Thread: Abnormalities in the meat

Originally Posted by Curti

Hey guys. Was processing a stag and found these in it around the rear legs. Anything to worry about?

Cheers in advance.

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What are the black spots on deer meat?
Hemal nodes are not indicative of a disease process. Hemal nodes are pea-sized spherical structures embedded within the fatty tissues of the body. Hemal nodes are usually maroon or black and may be either solid or fluid-filled. They resemble a very small blood clot and are often misinterpreted as tumors or bird shot What is a hemal node in deer?
Hemal nodes are normal anatomical structures that can worry hunters who don't know what they are. These nodes are important filtering organs for animals' circulatory systems, and they are typically trimmed out with excess fat during processing

yeah have seen these numerous times and just discarded the piece - turns out to be harmless - you will know when you see real nastys - we shot a hind in the Waiau around 1978 and her lungs were a strange pale colour absolutely stuck to her ribs and small for lungs - and she would have weighed only 30lb live weight - just skin over bones - left where she was - what the hell was that - TB maybe - still regret not looking at her teeth as she may just have been granny about to fall off her perch