As a biologist I deal with aspects of fish and wildlife behavior on a routine basis. Hardly a week goes by that I don’t get at least one phone call or email from someone who witnessed an odd, strange, or erratic animal behavior, or saw something in an unusual location. Especially when it comes to deer hunting in North Dakota.

After nearly two decades in the field, I have learned to “never say never.” Even if I get a call on a pink flamingo in a storm-water retention pond, my initial response would be “could be, you just never know.”

That’s always a safe response without the benefit of a first-hand look. I did one time express doubt regarding a call about a kangaroo stuck in a fence. And my suspicion was confirmed when it was later determined the animal was actually a young deer attempting to kick its way loose.

This winter a few people have asked about seeing fewer deer and smaller herds of deer in areas where hunters or landowners for the last several years may have seen deer bunched up in larger groups.

As with many outdoor issues, weather, habitat and populations all tend to play a part in what is seen or not seen across the prairie.

Out of the gate, I’ll explain that a lack of visible groups of deer is not necessarily a bad sign from the perspective of a biologist or a landowner. Just a short year ago the extreme cold, piles of snow and long winter created many reported deer depredation situations across North Dakota where dozens and sometimes even hundreds of deer gathered near food sources.

One reason deer aren’t as visible as last year is simply that over much of the state, the landscape through late January was more brown than white. Deer just don’t stand out as much as they do against a white background.

Secondly, deer can find something to eat just about anywhere this winter so they aren’t nearly so congregated around isolated food sources. We may still have some large gatherings of deer in places, but for the most part those situations are more of an exception than the rule this year.

A third factor that might explain why some people are seeing fewer deer this winter is that the state likely has fewer deer. In addition to three severe winters in a row, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, through hunting pressure on antlerless deer with rifles, bows and muzzleloaders, has been trying to reduce the statewide deer population for the last five years or more.

The winters served to accelerate the population reduction. This year, the management strategy will be to try to increase deer numbers in most units. For a couple of years, and possibly more depending on weather and habitat changes, that will mean fewer licenses available than in other recent hunting seasons.

Whether it’s icefishing, predator hunting, work, family vacation or sports travel with the kids, if you’re traveling across North Dakota this winter, don’t be shocked if you don’t see deer gathered in the same places they were the last few years.

It’s understandable that people would express concern over not seeing so many deer this year, but for the most part, that’s probably a good sign for deer hunting.

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Chronic Wasting Disease Questions and Answers

In the last two years, two North Dakota deer have tested positive for chronic wasting disease. These are the first two positive cases discovered in the state among thousands of deer tested over the last decade or so.

Here’s a closer look at CWD with some common questions and the best answers science has at this time.

What Is Chronic Wasting Disease?

Chronic wasting disease is a progressive, fatal disease of the nervous system of white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk and moose. It belongs to a family of diseases known as Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies, or prion diseases. Although CWD shares certain features with other TSEs, like bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease), scrapie in sheep and goats, and Creutzfeldt – Jakob disease in humans, it is a distinct disease apparently affecting only deer, elk and moose. It causes damage to portions of the brain; creating holes in the brain cells and causing a sponge-like appearance.

What Wildlife Species Are Affected By CWD?

Five species of the deer family are known to be naturally susceptible to CWD: elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer, black-tailed deer and moose.

How Is CWD Transmitted?

It is not known exactly how CWD is transmitted. Experimental and circumstantial evidence suggest infected deer and elk transmit the disease laterally (animal-to-animal). The agent may be passed in saliva, urine, and/or feces or possibly through contact with an infected facility. CWD and other wildlife diseases seem more likely to occur in areas where deer or elk are crowded or where they congregate at man-made feed and water stations. Artificial feeding of deer and elk may compound the problem in states that allow this during deer hunting season and elk hunting season.

How Do You Test For CWD?

The only sure and practical way to diagnose CWD is through microscopic examination of the brain stem or lymph nodes in the head. Testing for CWD is done by federally-approved laboratories; there is no quick test that you or your meat processor can perform to determine if your animal has CWD.

Is There A Treatment For Infected Deer And Elk?

There is no treatment or vaccine for a deer or elk that has CWD. An animal displaying clinical signs consistent with CWD should be euthanized. Removing infected animals may help prevent spread of disease or infection.

Is CWD Transmissible To Humans?

