Neurologists are fun folk: After some needles and electrons work, I asked one if she had pulled the wings off flies as a child-we were not amused.

"Cookie", huh? Brings to mind a number of westerns with Gabby Hayes manning the chuckwagon-I believe that there was usually a bottle of whiskey tucked in there, somewhere.

My wife was diagnosed with "thoracic duct outlet syndrome" when a teenager. Years after we married, I was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome and had a tunnel release. My wife noticed my symptoms were the same she had complained about two decades earlier. She had permanent damage to the ulnar nerve by this point so when she visited the neurologist, the evoked potential test showed no response. The tech had never seen that so she called in the physician and they proceeded to ramp up the voltage till my wife, tears in her eyes, began begging them to stop.

Yep, one doctor did that to me with an electrode above my collar bone and one on my wrist. He let the one on my neck slip, and I got agitated. This was a small indian man (Dr. Lahiri, funny I have no problem remembering him), maybe 5'6" or so. I am a big fellow (6'5" and about 240 lbs at the time), and when he realized what he was doing was irritating me, you should've seen the big nervous grin that sprouted across his face. He was apologizing so fast I couldn't understand one word he said through his accent, but I knew what he was trying to say anyways, so I unclenched my fists and sat back down.

Running that two inch needle in and out of my neck trying to find the nerve plexus was trying my patience. I asked him afterwards why he did that, and he said it was because the readings he was getting on the scope weren't what he expected, so he had to keep probing. I asked him if he ever found the place where the readings were right, and he said he didn't so he finally gave up. In a slightly raised voice, I asked him if the wonky readings might be because something in my neck is messed up, and he gave me that look like the lightbulb suddenly popped on, then he says "Oh". I was just glad enough it was over with that I didn't have anything more to say, other than "Thanks".

My guts can take whiskey only in small doses. So I sip a bit. I have an apron I wear at hunting camp that says "Mr. Camp [censored]" across the front of it. That's to remind everyone that even though I am the cook, I am still the biggest SOB in camp. I do enjoy cooking at camp, though. I think everything tastes better with a little wood smoke and the smell of rain in the air, while sitting on a stump watching the flames flicker about.

Benjamin .. you're outlook sounds good to me.
also, I agree that it's good to have a couple of brawny fella's to carry out the meat.

I am planning to do some hunting myself. I will be bowhunting. right now I am starting to work on making my own arrows - I thought that would be fun. I am hoping to go after wild pig and deer. but I have a lot of preparation to do to get ready. the general advice is to be able to consistently shoot arrows at a quarter positioned 20 yards away. so that will take time - to get that accuracy.

you are way ahead of me with dressing large game. I will be starting from scratch. do you wear rubber gloves when doing the skinning and gutting?

and BTW, I am getting to be an old fart myself. but you know how it is - gotta' keep getting out there :-)

Pete2

A quarter at 20 yards is quite a feat. I hope you make it.

I have never worn gloves while dressing any game. I was cut once dressing an elk by an old grandpa that was struggling to hold up a hind leg while I was working on the paunch. So I gave him my knife and grabbed the leg, and wouldn't you know it, he drug the edge across my thumb knuckle and opened me up. So I have elk blood running in my veins. Doesn't seem to have made much difference.

For things like tularemia, there's an effective method for opening up the paunch on a rabbit and spinning him round in a manner that causes all his innards to expel away in a balled up mass. Thus removed, the carcass is fairly safe to handle, though I would still exercise caution with open wound exposure and quick cleanup after further dressing.

I won't handle sick critters. If they don't act proper beforehand, I won't shoot them for harvest. I might pop a peculiar varmint if they look loco. Likely as not they are rabid. I don't go after prarie dog or marmot because they have are a known vector for the plague, and who needs that? Tree squirrels are fairly easy to figure if they are safe or not. Either they act squirrely, as they should, or they act noticeably impaired. You can put them out of their misery, but give the corpse a wide berth afterwards.

In short, I am not too worried about exposure. As far as I know, no one has yet contracted chronic wasting disease. In the case of getting my thumb slit, a rubber glove wouldn't have helped me in the least.

I can shoot at a quarter! Now hitting it on the other hand...

Maybe with my USP45 Tactical. But not with a bow.

If you can consistently hit a quarter at 20 yards with a handgun, my hat, sir, is off to you. I feel accomplished if at that range I can see a quarter.

CWD is a form of transmissable spongeform encephalopsy found in cervids such as deer and elk. The CDC recommends not consuming the brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, tonsils, lymph nodes of deer and other game animals. An outbreak of variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob (vCJD) disease in residents of Kentucky in 1997 was linked to consumption of squirrel brains, though not conclusively. Since CJD is always fatal and untreatable, it seems prudent to not eat deer brains.

a quarter at 20 yards is a feat. I hope I make it too! I think part of the value is in "the process" ... striving for high accuracy. the target area for an arrow against a wild pig is not easy .... it's best to take them through the heart. this requires a shot when the animal is quartering away, and the heart is pretty low in the chest. so I think that's the reason why experienced guides want bowhunters to be accurate ... a good shot drops an animal very fast. a bad shot is a real problem.

I do appreciate the comments about various diseases affecting wild game. I am taking note.

I came across a story from AZ where a wild javelina was tested and found to have rabies. the animal had been behaving strangely. it's highly unusual, but not impossible. some good care needs to be taken to work out if an animal is healthy before eating the meat.

Pete2