I'm considering shooting only very young deer.
 

Why would I begin to think along these lines.? Well I really like deer meat. It is naturally lean and helps supplement the family food supply. I hunt mostly for meat but if I have a buck tag I try to use it on a nice buck. Well this year 2 of the deer I shot so far were about 2 1/2 years old. Not very old by most standards, but I noticed when I field dressed them that their livers were in very bad shape. One looked cancerous and both were very white looking. They definiely weren't healthy livers, especially for so young a deer. here's my theory. The deer here subsist on primarily ag crops. Corn, sunflowers, winter wheat etc. I believe that modern Agricultural practices are messing up the deer. Everyone around here sprays, sprays and sprays some more. One chemical after another,. First, herbicide, than chemical fertilizer, then pesticides etc etc. I believe this is taking a toll on the wildlife and since the liver processes everything it is being affected. That makes me wonder how good the deer meat really is . If I am right and the chemicals are responsible then I think it would be wise to shoot the youngest deer possible. yearlings or those born this year. They would have been impacted the least by the chemicals. Just my thoughts . I like deer meat and sure don't want to give it up. As a family of 10 we eat about 6 or 7 deer a year. Anybody else that lives in Ag areas ever notice a difference?

Might want to consult with your local department of natural resources concerning the "bad" looking livers, there might be something else going on with the deer herd. Hopefully not.

Chet

Shoot! I wish I had never read your post... but I think it really bares thinking about -

I wonder about taking some of that meat and have it analyized - some University might really think that would be a good project... maybe even the state might buy into that.

I have killed deer that have been 5 years old, and livers and organs looks extremly healthy. In fact these bucks are the studs of the forest, and everything in them looked very bright colors and healthy.

That sounds strange that these 2.5 year olds had strange looking livers. Might have rutted for a while and lacked food. Its not uncommon for a deer to lose up to 20% of its wieght during rut.

This is another reason I feel quite blessed to only be able to hunt mountain bucks. No crops around where I hunt. Accorns are about all they eat.

I've never seen livers like you describe in my life. If you see another one, I'd have it sent off for testing.

Regardless, yearling does are some mighty fine eatin'!

I think you're messing your own head sir.Try to stop playing doctor.I never examine the gut piles.I just cut,dump,and drag.The deer is dead and I don't really care which organ or organs I destroyed to make that happen.I feel if there were any issues with the deer population there would be warnings issued by the local DNR.

I agree and I love to eat the young deer also. Was the liver on that monster buck you shot very messed up? I have not eaten liver off of anything in quite a while cuz I think that's where the toxins are concentrated.
I wonder if it could be the experiments the government has been conducting in your area? :alien: :alien: :alien: :patriot:

That's a thought provoking post Chet. Not a problem for me because there's no agriculture in our area other than pine trees and cow pastures. But it would not surprise me at all if ag chemicals are getting into the wildlife food chain in a serious way.

Sabotloader's thought regarding a university study is excellent. I'd bet there's some grad student out there just looking for a great topic for a doctorial thesis.

Because our club has a two doe limit I tend to shoot the biggest does I can to maximize meat harvest. If I had the option of shooting more than two I would concentrate on those 80 to 90 pound gals that were born the previous year. Smaller roasts, but sooo good.

Very provocative thought. Though I've never thought of this before, I have no doubt it is possible/probable. You should be able to have the tissue analyzed somehow.
Have you ever seen the movie Food Inc? You might find it interesting.

It seems to me, the mother would pass on the chemicals to the fetus through the umbilical cord. If so, shooting a fawn, or yearling wouldn't be an advantage. It wouldn't hurt to get the liver looked at by a scientist, and see what transpires. Gee, that would be so sad if one couldn't eat deer.

well it is something to think about. I think I would have talk with my local DNR or Ag agent.

I live in a All Ag Distric, Corn, Soybeans, Grapes, Apples, and every Vegetable Imagineable. I Always check the Liver and over 35+ Years of Hunting I have only seen a couple of Livers that did'nt look good.
I would Contac your Local Game Officals and ask there Opinion on this one. I know Deer with many other worse conditions can still be eatin as it (Does'nt) effect the Meat.
I also must say a Yearling Deer is Very Tasty, the Best. If you take a Young Deer your saving many more, how? Say at this time of the year you take a Big Doe, by now she's probably Pregnant with either 1,2 or possibly 3 Fawns. So by taking that 1 Deer you could be reducing the Deer Heard by up to 4 Deer by taking 1.
I Personally would'nt worry about the condition of the Deers Liver as long as you Cook the Meat right. When you think about it, WE ALL eat the things that are Sprayed and Sprayed again and were still here, for now anyway.
(BP)

:s8:I know that when we use to butcher our beef cattle some of those livers looked kind of rough, that doesn't mean the meat has problems. That venison is probably better than the meat you buy at the market.
I would hate to see what my liver looks like.:s8::s8::s8:

I have in the past several years started hunting around where i live and it is mainly a row crop area. I will say the deer from around this area in Missouri taste soooo.... much better than hill or mainly acorn feed deer.

