tsanford405
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My first hunting kill was a hog with a knife, and you better believe I got blood smeared on my face as war paint for the remainder of the evening. Didn't eat anything though...
Is this a real tradition?
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mothernatureson
Member
rite
Shirttail cut off the "lucky" hunter's shirt. I have seen of folks smearing the blood across their face, seems a bit paganistic. But, each to their own. Have fun!
Shirttail cut off the "lucky" hunter's shirt. I have seen of folks smearing the blood across their face, seems a bit paganistic. But, each to their own. Have fun!
MCgunner
Member
Hell, I enjoy my Pagan traditions, you know, like Christmas trees at Christmas? 
Is that real moose you're talkin' about or some fat chick you might have picked up hitch hiking? Just wondered.
Is that real moose you're talkin' about or some fat chick you might have picked up hitch hiking? Just wondered.
Smokey Joe
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Danger!!
The reason Mad Cow in Europe spread to people was that cow brains were a part of some European delicacy. Mad Cow is the bovine version of CWD. It is called Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease in humans.
The only bright spot in this that I see is that normally these prion-induced brain diseases are specific to one family of animals (for example cows and the like for Mad Cow, or deer and the like for CWD) and do not infect other species. Mad Cow is the exception.
Sheep scrapie (same kind of disease, but for the sheep family of animals) for example, has been known for hundreds of years, back to medieval times, when the shepherd and his family, and all the sheep, all lived in the same hut, and humans DO NOT get scrapie. (Thank goodness!)
Similarly, there is zero evidence that CWD is transmissible to humans, but we don't have the long history to back that up. And who wants to be the first, history-making, case?
So while the liklihood of getting CWD from eating deer brains would seem to be low, why tempt fate? DO NOT EAT ANY PART OF THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, NOR THE LYMPH NODES, OF ANY DEER-LIKE ANIMAL!!!
(That'd be deer, moose, elk, red stag, etc.)
Now THAT will get you a case of CWD, if anything will!!
The reason Mad Cow in Europe spread to people was that cow brains were a part of some European delicacy. Mad Cow is the bovine version of CWD. It is called Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease in humans.
The only bright spot in this that I see is that normally these prion-induced brain diseases are specific to one family of animals (for example cows and the like for Mad Cow, or deer and the like for CWD) and do not infect other species. Mad Cow is the exception.
Sheep scrapie (same kind of disease, but for the sheep family of animals) for example, has been known for hundreds of years, back to medieval times, when the shepherd and his family, and all the sheep, all lived in the same hut, and humans DO NOT get scrapie. (Thank goodness!)
Similarly, there is zero evidence that CWD is transmissible to humans, but we don't have the long history to back that up. And who wants to be the first, history-making, case?
So while the liklihood of getting CWD from eating deer brains would seem to be low, why tempt fate? DO NOT EAT ANY PART OF THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, NOR THE LYMPH NODES, OF ANY DEER-LIKE ANIMAL!!!
(That'd be deer, moose, elk, red stag, etc.)
Hokkmike
Member
I have heard of drinking blood from the first kill, but not me. They did the heart eating thing, as others have said, from the movie "Red Dawn".
It has been a tradition in parts of PA that if you MISS a buck you cut the bottom of your shirt (that tucks in below the pants) OFF!
It has been a tradition in parts of PA that if you MISS a buck you cut the bottom of your shirt (that tucks in below the pants) OFF!
I was born and raised in the South and grew up in tiny, rural town. Almost all my relatives hunted. I never once had any of that "blood on the face," or, "eat the heart," or cut off your shirttail" nonsense, when I/we killed a deer.
When I/we killed a deer, we dressed it, got it out of the forest, cut it up and cooked it.
FWIW.
L.W.
When I/we killed a deer, we dressed it, got it out of the forest, cut it up and cooked it.
FWIW.
L.W.
Art Eatman
Moderator In Memoriam
Ernest Thompson Seton wrote extensively about hunting, some hundred-plus years ago; I don't recall any mention of such "tradition".
The shirttail thing? Yeah. But even that wasn't a "must do" deal.
