So I cleaned up a rusty zwickey broadhead tonight and its pretty well cleaned up but I have a question. Let's say I did shoot a rusty broadhead could that contaminate the meat and make it unfit to consume and make me sick.. If so how much rust is the threshold and will a few spots of rust cause bad effects. Tetanus scares me and I know it comes from rust.
if you are concerned then don't risk it. however, I would think that tetanus is blood borne and would need to be actually in the blood stream of the animal while its heart is still pumping blood through its body. Unless you are planning on eating the lungs, where you should place the shot, I wouldn't give it a thought, but that is me, you have to make yourself comfy with it.
You are worrying too much. Get em clean enough for you and shoot a deer.
ChuckC
Yeah I agree . I was just wondering if anyone has ever heard of anything like that or has more information. Just something ive wondered from time to time and it came up again so I had to ask
There are bacteria everywhere. Much of the outermost layer of your skin is composed of bacteria living on you.
The gut contents of any animal, including deer are just full of organisms, some of them nasty ones.
The environment is full of organisms and we gut out a deer, drag it to the vehicle (thru the muck) and in some cases put it on top of the car, where all the windborne dirt and microbial organisms can get on it.
There are a lot of things that I personally would worry much more about than a rusty (even a REALLY rusty) broadhead contaminating my venison.
I'm thinking that you should relax and enjoy your venison. You've earned it.
ChuckC
I would be worried about not being sharp enough because of the rust.
There's more iron in a loaf of bread than you would transfer to the meat and you need iron in your diet anyways! I worry more about lead in an animal shot with a firearm and that hasn't hurt me yet that I know of!
You may be experiencing OCD if your are developing and obsession and severe anxiety regarding rust on your broadhead contaminating (which is a common obsession) meat and you can only very temporarily be alleviated of the anxiety of you compulsively polish, wash and sanitize your broadheads. When you cannot control this cycle, you have OCD.
Rust on a broadhead is a non-issue as long as it is sharp. Go hunting!
Just think how many deer have scratched their arse jumping rusty barbed wire fences, lol! If you're determined to obsess, then worry about how many years it's going to take scientists to find the link between BSE (mad cow), CWD (chronic wasting) and all the variants of CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob) in humans. At my age, I sleep well (i.e. don't worry about jack....)!
:laughing: Ever hit one in the guts?
Tetanus is caused by toxins from the unbelievably common bacteria Clostridium tetani. This bacteria is everywhere, and so are the spores that begin the infection. However, in order for the toxic conditions to appear, the bacteria must be exposed to the perfect conditions....same thing with botulism.
Basically the spores must be on an object (like a rusty nail from the ground) and that object must penetrate deep into tissue....where under low oxygen conditions, the spores can germinate and produce the toxin.
If you kill the deer, it will not be alive long enough for the spores to do anything...but if you wound it, you could be infecting that animal with the spores. Also, if you cut yourself with the broadhead...are a stick, or get a bug bite even...there's always a chance, every single day, that you could get infected too.
Get a tetanus shot. Problem solved. :biglaugh: :biglaugh:
Don't confuse the issue though. Rust is not necessary for the organism to grow. It is just a descriptor. Clostridium organisms are generally anaerobic, as alluded to above. That means that they need an environment that is without, or very low in oxygen to flourish. They form spores as a way to weather bad conditions, and spores are all over and can stay around for.. years, maybe centuries.
A deep wound, especially a puncture that closes up might supply such conditions.
Generally, they are poor competers in the general population and quicker growing everything else often crowds them out, kinda like weeds in your grass ( or vice versa).
There are a BUNCH of other organisms that are much more prevalent that would be much more of a worry to you every single day.
ChuckC
Touch up your BH and coat in in a thin layer of Vaseline. Really reduces the rust. I shoot Zwickeys also and in my opinion it is a requirement on my BH.
rust doesn't cause tetanus....a bacteria does.
The old rusty nail through the foot causes tetanus is from rusty nails on home farms and such.
The bacteria that causes tetanus can live in soil and manure.
A rusty nail can harbor dirt and manure that possibly hold the bacteria in the rough surface caused by the rust.
...a new smooth nail on the other hand can't hold as much "stuff" cause it's smooth.
Good input and spot on to the original posters exact question.
Since it's been answered, might I pose another question that seemed like the elephant in the living room?
