Is deer healthy?

zlezlius · 04-09-2012 9:54am #1

Lads, new to deer stalking. Just wondering can the dear carry any diseases that can be harmful to human. How do you examine meat? Yourself or vet or what is the story?
Kids at home so advice is much appreciated.

Lullymore24 · 04-09-2012 10:06am

zlezlius wrote: »

Lads, new to deer stalking. Just wondering can the dear carry any diseases that can be harmful to human. How do you examine meat? Yourself or vet or what is the story?
Kids at home so advice is much appreciated.

All animals can carry disease.
his is a god Video to start with.

Lymes disease from a tick that can be found around a deer's genitals can also be an issue.

However disease is not that common in deer in Ireland thank god

Here is an example of TB in a Deer

garv123 · 04-09-2012 12:13pm

You would notice something unusual when you start to gut them usually.

The biggest thing with kids at home to watch out for is ticks. When the deer is hanging up in the shed you will find them under the front legs, thats usually where they go.

If you really wanted to and had 350 euro to spare you could do the "trained hunter" course where you learn how to inspect all the organs and head for any kind of disease.

Really stupid name for the course because you aren't a trained hunter at the end of it, only trained to inspect the deer/rabbit/bird

The nargc hold carcass handling courses at different stages too for cheaper.

daithi55 · 04-09-2012 9:24pm

loads of first hand info on this kind of thing at the wild deer association seminars there well worth going to
you will always pick up tips

FISMA · 04-09-2012 9:42pm

zlezlius wrote: »

Lads, new to deer stalking. Just wondering can the dear carry any diseases that can be harmful to human. How do you examine meat? Yourself or vet or what is the story?
Kids at home so advice is much appreciated.

Z,
Pay attention to the deer before hand: can you hear it cough? Are there parasites? Discharges?

When gralloching, go with your gut. Even though you may not have a lot of experience, you would be surprised what you could pick up on. If something appears odd, continue your business, take an image, and post here.

Be able to identify a few diseases: TB, Chronic Wasting Disease, ...

When in doubt, make sure you cook the meat well. I believe 160F is the magic number that kills just about everything.

That's hotter than I would ever cook a steak, but safer...

A few good resources courtesy of the knowledgeable folks at Penn State University's Meat Sciences:

Proper Care and Handling of Venison from Field to Table

Click here for any of the following topics

Preserving Wild Game - Canning Venison
Pathogen Reduction in Whole Animal Carcasses
Deer Diseases and Public Health
Common-Sense Precautions for handling and processing deer
Field Dressing Images
Venison 101 Cut Identification and Cookery - 2009
Venison 101 Cut Identification and Cookery - 2008
Venison 101 Cut Identification and Cookery - 2007
Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease
Publications

I think the one you want is Deer Diseases and Public Health. They literally show you normal vs infected: lungs, heart, ulcers, legions and more. Nice place to start.

cookimonster · 04-09-2012 11:40pm

I regularly dress and butcher carcass's for other lads, those who are only starting out and are not stalking with experienced hunters I recommend that they bring the heart, lungs and liver for inspection by those who know.
To be honest there is more risk of contamination from the hide or intestinal tract due to the presence of feceal matter. Proper preparation and butchery will help reduce the risk.
If hide rap (this is when the outer hide touches flesh) occurs or the stomach contents leek wash the flesh well with running cold water.
This form of contamination is a problem when using minced meat that may not be fully cooked (burgers, sausages etc) but no problem with whole cuts such as steaks, unrolled joints and pieces used for stewing. For sausage and buyers insure core temp of 74C.

Otherwise venison is very healthy for you due the low saturated fat and high nutritional content.
Happy eating.

Fallow01 · 05-09-2012 11:43pm

The Wild Deer Association of Ireland run carcass handling seminars free of charge for members where a vet, butcher goes through all of this and more. Also they had DVD's for €10 at the Game Fairs that show disease recognition and butchery for beginners....

