eating deer this year

[fish24/7]

With all of the rumors going around with the deer diseases this year is it going to be safe to eat the deer. I have heard many infected deer do not show any signs of disease. Can this be transferred to humans? Is it going to be safe to eat the meet even after it is cooked.

[skinny]

i've not even got my bow out of the case this year, because how can you tell at what stage of the outbreak that the deer is at.

i got this from the kdwr web site:

" hunters should not be deterred by the outbreak. Eating the meat of deer that appear to be healthy poses no risk to humans even if the deer is infected with hemorrhagic disease. "

"However, hunters should not consume animals that appear emaciated or weak prior to harvest, due to the risk of secondary infections. Hemorrhagic disease can cause large abscesses to form in the body cavity, muscle tissue or under the skin. These abscesses render the meat inedible"

[Bandit1]

My kids went to Hunters Safety at Bass Pro a few weeks ago, & that question came up. The IDNR officers that were there said if the deer look sick let it walk, if the deer looks healthy it would be ok. They said that when you cook the meat (well done) that it will kill an desease that could possibly be in the meat. The question that I have and that they wasn't sure about is will the desease (if there) travel to the rest of the meat I have in the freezer. I don;t want to take the chanceon ruining what meat I have in there already if I do get one that has this already, but not showing any signs yet.

[RickV]

We have already ate 1 1/2 deer this year.. and I'm still walking.

[Tim_T]

We have been eating on mine and no problems at all. I would not be concerned if the deer looks healthy.

[MrChickyBaBa]

We have almost eaten my doe from early Sept. and like the other guy said we our still walking. I took 2 more does down this weekend for the freezer as well so I am not worried about eating them as lon as they look healthy. I wonder also I only heard around 10 shots all weekend if alot of people are not hunting because of this, I hunt and live in Henry Co. and have not seen many hunters or heard the shots like usual. Anybody else get the same feeling.

[flippinstick]

I didnt get to go this weekend but my uncle said he only heard about 5 shots saturday morning. Thats not that many compared to what we usualy hear.

[fish24/7]

I killed a doe Saturday and something was definately wrong with it. When I got up to it is stomach looked very fat, but it looked like its body was starving. I have never seen a deer look like that before. Its rib cage was showing. Its neck was bone only. I tried to feel where the tenderloins were and only could feel bone. It looked awful. I cut into its stomach to see why it was so fat. I had not gut shot it either, but hit it in the chest. I cut in its stomach and this brown stuff just come out everywhere from its stomach. I have been deer hunting for over 14 years and killed many deer and have never seen anything like this. The smell was also unbearable. Usually one can tell what a deer has been eating, but this was just a brown mush. I did not process this deer for I fear it was diseased. This just reiterated my point with eating deer this year. I want some meat for the freezer, but this has scared me away from eating any this year.

[MrChickyBaBa]

That is why they say make sure the deer looks healthy before you shoot it, if it does'nt they say let it walk. If they look healthy they are fine, I killed 2 does this past weekend and they both were as healthy as can be. If that deer looked that bad I don't blame you for not eating it.

[fish24/7]

I would not have shot it if I had known this. It was about 75 yards away and walking fine. It was acting like any normal deer. I didn't realize how skinny it was until I got up to it.

[artcarney_agr]

They say a deer with EHD will usually die within 72 hours. If we could get a good freeze/frost, the gnats and midges that transfer the disease will be gone and the outbreak will pretty much end. If you're that concerned about shooting an infected deer, start hunting 72 hours after the first good freeze and you'll be just fine. There are other diseases that deer might be infected with, and as someone said before, if it looks sick, don't eat it! As for cooking the meat, it needs to be cooked good and through just like any beef, pork, or chicken. I see no need to be concerned about eating a deer that looks healthy and look forward to taking a few this season...my freeze looks sad and empty, and hopefully it will be happy again one day soon!