Identifying sick deer

[BayouLonghunter]

First, I'd like to say thank you for having this wonderful forum of knowledge. This is my first post, and hopefully not my last. To my question:

As an avid black powder shooter (flintlock) I am looking to take my love of traditional shooting to the field of hunting. I am mostly looking to harvest deer and other game for the purpose of supplying my family with meat, so big game and trophy hunting is not important to me (but goes without saying if presented the opportunity I will not pass on...) and thus my question:

I live in Southeast Texas, and my purpose of hunting is to supply my family with meat year round. Due to that nature, I want make sure that the meat I harvest is good for my family. Short of it being tested by whoever would do such, are there ways to identify a harvest deer of any diseases that it would posses in the field (discoloration, smell, etc)? I use to live in NY and any game harvested would have to be taken and released to the local DEC (Dept. Of environmental conservation) office for testing, but here in Texas I haven't found anything of that sort; thus my question.

Any wisdom would be greatly appreciated!

 

[moot]

Here is a link from the Indiana DNR that has info on various wildlife diseases. http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/5466.htm Tuberculosis has been reported here, and Chronic Wasting Disease has not, but is close by! What Indiana DNR discusses is regionally specific to us, so I would suggest looking at Texas' website to see what warnings and literature they have out, and if nothing, give them a call. It's what they're there for. I've never opened up a deer and found lesions or sores, but I think I would know if something was wrong. Someone else here may have some first-hand stories to share, but I'd start with the above if nothing else.

 

[hawgslayer]

8)

WELCOME Gents :!: :!: :!: I'm glad you both found the place. It's a great place to sit around and shoot the CHITT :!: The members are always willing to help with any of your questions and I know you'll read hunting stories. You'll see some harvested critters and have a good time. Just sit back, untie your boots and pop open your can of your favorite brew-ski and enjoy the forum. :drinkers:
Lot's of free info here from a bunch of good guys.

Ray............. :yeah:

 

[ShawnT]

Welcome to the Forum!

I've never had the meat tested, actually never thought about it. I have only had 2 deer in all the time I have been hunting that I did not keep the meat. In the first case I already had a Doe in the Freezer and was buck hunting. I had heard something coming though the pines and was making lots of noise. When the small buck showed himself I actually lowered the rifle back to my lap since he was small and thought I would pass him up. This is when I noticed why he made so much noise, he was limping very badly. After watching for a couple minutes it was obvious he was favoring both front legs and had a very stiff walk with the limping, and was panting with mouth open. It looked like he was in a lot of pain and I did not think he would last much longer, definitely not through the winter, so I used up my tag on him. When I was with in about 12 feet or so I could actually smell him, he just plain Stunk! I dressed him and took him to the check in station hoping to see a Game warden but none were there that day. I found he had 2 large scabbed places on the backs of both front legs. I decided to go ahead and skin him and found that he had a dark green film, slimy in nature between the hide and the meat on both front legs. That to me was a sign of gang green and he was then disposed of. I think that the injury was due to a poachers slug.

The second deer I did not feel good about the meat, was my largest buck. He looked just fine in the field. After getting him to the barn we found a large lump on his chest. In the middle of the lump was a bared spot that had a small hole in it about 1/4 to 3/8 inch in diameter. The lump felt soft and moved. I excised it to the side with my knife and a gush of white to a slightly yellow Load of goo came pouring out. It would have filled a paint can almost up! Looking him over real good showed several signs of lots of fighting, several patches of hair shaved off, torn ears (one appeared slightly infected), Lower left jaw had a hump in it that was healed from a broken jaw, and some of his tines were broken off. The placement of the hole that had the puss come out indicated more that he had been gored instead of shot. Again this deer did not show any signs of issued prior to being harvested.

Last season I harvested a nice Doe. Walking up to her I noticed a bloody spot on her back, still had been bleeding, about 3/4 the way back. I was like WHUT, I did not hit her there. Turned out to be a small broken length of arrow with a muzzy broad head in it. I sniffed that spot and it smelled ok, so I took it home cleaned it out and skinned back a small section around that wound. The meat looked just fine and since it was still actively seeping blood it was flushing itself out. The meat was just fine and ate real good.

