Would these be ok to eat?

I was curious as well. A buddy of mine from Fredericksburg was sent these pictures. Blackbuck and Axis population is going to take a really big hit for a few years.

I'd sure cut and gut a couple to find out how bad they might be. Surely you can get something off of 'em so they don't go to waste.

If they froze to death and never thawed- I'm sure some, if not most, if the meat is edible.

But ide also be willing to bet dollars to donuts that it isn't that good tasting or tender. Think of the trauma that animal endured for hours/days before death. The hormones and adrenaline it's body was pumping to desperately try to stay alive...

I bet it's completely fine. If frozen solid, it could sit out for days in 40-50* temps and still be good.

That makes me sick to my stomach to see.

Such a waste. Horrible way to die.

Forget how tough Mother Nature is.

Should be fine. I've shot several that we let lay overnight in below freezing temperatures and when we found them the next day they weren't frozen and all the meat was good.

Not to bicker or start a pissing match, as any animal suffering is a terrible thing. I would argue this one isn't on Mother Nature since we brought the things in from India (not Africa as I originally stated, not a big exotics guy).

There's a reason animals come to be where they are, when we jack with that, there are sometimes consequences.

Damn. Hate to see that

MrWonderful said:

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Not to bicker or start a pissing match, as any animal suffering is a terrible thing. I would argue this one isn't on Mother Nature since we brought the things in from Africa.

There's a reason animals come to be where they are, when we jack with that, there are sometimes consequences.

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I think axis actually come from India

Crazy how he froze with his head up!!

Wait.... maybe that one's not dead??

Anyone seeing any deaths with whitetail deer?

Correct, but Axis aren't the only animals in the photos.

Chital, aka Axis, come from India.

Hate seeing animals suffer.

Just so I can learn something here, and understanding these are not native species and are wild animals, is there anything which could have been done to try and help prevent what happened?

Know they are not livestock and can't be herded to shelter, nor would they understand to use shelter if provided.

Not saying it wasn't done, but would having put out a "hot" feed been possible and given them more of a chance?

Sorry to see this happen like others. Certainly know livestock and native wildlife had a hard enough time.

This makes me wonder how well the whitetails did in my area (Marquez, Tx)

They're not used to negative 3 degree temps

MrWonderful said:

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Not to bicker or start a pissing match, as any animal suffering is a terrible thing. I would argue this one isn't on Mother Nature since we brought the things in from Africa.

There's a reason animals come to be where they are, when we jack with that, there are sometimes consequences.

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Don't think the animals had much say. Kinda like the kids in a divorce.

It's still sad to see anything die that way. Just my opinion

cupofjoe04 said:

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If they froze to death and never thawed- I'm sure some, if not most, if the meat is edible.

But ide also be willing to bet dollars to donuts that it isn't that good tasting or tender. Think of the trauma that animal endured for hours/days before death. The hormones and adrenaline it's body was pumping to desperately try to stay alive...

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I think this concern is overblown, and I don't mean that in a condescending way. Those hormones won't likely survive cooking and your stomach and be absorbed in any meaningful quantity unless you only ate hypothermia death sourced meat every meal for quite a long time.

I answered this earlier in the week. We have had axis and blackbuck on our ranch in Kimble county for many years. We have had some long lasting cold weather in the single digits and just above.
What we learned is the key is plenty of feed and to keep them moving.
We would take all our timed feeders and set them for feeding five to six times a day feeding protein pellets and corn mix.
We would also put out alfalfa hay and alfalfa cubes as alfalfa is a very hot feed.
We also put out tubs around the feeders and feed a decent horse and mule feed during the bad weather.
Secondly we would drive the pastures best we could with ATVs etc to keep them up and moving.
Our place is high fenced and thousand plus acres so it took a lot of work but worth it we thought.
Axis and blackbuck will chow down on coastal and alfalfa pretty well. Peanut hay works well also.
Fallow are not effected much by cold but all the super exotics like sable, oryx, addax, Kudu need shelter as they don't tolerate cold at all.
When an animal freezes to death it dies from hypothermia same as us. This puts great stress on the animal and we found that the meat suffers from that stress vs being shot with a clean kill then freezing.

