CWD question about field dressing

Hardwoodmaterials · Dec 22, 2018

With people talking about a possibility of getting CWD from eating infected deer and needing to get them tested what would happen if you cut yourself or had a wound on your hands/arms while field dressing? Is it something you could potentially get that way? From what I have read there is no way to test a deer and keep the meat without skinning and at least partially butchering it down to freezer size pieces while waiting on the test results to come back.

Nsghunter · Dec 22, 2018

TSE=transmissible spongiform Encephalopathy is thought to transmit only through consumption of brain or near brain components. It comes from a Prion (a protein that lives in the brain.) Prions are what cause mad cow disease and creutzfeldt-jakob disease in humans and scrapie in sheep.

If a deer exhibited signs of having it, I don't think I would shoot it. If I was hunting in a disease PROVEN area I would process like normal and wait on results.

I am not a wildlife biologist but I am a medical professional. The best advice will be coming from a biologist. You could research while you wait for an answer here.

Mike Belt · Dec 22, 2018

You can buy a box of disposable rubber gloves from a parts store for less than $10. I keep a box in my truck and a couple of pair in my ditty bag. I wear a pair when field dressing.

Hardwoodmaterials · Dec 22, 2018

If its only transmitted by eating brain matter why would anyone even be concerned about killing/eating a deer infected with it? I don't know anyone that eats deer brains or any part of the spinal column so it doesn't seem like it should be an issue. I have researched it and have a loose grasp of what it is but the data seems to land all over the place with everyone having a different conclusion on about every aspect of it.

I also carry a box of gloves in my truck and stick a handful in my bag for field dressing but I always did it to make it easier to clean up and not get blood all in my truck. I never thought about using them as PPE with a deer.

MickThompson · Dec 22, 2018

Mike Belt":zrwcea9m said:
You can buy a box of disposable rubber gloves from a parts store for less than $10. I keep a box in my truck and a couple of pair in my ditty bag. I wear a pair when field dressing.

This. Even without CWD, you're taking a risk field dressing a deer barehanded. I use shoulder length gloves with nitrile over them and it also saves a big mess on my hunting clothes.

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Nsghunter · Dec 22, 2018

Hardwoodmaterials":jelcya6s said:
If its only transmitted by eating brain matter why would anyone even be concerned about killing/eating a deer infected with it? I don't know anyone that eats deer brains or any part of the spinal column so it doesn't seem like it should be an issue. I have researched it and have a loose grasp of what it is but the data seems to land all over the place with everyone having a different conclusion on about every aspect of it.

I also carry a box of gloves in my truck and stick a handful in my bag for field dressing but I always did it to make it easier to clean up and not get blood all in my truck. I never thought about using them as PPE with a deer.

LOL PPE for deer! That made me laugh out loud!

Any foreign substance that gets IN the body, through a breech in normal intact skin can cause an inflammatory response but its unlikely.

Also, during one of the mad cow outbreaks that believed that the exposure came from meat that was ground too closely to the spinal column.

I agree that the research is WAY scattered and not consistent enough for me to make a decision off of.

This is what I know, I wouldn't eat a deer that seemed sick. If I tested a deer and it was positive I wouldn't eat it or feed it to my family. This is a preliminary belief, future research and evidence might change my idea.

Omega · Dec 22, 2018

I can't give any advice but to tell you what I'll do. If it looks like healthy deer, I'll field dress like normal, taking the same safety precautions as I would field dressing wild hog, rabbits, squirrel or any other game animal which may carry a disease. I've never eaten the brain, or spinal column but do eat the heart, and have tried (used to love it) the liver. I once flirted with the idea of using a saw, even going as far as buying a good bone hand saw, to leave the bone in on some cuts, but no longer want to. I debone the entire deer, make sure I find and remove the glands in the hams and shoulders, lymph nodes and tarsal glands. I cut far enough away from the shot so as to not contaminate the good meat, and since I dislike deboning the neck, I do neck shots whenever possible. I do use nitrile gloves initially, but it's more for cleanup than safety, but would use them if there are recent cuts or broken skin.