The World Health Organization has reviewed available scientific information and concluded there is no evidence that CWD can be transmitted to humans. Researchers have found no link between the disease and any neurological disease that affects humans including the human TSE disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.

Between 1997 and 1998, three cases of sporadic CJD occurred in the U.S. in young adults. These individuals had consumed venison, which led to speculation about possible transmission of CWD from deer or elk to humans. However, review of the clinical records and pathological studies of all three cases by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, did not find a causal link to CWD.

There is no scientific evidence that CWD is transmissible through consumption of meat. The prions are known to accumulate in certain parts of the infected animal – brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, and lymph nodes. Consumption of these parts is not recommended.

Hunters should take common sense precautions when field dressing and processing deer or elk taken in areas where CWD has been diagnosed.

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“Wait…what…how did she, where did she come from?!?  Aw crap…no wait, maybe she doesn’t see me, she’s looking…does she?
“WHHHHHT!  WHHHHT!”
“Guhhh…”
My heart never sinks so low as when I know the jig is up; when all the scent killer in the world isn’t enough to cover up a stupid mistake on stand or when I let my guard down amidst an inadvertent daydream.  But that was the case on Sunday, as I tried to buck the odds and fill my tag on the final day of gun season in my bow hunting stand.  Plus it was the first calm weekend morning in three weeks.
The river bottom had been alive since 6:45 a.m., when the first rays of the sun began to light the wooded area around my stand.  The gentle clucking of a wild turkey some thirty yards off in the brush rose with the eastern sky, and soon others joined in on the cooing and calling.  At any one point, seven birds in a 200 yard radius of my old gray metal stand were carrying on a good morning conversation.  Smaller birds flitted and tweeted in the branches of the boxelders and elms around me, as the faintest trickle of the autumn-dried river murmured 50 yards to my west.

Suddenly the gurgling was broken by the splash of footsteps wading through the water. Startled, I grabbed my bow from the broken branch above me and stood up, rolling the right side of my stocking cap up over my ear to get a better bead on the sound.  I looked intently in the direction of where I had heard the water splashing, but I knew the area was obscured by a rise in the land and a number of trees which had been felled by a summer windstorm.  Occasionally, the forest chatter subsided long enough for me to catch another hoof cracking the dried leaves on the trail to my southwest.
Knowing my calendar for the next two weekends was booked with travel led me to the decision the night before to take a doe if the opportunity arose on Sunday, so I selected the river bottom which had produced a number of nice does since September.  I wouldn’t take one with a fawn, and I wouldn’t take a small one, but a mature doe would be a successful way to end my season – and it would be my first deer while bow hunting.
Sensing that very opportunity was hidden just 35 yards away, I began to feel the tremors of adrenaline – a rush I had been able to hold back most of the season as I waited for a monster and passed on a number of shootable does and young bucks.  I steadied myself on stand and strained my ears to pick up the sound of the moving deer.
Without warning, a squirrel which had been rummaging on the forest floor behind me bolted across the small clearing and up into a tree 22 yards in front of me and raced after his red-tailed friend. Round and round the tree they went, screeching and scratching after one another.  Every minute or so they’d pause, catch their breath and start all over again. When they stopped for about the twentieth time, I had forgotten about the footsteps.
And that’s when I got careless.  I lifted my rangefinder to my eye and got a reading on the tree where the squirrels had started racing once again.  I stretched my legs and lowered my bow.  I glanced behind me, glanced back at the squirrels, and glanced down the path to my southeast.
“Wait…what was that,” I thought as I swung my head back toward the squirrels, putting the brakes on my neck muscles just enough to leave the object in my peripheral vision.

It was as if I saw the sailboat in those Magic Eye posters for the first time.  The form of a huge whitetail doe – black eyes, black nose, gray face, white stomach – began to pop out from the browns, grays and greens of the woods around her at forty-five yards.  She was on the path toward me, hung up with her head held high, staring in my direction.