Why would you hunt with a rusty broadhead? Rust forms microscopic pits in the cutting edge, doesn't it?
We all speak about "scary sharp" heads to do the most damage. Why would you not work to remove ALL the rust to ensure a super sharp head?
If there is deep pitting, then you might not get it all, but I have to suppose that might be the basis of the poster's concern? Deep Pitting?
I've sharpened blades on knives and BH's that were badly pitted and while I can't get all the pitting out, I sure did on the cutting edge. Otherwise, that head is retired.
There has been excellent data provided to make the poster rest easy on the contamination aspect of a rusty anything causing tetanus infection, so I hope I'm not being insulting by focusing on the issue of a very clean, super sharp cutting edge to boot! :notworthy: :dunno:
I'll try to find the video... I think Nugent was talking about his old broadhead collection,and remarked about how Fred Bear would sharpen his arrows, and then dull them slightly, and removed the bleeders.
I think the jist was a surgical edge, made a surgical wound that is more likely to close and not bleed. Whereas a rougher cut bleeds more. (I'm sure many have experienced this ourselves).
Found it...
Last 4min are the meat of it.
Nugent video link (http://youtu.be/4xAhsVVihd0)
These are amazing answers and I never thought it would take off this much !! Thanks for the input I am definitely resting easier now ;) . That nugent video is cool.
I think that current medical wisdom actually finds that clots form better, quicker and easier on rough cut tissue, and that razor cuts bleed more freely and longer. In addition, a sharp head will cause less initial trauma to the animal and very likely cause less flight response, resulting in a shorter blood trail.
Doc, you can have a very rusty head but a very sharp, keen, rust free edge.
ChuckC
QuoteOriginally posted by ChuckC:
I think that current medical wisdom actually finds that clots form better, quicker and easier on rough cut tissue, and that razor cuts bleed more freely and longer. In addition, a sharp head will cause less initial trauma to the animal and very likely cause less flight response, resulting in a shorter blood trail.
Doc, you can have a very rusty head but a very sharp, keen, rust free edge.
ChuckC
Thanks on both counts, Chuck.
I've read so much on here how a clean cut will stick together and not bleed, which has some merit, UNTILL the organism MOVES. Then the wound opens and bleeds. Can't control for how much fat layer is under the hide that might BLOCK the holes and impeded bleeding to the outside... And indeed, blood clotting platelets cling to rough edges forming clots quicker, but facts don't often change long-held opinions. That and deer are so packed full of Vitamin K from eating green leafy vegetation all summer/early fall, that they'll clot well. Natures way of withstanding the rigors of rut fighting I guess... Since not God, that last part of cause is a guess!
Thanks, too, Chuck on the tip RE: rusty but still sharp edge! I guess growing up with a German cabinet maker father, ones tools were never allowed to remain rusty even if the unthinkable happened and they got wet/rusty--- Coke was the solution of choice to take rust off tools!
I can only think that rust, being rough, would slow penetration more then something smooth, so I keep my heads clean.
Good input. Glad the OP found what he was looking for.
You ought to see where store bought meat comes from. You would delight in a bit of rust in your deer.
Doc, I hear ya and agree with your words. I also work with carving wood, and I had better not find any rust on any part of my tools, not just the edge. But... really.....if you think about it, does it all REALLY matter ?
I don't know.
If I hit a deer where I am supposed to, it won't last 15 seconds. Now, a hard running deer can go a long way in 15 seconds... but none the less, sharp, kinda sharp, platelets, vitamins, fibrinogen all that stuff hasn't even started to deploy yet in 15 seconds.
Not so great hits, well, different story, I still think sharper and smoother is better, for those reasons posted above, including the trauma thing.
Oh, I'll try that Coke trick, thank you.
I've heard it before, but never actually tried it out.
Chuck
x2 chuck and Doc Noc :)
from what i have read in the past- the natural coagulant that is released is proportional to the surface damage. ie: a smooth clean cut from a scalpel will proportionately release a lot less coagulant, than a jagged and abraded cut/damage- say like a deep graze or a cut from a blade that does more tearing and ripping than slicing.
remember how a shallow cut from a glass sliver will bleed profusely, where as even a deep graze does not bleed nearly the same proportionately.
I simply sharpen the broadhead reguardless of make and use a magic marker to color them out black or red the thin coating helps prevent rust and makes for a slick broadhead!
Enjoy your successes! Jacques