Art
The shirttail thing? Yeah. But even that wasn't a "must do" deal.
Art
koja48
member
Thanks for the post, Biker . . . I'm cutting back on brew . . . 2 ex-wives are enough . . . no desire to collect the entire set . . .
Beetle Bailey
Member
D'oh! So that's what he meant! I just got back from my first hunting trip ever. I harvested a wild boar in central California and when my guide field dressed the pig, he asked me if I wanted the liver. I was all
? I was thinking "Hmmm. . . pig liver must be really good if it's the only organ he asks if I want to keep. But it's a long way back and I don't have a bag to carry it in." I didn't know I was supposed to eat it then and there as a tradition. In Germany it was smearing a little bloody cross on your forehead - and sticking a sprig of fir tree in the deer's mouth - that I could handle. Biting a piece of raw blood pumper is not something I would like to do personally. Sounds a bit primitive.
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http://ssunitedstates.org
Art Eatman
Moderator In Memoriam
"Food fetish" comes about for good reasons. The reasons are not always remembered as the fetish becomes codified through generations.
For instance, nomadic peoples didn't raise pigs because pigs don't herd well, need a lot of water, and aren't suitable for cross-country travel in arid lands. If you go into the pig business, you cease a nomadic lifestyle--and that's a problem in arid lands. Over time, this becomes codified into the religion and the reasons are lost in the mists of time.
Before bows/arrows, and even with their advent, the larger animals weren't all that easily killed. The liver contains nutrients not available in other meat, and of all meat it's the most easily eaten when raw. Softest. No muscle tissue. Hunters knew all this, and shared the liver upon first gutting a deer, elk, whatever. Over time, this becomes a tradition and the reasons are lost in the mists of time.
Art
For instance, nomadic peoples didn't raise pigs because pigs don't herd well, need a lot of water, and aren't suitable for cross-country travel in arid lands. If you go into the pig business, you cease a nomadic lifestyle--and that's a problem in arid lands. Over time, this becomes codified into the religion and the reasons are lost in the mists of time.
Before bows/arrows, and even with their advent, the larger animals weren't all that easily killed. The liver contains nutrients not available in other meat, and of all meat it's the most easily eaten when raw. Softest. No muscle tissue. Hunters knew all this, and shared the liver upon first gutting a deer, elk, whatever. Over time, this becomes a tradition and the reasons are lost in the mists of time.
Art
lawson
Member
I've noticed particular hunting traditions seem to depend on your circle of hunters.
When I took my first buck, I got a smear of blood across the face, and the old Hopi in our group told me I had to "eat of his heart". Of course, he was just messing with me. The smear of blood was "initiation", mostly just hazing the young guys.
One of the most common traditions seems to be the "buck bottle", a fifth of hooch that isn't opened til the first buck is taken, and the lucky hunter pours the first round. I had my first drink of whiskey the night after I took my first deer, something you must never tell Ma about. What happens in deer camp stays in deer camp.
Whether a tradition has roots in history or not, your hunting traditions are important.
When I took my first buck, I got a smear of blood across the face, and the old Hopi in our group told me I had to "eat of his heart". Of course, he was just messing with me. The smear of blood was "initiation", mostly just hazing the young guys.
One of the most common traditions seems to be the "buck bottle", a fifth of hooch that isn't opened til the first buck is taken, and the lucky hunter pours the first round. I had my first drink of whiskey the night after I took my first deer, something you must never tell Ma about. What happens in deer camp stays in deer camp.
Whether a tradition has roots in history or not, your hunting traditions are important.
sumpnz
Member
I thought the no pigs thing was becuase the ancient people didn't understand that cooking thoroughly killed trichinella. So since people would get sick after eating pork that was poorly cooked, if at all, they figured God just didn't want them to eat said animal. Same sort of a deal with shell fish and crustaceans.
Fn-P9
Member
So can you survive on deer meat water and HOTDOGS?
Art Eatman
Moderator In Memoriam
sumpnz, that's probably contributory. As for fish, etc., there weren't any refrigerators way back. Again, though, a food supply from fishing means the end of a nomadic lifestyle.
