ASK DR. BAUGHAN                                                         October 3, 1997

HAVE A HEART, HUNTERS

Hunters!  If you think this is a column beseeching you not to shoot Bambi, it’s not.  But at least you’ve read the first two sentences.  Neither is it a plea to avoid shooting hikers or fellow hunters.  The vast majority of hunters take appropriate safety precautions to prevent accidental harm to others in the woods, right?  No, this column discusses how to take care of your own heart while hunting, because research suggests hunting large animals (deer, in this research) can cause heart trouble.

Twenty-five hunters wore heart monitors during a deer hunt.  Twenty-one of those 25 had peak heart rates higher than 85% of the maximal heart rates they had on a treadmill test before the hunt.  Some of the men maintained these rapid rates for over an hour.  Three men who had not had any signs of ischemia (decreased blood flow) on treadmill testing showed ischemic changes during the hunt.  Three others developed dangerous irregular rhythms (which had not shown up on the treadmill test).

Simply seeing a deer caused many hunters’ hearts to race.  I wonder if the same response would occur if they saw their spouses running wild through the woods.

Dragging a 100 to 200 pound dead deer back to camp or the road was another common circumstance when the monitors showed the hunters’ hearts to be straining.

As in other situations, there are often pre-existing situations that contribute to the likelihood of cardiac stress.  The hunter may go from complete rest to sudden strong heart activity, much like breaking into a quarter-mile sprint without any warm-up.  Or, after a long hike in the cold, then he might try to push on though tired when finally making a siting.  Having a heavy meal, alcohol or tobacco while hunting will in effect re-direct blood flow away from the heart when the heart might need it most.  So if you consider hunting a sport, approach it like one.  Begin conditioning before the hunting season with hiking or other exercise.  Attend to your body’s needs during the hunt, don’t abuse yourself.  Take a lesson from our Native American heritage, where the hunt was sacred and the prey was respected.  Don’t pig out, smoke or drink in the woods any more than you would in a cathedral.  Plan a safe way to retrieve your kill.

A footnote on firearm safety when you return home.  Twelve states have passed laws making adults legally responsible if children get access to firearms and cause accidental injuries or deaths (New Hampshire is not one of them).  In those states, there have been decreases in deaths of children under 15 from homicide or suicide, but an even bigger decrease (23%) in deaths of children from accidental discharge of the guns.  So please, when you’re not using your weapons, keep them safely locked with ammunition stored separately.