Should I bin this venison?

[ActualAl]

I've had an epic fail today. A friend who shoots deer gave me 1.5kg of frozen venison mince seasoned to make burgers. I took it out the freezer this morning and put it on a defrosting tray on the counter at 10am and forgot about it. I realised about 8pm and it was pretty much defrosted apart from a small lump in the middle. I've had the heating on for around 6 hours at 20° and also did some cooking in the kitchen earlier so the meat has probably been sitting in fairly warm temperatures most of the day.
I've made it into burgers and put it in the fridge anyway but I'm having doubts about eating it. I was planning to cook them for dinner tomorrow night.
It seems a shame to throw it out but it'd be a bigger shame if we eat it and all get ill. According to food standards website anything left out at room temperature for over 2 hours is asking for trouble!
WIBU to bin the meat?

What did it smell like?

Funky = Chuck them out
Fresh = Eat them

It had been seasoned with spices so that's all I could smell. It did not feel very cold though when I was making the burgers which concerned me a little.

It’ll be fine. When you buy venison at the butchers it’s usually been hung for a good while.

I would eat it! (As long as it doesn't smell or anything.)

How are you supposed to defrost a Christmas turkey if you're not allowed to leave it out longer than 2 hours? I've been doing that for years 😂

I would eat them then

I'd eat it - unless it really smelled!

I would eat it. It was even still frozen in the middle.

It’ll be fine.

My eyes need work - I read that as you'd eat it even if it was still frozen. Was thinking venison ice lollies are somewhat niche, but you do you ...

I usually thaw stuff until not quite thawed then put it in the fridge - the frozen bit usually keeps the rest cold. I wouldn't leave it until the next day before cooking, though.

Another vote here for it will be fine. As long as you put in fridge now and eat within 24 hrs

Make a mini burger size lump and test cook it, if there's any problem they smell very obviously if they're cooked, more than when raw.

Thanks everyone. I'm still a bit undecided, it's still in the fridge. I didn't expect replies to say it should be ok so I'm now unsure what to do.
What concerns me is that according to the food standards site there could be bacteria that can't be destroyed through cooking after leaving it out for so long yesterday and you wouldn't detect that through smell or taste.
I'm just annoyed at myself at the food wastage if I throw it out but I had intended to give some to my parents and MIL and I'd not be comfortable doing that now either.

To those saying it'll be fine because venison meat is hung for extended periods, that's very different. Hanging large cuts of meat where bacteria can only be present on the surface is quite unlike leaving minced meat lying around with so much more potentially contaminated surface area exposed.

I wouldn't want to waste it, but maybe not use it for burgers. Venison is often very lean and for a burger to be worth eating it would need to be cooked quite pink, which risks issues if the meat's anything less than perfect from a food hygiene pov. Could you make something like a venison ragu to eat with tagliatelle, where the meat could be reliably and thoroughly cooked to a safe temperature?

I know the FSA website says some bacteria might not be destroyed by cooking, but given that the meat was only just defrosting when you put it in the fridge I'd personally be happy to eat it once thoroughly cooked.

It will really be fine. Wouldn't even occur to me that this was a problem. I leave stuff out to defrost all the time. Take out of freezer, go to work, cook when home in the evening.

Problem solved, just gone downstairs and DH has binned it! He said he didn't want me to worry about eating it and he wouldn't enjoy it now either.
So decision has been taken out of my hands, no point crying over spoilt venison!

What a waste!
I would have been so cross with my husband for throwing out perfectly good food like that.

I think it would have been fine to have cooked and eaten it. But it sounds as though you thought it was a bit dodgy in the first place, in which case better to be safe than sorry.