The joy of deer hunting is spending a crisp dawn in the woods, hearing the first bird songs and watching the outdoors come to life.
The real work starts after a buck or doe comes into range and an accurate shot finds its mark. There is field dressing to be done, then processing and packaging that tasty, nutritious venison. A workshop set for Thursday in Centerton is designed to teach hunters the proper way to field dress and butcher a deer, using an actual harvested white-tailed deer.
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission will host the workshop at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Charlie Craig State Fish Hatchery, 977 W. Fish Hatchery Road. The event will teach hunters how to field dress a deer, debone it and dispose of the carcass, to prevent potential spread of chronic wasting disease.
Game and Fish won't be using photos and diagrams alone. They'll demonstrate processing techniques on a deer killed by Game and Fish officials in their work of dealing with the disease. The fatal disease has been found among deer and elk in northern Arkansas.
The demonstration will be at the outdoor pavilion at the hatchery. Game and Fish will explain the regulations of processing and transporting venison, as well as taxidermy, in the wake of Chronic Wasting Disease.
"We may only have one deer, but people will get to see the actual techniques," said Capt. Brian McKinzie, Northwest Arkansas enforcement supervisor for Game and Fish. "A taxidermist will be there, and he'll show how to cape out a deer that's to be mounted."
Evidence shows that prions, the infectious agent responsible for the disease, can spread the disease through animal remains for long periods of time. New regulations passed in June say only deboned meat, hides, cleaned skull plates, antlers and finished taxidermy products may be removed from the Chronic Wasting Disease Management Zone. The zone includes the counties of Boone, Carroll, Johnson, Logan, Madison, Marion, Newton, Pope, Searcy and Yell counties.
Steve Dunlap, with the Game and Fish education staff, said some hunters already know how to process their deer, but many shoot their deer, field dress it, then transport the whole thing to a processor in a different part of the state.
A goal of the workshop is to show people the proper way to debone and transport their meat out of the disease zone, he said.
The workshop will cover carcass disposal and how to comply with regulations involving taxidermy.
Game and Fish will also go through the preferred methods of disposing of bones, hides and other portions of the deer after it's been processed, Dunlap said.
The processing workshop will also be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Ponca Elk Education Center in Newton County.
Flip Putthoff can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAFlip
Sports on 10/04/2016