For eating I would much rather harvest a yearling or 1.5 year old deer. I am not big on horn hunting, they are nice but not a have to thing. If I have a choice of shooting an old or very large body size buck or doe or the little next to it I will shoot the smaller one everytime!!!!

Bucks taken during rut have also had a stronger game smell than any other time during hunting season.

These deer I take around the ag area have ruined me on the deer from areas with just woods and very little row crops or non at all they taste terrible to me now.

Deer like people are going to health problems no matter where they are at, it is part of nature. But it could also be chemicals we use on our crops and so forth but we have to eat don't we, kinda like a double edge sword. Damned if you Damned if you don't sorta thing.

Wow, that's something to think about. Like someone else said, it could be another problem too - some kind of disease that is affecting the local herd. It's hard to say without someone doing some professional analysis.

Having said that, I prefer younger deer anyways- more tender and taste better. If there are chemicals being absorbed, a young deer will have accumulated less in their system than an older deer.

Sabotloader,
Your university idea is going on right now for sure. Way back when I was a younger man I visited Penn State for a linebackers,def ends training camp(1987). And during our off time I had a chance to visit their Deer research center. I'm sure they are not the only ones with such a program.

LOL, just close your eyes and turn off your brain! LOL!

How on earth do you think the DNR finds out about issues with the deer herd? Only through deer that the DNR kill? Hmmm...

The man noticed something particularly odd about the FILTERING ORGAN of the deer he is about to eat. He should ABSOLUTELY question it. So much for harvesting "organic" deer.

To the OP, I agree with you about the (strong) possibility of the farming practices impacting your deer. Funny thing is, we ingest the same garbage. Makes me sick to know this is what we (almost have to) feed to our children. I had better stop the rant now while I can...

My brother in law would like you :)

His goal is to shoot the smallest, tenderest morsels out there or a big buck - and he ain't shot many big bucks ;)

We usually shoot what needs to be culled all the time and start the season letting many deer pass. I do really prefer yearling but i try not to shoot them unless they are abundant or someone kills momma.

This year i got my buck early and took a doe the next morning that did have a yearling. It was hard to tell in the tall grass and i ended up taking a button buck because i made a bad call on the doe.

Normally i would have let them both pass but smaller deer were very abundant this year in the main area i hunt and the doe wasn't too bad in size.

BTW i do check the organs for anything odd too. Its just good game management IMO.

Shoot a small Deer, and you only shot one Deer. Shoot a big Doe, and you killed three Deer. Most times that Big Doe is already pregnant with twins. As far as the meat, never had that problem here.

PANIC ATTACK!!!
You people have no idea about the crap your putting in your stomach from your local grocery stores but yet you want to worry about wild game.Well,go ahead then,to each his own I guess.

Just because it is wild does not mean it is safe and just because it is bought at a store doesn't make it safe either. It is wise to use common sense and examine an animal before consuming it.

I guess you're right.Every deer I've ever shot and examined seemed to have had at least some degree of LEAD POISONING,and every one died from it,but that never stoped me from eating it.I guess I should stop using lead bullets and switch to copper.NOPE,I don't think so.

Man.I'm going to have to find a veterinarian that likes to hunt for a hunting partner so I can be safe and not eat any sick deer.Because I sure as heck don't know anything about liver disease ar any other ailments a deer might be prone to so as to make a proper diagnoses.Aw the heck with it!Like I said before.CUT DUMP AND DRAG

By the way,I work in a grocery store and I could tell you a few things about the stuff you buy every day,but I won't.It seems you're already paranoid enough and I don't want to ruin your dinner.

i say shoot what you like. if you shot a mature doe back in the start of the deer season its still the same potential bred doe in november or the second rut anyway. also fawns get bred the first year too. something like 25% of them depending on the state is what ive read. a mature doe is gonna be better at raising fawns because its been through a hunting season or 2 though .

pluckit
I think you must be smokeseekers grandpa der. Just here to cause trouble.

lol im not here 4 that

pluckit,

People don't post on forums because of reactions like yours. Though i do agree, they put a lot of crap in the foods we eat everyday.

Chet, how did the deer look otherwise? Were they healthy or appear to be unfit? My dad shot a doe this year and she had a large bulge in her lower leg. She was fat and healthy but when we were skinning her dad hit that sac and a green puss flowed out. We contacted DNR and it was gangreen. It did not spread to the meat and he got his meat. Apparently the deer was shot at and never healed in that leg. We did not explore that leg any further to see if there was anything in that sac. The smell and sight was enough. Anything unusual you should report it to be safe.

Chet I think it is called White Liver Disease and is a result of low B12 levels and low selenium amounts in the foods they eat. I wish I could find that paper I read in college many years ago. Basically there are 3 known materials that show up in testing livers, Cobalt, Copper and Selenium all are found in diets of any animal. Low ranges can result in defficient operations of organs. Here is something I found that shows these metals in a deer diet.

http://www.jwildlifedis.org/cgi/content/full/41/3/569

I do not think the meat is bad, again the liver is where all the pollutants are filtered out of the body. By no means don't eat a liver in that shape. Your DNR can provide more information. Here in MO I wrote them about dad's deer and they promply responded. They asked the same questions about how the deer looked and how the meat looked after skinning and how it smelled.