Whitetails are native. Unless they have pre-existing conditions, they aren't going to keel over and die from cold weather.

Gunny456 said:

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I answered this earlier in the week.

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I appreciate the response Gunny.

To an earlier poster: Blackbuck are not from Africa either. Native habitat is India/Pakistan. Still not cold weather animals.

flashplayer said:

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cupofjoe04 said:

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If they froze to death and never thawed- I'm sure some, if not most, if the meat is edible.

But ide also be willing to bet dollars to donuts that it isn't that good tasting or tender. Think of the trauma that animal endured for hours/days before death. The hormones and adrenaline it's body was pumping to desperately try to stay alive...

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I think this concern is overblown, and I don't mean that in a condescending way. Those hormones won't likely survive cooking and your stomach and be absorbed in any meaningful quantity unless you only ate hypothermia death sourced meat every meal for quite a long time.

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I didn't mean they would make the meat dangerous or inedible- only that they would likely be tough and gamey.

Take pronghorn for example. Many people think they are gamey and tough. But I've shot my fair share, and they are freaking delicious. I know others who say the same. If you kill them cleanly, and get them out of the sun quickly- they are fantastic. If you drive them and the animal runs wide open for a mile before being shot- they get pumped full of adrenaline and whatnot, and taste gamey as crap. I've had one like that too- it wasn't good at all.

That's all I meant. These stressed and frozen animals are likely to be just fine to eat. But they will make sausage better than steaks. That's all.

Gunny456 said:

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When an animal freezes to death it dies from hypothermia same as us. This puts great stress on the animal and we found that the meat suffers from that stress vs being shot with a clean kill then freezing.

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This is exactly what I meant. Except mine was a suspicion, and Gunny has real world experience. Appreciate the insight, Gunny

Their not from Spain, their from Portugal. And when their born, their not white, their black!!!

Yes sir. Your welcome. Stay safe.

Yes sir. Thx.

Man what movie is that from; I'm struggling to recall it's driving me crazy.

Figured it out; crimson tide

Wanted to further share some info for thought. Back in 1983 we had a long term very cold spell for about 6-8 days in the hill country. Single digits... 2-3 degree lows and never got above 28 for highs. Some days only in teens.
We had Addax and had shelters but little experience in that kind of cold.
We lost two Addax cows and a calf from freezing one night.
Picked them up and took them to our cleaning station and started with gutting. Immediately we noticed that the muscle tissue appeared different. We called out Vet and he came out to look at the animals.
He said capillaries had ruptured in the body due to extreme stress from hypothermia.
Explained that the body shivers to generate heat but it then slowly shuts down blood supply by constricting blood vessels to try and preserve brain and organ function.
In this instance the Addax meat had a pale look and was tougher than normal.
Addax meat is one of the best of the exotics but we fixed some and it was tough and had a weird "blood" taste to it.
We ended up using it to feed our German Shepherds for two months.
They liked it a lot!

mis read.

This is correct. Axis are originally from India/Pakistan and there is actually two types: Indian Axis deer and Ceylonese Axis deer. The Axis in Texas often exhibit traits from these two sub specie. The Indian are a little taller with longer noses and faces whereas the Ceylonese are stockier and have shorter heads. In Axis herds in Texas, if you watch them you will oftentimes see the distinct characteristics of both in the herds....especially the does.
Blackbuck also actually have four known types from India/Pakistan : Indus, South Indian, Ganges, and Ramas.
They present different coloration variations and horn growth characteristics.

If anyone wants to really learn about Texas Exotics I would highly recommend obtaining a copy of "Exotics on the Range" by Elizabeth Mungall and William Sheffield. Published by the Texas A&M University Press back in 1994. It is out of print now as far as I know but it is considered a definitive work of Exotic species in Texas.
Sometimes you can find it in used book stores or search on line.