Field Care

The basic guidelines for field dressing are very simple.  Once you have properly tagged the animal (check local regulations), you should field dress the animal and cool the meat immediately.

Precautions When Field Dressing

Disease is not common in free-ranging wildlife populations. However, hunters should take precautions to prevent unnecessary contact with wildlife diseases.

• Wear rubber or latex gloves. This will prevent you from getting any dangerous e. coli or staph bacteria into scratches or little cuts. Do not do any unnecessary cutting of the internal organs, spinal cord, etc.
  
• Hunters should know about wildlife disease issues where they hunt. You should be able to recognize unusual "symptoms" or "signs" of disease.
  
• You should also know how to contact your local wildlife agency to make a report or seek advice. Knowing about diseases allows you to help your wildlife agency keep the wildlife populations in your area healthy. It also keeps you from consuming meat that you should not.

In most cases, wildlife diseases do not affect people. There are a few exceptions. Rabies epidemics in some furbearers are uncommon, but are a serious concern. Tularemia, occasionally found in rabbits, beavers and other animals, is another health concern for people.

Chronic Wasting Disease
One animal disease that has captured a lot of attention lately is Chronic Wasting Disease or CWD. There is no evidence that CWD can spread from deer to humans, but cautious hunters will want to learn more about it. As with other wildlife diseases, hunters can help wildlife agencies monitor and control CWD.

The Chronic Wasting Disease website, http://www.cwd-info.org/, is a good place to find the latest information about this animal disease.