an antler if she wasn't going where he wanted. Infection followed.

 

[Salmonchaser]

Found 1/2 dozen broad heads, six inches of arrow once, a bunch of .22 bullets in various deer and elk. killed a bull once with a .30 cal. bullet stuck in the heart tissue. Not all had associated infections. Amazing what those critters survive.

 

[runningmt]

Please no one make this a picture thread.

I second this!

 

[rtraverdavis]

Ha!

I thought you were going somewhere else with this post!

I truly don’t mean to be a jackass, but “Pus” only has one “S”

I got a kick out of this. Again, not trying to be judgmental.

Ah jeez! Up too late when I posted this. Thank you!

 

[runningmt]

Ah jeez! Up too late when I posted this. Thank you!

Thanks for the laugh!

 

[Stone_Ice_1]

I lost a half of a hind quarter to this 2 years ago. It showed no signs of being injured. But when processing it pretty much the same thing you described happened. When it was hanging in the garage I could smell something that was a little off. When I popped that puss pocket it was obvious that was the smell. It is gross.

Not sure what happened to the animal. It was obvious something had "poked" it from the injury. No idea if it was an arrow, another horn, a stick or who knows. But if it has all this puss in it, it obviously happened well before you shot it, sometimes months.

 

[LuketheDog]

This thread is worthless without pics!