Venison and other "wild" meats?

[guestmama9916]

Hi Ladies,
I've recently started lurking and posting here. Is venison (deer meat) a nutrient dense food? I would think that it is since deer have a varied diet of grass, acorns, ferns, etc. Does NT say anything about this? My dad is a hunter so I've been eating it since a child.
Thanks,

Kim

[Gale Force]

Yes, wild game on their native diet make very good dinner.

[guestmama9916]

Originally Posted by Gale Force

Yes, wild game on their native diet make very good dinner.

That's great news! I'll be sure to thank my dad for tricking me into eating deer meat when I was a kid (I thought I was eating Bambi at first). I've been trying to figure out how I'm not in worse health than I am after eating tons of processed foods for the majority of my life and how my DS was a beautifully healthy baby when I had the same diet during pregnancy. I think all the wild game I've eaten in my life must have helped. I'm glad I've found this forum so I can change my diet before my next child.

Kim

[Gale Force]

Best of luck to you Kim. I think we are all given a bit of leeway with the first. The second, not so much.

[bluets]

just be careful of chronic wasting disease in deer and elk - it is spreading across the country and may be similar to BSE/mad cow. i once read (somewhere?) that chronic wasting disease escaped from deer herds maintained in captivity in some USDA research facility in Colorado... not sure if it is true and not sure if it really poses the same health risks as BSE.

[Gale Force]

Originally Posted by bluets

just be careful of chronic wasting disease in deer and elk - it is spreading across the country and may be similar to BSE/mad cow. i once read (somewhere?) that chronic wasting disease escaped from deer herds maintained in captivity in some USDA research facility in Colorado... not sure if it is true and not sure if it really poses the same health risks as BSE.

Just this morning a friend and I were talking about this, so I guess I should be paying more attention. I wonder how it is transmitted to humans. With mad cow disease we obviously look for healthy cattle but you are also not supposed to eat the brains or eyes.

[bluets]

more info at http://www.cwd-info.org/ , for starters.

[bluets]

now i'm curious for more details... it seems that each state is now monitoring CWD in deer (which requires some degree of cooperation with hunters). if a deer is scraggly and fumbling around (aka an easy target), don't shoot it. or, shoot it and report it but don't eat it.

however...

http://www.jbc.org/cgi/content/abstract/281/7/4199 says "Although the transmission of CWD to humans has not been proven, it remains a possibility. "

http://www.jwildlifedis.org/cgi/cont...tract/41/3/503 suggests that natural seleciton might weed out the diseased animals as they may be more likely to be vulnerable to becoming roadkill. Moreover, this study suggests that states might take advantage of roadkill for sampling purposes.

It looks like elk, mule deer and white-tailed deer are all vulnerable to this disease.

[Gale Force]

It's not high on our radar here in California. Here are the Calif regulations about imported deer or elk which suggest the brain and spine are suspect in transmitting the disease:

No hunter harvested deer or elk (cervid) carcass or parts of cervid carcass shall be imported into the State, except for the following body parts:
(a) boned-out meat and commercially processed cuts of meat.
(b) portions of meat with no part of the spinal column or head attached.
(c) hides with no heads attached.
(d) clean skull plates (no meat or tissue attached) with antlers attached.
(e) antlers with no meat or tissue attached.
(f) finished taxidermy heads.
(g) upper canine teeth (buglers, whistlers, ivories).

info from here

[Ravin]

My first thought about CWD in wild herbivores is that it's unlikely to be related to scrapie (in sheep) and mad cow disease, because those require human involvement to transmit between animals. In the wild, deer aren't going to eat deer brains/neural tissue, so how would they catch it? (This is, as I understand it, how it is transmitted between domestic animals--they are made cannibals via artificial feeding methods).

[gardenmommy]

Originally Posted by Gale Force

Yes, wild game on their native diet make very good dinner.

Around here, they eat just as much corn, soybeans, and alfalfa as the cows.

[guestmama9916]

Originally Posted by gardenmommy

Around here, they eat just as much corn, soybeans, and alfalfa as the cows.

That's a good point. I guess it all depends on where the deer come from.

CWD hasn't been found in our area and seems to be a problem only in the Mid West so far. My dad seems to think that over population (not enough hunting by man or natural predators) is the problem - the sickly deer are reproducing.

[tboroson]

I thought CJD was transferred between cow herds via human intervention, but could spread within the herd just by regular contact.

I *love* game. But, I must admit - I'm a bit nervous about knowing they graze on suburban lawns that have been sprayed with all kinds of awful things. If the animal's been hunted in truely deep woods, I wouldn't be nervous of that, but I see hunters pulled off the side of the road in any little wooded plot here in the 'burbs. Ick!

[Laurel723]

[QUOTE=bluets]now i'm curious for more details... it seems that each state is now monitoring CWD in deer (which requires some degree of cooperation with hunters). if a deer is scraggly and fumbling around (aka an easy target), don't shoot it. or, shoot it and report it but don't eat it.[QUOTE]

Check your game laws first. You may not be issued a second tag in some states, depending on the zone and/or unit that you are in.

Your best bet is to have a chat with the local "fish cop" (fish and game warden) before you shoot anything, lest you get in trouble for poaching.

Know your local laws before you pull the trigger.

(ok, DFW commercial over now...thanks for listening)

[bluets]

[QUOTE=Laurel723][QUOTE=bluets]now i'm curious for more details... it seems that each state is now monitoring CWD in deer (which requires some degree of cooperation with hunters). if a deer is scraggly and fumbling around (aka an easy target), don't shoot it. or, shoot it and report it but don't eat it.

Check your game laws first. You may not be issued a second tag in some states, depending on the zone and/or unit that you are in.

Your best bet is to have a chat with the local "fish cop" (fish and game warden) before you shoot anything, lest you get in trouble for poaching.

Know your local laws before you pull the trigger.

(ok, DFW commercial over now...thanks for listening)

Where we get our deer, well, let's just say that some of the practices that aren't quite legal are often commonplace. Yikes, but when the fish cop can't find you or your deer... Oh, but I love my in-laws - I'm just glad they live there (in the isolated WV "holler") and not here.

[elelvee]

Originally Posted by Ravin

My first thought about CWD in wild herbivores is that it's unlikely to be related to scrapie (in sheep) and mad cow disease, because those require human involvement to transmit between animals. In the wild, deer aren't going to eat deer brains/neural tissue, so how would they catch it? (This is, as I understand it, how it is transmitted between domestic animals--they are made cannibals via artificial feeding methods).

In Iceland, sheep with scrapie are eaten, brain and all. The farmers don't get sick. It isn't transmitted. The farmers' thought is, get the meat while there still is some (because the sheep that 'wastes' will have less flesh left.)
Mad Cow disease is not transmitted between animals. It runs parallel. All of these illnesses run parallel. Each animal separately 'gets' the illness from poor minerals in the soil, pesticides applied to their bodies, and sonic blasts.
They do not Get it from what they eat. Cattle were being fed bonemeal for a long time before pesticide lovers decided to blame their results on meat feeding.