Conference vmsnet::hunting$note:hunting

    It depends on how long it has been dead.  It is possible.
    
    Jeff

    It is VERY possible.  Better take the live animal to the vet.  Better
    to pay some bucks now, and find out.
    
    bob
    

        With my fiance', it depends on how the meat is cooked!! hahahahaha
    
    BJ

    
    B.J. you're such a card...............A Joker!!!!
    
    
    Sunday a Racoon in Atkinson was trying to attack two people shoveling
    their driveway. I came along and the guys yelled to me to run the thing
    over.
    
    The coon turned real sickly looking and could hardly keep itself
    from falling over thenattacked my Bronco.
    
    I ended up driving over its head and it died instantly.
    
    Rick
    

                    <<< Note 1257.4 by AIMHI::PAPPALARDO >>>

    
    
>    I ended up driving over its head and it died instantly.
    
>    Rick
 
	Talk about your classic Road Pizza......:-

	Red   

    bring it to the road kill cafe

    
    
    Told the wife to skin it out and cook it up for racoon pie!
    
    
    You can imagine what she told me.
    
    Rick
    

>    I ended up driving over its head and it died instantly.

Thus raising the question "Is a Bronco too much for a Raccoon"... ;-)


Steve

    re -6....   Like in the Chineese (sp.?) joints,
    
            Pu-pu platers with a double order of Crab-Rabi-coon
    
    BJ

    All you guys are sic !!!  :^)  Now I know we're all getting stir crazy.
    Especially with all this wintery weather of late! When is spring gonna
    arrive and Gobbler Season ?!?!?
    
    Don

	Don, 90% of the snow we had in Ga. this weekend is gone, except
	for the mountains. It's in the 50's and will reach the 60's
	this week. SPRING is here.

	P.S As a transplant from N.H. last year I don't miss the
	    NE winters at all, especially the one they had this
	    year. I think I'll stay in Ga. forever.

	Red



                   <<< Note 1257.10 by KIDVAX::DMICHAELSON >>>
           -< Hot Dog! When it comes to cooking, I'm the cats meow! >-

    All you guys are sic !!!  :^)  Now I know we're all getting stir crazy.
    Especially with all this wintery weather of late! When is spring gonna
    arrive and Gobbler Season ?!?!?
    
    Don

    Right you are Red, first day of spring is this Saturday. The forecast
    for up here is sunny skys and almost 40    :^(
    
    A heat wave next to this morning. It was 20 degrees as I was cleaning
    more snow off my Jeep.
    
    Don

    Red will be singing a different tune when it's time to scout around 
    again for deer season.  Remember Red, sweating your butt off at 11 am,
    90 degrees, snakes, spiders, dehydration, mosquitoes.  Ahh, what a
    short memory.  But then, your wife said that's not the only thing short
    about you.  your temper?  
    
    Anyway, time to pick up the rod, and enjoy some trout fishing.
    
    bob
    

    
    
      And now, back to our topic.............;-)
    
     Anyway, yesterday I was home doing my duty on the Memorial Day
    Holiday (taking a nap) when I was awakened by the sound of my daughter
    opening the front door and yelling SCAT. I jumped up and asked her 
    what the problem was and she told me that a very sick looking fox was
    attacking one of our ducks and she shooed it away. Needless to say 
    by now I was very awake and went and for my rifle and then went to
    see if per chance I could locate the fox. From her description (yellow
    fur color, frothing mouth, fur in terrible shape) I have to assume it
    is rabid. I never did find him. 
     From my understanding of rabies, it is a condition which only affects
    warm blooded species i.e. mammals. I'm assuming that my duck (which is
    still alive) will not contract the disease. Am I correct ?
      
    RG

    
    Was the duck injured?  I would ask your vet what to do and keep it
    away from contact with your familiy and other animals.  You shouldn't 
    have seen a fox in daylight close to the house. That is suspicous behavior.
    
    Since it fled from your daughters yelling, then it may have not been on
    it's last legs yet.  Still could be nearby.  The rabid animals ( one fox 
    and several skunks) I encountered did not flee.  I had time to get my rifle
    and come back to shoot them.   You must be sure to bury the carcus deep
    enough so it's scavenged by other animals.
    
    Gary
    
    
    
    Gary

    
     Was the duck injured ?.......well, he had quite a ball of feathers 
    pulled out but seemed ok otherwise.
     We're going to call the vet today. I'll post what info we get.
    
     RG

    	I have a quick question...Are rabid animals, raccoons in this case,
    easily identifiable of being infected w/ rabies? For the last couple
    of weeks, there has been 2 raccoons climbing a 6 1/2ft wooden fence and
    getting to our garbage. At first it was at night but lately we've been
    seeing them 2, 3, sometimes 4 times per day looking for scraps. They 
    don't appear sick, one is fat as a house and the other is pretty
    skinny. When thy encounter one of us, the just sit there looking at us
    for a few seconds before slowly walking away. We have a 2yr. old son 
    who we bring out in the yard all the time and when he sees one, he
    wants to go and pet them. If it was just me, I wouldn't care about them
    but with my wife and son involved, I'm thinking about taking my bow 
    out. Can anyone help me out with this? 
    
