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Poison Arrows in Mississippi
allen griggs
Member Posts: 35,697 ✭✭✭✭
When I was a young man, I took a trip from Georgia, driving down across the Mexican border at Matamoros, and all the way to the eastern tip of Mexico.
So I traveled through Mississippi. This was in 1970.
In Mississippi, I stopped at a sporting goods store. This store primarily sold hunting supplies.
I saw, at the counter, a package of Anectine. Next to that, was a package of field delivery rigs. I asked the guy at the counter what the deal was.
He said that Anectine was the latest thing in bowhunting. You took one of these little delivery packs, they were about a half inch long. You unscrewed the broadhead, and slipped this little rubber pack over the shaft of the arrow. This little pack was divided into four sections. You filled the sections with the anectine powder. Then you screwed the broadhead back on. When the arrow went into the deer, the top part of the little rubber pack peeled back, and the Anectine was delivered into the deer's flesh.
Anectine, explained the guy to me, was a drug used in the operating room. It is the same as curare, which is used by Amazon Indians to shoot monkeys. Anectine causes complete paralysis of all muscles, except for the heart. In other words, an animal hit with anectine would be utterly paralyzed right away. In two or three minutes, unconsciousness would result, and in another minute death. However, the guy told me, in the O.R., if a patient is artificially ventilated, the anectine will cause no damage whatsoever. He told me that an Anectine injection would wear off after about 6 minutes, so if the patient were artificially breathed for 6 minutes, he would have no ill effects from the Anectine. The Anectine disintegrated in the body in a matter of minutes, and did not poison the venison.
I was fascinated by this product, anectine. I spent about 4 hours in Mississippi, on the way to Mexico, and 4 more hours, on the way back. I had the chance to talk to some bow hunters. Two of these guys had used Anectine. They said that it was unbelievable. One guy said he had made a bad shot once, and hit the deer in the lower leg, near the knee. The arrow passed through the deer's leg. The deer took three steps, and fell right over. By the time the hunter got there, the deer was dead.
Well, I really wanted to try bow hunting with anectine, but I never got the chance. On the way back from Mexico, I did buy a couple of field delivery packs, and two of the little pharmaceutical grade Anectine packs. I recall the stuff was cheap.
Ten years later, I got a job in a hospital. In our training, as well as when we were on duty assisting in the Operating Room , I spent a lot of time in the O.R.
Right next to the operating table, in every one of the Operating Rooms, was a little case of Anectine, the same stuff I had seen for sale in Mississippi. Same manufacturer and everything. It is a white powder, and in the O.R. it is mixed with IV solution, and still today it is used thousands of times daily in the O.R. It has been supplanted to some degree by a drug called Pavulon, which is essentially the same thing.
I had heard that one problem they had in Mississippi, was that the drug could cause accidental death to humans. If someone was loading up their Anectine broadheads, and that person had a cut on their hands, and some Anectine powder got into the cut, that person would collapse to the floor, paralyzed and unable to breathe. Their heart would still be beating. If a person who knew first aid, maybe their hunting buddy was a Paramedic, did mouth to mouth on them, for six minutes, they would have no ill effect. If bystanders just called 911, but did not give the guy mouth to mouth, by the time Paramedics got there five minutes later, the guy would be dead.
So I traveled through Mississippi. This was in 1970.
In Mississippi, I stopped at a sporting goods store. This store primarily sold hunting supplies.
I saw, at the counter, a package of Anectine. Next to that, was a package of field delivery rigs. I asked the guy at the counter what the deal was.
He said that Anectine was the latest thing in bowhunting. You took one of these little delivery packs, they were about a half inch long. You unscrewed the broadhead, and slipped this little rubber pack over the shaft of the arrow. This little pack was divided into four sections. You filled the sections with the anectine powder. Then you screwed the broadhead back on. When the arrow went into the deer, the top part of the little rubber pack peeled back, and the Anectine was delivered into the deer's flesh.
Anectine, explained the guy to me, was a drug used in the operating room. It is the same as curare, which is used by Amazon Indians to shoot monkeys. Anectine causes complete paralysis of all muscles, except for the heart. In other words, an animal hit with anectine would be utterly paralyzed right away. In two or three minutes, unconsciousness would result, and in another minute death. However, the guy told me, in the O.R., if a patient is artificially ventilated, the anectine will cause no damage whatsoever. He told me that an Anectine injection would wear off after about 6 minutes, so if the patient were artificially breathed for 6 minutes, he would have no ill effects from the Anectine. The Anectine disintegrated in the body in a matter of minutes, and did not poison the venison.
I was fascinated by this product, anectine. I spent about 4 hours in Mississippi, on the way to Mexico, and 4 more hours, on the way back. I had the chance to talk to some bow hunters. Two of these guys had used Anectine. They said that it was unbelievable. One guy said he had made a bad shot once, and hit the deer in the lower leg, near the knee. The arrow passed through the deer's leg. The deer took three steps, and fell right over. By the time the hunter got there, the deer was dead.
Well, I really wanted to try bow hunting with anectine, but I never got the chance. On the way back from Mexico, I did buy a couple of field delivery packs, and two of the little pharmaceutical grade Anectine packs. I recall the stuff was cheap.
Ten years later, I got a job in a hospital. In our training, as well as when we were on duty assisting in the Operating Room , I spent a lot of time in the O.R.
Right next to the operating table, in every one of the Operating Rooms, was a little case of Anectine, the same stuff I had seen for sale in Mississippi. Same manufacturer and everything. It is a white powder, and in the O.R. it is mixed with IV solution, and still today it is used thousands of times daily in the O.R. It has been supplanted to some degree by a drug called Pavulon, which is essentially the same thing.
I had heard that one problem they had in Mississippi, was that the drug could cause accidental death to humans. If someone was loading up their Anectine broadheads, and that person had a cut on their hands, and some Anectine powder got into the cut, that person would collapse to the floor, paralyzed and unable to breathe. Their heart would still be beating. If a person who knew first aid, maybe their hunting buddy was a Paramedic, did mouth to mouth on them, for six minutes, they would have no ill effect. If bystanders just called 911, but did not give the guy mouth to mouth, by the time Paramedics got there five minutes later, the guy would be dead.
Comments
Brad Steele
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
The premise is a good one, no lost deer. If you hit them, they'll go down much quicker i.e. shorter trailing. The substance has to be "introduced" directly in the bloodstream, eating it directly or indirectly in the deer meat later has no effect. By then it has broken down, and the stomach acids would do the rest IF any remained.
My buddy was hunting with the pod setup and as he drew on a deer, the arrow came off of the rest and while fumbling with that, he hit the release. KA-WHAM, the shaft of the arrow slammed against the bow and the broadhead with the pod setup flew right past his ear and clattered on the tree he was up in. He was more worried about all that going on so he didn't immediately notice the string took a small chunk out of his inner forearm.
He came out of the tree fast and never tried that again.
Those that would be against using this set-up would typically also be against using those deadly hollow points.
I would bow-hunt more, but it's usually too hot around here for me to get motivated during bow season.
Unless you happen to have a hunting buddy right there, who happens to be a paramedic, and can administer immediately CPR [breathing only, your heart is still pumping but your lungs have bailed out]
Your paramedic buddy needs to administer emergency breathing for about 5 minutes, at which point the anectine will have worn off, and you will be perfectly healthy.
If not, off to the morgue for you. Anectine arrows are a two edged sword.
While a person is under the effects of anectine, he is perfectly conscious. Can't move his arms or legs, can't talk or breathe, but is perfectly conscious, for about 3 minutes, until he blacks out. Grim way to die.