“Wait…what…how did she, where did she come from?!?  Aw crap…no wait, maybe she doesn’t see me, she’s lookin’ does she,” my mind frantically sputtered out orders to my body, “stand still, clip your release, don’t breathe – DON’T EVEN BLINK,” none of which it obeyed, but it didn’t matter – it was already too late.
“WHHHHHT!  WHHHHT!” The doe snorted loudly; she had seen enough of my motion from the opposite side of the clearing to know I meant no good.  She bounded off into the woods, cracking and snapping the twigs and branches as she frantically put distance and thick cover between us.
“Guhhh…” my adrenaline-wracked brain sighed out, almost audibly.
Sometimes, there are no words for how stupid the hunt can make me feel.  After the doe had hightailed it out of the area, I turned back to the squirrels, cursed them with rotten acorns, sat down in my stand and sulked; eventually cracking a smile.  No doubt about it – I was busted while goofing off and losing focus.  But I quickly realized the lesson I had just learned was part of becoming a better hunter.  On my mental scoreboard, I chalked a win up for the wise old doe (with the assistance of a couple of annoying squirrels) and I headed down the ladder for the walk of shame out of…our outdoors.

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Each year it seems I somehow wind up as part of a large number of hunters who receive a recycled email joke about making beef taste like venison. Most who read it find themselves nodding their head and chuckling, as the masses who’ve hunted deer can relate to the uneasy truthfulness of many of the “steps.”

The premise of the joke is if you would treat beef cattle like some people handle deer – dragging through a plowed field, hanging from a “meat pole” or carrying in a pickup box for a couple of days in warm temperatures, etc – then the beef wouldn’t quite taste the same as if it was properly processed.

Like most hunters, I treasure my deer and look forward to each year’s new supply of venison. Honestly, I don’t want it to taste like beef, which it shouldn’t no matter how well you care for it.

I don’t want it to taste like less-than-ideal venison, either. But that’s what can happen if you make the mistakes suggested in the email joke. While those examples are perhaps a bit exaggerated, if you too receive the email, I’d suggest looking it over and taking steps to ensure you minimize the potential for any of their “recipe” from being a part of your deer preparation and storage. In fact here’s a better checklist to reference if you don’t have access to the joke.

1.     Take your time when field dressing an animal so you don’t contaminate any meat with the inner contents of the deer.

2.      The carcass must be cooled as soon as possible. If the outside temperature is warm, elevate the animal above ground to facilitate air circulation around the entire body. This can be accomplished by hanging the animal in a cool, shady place.

3.      If the carcass must be drug out of the field, keep dirt, grass and other possible contaminates out of the open body cavity.

4.      When it comes to aging of venison, this is best carried out only when you can hang the carcass where the temperature is consistently maintained around 35 to 38 degrees Fahrenheit for several days. If you are going to make sausage or just grind your venison into burger, there is no reason to age it. It will be better if it is fresh.

5.      Unless cooking the meat fresh, it should be quickly frozen after butchering. Meal-sized quantities of meat should be placed into plastic bags. Most of the air should be removed from the plastic bags before sealing. When the meat will be stored in the freezer for more than a few days, the plastic bags should be wrapped in freezer paper; the freezer paper should be sealed with tape; and the packages should be labeled appropriately.

6.      Meat prepared and stored in this manner can maintain good quality for more than a year. Vacuum-sealed bags probably improve the storage process, and vacuum-sealed bags may not require a second layer of freezer paper.

Following these steps will help put a smile on your face enjoying your venison, and that’s no joke.

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One of the great projects with antlers you find.

