Deer hunting Nantucket--lyme disease?

[biff44]

I have a relative on the island, and she invited me to come out for the deer hunt. They apparently are innundated by deer.

My question is, since virtually every deer on that island has lyme disease, is it safe to hunt there? Can you eat the meat? Do you have to cook it to "well done" or something like that? Do you have to have rubber gloves to field dress the deer?

 

[Patriot]

I have a relative on the island, and she invited me to come out for the deer hunt. They apparently are innundated by deer.

My question is, since virtually every deer on that island has lyme disease, is it safe to hunt there? Can you eat the meat? Do you have to cook it to "well done" or something like that? Do you have to have rubber gloves to field dress the deer?

Get the Lyme Disease inoculation before you go. Chances are you will get the disease if you
don't. Virtually everyone on Nantucket has/had the disease or the shot. They are overrun
with deer and the deer and environment are loaded with Lyme disease carrying ticks.

 

[meth0d]

I didn't know it was so prevalent over there. I'm curious to see if anyone else thinks it's a danger to eat the meat. I would suspect it is.

 

[JonJ]

From the CDC:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/LYME/ld_transmission.htm

 

[meth0d]

From the CDC:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/LYME/ld_transmission.htm

Ahh, good to know. Thanks! +1

 

[JoeT]

I went on a hunt there a few years ago when they open a "late season". It was the worst hunting ever. hunters everywhere, no good cover/trees to hunt out of. on the way back on the ferry people were spitting on the deer (anti hunters). overall not a good experience, I wouldn't do it again

 

[M1911]

I went on the same hunt as JoeT.

Hunting on Nantucket is quite hard and likely different from what you are used to. You won't do well hunting by yourself or just waiting on the deer. The only way you're likely to get a deer is by working with a large group and having most of the members drive the deer to a couple shooters.

Most of the hunting land on Nantucket does not have large trees. Instead, it is very, very thick scrub. It is really hard to walk through. Quite often, you can't see more than 10 feet in any direction, if that. You really need to be in shape, because busting through that brush is a bitch. It is really, really exhausting. There is no way you will stalk your way up on a deer -- deer will hear you moving through that scrub from the other side of island.

We were speaking to one of the environmental police officers and he said that one group that comes over from the Cape each year has a bunch of guys that put on orange-painted hockey helmets. The guys with the hockey helmets plunge through the brush, driving the deer to the shooters. Their motto is "if you're not bleeding, you're not hunting."

Good luck.

 

[Ham Slam]

if you get ticks off you within 24 hours you are usallay good to go. If you get the circle rash or fever. Go get the two pills.

 

[jon]

Get the Lyme Disease inoculation before you go. Chances are you will get the disease if you
don't. Virtually everyone on Nantucket has/had the disease or the shot. They are overrun
with deer and the deer and environment are loaded with Lyme disease carrying ticks.

They discontined the lyme disease vaccination. They had no clinical proof it actually helped. There is actually a class action suti going on over it now.

 

[Pomeraniac]

I had a terrible Lyme infection that kept me down for more than 10 years, because it was undiagnosed for the first four years of the infection.

I learned a lot about it and even though I went through hell I still go outside all the time.

I'm still as outdoorsy now as I was then, because tick bites can be prevented. The trick is to cover yourself with a bug repellent that contains DEET.

For more info on Lyme Disease see the web site for the Lyme Disease Foundation, the group that saved me by steering me to a great doctor: http://www.lyme.org

 

[Mass-diver]

They discontined the lyme disease vaccination. They had no clinical proof it actually helped. There is actually a class action suti going on over it now.

It's actually a more complicated issue. One big study did show that the vaccine helped (with about 75% protection) but only if you have all 3 three shots. Of course, by immunizations standards - this is pretty low.

While there is a law suit going on, the vaccine was discontinued due to low demand. Dont' forget this mostly and NE issue and with it not working that well, there weren't line to go and get it.

 

[biff44]

Let me get this straight, are you saying that now, in the middle of winter, I should still use deet? Aren't the ticks hibernating by now?

