Be careful!

[T4HALO]

I remember reading an article last year, probably Field & Stream. It explained the amount of stress put on a hunters heart if given the opportunity take a deer.

1. Being over dressed and walking to your blind. (elevated heart rate)

2. Sitting for long periods of time after sweatting (cooling down, lack of blood flow to the extremeties)

3. Seeing a deer and getting a touch of buck fever (adrenaline increases heart rate, heart works twice as hard forcing blood back to the extremeties)

4. After you have successfully taken a deer (the body cools back down while cleaning, heart rate decreases)

5. Dragging your deer back to the truck (heart rate is once again increased to levels some hunters haven't experienced in awhile)

The article mentioned that over the years many hunters had experienced heart troubles during deer season. My dad uncles and I have a pact, they shoot them and I drag them. It took me a while to convince them that this wasn't in anyway a slam on them for being older, it just makes sense.

Gentlemen, the best of luck to each and every one of you this year, and be careful.

T4

[Gunslingergirl]

This is a good reminder. A former co-worker of mine died of a heart attack during deer season. He went out to hunt one morning when the snow was pretty deep and his hunting partners found him dead later that day. What they figures is he exerted himself too much getting to his hunting spot and then didn't recognize that he was having a heart attack until it was too late.

It was very sad.

Everyone please be careful!

GSG