From Sunday morning hunting shows to a seat in a stand overlooking a food plot, the sound made when antler strikes antler is a hail call to bucks in the fall. You can avail yourself of the attraction it has on whitetails by making a set of rattling antlers to take into the field this year. This fun and simple project can be done in less than an hour with just a few common tools and materials.
Get started by selecting a set of whitetail deer antlers, they might be the ones from a buck you shot, or a pair found while shed hunting. The tines on the antlers should be of sufficient number and size to produce an audible click and clack when the two are rattled together. The tines along the main beam should be at least five inches in length. In this case, I selected an even four-by-four rack from a buck I shot a few years back.
The project will require a hand saw capable of cutting through the antlers, such as a Gerber bone saw, a drill with a 1/4-inch drill bit, a sandpaper cube and a leather cord approximately two feet in length and less than 1/4-inch in width. The starting materials are pictured in Figure 1.
Select an antler and secure the bit in the drill. I recommend wearing plastic safety glasses to protect your eyes from dust and debris while drilling. Find a spot near the base of the antler, about a half-inch up from the bottom, and carefully drill a hole all the way through the antler as pictured in Figure 2. You can cautiously yaw the bit in the hole once you have completed it to provide more clearance for the leather cord, which will be threaded through the antler near the end of the project.
The next step is to remove the tips of the antler tines for safety purposes. As many people hunt from elevated stands or will be walking while carrying these antlers, it is important to remove the points to reduce the chance of puncture injuries in case of a fall. Using the hand saw, remove the tip of the antler tine about one inch down from the point as shown in Figure 3. Repeat the process for all of the main-beam tines on the antler. The cut tines should resemble the image in Figure 4.
Next, place the saw at the point where the brow tine meets the main beam. (If your antlers don’t have brow tines, you’ve saved yourself some time and toil and can skip to the next step.) Cut the brow tine off as close to the main beam as possible with the bone saw, so the base of your antler resembles the one in Figure 5.
Once the tine points and the brow tine have been removed from the antler, it’s time to smooth the saw marks out of the bone. While this step can be skipped, the rounded tips add some aesthetics to your set of rattling antlers. Touch up the tines with a sandpaper cube, as pictured in Figure 6, and buff out the brow tine area until it is smooth.
Thread one end of the leather cord through the hole in the base of the antler. Once through, tie a firm overhand knot and leave a short tag end for a stopper as detailed in Figure 7. Repeat the process for the other antler, and you’re done!
If you have the means and are more artistic, you can scrimshaw a picture of a monster buck into the antlers where you removed the brow tine. You can also make or buy a neck pad at a specialty leather store with your name on it, which you could thread onto the cord before tying on the second antler. Make the project your own by adding a couple blaze orange beads to the leather cord before you tie it off. Or keep it simple like the completed set in Figure 8 – it’s up to you!
With a pair of sheds and a free hour, this project will help you get ready for the upcoming deer seasons. Hopefully then, a curious buck will be drawn out to investigate the tick-tick-ticking of your rattling antlers reverberating through the autumn air…in our outdoors.

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While in the throes of a hotly contested battle with the seat section of a new 15-foot ladder stand, I took a break from what is now becoming a late summer ritual to get a drink of water and my bearings while looking over the assembly manual. It wasn’t the antler fever-inducing periodical I had been perusing earlier, but I knew it was even more important that I get all the details down cold during assembly and installation on my tree of choice in the river bottom south of town.

A good majority of hunting magazines and TV shows stress the little things like stand placement, wind direction and scent control for a successful hunt, but rarely do they focus on safety as being the key element in determining success in the field. Because whether you come home with a filled tag, or just a good afternoon away from it all, all safe hunts should be considered successful outings. If you find yourself in a treestand this fall, there are some safety reminders to recall as you prepare your perch and climb into the canopy for the upcoming deer seasons.

As you prepare to place your stand in the woods or in the shelterbelt overlooking your favorite field, don’t forget to evaluate your chosen tree. Inspect it closely to see that it fits your stand needs. Most stands have a minimum diameter tree that they can be used with – generally 9 inches or more across – so be sure to meet or exceed that base dimension. Examine the tree to be assured of its health. If you’re placing a stand in late summer, the tree should still have a good canopy of leaves, be free of obvious blight or fungus, not have any significant structural damage, such as broken main limbs, and be as vertical as possible with little or no lean. Once you’ve found a safe tree, you can install your stand.
Be familiar with your stand and the special requirements it may warrant for safe and effective use. You should have assembled and installed the stand yourself and have first hand knowledge of it, with a solid understanding of its safety manual requirements. Whether it’s an all-in-one ladder stand, a climber or a hang-on model with ladder sticks leading up to it, make sure that every nut and bolt is in place before hauling it out to the ideal spot or toting it into the field to find the perfect ambush point. When placing the stand, follow the instructions for installation and use. Secure the stand tight to the tree, checking all tie-downs, ratchet straps and locks which stabilize it. With climber stands, inspect cables and test locking pins to assure a safe ascent and return to ground level when the hunt is done.

Don’t use stands you are not familiar with and don’t climb into wooden stands you may happen upon while in the field. Unless you assembled it, don’t get into it! If you do have a permanent stand made of wood on your property, go over it periodically looking for wind damage, rot, or other structural compromise resulting from exposure to the elements or a growing tree and make the necessary repairs or replacement.

