You guys are comfortable eating deer meat??

O

Olibobwa

New member
I've always liked to shoot and eat, but have never hunted much. When food/gas prices skyrocketed 18mo's ago I got interested in learning how to kill and butcher deer. Being I live in Ga they're everywhere. The more I read about it the more I heard about CWD. Basically, what I've read is it's the deer equivalent of Mad Cow.

Now deer season is getting ready to roll around again and I'm tired of paying for food when there's food out there (usually running in front of cars) The whole CWD thing has me kind of paranoid. What do you guys think?


Here's an article I found from the CDC:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol10no6/03-1082.htm
 
You're paranoid

Hey, you said it.......

Seriously, I've been eating venison for the better part of 25 years and have not had issue. As a matter of fact, my wife and kids have been as well. I am not going to deny that CWD isn't a real problem but, I think the chance that you would eat an infected deer or mad cow are pretty slim. I would worry more about Lymes disease in your neck of the woods.
 
Ask your local game people for info on all the deer illnesses in your area.
Many of us have eatendeer all our lives and enjoyed it - and we're still here !:D
 
There's CWD in Saskatchewan, and it's creeping westwards into the eastern-most parts of Alberta, but so far there's no CWD in the areas I hunt. That said, you'd have to eat the brains or spinal cord to contract CWD from what I understand. Stick to the muscle-groups and you should be fine even if the animal is ill.
 
In colorado, you can do a CWD test on heads. Doesn't help much financially, b/c you've already butchered the elk by the time the results get back. However, if your kill tests positive, the DOW will give you another tag.

Probably, I wouldn't worry about eating it, if it tested positive, but I know my wife wouldn't want to give it to the kids, so I'd probably have to make a second trip up the hill...

Thusfar I've never had to face that issue.
 
You got a better chance statisticaly of getting Ecoli from store bought meat, than CWD, :barf::barf:Don't be paranoid about wild game!;) Enjoy it..:)
 
Ive taken deer in all parts of GA never seen or heard of anyone gettin sick
We take between 6/10 deer almost every year.Im always picky on our deer
lookin for any sign of health problems like bad coat/to thin/mouth sores even open wonds that dont heal right.IF you do your part and cook right/process right We would rather eat from the woods at least you know where its been.
So like uncle Ted says killem and grillem:D
 
While doing research for a article a couple of years ago I made contact with a biologist at the Nebraska Game Dept. Don't have his name at the top of my head right now but he was recomended as very knowledgable.

As best I could tell from what he said CWD is caused by the same type of mutant protein as is Mad Cow......a prion. If I remember correctly it is not alive as is a bacteria or a virus but rather something different.

He also said that it is heat stable, which means that cooking does not disrupt it's moleculer structure, and it is stable in the soil for very long periods of time.

More concerning was what he said about how infective it is. In comparison to a virus or bacteria where infective rates are based on contact with large numbers, and even then in many cases no infection developes, with a prion all it takes is ONE. More concerning was his suggestion that as best they could tell that any time a animal got ONE prion they came down with the ailment and died.

That is kind of disconcerting, that even ONE is always fatal.......

All that scarey stuff said he also made the point that they were not even sure if the prions that caused CWD had any efect on humans or for that matter any other animals other than those in the deer/elk family.

Add to that the fact that there are no recorded cases of CWD in the SE US and you are good to go.

I don't give it a second thought.....even though as stated before sick looking and odd acting animals should be avoided.
 
We have CWD in areas of WI. I have less fear of getting CWD from venison, than I have of getting ecoli, mad cow, etc. from store bought meat. At least i know whre my game meat comes from. I have control of it from the day it walks to the day it grills:)

After-all there has never been a confirmed case of prion diseases (Krutfeld-Jacob, CWD, or mad cow) crossing species.
 
You are butchering your own deer... Learn what you can do to avoid it. Personally, I think you have a better chance of getting something nasty through a slaughter house.
 
Yes, my whole family eats deer meat. (whitetail) The deer we shoot and eat are from timber/agriculture ground. They eat grass, wheat,barley,oats, peas,lentils and garbonzo beans. If they lived on sage brush, I might re-think eating them. :D
 
Read your link....

If you read your article the cases of CDW are all out west. You're in GA right?

If I was given game meat from out west I'd eat it.
 
If I remember correctly it is not alive as is a bacteria or a virus but rather something different.
Click to expand...

The term Prion was coined as shorthand for 'protein infection', which is why you'll sometimes see them referred to as protein viruses. It's basically a mutant protein that can 'infect' similar normal proteins, converting them into the mutant form. These are infectious as well, and so you get a chain reaction.
 
I have been eating venison my entire life and I am much more comfortable eating it than meat from the supermarket or a restaurant.
 
CWD is quite tasty.


Avoid spine shots, and head shots if you're in a CWD area. Wash the meat thoroughly, if there is any suspicion of contamination.

90% of the time, a CWD deer looks pretty sick, any way. Don't shoot them, and you don't have to eat them.

That said; I return to my original statement: CWD is quite tasty.
Until there is a verified case of CWD being trasfered to humans, I don't care. I'll eat any part of the animal, without hesitation.
 
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