Remember that cultural traditions--such as nomadism--are very resistant to change. To totally change to a fixed-location lifestyle is a tremendous cultural shock.
Art
Again, though, a food supply from fishing means the end of a nomadic lifestyle.Remember that cultural traditions--such as nomadism--are very resistant to change. To totally change to a fixed-location lifestyle is a tremendous cultural shock.
Art
islandphish
Member
Your first field dress comes with your first deer down around here but we don't eat raw animals organs!
Related, my dad taught me how to field dress a deer and he learned from an "old cowboy" on the ranch. The first thing done when ever we get a buck down is to cut off the testicles. It's the way he was shown, the way I was shown and the way I'll always teach it. Tradition is important.
I would say that if this is an important thing to your buddy and he is going to teach you to hunt then it should be an important thing to you as well. In the end the important is what you and your friend put on the moment.
Related, my dad taught me how to field dress a deer and he learned from an "old cowboy" on the ranch. The first thing done when ever we get a buck down is to cut off the testicles. It's the way he was shown, the way I was shown and the way I'll always teach it. Tradition is important.
I would say that if this is an important thing to your buddy and he is going to teach you to hunt then it should be an important thing to you as well. In the end the important is what you and your friend put on the moment.
krimmie
Member
Hell, even anti-hunters can justify that kill...practically self defense.
Steel Talon
Member
Well if you really want to go tribal, then go early man tribal... Break open a "femur" bone and suck out the marrow 
peace
Steel Talon
peace
Steel Talon
Chuck Dye
Member
My best friend observes a ritual while dressing a deer or elk that includes eating a bite of the heart.
When I was a kid hunting deer on the Fort Eustis and Cheatham Annex reserves in Virginia in the early '60s a hunter lost his or her shirttail, with great and noisy ceremony, for MISSING, not for success.
When I was a kid hunting deer on the Fort Eustis and Cheatham Annex reserves in Virginia in the early '60s a hunter lost his or her shirttail, with great and noisy ceremony, for MISSING, not for success.
sm
member
Art and Byron posted some great stuff.
For me, and how Mentored, we had "rites of passages" which I learned varied from where a Mentor was raised and how they were brought up with "rite of passages".
Blood on the face if you got a deer, and shirttail cut if you shot and missed a deer.
Duck hunting- if you kept missing, you retrieved the ducks and gave the dogs a break.
Dove Hunting - We always gave the first time dove hunters a pocket knife.
Stick of Beef Jerky in your pocket makes one a better shooter. -Mentors.
It did not matter if hunting, shooting any kind of firearm platform for any kind of competition, stick a stick of Beef Jerky in the pocket ( on person somewhere).
Hunting, SKeet, Trap, Bulls-Eye, Bench rest ..."we" had a stick of jerky in pocket.
Hey, I was a wee pup, just learned to walk, and I had a stick of beef jerky on my person learning to use my hands to "shoot" and hold a "toy gun" made of wood.
Never missed either...
For me, and how Mentored, we had "rites of passages" which I learned varied from where a Mentor was raised and how they were brought up with "rite of passages".
Blood on the face if you got a deer, and shirttail cut if you shot and missed a deer.
Duck hunting- if you kept missing, you retrieved the ducks and gave the dogs a break.
Dove Hunting - We always gave the first time dove hunters a pocket knife.
Stick of Beef Jerky in your pocket makes one a better shooter. -Mentors.
It did not matter if hunting, shooting any kind of firearm platform for any kind of competition, stick a stick of Beef Jerky in the pocket ( on person somewhere).
Hunting, SKeet, Trap, Bulls-Eye, Bench rest ..."we" had a stick of jerky in pocket.
Hey, I was a wee pup, just learned to walk, and I had a stick of beef jerky on my person learning to use my hands to "shoot" and hold a "toy gun" made of wood.
Never missed either...
buck460XVR
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in my family/hunting party the tradition is, before field dressing it, is to thank the lord for the opportunity to take the animal..... and then if it's a buck, when the gonads are removed, they are thrown over your left shoulder for continued good luck. The heart goes home to be pickled for Christmas Eve.
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