Each type of stand brings with it a unique set of requirements for safe use, but they all have one safety element in common and that is the use of a fall arrest system to prevent a life-threatening tumble from the tree-tops. Nationwide, nearly 47,000 hunters were injured in falls from treestands from 2000-2007, according to a study done at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, based on data obtained and tracked by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The injuries tracked ran the gamut from bruises and broken bones to paralysis and death. In nearly all instances reported, the hunter failed to use a safety harness and fall arrest system, despite the fact that most commercial tree stands include such a two-part system in the package.

Make a harness and a fall arrest system as much a part of the experience as your bow or firearm this autumn. At the beginning of each outing, inspect the fabric, stitching and fit of your harness before climbing into your stand. Whether it’s a basic ladder stand, or a stadium version with rails, a fall-arrest system is still required to help provide for a safe hunt. Even with a harness, have a plan in place as to how to regain the stand if you fall out and are suspended in the air. If you happen to fall while using your harness, discard it and the lanyard in favor of a new one.

The use of a harness is not without its issues, as it is only a temporary fix to a dangerous situation. Prolonged suspension may result in internal trauma caused by pressure to the groin and the pooling of blood in the lower extremities which results in a phenomenon called suspension trauma. This trauma may lead to shock, unconsciousness and death. Have a way to prevent this trauma at hand in the form of harness leggings, or screw-in tree steps to put your feet in and keep your legs loose and the pressure off until help arrives.

Should you need assistance while on stand, have a cellular phone in an easily-accessible pocket in your hunting clothes. Let someone at your home, or at the property owner’s house know exactly where you are for that hunt with a hunting information sheet, so that they can find you in an emergency, or contact you as needed. Being prepared for the worst case scenario is the best assurance that it doesn’t happen, or that when it does, you have more than one way out.
Tree stand hunting presents unique safety concerns for hunters employing these elevated ambush points. Knowing how to check them off as you prepare for the hunt in the pre-season and before each outing will ensure success, regardless of whether you climb down to track a deer, or just follow your own tracks back to camp, ready to enjoy the next day afield…in our outdoors.

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At a near run, you step over the crest of the small hill to the other side that leads down to the oak bottom and wonder where the deer bounded after it left your sight. With the scent of gunpowder fading, you follow the sign in the brown leaves and dry grass and look ahead, scanning from side to side of the clearing leading down toward the creek bottom. Riding high on the adrenaline rush, you almost miss it, but your senses snap your head back to the twinkling of white bone amidst the twigs and leaf litter.

Some small taxidermy tips can really help preserve your mount - see free taxidermy catalogs for more mounting ideas

A second wave of excitement obliterates the crumbling wall of composure you had left. The biggest buck you’ve ever hunted lays before you, the reward for chilly March days of shed hunting on these hillsides, mosquito-filled scouting missions in July, and October evenings occupied by checking the trail cam. But now what?

For many hunters, harvesting a trophy buck is a once-in-a-lifetime accomplishment, and preserving the memory for years to come most often takes the form of a full chest mount to hang in the den, office or rec room. But most hunters don’t think about caping and caring for their trophy until after the shot has been fired. According to Jamie Risovi, one of the region’s most renowned big game taxidermists, preserving the memory and the animal should be one of the top considerations hunters have when they set out on opening day.

Growing Recognition
Risovi, of New Rockford, ND owns Risovi Taxidermy Studio (www.risovitaxidermystudio.com) and has produced acclaimed fish, bird and big game mounts for the better part of the past decade. In 2008, Risovi’s impressive mount of a massive-racked whitetail deer, preserved as it was taken – in full velvet with just two points poking through – won the Whitetail Deer category in the National Taxidermy Championship in Lubbock, Texas. With multiple first place awards and top three finishes over the past five years in a variety of taxidermy categories in both North Dakota and South Dakota, as well as national and worldwide competitions, Risovi has used his love of hunting, fishing and the outdoors to perfect his art.

His passion for taxidermy began at a young age in the trophy room of his great uncle, Alfred Klumph. Dall sheep, brown bears and a multitude of other game adorned the walls and captivated Risovi’s imagination. He began by doing taxidermy on his own, then with his father for a few years. Eventually, friends took notice of his craft and began asking him to do their mounts.

From that point, and for the past twelve years or so, Risovi has been providing professional taxidermy services for clients from across the country. This has given him insight into the preparation of animals for preservation, and his skill in his trades of both taxidermy and as a sixth-grade teacher allows him to provide outdoorsmen with tips on caring for their big game from the field to his front door.