    				Butch_who_is_running_out_of_patience

    
    My only encounters were after the animal was in a ferered stage.  They
    appeared to have been hit by a car, injured and stumbling around.  Also
    lots of snapping into the air and growling.  At this point they don't
    have any fear of humans and may aproach you.  
    
    Your coons don't sound like they are infected but they may be carrying
    the virus anyway. Some animals will get sick and recover.   
    
    Anything you can do to relocate the garbage cans or make them more
    secure?   If you take away that food source, they'd move on.
    
    

    Rabies can manifest itself in two forms.  The first type is called the
    "furious" form.  This is what most people associate with rabies (ie
    Olde Yeller).  The animal can be quite agressive and appears to have no
    fear of humans.  The lessor known form is called the passive stage. An
    animal that is acting in this way will appear lethargic.  It may act 
    disoriented and almost drunk-like.  Both these forms are caused by the 
    exact same virus, they just affect certain animals differently.  Both
    animals are fully capable of transmitting the disease.  An animal can
    have rabies and show _no_ signs up until death.  It's important that 
    folks understand that any warm blooded animal is potentialy a carrier of 
    the virus. 
    
    Jeff

    		I have moved the garbage into my shed but they hav still
    come around with the same frequency. 2-3 times per day. Unknown at
    night but they still come at night also. Sunday night they were 
    scratching at my back door. I tried popping them with my old,old
    Red Ryder BB gun, spring loaded that won't break the skin but they
    ran off only to return 45min. later. Thanks for the reply. I'll keep
    you updated......unless.
    
    					Butch

    I also had a raccoon wandering in my yard during daylight hours.  It
    didn't appear to be ill, but, taking no chances, called NH Fish & Game
    and asked them.  They said that the raccoons have young to feed at this
    time of year and will wander out in the daytime in search of food.  
    
    

    Someone at work this morning stated that they heard on the way in
    to work that there was a precautionary warning out on the radio 
    for Hunters/Trappers etc. to wear plastic gloves when gutting out
    deer because of rabies.
    
    Question: Anyone else hear this warning?
              Are we in any danger of eating deer meat which may be
    	      infected? Who would be the HIGHEST level of authority on this
    	      issue that could possibly give us an answer.
    
    	Note: Please try and stay away from opinions on these two
    	      questions because it is very serious and many of the
    	      people are genuinely concerned.
    
    
    Hopefully, we are not going to have to send out deer meat for testing
    after we have harvested an animal.
    
    George
    
    
    

    
    
    
     "Are we in danger of eating deer meat which maybe tainted with
    rabies?"
    
      The one "good" thing about the rabies virus is that once an animal is 
    dead the virus dies quickly also.  If the meat is refrigerated it
    should not pose a threat.
    
    " Who is the highest authority...."
    
     Call Tom Decker at 508-792-7271.  He is the furbearer biolologist for
    the state of MA.  He wrote the rabies presentation that the state is
    using to inform people.
    
    Jeff

    
    
    George,
    
      I was informed that a animal with rabies that if it gets harvested 
    and properly cooked is fine, well I think that I would be a little
    leary about consuming a deer that I knew was infected. but I would 
    also say that during bow season I would probably not shoot a deer that
    was acting funny or looked in very poor health.
    
          as far as the rubber gloves go I have used them since day one,
    and not them big long jobbers either, I carry several pair of surgeons
    gloves they fit tight you can feel what you are doing, I dont know
    about anyone else but I am not too keen about holding the esophagus
    and trachea with the left hand and blindly useing a razor sharp knife 
    with the right hand to remove them. I always figured that with the
    small cuts on your hands and fingers its just a good precaution to wear
    the gloves just in case there is a problem, and the biggest benny is
    that when I am done I peel them off inside out place them in my pocked 
    and my hands are DRY AND CLEAN.... ever cleaned your hands with snow 
    when its 20 degrees out? its not fun.
      BTW just a little hint a pair of those rubber gloves fit nicely in a 
    35mm film container and they stay dry dont smell up the rest of your
    stuff with their rubbery smell.
    
                                                              Lee
    

    
    *if the virus is frozen, there may still be contamination. 
    
    At least that's one reason given that the New Hampshire F&G will not have
    a their road kill auction this December.  They are taking no chances.
    
    
    

    
    
    	Last night on channel 9 they gave the rubber glove warning to
    hunters when gutting any game (WMUR Mancester).
    
    Fred
    
    

    Lee,
    
    	I must really get into my work! A short pair of gloves wouldn't
    	be enough to keep me from getting messy. I'm usually up to my
    	elbows in blood everytime I've gutted out a deer.
    
