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Memetic1 OP t1_iwsotrz wrote

Reply to comment by Stefanz454 in Canadian scientists discover new COVID-19 variant in deer that may spread to humans by Memetic1

I would just wear an N95 while there is any sort of aerosol risk. Once the meat is cooked its no big deal, but any droplet hazards when processing the meat should be mitigated. I'm not trying to scare people just be careful.

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Strificus t1_iwspsud wrote

It's the specific demographic to likely not wear a mask.

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Memetic1 OP t1_iwspxm7 wrote

I know it's really tragic because it's not even like they have to give up hunting just take some extra precautions.

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Akipac1028 t1_iwsvcs9 wrote

They take plenty of caution. Hunters are usually on the look out for CWD (chronic wasting disease) that’s been spreading in the deer pop for the last few years.

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Onikojima t1_iwspjtf wrote

My father-in-law just went hunting this week, maybe I should tell him

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Memetic1 OP t1_iwspttu wrote

Did he get sick by chance? Just tell him to wear a mask if he goes again. He doesn't even have to wear it the whole time. Just if he gets close to an injured dear. Please make sure it's an N95 since the blue ones don't stop you from getting sick.

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Onikojima t1_iwsq5oo wrote

I don't know, I'm supposed to meet him later this week

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Memetic1 OP t1_iwsw52q wrote

Well ask him how he's feeling. If he does have a cold ask what symptoms he's had. I don't know if he would be open to take a test if he is sick. If he won't then just stay away for a bit maybe. You could also just warn him about it for future information. A face shield and mask would also probably make gutting the deer a bit less unpleasant. So it's not like there is no benefit to it. I hope no one you know gets sick. I hope this dies out in deer.

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Zargabraath t1_iwu2vn7 wrote

You literally couldn’t find a demographic less likely to wear a mask than American deer hunters

And to be honest the reasonable thing to do with any diseased game is to ban hunting of it at least until the issue is resolved. If China had done the same with their bush meat markets we likely wouldn’t even be in this mess

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Ocyanea t1_iwv1ron wrote

Banning hunting is a great way to let the disease spread through the deer population. Hunters do take diseases in wildlife seriously — just look at CWD. We already have testing centers for it — there’s no reason the testing centers can’t just do a COVID swab too, since they have the whole head.

The best way to handle this is to cull local herds, test, and not bait this year until we find out how much of a risk it is.

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Zargabraath t1_iwwnn22 wrote

CWD is exactly why hunting should be banned until(or if) it is resolved

The more humans interact with deer the more likely it is that CWD can jump to humans. And that could be disastrous. The hunters can get a new hobby, the risk is too high. Just like the Wuhan wet market bat meat sellers can find a new job. We can’t keep letting 0.0000001% of the population endanger everyone else with this high risk stuff.

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Ocyanea t1_iwwpvqy wrote

Hunting is the biggest form of population control for deer. Deer population has exploded from about half a million a hundred years ago to 30 million today — without hunting those numbers would be even worse. Overpopulation spreads disease. Cutting the population down is the best way to prevent the disease from spreading.

Most hunters I know who get deer in CWD positive zones get their deer tested before eating it. Most of them are old enough to remember mad cow disease and to not want to fuck with it.

Hunters in my state killed nearly 400,000 deer last year. Ban hunting and the deer population will absolutely explode.

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Zargabraath t1_ix0n3qj wrote

or just allow the historical predators like wolves to recover and tell the ranchers to stop shooting them. that improves the environment across the board by the way, not just by controlling deer populations.

what do you think controlled deer populations for the 99% of the time that they've been on this planet that modern humans weren't around to hunt them?

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Ocyanea t1_ix0q4oi wrote

Unfortunately, wolves aren’t going to hunt deer in populated areas. They aren’t as adaptable as coyotes are, whereas deer are perfectly content to hang out in the suburbs.

A lot of people hunt just a few miles from population centers. That’s not the sort of place wolves are going to thrive. Repopulating wolves might work in some very rural areas, but it’s not a solution for suburban and semi rural areas.

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sweetpeapickle t1_iwwf8fe wrote

A lot of deer meat now goes to the homeless. It does get thoroughly checked, just like in other processes. The only exception would be solo people doing the processing themselves. But then they really should not be giving the meat to anyone but family. No need to ban hunting.

And I know a lot of hunters, generational, who have been hunting for over 50 years. They all wore masks during the pandemic. Being how cold it is here, chances are their faces will be all covered up anyways.

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Zargabraath t1_iwwn39l wrote

Deer having COVID isn’t even the real problem here. As someone who hunts you are probably aware of the prion situation and how bad it is… for that reason alone hunting of ungulates should be banned throughout the US until (if) we figure out a solution to it

If those prions ever jumped from deer to humans it would make COVID look like a goddamn picnic. As a species we need to stop letting the 0.00001% of the population who run bat meat markets and hunt deer fuck up things for everyone else, that’s not a luxury we can afford anymore

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bobomb01 t1_iwwvl1f wrote

Triple vaxxed mask-wearing hunter here. Nice to meet you.

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Zargabraath t1_ix0myki wrote

do you hunt unicorns? they're probably more common than you, lol

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