Sometimes you just can't tell when they are still roaming around. What I do is to clean out the body cavity (towel and hose to wash out the cavity in them helps gets the meat cooler quicker but then dry the cavity out as good as you can with another towel) as soon as possible and look/smell the inside of them. Look them over for any open wounds/sores, and get them hanging up with the cavity propped open with a stick. If I see anything that causes me any concern I skin that area and look under the hide. I have no idea how many deer I have taken in my 30+ years of hunting but these 2 are the only deer I did not feel comfortable eating the meat. I think if you just look them over real good, pay attention to your nose (smells like rot or dead flesh) (not just the smell of one that is rutted up, he is ok) clean them out inside so you can get a good look inside, then get the meat cooled down you will be just fine.

 

[03mossy]

Great advice Shawn!

 

[cayuga]

That is a real good question. I always based my decision to eat or not to eat on a number of things. For instance, what the deer looked like prior to being shot. Was it dragging around, head low, watery discharge from the eyes. discharge from the nose or mouth, also over all fitness of the animal... emancipated, ribs showing, drawn out muscles textures, hair missing, etc. Then once in the animal, check for color of the meat and texture of the meat. Look at the intestines, are there flukes, worms, etc. And last is smell. Does the interior of the deer smell rotted. Good fresh meat to me has almost a sweet smell.

Next when you skin it, check for prior injuries. I shot a deer one year that had an arrow head in it, and the meat all the way through that quarter was a reddish green looking mess. Is there puss in or near the wounds? If there is, I have thrown deer away. But sniff that thing. Bad smell is a danger sign.

As you start to butcher, look at the muscle structure. Cut away and out from any blood tissue. The wound site I give often a 4 inch clear of cutting. Just to be sure. But normally, when a wild game is sick you will spot something that "just does not look right." Any doubts, take it to a butcher. They are trained to spot things that are not right.

But in all the years I ate wild game, I never got sick yet. So I will keep on eating it.

 

[moot]

Thanks for the warm welcome. I've already been lurking for a couple of months, reading quite a few stories and trying to pick up a few tips.

One of the few good things about Indiana hunting regulations is that if you find yourself with a sick deer carcass on your hands, you can immediately cease processing, contact DNR, and you can get your tag replaced if the animal was diseased. I think that's great, it allows a hunter some leeway to cull animals that would obviously need to be put down to end their suffering and help contain the spread of whatever it is they have, rather than force a hunter to choose between being a good steward and his tag, which often means meat in the freezer.

 

[ShawnT]

Thanks for the warm welcome. I've already been lurking for a couple of months, reading quite a few stories and trying to pick up a few tips.

One of the few good things about Indiana hunting regulations is that if you find yourself with a sick deer carcass on your hands, you can immediately cease processing, contact DNR, and you can get your tag replaced if the animal was diseased. I think that's great, it allows a hunter some leeway to cull animals that would obviously need to be put down to end their suffering and help contain the spread of whatever it is they have, rather than force a hunter to choose between being a good steward and his tag, which often means meat in the freezer.

I am not sure but Ohio used to do that too. Back when I shot the small buck that had messed up front legs, you had to go to a local check station to check in the deer. It was mandatory. Most of those would be local gas stations and country stores. If you went in the late afternoons and evenings to the more popular stations you had a good chance of catching a DRN officer there checking deer and tags. They could check the deer and if he said it was bad he could give you a tag to get another.

 

[toytruck]

I killed a 5 point some years back that almost walked up to me when I was walking in a field heading to my hunting spot. This was 3pm in the afternoon, he acted strange so I knew something wasn't good. After I dropped him with the '06 I found he had been shot through the lower front leg which had started to rot. I saved the tenderloin an hams the rest was thrown away.

My son killed his first deer a 8 point this past Nov. nice fat buck, but it had a softball sized lump behind the right leg. I had never seen that before, so I offered to help skin it in that area. Well I just touched the cyst like lump an green goo rushed out. It didn't stink, but was real nasty looking. I cut out the right shoulder/leg an we threw that away, but the rest of the buck was fine and he is eating on it this winter. I thought of a broad head being in there, but didn't feel anything hard, so I'm thinking it was some type of injury maybe from fighting, he was in rut an stinky, but otherwise appeared healthy.

I hope I never see that in a deer again, hate to loose good venison. Like said above trust your nose an the actions of the animal will usually tell if something isn't right.