I was more concerned about butchering and eating the meat!

Did not think thru the whole hunting idea. I had been there back roading, but just to get to the beach for fishing. I just assumed I could sit on the top of a bluff in some camo and blast the first deer that walked by in range.

 

[M1911]

Let me get this straight, are you saying that now, in the middle of winter, I should still use deet? Aren't the ticks hibernating by now?

I was more concerned about butchering and eating the meat!

There is no threat from the ticks now. You won't get Lyme disease from the meat -- you get it from a tick bite. There are concerns in some areas about chronic wasting disease and a possible link to creutzfeldt-jakob disease, but I doubt that would be an issue out on Nantucket.

Did not think thru the whole hunting idea. I had been there back roading, but just to get to the beach for fishing. I just assumed I could sit on the top of a bluff in some camo and blast the first deer that walked by in range.

When I was there, I saw darn few bluffs where I could see more 20 feet in front of me. The deer just hid in the thickets. You could walk by 10 feet away and never see them. You can see much farther out on the Moors, but if you did see a deer there it would be far out of range.

As for camo, remember that in MA you must wear an orange hat and coat. Orange camo is OK.

 

[dixidawg]

There is no threat from the ticks now.

Huh? I think this is probably the most active time of year for ticks. I took the dogs out last saturday for a couple of hours. I combed at least 50 ticks off each dog. Found a few on me too.

 

[M1911]

Huh? I think this is probably the most active time of year for ticks. I took the dogs out last saturday for a couple of hours. I combed at least 50 ticks off each dog. Found a few on me too.

Really? That surprises me. I thought after first frost they were done.

 

[Patriot]

Really? That surprises me. I thought after first frost they were done.

Not so. I was hunting Quabbin one year, lots of snow on the ground. Guy about 50 yards
away from me shot a buck and the deer was infested with them. In fact, I went and took a
whiz shortly after that and got one attached to my inner thigh. Not a pretty site getting
that one removed. I was lucky it wasn't an infected tick.

 

[Joe G]

There is no threat from the ticks now.

I'd be careful. If it warms up just a little, the tics will be out again. On the 8th my daughter and I took the dog for a walk. We pulled tics of the dog and our clothes. The vet warned us to keep giving the dog Frontline thru the winter for just this reason. They can and do wake up during warm spells, even in the winter months.

 

[M1911]

I stand corrected. Frost does not kill deer ticks: http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/idepc/dtopics/tickborne/ticks.html

“Frost or near-frost conditions keeps them down, but at anything above 38 degrees they will soon come out and with deer traveling long distances it has helped to spread the ticks. If you are an active outdoors person in Massachusetts you’re bound to pick them up.”

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070415/NEWS/70415001

 

[shuyak]

I have hunted Nantucket for over 40 consecutive years since the mid '60's and can assure you that the deer are fine to eat. Lyme disease does not affect meat. I want to confirm what some people have contributed to this thread: that the hunting is different than anywhere else and very physically difficult, that most of the deer are taken by driving, that literally armies of hunters sweep through the scrub like a military assault. And that there is no closed season on ticks!! I've sat by the side of the road and taken over a hundred off my pantlegs at a time. With diligence, the use of duct tape to shut off your leg openings, and careful removal of ticks at the end of each day you should suffer no more than a few little bitemarks. It took me a few years when I first started hunting there to figure out a successful approach, but I've taken nearly 100 deer there. Even hunting alone, I've stood a few hundred yards off to the side of a massive drive and picked off deer escaping to the side 2 and 3 at a time. The wonderful thing about Nantucket is there is no limit on the number you can bag per day. The other great feature of hunting there is the beauty of the moors, the light of the oak and bayberry next to the ocean. The negative is that it's expensive to get a vehicle over on the ferry, difficult to find an appropriate and affordable place to stay. Transporting deer back on the ferry is NOT an issue because the Steamship Authority requires deer to be out of sight. Finally, and again, hunting there is not for everyone. I had a relative who had never shot a deer in many years in Western Mass, and I finally talked him into coming with me, and he got a deer opening morning, but never would return. Several other people I've invited over vowed after a day never to return, because walking through the scrub oak is brutal. Others refused even to go back in the woods after opening morning because of the number of slugs flying around everywhere when a drive busts a herd of deer and everyone starts shooting. Good luck if you decide to go.