    George
    

    
    Anyone know how widespread this is? The only report I heard
    was of the one case in southern New York.
    
    Walt

    
    
       George,
    
         The way I field dress a deer is, first make sure its deceased,
    then roll it on its back, seperate the rear legs ans place one leg on
    the outside of your legs to hold them apart, pinch the skin together
    just in front of their genatillia, make a cross cut in the piched skin.
    
       once you have the skin cut use the tip of the blade to puncture into
    the abdominal cavity, once into the cavity tack your index finger and
    middle finger and spread them apart live a V place them into the
    abdominal cavity and place the knife between you fingers, now move your
    fingers and knife up the abdominal cavity to the breast bone, now move
    your knife in deeper and apply allot of pressure but cut through the
    cartilage of the breast bone up to the throat.
       now get a stick big enough to hold the chest cavity open, once that
    is done move back to your starting point, cut under the skin to the
    pelvis, between the 2 inner thigh type muscles make a carefull incision
    with the pelvic bone exposed you should be able to see where the bone 
    looks to be fused together, place your knife at that fusion point and
    work it through the bone towards the deers anus, now the legs can be
    completely pressed down to the ground, at this time the anus,
    genatillia and breast's (if its a doe) can be removed.
    
       at this time if a forked tree is available I utilize it if not I
    just roll the deer on its stomach, spread the bag legs and lift the
    legs from the back, all the entrials and excess blood will now come out
    and then I roll the deer away from the majority of the blood remove the 
    attached organs, the diaphram (muscle between chest cavity and
    abdominal cavity), I then detach the lungs heart and esophagus and
    trachea. the deer can now be taken out of the woods.
    
       I have cleaned alot of deer this way and most times I end up with 
    very little to no blood on my clothes (not counting my boots) and it
    sounds more involved than it actually is, I can dress a deer before
    most guys can fill out their tag. not bragging just saying that once
    you get the knack of seperating bones you can completely process a deer
    from dressing to butchering with just a knife. 
    
        The biggest thing to aid you in field dressing a deer is to have a 
    very sharp knife, the last thing you want to be doing is struggleing
    with a dull knife trying to field dress a deer, thats how people get
    seriously cut or stabbed, when I gut through cartilage I use the base
    of the knife blade, I save the sharp tip for cutting out the diaphram
    and othe attachment points on the body cavities.
    
                                                          Lee
    

    
    
       wow after reading my last note I guess I should slow down on my
    typing, the brain runs faster than my fingers, sorry for all the typos
    I will try better next time )::
    

    
    There was an article about this in this weekends nashua Telegraph 
    (the rabies stuff, not Lee's dressing method, hope I get to try it.)
    
    Anyway, they said that there have been 4 deer with rabies in NY and 
    that they expect next year to be worse for rabies in general.
    
    Points they made:
    
    1) meat is safe to eat. Rabies virus lives in salive, not blood.
    2) Wear gloves when dressing
    3) Once saliva is dry, the virus is also dead
    
    I guess I am gonna find me some gloves to use.
    
    --Bob
    

    I think that surgical gloves is the only way to go.  I use the long
    ones that go about 3 to 4 inches past the wrist.  Less mess to clean
    up.  I also try to bring my deer back to camp and hang him upside down
    to dress.  Much easier and faster.
    
    2cents  
    
    Earl

i was talking with one of the guys I hunt with in VT, he was saying that when
he heads up to bear hunt in Maine, he uses the surgical gloves to hunt with.
Seems they keep the skeeta's and chiggers etc... from biting

FWIW...

Fra

    
    
    	now just imagine if deer became infected with AIDS....
    
    
    <shiver>
    
    jim s.

    then the anti's would win.
    
    Bob
    

    huh?

    Explanation for 1257.35
    
    Hypothetically speaking, if the meat had AIDS in it, would you hunt for
    it?  I wouldn't.  Then the anti's would win, with one less hunter.
    
    I don't harvest for the rack.  I eat what I harvest.  If it ever got to 
    a point where the meat was not edible, why would one hunt?
    
    Since this was hypothetical, I don't think that I am out of the woods,
    so thats that.
    
    bob
    

    	Since there is already a note here, I figured this would be as good
    a place as any to ask this. What, if anything, are bow-hunters planning
    to do different when/if rabies become more widespread ?
    
    	Specifically, has anyone given serious thought to carrying a
    side-arm (where legal) during bow season ? I was thinking that I myself
    would rather be safe than sorry when it comes to a rabid animal.
    
    	I called the N.H. F+G and they said that a firearms hunting licence 
    would cover you to carry a handgun during bow season. I also plan to get a
    LTC anyway as it is fairly easy to have your coat cover your pistol and
    then you get into an area of "concealed weapon". This will cover you in
    the areas of self-defense, which easily includes rabid animals.