The NARGC course I hear is good but it's only if you want to sell game (inc deer) to a game dealer after 2014 plus it costs €350 +!!

browning 12 bore · 06-09-2012 7:20pm

well fella i did the trained hunter course now i know what to look for in disease in deer rabbit and pheasant but all wild animals for human consumtion should be looked over by a vet,
now dont get wrong its a good course to have under your belt gives you knoledge all bout your quarry and the disease they MIGHT have

garv123 · 06-09-2012 7:31pm

browning 12 bore wrote: »

well fella i did the trained hunter course now i know what to look for in disease in deer rabbit and pheasant but all wild animals for human consumtion should be looked over by a vet,
now dont get wrong its a good course to have under your belt gives you knoledge all bout your quarry and the disease they MIGHT have

People have been eating the game they shot for decades without ever getting them inspected by a vet ?

I never heard of anyone ever get their game inspected by a vet before consumption.

When its brought to a game dealer its inspected by a vet.

meathstevie · 06-09-2012 11:47pm

browning 12 bore wrote: »

well fella i did the trained hunter course now i know what to look for in disease in deer rabbit and pheasant but all wild animals for human consumtion should be looked over by a vet,
now dont get wrong its a good course to have under your belt gives you knoledge all bout your quarry and the disease they MIGHT have

I think you could be going a little bit over the top here. I agree that there should be qualified inspection for game meat going into the commercial circuit, just like for all other commercially supplied meat. Making all game meat subject to inspection though would be like the spuds and lettuce out of your vegetable patch having to be sent to a lab prior to eating.

browning 12 bore · 08-09-2012 10:07am

well i totally i agree with you but its just nice to have that knowledge under your belt for our own comsumption not just for comercial reasons and yes when they go into the comercial ring they have to be inspected by vet from the department of food safety

browning 12 bore · 08-09-2012 10:11am

again i toatlly agree with ou but have to point out one little thing you can prevent spuds and lettuce by spraying and so on but ou cant spray the deer or inject them with vaccine so there for they have to be inspected by a qualified vet or in your own fridge if you were not trained how would you know if the deer had limes disease or worse again tb so this day and age just have to be so careful
thats why i did my course for my own knowledge as there is a lot of venison eaten in my house

meathstevie · 09-09-2012 11:31pm

From experience of being around the cattle and beef trade through my childhood and adolesence and knowledge built up from processing game of all sorts over the years ( the old man is into his shooting as well ) I've learnt a few basic things.

A healthy looking animal with a good coat of fur or feathers and a healthy weight will highly likely be a healthy animal.

If you've seen the animal in flight or on it's feet before the shot and it looked agile and moving like it should it is highly likely to be healthy.

When processing avoid fecal contamination when at all possible. If it happens as mentioned before, plenty of cold running water to clean the carcass. Do not use warm water as heat only encourages bacteria to multiply like mad.

Don't let a carcass hang unrefridgerated any longer than you have to. If you don't have a cooler and you're dealing with the likes of deer you'll just have to do the rough butchering with a wobbly carcass to fit the large cuts in a smaller fridge.

Freezing ( proper freezing; cold enough and long enough ) is a great way of killing quite a few parasites.

And above all, when in doubt, chuck it out. If you for example don't like the smell coming of a carcass or something didn't look right with the innards when gutting there's two things you can do : get a second opinion or dig a deep hole well away from livestock and watercourses and bury the lot.

CarrickMcJoe · 09-09-2012 11:40pm

Reminds me about the man who was cooking deer as a surprise for his family one evening.
Kids ask, whats he cooking.
Dad says "i'll give you a clue, its something that your mother calls me".
Kid says, "Jesus, Dads cooking a ****in Asshole".:D

Fallow01 · 10-09-2012 10:43am

As you will have guessed from my earlier comment I've been to a few of the Wild Deer Assoc carcass handling seminars, where they also had speakers talking about lyme disease. Like you I thought the deer carry lymes disease but they don't it's the tick that carried it & only some ticks. TB is the one to look out for although that is not a treat if the meat is cooked or frozen, it's only if your handling it raw or near other food there is a risk of cross contamination......

I agree knowledge is important but €350 is pricey when you can get it for free at these seminars

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Is deer healthy?

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