[CHIEF_10_BEERS]

If someone else is with me I just con them into doing it. If it makes them feel better I will wear gloves while they gut my deer.

 

[CPAjeff]

Question:

Just how much blood do you even get on your hands field dressing say a deer or antelope? (lets exclude elk / moose etc from this).

I never split the rib-cage, I dont like how "floppy" the carcass becomes, and I find it gets more dirt / dust in side. I usually only get a single hand with blood on it when dressing out a deer... other hand is the "knife hand" and it stays relatively clean. Until its time to cut off the windpipe / esophagus, I rarely have blood much past the palm.

For the windpipe, I've learned how to get at it hold it and cut it off with 1 hand. That's the only time blood ever gets past my wrist, but rarely much further than that, and usually its the last step.

After that clean up is a breeze, use those dehydrated towel pellets with a cap full of water, clean off then use the rest to splash water inside the carcass then sit down and take 5 minutes to appreciate the view / experience before the drag work begins.

-DallanC

Personally, I use the gutless method regardless of the animal or the distance from/to camp - so hardly any blood gets on the gloves. Have you ever accidently touched the tarsal gland on a mule deer? That takes the stink to a whole different level! Gloves to the rescue, again!

 

[CPAjeff]

For whatever reason diet coke is a release agent for blood. It's the only acceptable use for diet coke!

You were already at hero status in my book - this comment just moved you to Super Hero status!!

 

[middlefork]

The ones the Vet uses to preg-check a cow? LOL... If I ever saw someone doing that in the field, I'd take a picture and make him famous.

-DallanC

LOL He is a pretty shy guy! For some reason LEO seem to be camera shy.

My dad used to tell me you should be able to gut a deer and only get two fingers bloody. He proved it several times.
Anymore 95% of the times ends up getting done gutless.

 

[Bax*]

The lingering smell that's still on your hands next time you eat something mentioned by CPAJeff is a good reason.

Let’s be honest: sometimes it’s a nose pick 😜

 

[2full]

I use em if I remember to bring them.

Here is a helpful hint to get dried blood, fat, and smell off of your hands: Have a can of diet coke in the truck and pour it slowly over your dirty hands while rubbing them together. For whatever reason diet coke is a release agent for blood. It's the only acceptable use for diet coke!

We use Coke to clean battery terminals and cables.
That pretty much says what it's compromised of 🤔
That's the reason I quit drinking pop YEARS ago.
That's a good use for having some Coke around for sure. Will have to try that.

I had a buddy I hunted with for years that loved to clean elk and deer. I would just fumble around with my knife and hum and haw. He would grab the knife and do it.
He never did catch on 😁

 

[bthewilde]

Easy clean-up is the name of the game, been in the medical field long enough that they don't bother me when on anywho. But especially bears and pigs, I am scared of a few things they harbor.

 

[johnnycake]

Honestly, I rarely remember to put them on--but I have always had them in my pack for the last decade or so. I just get so excited at the prospect of blood once the Bang-Flop! happens that my IQ tends to plummet. The times I do remember to put on the gloves, I'm way happier picking my nose the next few days than I am otherwise.

 

[twinkielk15]

Honestly, I rarely remember to put them on--but I have always had them in my pack for the last decade or so. I just get so excited at the prospect of blood once the Bang-Flop! happens that my IQ tends to plummet. The times I do remember to put on the gloves, I'm way happier picking my nose the next few days than I am otherwise.

I'm in the same boat. I started using them with rabbits after finding several with badly spotted livers. I kept using them for the cleanliness. Now they are always in my pack but rarely do I remember to use them.

 

[3arabians]

A lifetime of hunting, trapping, and skinning I've never worn them. I've become "blood" brothers with many a creature after a careless knick or puncture, I can't say I'm any the worse for it...

Ha! I’m blood brothers with about half the animals I killed. I’ve never used them and doubt I ever will.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DallanC]

I was both very proud and highly amused when I made my son gut his first couple of deer

I think I'm pretty good and pretty fast at field dressing big game, done 100+ now over the years, but boy howdy i'll tell you honestly: I dont hold a candle to what my dad could do in his prime with a knife. I've never seen anyone ever, field dress a deer faster and cleaner. I dont remember him ever nicking the guts or bladder. I think he was so fast at it because he hated doing it... and doing it fast meant less time doing what ya hate.

LOL

-DallanC

 

[Brookie]

Apparently very few know how to wash their hands

 

[DallanC]

Apparently very few know how to wash their hands

All but the fishermen.

-DallanC

 

[AF CYN]

I use them with big game and I'm very particular about using them with foxes, coyotes, and other things that carry rabies and such. I usually use them on birds, but never use them with fish. I like them even if some of you think it makes me a sissy. 😄

 

[DallanC]

The stainless steel "cut resistant" fillet gloves are a game changer for ice fishing. Got a fish that pops off in the hole? Just grab it, no slip. Use'em often enough sharing with the group I bought a couple more.

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-DallanC

 

[RandomElk16]

My dad has allergies to deer hair as he aged. Never used too but started to get hives. So I always wore them because of him. Then I went hunting with my buddy that is a guide and he made me do everything with one knife and no gloves. So.. moral of the story is I have and still do both. But I see no harm in wearing gloves. They weigh nothing to put in the pack and it's not bad to have clean hands on a long hike out. Gloves and the gutless method and you could eat a dang sandwhich bare handed right after. Clean as can be!

 

[johnnycake]

Apparently very few know how to wash their hands

I dare you to skin a brown bear that's been eating rotten salmon for a couple months without gloves and see how long it takes to wash that stink off your hands.

 

[Critter]

I dare you to skin a brown bear that's been eating rotten salmon for a couple months without gloves and see how long it takes to wash that stink off your hands.

It would be gone real fast after you skinned out a skunk, or a coyote that has been rolling around in a dead animal.

 

[johnnycake]

I've skinned skunks, coyotes, and foxes that were all very rank.

Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, I've dealt with compares to a fishy bear. That fat melts at our body temp, and your skin sucks it right up like lotion (as do your clothes). Not even an ozone machine worked to save my Kuiu rain jacket or that pair of waders. And that was after months of various soaking solutions, washes, and even a month left hanging outside in the sunshine and rain. That jacket lives in the shed and rides in the back of the truck, and those waders live at the dump.

 

[backcountry]

Never had the ability to harvest big game yet but I do my best to wear them with small game, especially hare & rabbit. It's rare to get many of the diseases they carry but the experience can be brutal for some of the diseases if you are the lucky one to become infected.. After having a mystery health problem that required a barrage of testing that included zoonotic diseases (and subsequently learning about them) I decided it's just too easy to wear them with few downsides.

My mother talking about losing a family member to tularemia during her youth keeps it in perspective as well.

I should probably use them when harvesting upland birds but I haven't disciplined myself that way yet.