 

[Migmojo]

Huh? I think this is probably the most active time of year for ticks. I took the dogs out last saturday for a couple of hours. I combed at least 50 ticks off each dog. Found a few on me too.

Are those regular ticks or deer ticks? I was hunting in Billerica a couple weeks ago, came home and sat at the computer, looked down at my wrist where a deer tick was approaching my watch. I was not bitten but surprised, he was promptly burned on the stove top.

 

[Plural of Mongoose]

Wow. I cant beleive Ive been missing this thread.
You guys are pretty much correct about the hunting conditions here.
Thick and nasty and less area to hun t every year.
Didnt hear too many shots this morning and I let two nice does walk by very early.Shoulda plugged them because I didnt see anything else after that.
The ticks are out today. Plenty of them. I stalked around a bit and picked a few off my pants when I came out of the woods.
All the suggestions about checking yourself, using deet and taping your pant legs is good advice.
Hunting on Nantucket isnt what it used to be. Sure, there are plenty of deer but there is less space every year. More houses, more posted property.
If any of you guys are here on Island and reading this PLEASE PLEASE honor posted areas and dont hunt too close to houses. There are soooooo many moonbats here on island and pissing them off doesnt do anyone any good.

Yes, I heard a hunter was shot this morning out on Eel point . My wife called me and said she had just passed the ambulance, warden and two cruisers headed west to Madaket. That was around 7:15 this morning.
I also heard that it was a woman who was shot. I dont know if that is true and if it was a woman, if she was hunting or walking her dog.
Hunting here is beginning to be a pain in the ass. Ive lived here for almost 30 years and it really isnt what it used to be. Ive even talked about giving up deer hunting during shotgun season here and going somewhere else during the fall to hunt.
Bow season is Ok but there are always all sorts of bird watchers, joggers,dog walkers etc.
Muzzleloader has become my favorite season on island. By then its usually cold enough to keep the non -hunters inside and very few people are out hunting.
Good luck to you all. No matter where you are hunting.

 

[Ham Slam]

Here's a little more information from the Cape Cod Times:

M1911 perhaps you should start a new thread. This is some serious news.

 

[Ham Slam]

Okay in response to this thread I have contacted three individuals regarding Lyme. I had a friend who is a nurse ask two doctors at hospital that he works at. My understanding is that in the fall you are much less likely to get lyme disease because ticks who commonly have lyme are not active because they are out of the nymph period. The two doctors said this was true, however I still have my doubts about it. I have contacted three different specialists in ticks in hopes that they will clear this up.

Basically a tick takes one blood meal in the nymph period and it is usally on a white footed field mouse, and that is where they get infected. They then take another one the next year usally off a deer or a larger animal.

 

[JonJ]

M1911 perhaps you should start a new thread. This is some serious news.

Done. New thread crated Hunter Shot on Nantucket

 

[Plural of Mongoose]

Okay in response to this thread I have contacted three individuals regarding Lyme. I had a friend who is a nurse ask two doctors at hospital that he works at. My understanding is that in the fall you are much less likely to get lyme disease because ticks who commonly have lyme are not active because they are out of the nymph period. The two doctors said this was true, however I still have my doubts about it. I have contacted three different specialists in ticks in hopes that they will clear this up.

Basically a tick takes one blood meal in the nymph period and it is usally on a white footed field mouse, and that is where they get infected. They then take another one the next year usally off a deer or a larger animal.

What you say about the nymphal ticks may be true but I treat every single one of them like a mini nuclear bomb.
I have had Lyme's 4 times now. Im not sure you can ever really get rid of it.
The second time I had it I was down and out with an IV in my arm and having to go to the hospital every evening for a month for IV Keflex.
Every time I have gotten it was during deer season.