As a hunter my primary goal is food product. Sure the trophy’s are cool. I hope to share my preparation and finished product in the next week or so. The main goal however is the food product that we wish to eat. In order to ensure that the food I harvest is suitable for consumption it is important to take notice of the animals condition and behavior before harvesting and also the condition of the internal organs after.
There are lots of behaviors and signs that an animal can be ill, and we have seen some interesting things while hunting. Things that can suggest a disease or illness are changing colors (winter to summer coat) too late, lethargy, sneezing, head shaking.
The only way to know what is unusual is to know the animals in your hunting area. Watching, observing and noting things like when the animals start to change colors, or how they move thru an area.
Last year we were able to identify a young deer with an infection of botflies. They fly into the nasal cavity and will lay eggs in the nasal passage of the deer. When they have them you can watch them sneezing while grazing and often shaking their heads. No wonder really, I am sure I wouldn’t like a family of flies in my sinuses!
An important step while field dressing an animal is to check the organs for signs of disease. This week when I harvested my May Buck we had a first for us. The Lungs were really different from what they should look like. Normally i only find damage as a result of shot placement in the lungs, but this time it was quite different. The bottom third of the lungs were very pale in color and quite hard compared to the rest of the fleshy pink tissue. There were also pustules on the surface. These are signs that this buck had a lung worm infestation. He didn’t show any signs while moving thru the woods, as such the meat from the animal is still ok to use, except for the lungs of course.
This was a first for both my husband who has been hunting for many years and for me. (Lots of things are new for me, so not a big surprise.)