A Trio of Tips
For the best mounts, Risovi has a number of recommendations that hunters should consider, starting first with the proper skinning and cleaning techniques that can be found on his website. Before the hunt, especially if traveling out-of-state or country, hunters should have the logistics figured out for the transport of their game in accordance with new laws and regulations. For in-state transport to his studio, or to any other taxidermist, he has three primary rules for animals that are to be preserved.

“Keep it clean, keep it dry and keep it cool,” Risovi remarks on caring for a trophy deer cape.
Risovi recommends that hunters do their best to keep the animal’s fur free from excess blood and keep the skin from getting coated with dirt and debris.

“Blood can be washed off, but the cape shouldn’t be hosed down,” Risovi qualifies his advice, stressing his second tip – keep the cape dry – as exposure to water and excess moisture can compromise the quality of a mount.
He suggests that when transporting the animal or the cape, it should be covered while on the road, especially in snow or rain, and that it should be brought to the taxidermist as soon as possible.

Finally, Risovi suggests keeping the cape and head of a deer cool, and while it is best to get the cape to a taxidermist without freezing it, storage for a brief time in a freezer is acceptable. Risovi recommends wrapping the cape and head in a plastic bag, squeezing out all of the air, and tying the bag off. Repeat the process with two more bags, making sure that as much air as possible is removed, preventing circulation and its side-effect, freezer burn.

R&R – Racks and Relaxation
“Most nights in the winter, I’ll work as late as midnight,” says Risovi, “in the summer, when not teaching, I put in 10- to 12-hour days,” he continues, remarking that taxidermy is one of those jobs where if you love what you’re doing, you don’t mind going to work.

“It’s relaxing for me, otherwise I wouldn’t be out there til two in the morning,” he states with a slight chuckle.
If that’s the case, he’s got a lot of relaxation in front of him as the demand for his services rises during and after the deer firearms season. While not everyone can go to Risovi for their taxidermy projects, he has advice for those people looking to preserve their memorable hunt through a quality taxidermist. The first and foremost is: you get what you pay for.

“Quality isn’t expensive,” states Risovi, “it’s priceless.”
If you want a mount that will match the majesty of the animal you’ve hunted, don’t skimp on the expense. Keep your ear to the rail, talk to those people who have used taxidermists in your area with good results and more importantly, visit the studio where your work will be done.

“I invite people to view my website, but they will get a better idea if they can come see the work in person – so go to the showroom,” he stresses.

In relation to quality, Risovi says hunters should expect turn-around times of about a year on their mounts. Anything that takes well over a year, or comes back too quickly raises some serious questions about the quality of work.
“If I think it is going to take more than a year, I generally don’t take the work,” Risovi says, “good taxidermists stay busy,” he continues, stressing that mounts are continuously processed and he has a solid seasonal system of getting hides to the tannery in winter, and set on the mounts in the summer.

When the mounts are returned to his clients after his award-winning touch has been applied, people see that his dedication to provide quality work in a responsive manner all comes together in the final product. Risovi advises his clients that a little bit of maintenance will go a long way. Wipe the mount with a damp cloth from time to time to keep it dust free and mount it in an area of the house where it won’t be exposed to moisture or grease and it will remain in good shape for many years.

With these tips from a veteran taxidermist, from what to do before the hunt on through years of stories told under the antlers, hunters will be ready when the moment arrives to preserve their trophy and the memories made…in our outdoors.

For more information on Jamie Risovi and his tips to prepare your trophy for taxidermy, visit www.risovitaxidermystudio.com or stop by his studio at 1116 3rd Avenue North, New Rockford, ND or call (701)947-2048.

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Good news for North Dakota deer hunters this year is that the Sportsmen Against Hunger venison donation program is back in full operation

Last year, the program only accepted deer donated by bowhunters, because of concerns over the possibility of lead particles from bullets remaining in processed venison.

Sportsmen Against Hunger is growing in popularity

In North Dakota, the program works like this. Statewide the North Dakota Community Action Partnership, a nonprofit agency that serves low-income households, raises funds to pay for processing of harvested deer donated by hunters. Hunters take the deer they want to donate to a participating processer, who turns the deer into packages of ground venison.

Local food pantries offer it as an option to people who come in for help in meeting their nutritional needs.

