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I am a veterinarian who hunts. Rich, you did what I would have done. Laws vary from state to state in the U.S., but everyone needs to understand that anytime a bite occurs Rabies transmission is a possibility, even if the biting animal was currently vaccinated. No vaccine in any species is 100% effective. I am retired now, but when I was practicing I always kept up with my own personal Rabies vaccination because the bite that will kill you comes from the animal that you think is OK. Bottom line-Rabies is not a treatable disease. The "Rabies shots" that are given to people who are bitten are nothing but multiple vaccinations-you are hoping that your own immune system "outruns" the virus. If a human is bitten that animal should be quarantined for at least ten days, or, in the case of a wild animal, humanely euthanized and checked for the presence of the Rabies virus. I could give you numerous instances from my practice career of 42 years when a pet animal bit someone and was not suspected to have Rabies when it did.
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