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Since hunting in Wyoming, I have yet to find any ticks on the deer/antelope. I have seen them on the white tail deer in eastern Washington (Blue Mts) as big as my thumb nail. Total gross out. I was actually fleshing the hide and could hear them crunch under the blade. But when that big monster waddled out from under the skin, I was done!! Just walk away...drop tools on the way out of shop and head straight for a shot of schnapps. YUK!!
I have also witnessed the effects of Lymes Disease. A gent I worked with contracted it while hunting in the Blue Mountains. He missed months of work and when he did return to work he was a shell of the former man. Of anything in the world of parasites on the animals we hunt, the tick should be most feared and respected. All the others can be cooked with the meat and eaten without ill affect, except for meat tainted with the spinal fluid or brains in animals with Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD or transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs).
I would not advocate the wasting of any meat harvested unless first contacting Fish and Game to present my case.
I totally agree with the concept of wearing gloves when harvesting fur bearing animals. The Plague is out there! Fleas being the carrier...
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