In March 2008 Community Action voluntarily discarded several thousand pounds of donated venison upon recommendations from the state departments of Heath, Agriculture and Game and Fish, after an investigation discovered lead particles in donated venison at three different processing facilities. Lead is a toxic substance that
even at low levels is dangerous to young children as it can inhibit neurological development.

“The venison donation program was growing nicely at that time and it was a big loss to our food pantries and the people who depend on them,” said Ann Pollert, executive director of NDCAP.

In the summer of 2008, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tested blood from more than 700 North Dakotans, most of whom had consumed venison taken with lead bullets, for lead levels. Test results showed that nearly all study participants had some detectable lead in their blood; however, none had a level high enough to require medical evaluation.

In addition, although the study did not include many children, nearly all the children in the study had detectable lead in their blood. The North Dakota Department of Health developed the following recommendations to minimize the risk to people who are most vulnerable to the effects of lead: (1) Pregnant women and children younger than 6 should not eat any venison harvested with lead bullets; and (2) older children and other adults should take steps to minimize their potential exposure to lead, and use their own judgment about consuming game taken with lead-based ammunition.

This year, Pollert said the program has enough funds to handle more than 700 donated deer. Processors will not accept deer shot in the hind quarters for the SAH program. In addition, donated deer will be processed individually, or only with other donated deer.

The list of participating processers is available at the website www.capnd.org. Hunters should contact the processer prior to bringing a deer in, to make sure there is still a slot available, as Sportsmen Against Hunger can only fund a certain number of deer in each local area.

North Dakota Game and Fish Department Director Terry Steinwand said the SAH plan is good news for state deerhunters. “The option for donating a deer means more opportunities for hunters,” Steinwand said. “Sportsmen Against Hunger is an excellent program and we’re glad it’s returning to full operation.”

In addition to accepting deer shot with firearms, SAH strongly encourages bowhunters to continue donating deer as well. “We had great support from bowhunters last year,” Pollert said. “ Thanks to support from nearly two dozen wildlife clubs across the state
we have enough funds to increase the number of deer we can accept this year, and our food pantries tell us they have a demand for all that we can provide them.”

This fall, if you have an interest in donating a deer, check out the CAP website for more information. Sportsmen Against Hunger is a great program and well worth our support.

Leier is a biologist with the Game and Fish Department. He can be reached by email: dleier@nd.gov.

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North Dakota’s recent bounty of white-tailed deer means that more hunters in more places have had a chance to put a deer or two or three in the freezer.

That’s quite a change from a few short decades ago when deer weren’t nearly as plentiful and many hunters made doe licenses their first choice in the annual deer lottery to give them better odds of having just one deer to dine on through the winter, perhaps even split among several people.

I learned in a recent discussion that back in the day when sharing one deer for a group of three or four wasn’t all that uncommon, mixing pork in with deer meat to make sausage became a standard for making the venison go further, so to speak. It wasn’t simply just a means to add some fat to this lean meat.

You read that correct, and it makes sense.

I think there’s another reason that some deer hunters make sausage and that’s to enhance the venison flavor by adding not only pork, but spices as well.

I appreciate the versatility of venison, as I’ve eaten the usual steaks, roasts, jerky and sausage — some good and some not so good. When it comes to the not-so-good, it’s seldom that we can blame the deer.

“If you start off in the field with poorly cared for meat, there’s no seasoning, searing or masking that can make it taste better,” says Lynn Schlueter, an experience wild game chef who is also a Game and Fish Department fisheries biologist. “Most of the worst tasting wild game is because it wasn’t kept clean and cool in the field.”

Schlueter offers several tips that most of us have read before, but bear repeating as we head into deer season.

1.Take your time when field dressing an animal so you don’t contaminate any meat with the inner contents of the deer.

2.The carcass must be cooled as soon as possible. If the outside temperature is warm, elevate the animal above ground to facilitate air circulation around the entire body. This can be accomplished by hanging the animal in a cool, shady place.

3.If the carcass must be drug out of the field, keep dirt, grass and other possible contaminates out of the open body cavity.

4.When it comes to aging of venison, this is best carried out only when you can hang the carcass where the temperature is consistently maintained around 35 to 38 degrees Fahrenheit for several days. If you are going to make sausage or just grind your venison into burger, there is no reason to age it. It will be better if it is fresh.

