The coming MEAT shortage...

I only eat the fully cooked back straps and muscles,
low risk even if contaminated.

 

It is not known whether CWD prion can be transferred to humans. Prions are not deactivated by cooking. If you dress the carcass, that is most likely exposure route.

Not arguing against deer eating here. If you are hunting in or near areas of known incidence, see if there is a testing option. If hunting elsewhere, one would suppose risk is low to none. It is up to deer hunters to stay on top of this situation.

=
In 2019 autumn I thought this would be the disease headline of 2020. Wrong-o.

 

WADR to the Winnie the Poo's WHO, I think that the overall risk to red-hatters down south from eatin bush meat is pretty low, because just about everybody I know stuffs their freezer full of deer sausage every winter during hunting season (and out of hunting season when they're protecting gardens......harvesting deer with automobiles....etc...)
If I were not a self-loathing herbivore, I'd eat it by the pound.

Still....Poo's WHO is probably right about commercial harvesting and introducing bush meat into the commercial food system with it's predilection to cut every corner and squeeze every bit of waste out of the supply chain.

I remember a little while back, Arby's introduced venison to their "meats" line-up and they had to jump through some regulatory hurtles to get by the feds.

The collective primal shrieking from the PITA crowd was probably worth the minuscule risk for a critter-to-human jump....

 

And the wasting disease:
Chronic Wasting Disease | Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

But the biggest problem are the 'visa card' hunters on public (or private) land.

Bob Wilson

 

Is any truly wild meat sold commercially in the U.S.? I thought that was prohibited after market hunting was abolished after such hunting abolished the Passenger Pigeon.

I.e. I had the impression that 'wild' meats sold in this U.S. (excluding fish) were actually captive farmed versions of such species, not actually wild. Unlike certain Asian and African markets where it really is wild bushmeat.

Not that U.S. farm operations are innocent of past influenza strains jumping from domestic animals to humans ...

"To date, there have been no reported cases of CWD infection in people. However, some animal studies suggest CWD poses a risk to certain types of non-human primates, like monkeys, that eat meat from CWD-infected animals or come in contact with brain or body fluids from infected deer or elk."

But we do know that BSE (Mad Cow Disease), another prion disease, does infect people too.

 

what about buffalo too - 1:41and 2:25 in the video

A White Tailed Deer can jump up to 6 to 8 feet or more if startled or fleeing a dangerous situation! Of course a 28 inch fence wouldn't keep deer out.

 

As a teenager, I personally witnessed a bison performing a standing high jump over a gate somewhat higher than that, just in front of me, on the farm where I grew up. At least it solved my immediate problem of how to get him through that unopened gate when there was no one in front to open it for him.

A neighboring property, a rental farm, briefly had a dozen bison from an in-law of the newlywed tenants. The fences were built for beef, not bison, so some of them strayed a bit, and we had to herd them back from our fields a couple times. Dad didn't have the courage to herd bison on foot, especially a bull, so stayed in the pickup. But he did have the courage to put me out on foot, carrying an elk rifle just in case they got aggressive. Fortunately, they did not.

 

I can't hardly imagine the power of Bison. Three years ago we went to South Dakota for an extended vacation. We visited the Badlands and General Custer State Park. Both these areas have wild bison herds we were able to witness. At General Custer State park driving on a gravel improved road we witnessed a herd of bison go by- they came up over a rise and I decided to drive through the area they crossed to get a better view. My wife yelled "stop" - it seems these were the males and the females and calves were a little behind and we found we were approaching right in their path. None hit us but a couple turned on a dime to miss us. Lesson learned on following buffalo if you can't see a great distance on all sides. It is my impression if an adult bison would have crashed into our car it would not have fazed him one bit but probably crushed that area of the car.

You are a brave man to go on foot near these animals.

 

Drop the "General", it is simply Custer State Park. See also wikipedia Custer State Park. Years ago, we spent several days there and very highly recommend it too. It was much more worthwhile than Mt. Rushmore.

While there, see also not just the Badlands, but Wind and Jewel Caves too, and get a good hike through some of the grasslands above.

Bravery had nothing to do with it, it was a matter of a teenager very nervously following parental orders. With a big game rifle chambered and ready, just in case.

 

MEAT=
Meh,
Eat
Another
Thing

Actually I shouldn't say that, as I'm not vegetarian. I eat meat when it's served to me, I just don't make it at home myself (prefer chicken and fish).

But it's not just meat that'll be in short supply, chicken processing lines have the same problem.

We're all so used to getting EXACTLY what we want. For a while, we'll just have to get used to substitutions and other things.

 

You don't count chicken meat as meat?

I already had problems with the common (but not universal) exclusion of fish meat from being called meat.

 

Now there's a run on freezers......

Probably gonna be hard to buy a new tiller too.

I don't usually eat the meats, but my dear wife still does in moderation and we (she) occasionally will cook for others.
As many folks in these parts do, her father always had a few cows on hand, and so she just doesn't DO store-bought meat.

I was thinking about the "meat shortage" yesterday when I went to a local meat place to get some locally sourced ground chuck.
By "local" I mean it's about 25 miles out of town.
They had a TON of venison!
I'm not sure if it's commercially sourced or the revenuers just don't bother to go out there.
Not really seeing much of a meat shortage hereabouts but I'm hoping that our freezer doesn't give up the ghost because home canning seems to be something of a lost art.
I'm seeing a significant uptick in the number of large gardens, and so rather than plant one myself I'm going to dust off the old pressure caner and buy some jars.....because THIS year there's going to be a bumper crop of local vegetables.

Next spring when people are going to be paying off Christmas credit card bills there will "probably" be a bunch of slightly used freezers for sale.

Maybe 'some other things' too....
FBI gun background checks in April among highest ever recorded

 

There are a lot of small meat markets along with normal people who can process meat (myself included)

instead of tossing meat price it properly to gain the interest of these groups to sell process

heck I bet the local meat market would process meat for other locations if they were paid

 

I'm back to buying from the little butcher at my local farmer's market, now that they've implemented phone order/curbside service. They've always had great stuff at reasonable prices but they were stuck in an impossible-to-distance retail establishment.

The freezer got us through that gap. Speaking of which, I thought I'd volunteer it as a suggestion for @Georgina Rudkus' next thread: "Chest Freezers Sold Out Everywhere." One of my friends in California reports he can't find them anywhere. I peeked and see very limited selection for freezers here.

I told him to get a dehydrator and a vacuum sealer while he could.

Then the canning supplies...

We just graduated our hatchlings into a larger enclosure, hoping to have some laying in July/August. We've decided to get a couple of guinea hens to raise for meat; something we've never done before. That'll be later in the summer, hoping to get them up to weight by late November.

 

Coming soon:

Robot meat processors.

Robots don't unionize and sensationalize.....

 

we need robot meatia too

 

... or catch novel RNA viruses, which might rise to the top of the list of good reasons.

 

tysons meat packing plant in maine reopening