5.Unless cooking the meat fresh, it should be quickly frozen after butchering. Meal-sized quantities of meat should be placed into plastic bags. Most of the air should be removed from the plastic bags before sealing. When the meat will be stored in the freezer for more than a few days, the plastic bags should be wrapped in freezer paper; the freezer paper should be sealed with tape; and the packages should be labeled appropriately.

6.Meat prepared and stored in this manner can maintain good quality for more than a year. Vacuum-sealed bags probably improve the storage process, and vacuum-sealed bags may not require a second layer of freezer paper.

Sportsmen Against Hunger Program

While 40 years ago hunters made sausage to make a deer last longer, today it’s common for some hunters to get more than one deer each. In the past few years many of these hunters have donated a deer to the Sportsmen Against Hunger program, which gets the meat to food pantries.

Because of the discovery of lead particles in venison donated by gun hunters last fall, SAH is limiting its donations to bow-killed deer only for this year. As such, the program is in great need of bow hunters who are willing to donate a deer. For more information, check out the link on the Game and Fish Department’s website at gf.nd.gov.

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Do you hear that tick-tick-ticking? It’s either the second hand of the hall clock marking off the moments until deer seasons open up around the region or it’s the beginning of field combat between this year’s herd of whitetail bucks in an attempt to establish dominance.

From Sunday morning hunting shows to a seat in a stand overlooking a food plot, the familiar sound made when antler strikes antler is a hail call to bucks in the fall. You can avail yourself of the attraction the sound has on whitetails by making a set of rattling antlers to take into the field this year. This fun and simple project can be done in less than an hour with just a few common tools and materials.

Get started by selecting a set of whitetail deer antlers, they might be the ones from a buck you shot, or a pair found while shed hunting. The tines on the antlers should be of sufficient number and size to produce an audible click and clack when the two antlers are rattled together. The tines along the main beam should be about five inches in length. In this case, I selected an even four-by-four rack from a buck I shot a few years back.

The project will require a hand saw capable of cutting through the antlers, such as a Gerber bone saw, a drill with a 1/4-inch drill bit, a sandpaper cube and a leather cord approximately two feet in length and slightly less than 1/4-inch in width. The starting materials are pictured in Figure 1.

Select an antler and secure the bit in the drill. Find a spot near the base of the antler, about a half-inch up from the bottom, and carefully drill a hole all the way through the antler as pictured in Figure 2. You can cautiously yaw the bit in the hole once you have completed it to provide more clearance for the leather cord, which will be threaded through the antler near the end of the project.

The next step is to remove the tips of the antler tines for safety purposes. As many people hunt from elevated stands or will be walking while carrying these antlers, it is important to remove the points to reduce the chance of puncture injuries in case of a fall. Using the hand saw, remove the tip of the antler tine about one inch down from the point as shown in Figure 3. Repeat the process for all of the main-beam tines on the antler. The cut tines should resemble the image in Figure 4.

Next, place the saw at the point where the brow tine meets the main beam. (If your antlers don’t have brow tines, you’ve saved yourself some time and toil and can skip to the next step.) Cut the brow tine off as close to the main beam as possible with the bone saw, so the base of your antler resembles the one in Figure 5. Don’t toss your brow tines or the antler tine tips; with a 5/32” drill bit and a picture-frame eye screw, you can make some cool zipper pulls for your rifle case or hunting jacket!

Once the tine points and the brow tine have been removed from the antler, it’s time to smooth the saw marks out of the bone. While this step can be skipped, the rounded tips add some aesthetics to your set of rattling antlers. Touch up the tines with a sandpaper cube, as pictured in Figure 6, and buff out the brow tine area until it is smooth.

Thread one end of the leather cord through the hole in the base of the antler. Once through, tie a firm overhand knot and leave a short tag end for a stopper as detailed in Figure 7. Repeat the process for the other antler, and you’re done!

If you have the means and are more artistic, you can scrimshaw a picture of a monster buck into the antlers where you removed the brow tine. You can also make or buy a neck pad at a specialty leather store with your name on it, which you could thread onto the cord before tying on the second antler. Make the project your own by adding a couple blaze orange beads to the leather cord before you tie it off. Or keep it simple like the completed set in Figure 8 – it’s up to you!

If you have a pair of sheds and a free hour, this project will help you get ready for the upcoming deer seasons. Hopefully then, a curious buck will be drawn out to investigate the tick-tick-ticking of your rattling antlers reverberating through the autumn air…in our outdoors.

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