Do you wear gloves when dressing out?

[Ausable]

no

[Golden Hawk]

I normally have about ten sets in my pack and usually forget to use them. But at least they are there.

[Killdeer]

Nope.
Pigs and bears might maybe make me nervous, though.

But I hunt deer and squirrels. Might get an unlucky bear someday.

I woulda missed out on a lasting memory if I had worn gloves the day I dressed out Oddball, though. Oddball was a three-pointer that I killed up near Slabcamp. He ended up upside down ten yards from the trail. I dressed him out and went to the beaver pond to clean up. The pond was iced over, so I broke a little hole and washed up. There were bugs swimming in the water. Little not too little water bugs about the size of potato bugs, just having a ball. I didn't know that. But there they were, sharing their pond with me, and me, I'm feeling all alive with the cold water and chilly air, the dancing swimmers and the huge gratitude for the gift of the deer, with his hot blood warming my hands as I worked to turn him into meat for my family.

I take it as a part of the experience that makes it stay fresh and whole in my memories.

Killdeer

[joe skipp]

Never did but have been the past few years. My job supplies me with great gloves to use. I'm also never without Baby Wipes...neat way to clean up any blood....plus they work great on those mother nature calls!!

[ksbowman]

I have never worn gloves either ,probably a good idea but,have pulled alot of calves without them too.Like Indy says, probably alot more to worry about from food from Mexico and China than from most animals over here.  Ben

[gjw77]

Gloves are something I always buy or borrow to take hunting,but for some funny reason they are never there when I get something down.It's about like my buck knife,I always forget it and end up having to gut a deer with my swiss army knife.Funny how when you're unprepared is the day you kill something.I think maybe I leave that stuff at home on purpose,lol.

[Larry247]

One halloween i was working 3-11 and i saw a yearling get tapped by a car. I drove my cruiser over to where it layed and the driver stopped i did a report and he left. I looked that deer up one side and down the other and couldn't find a scratch! I pulled out my good EMT gloves and field dressed the little doe. I hung it up in a tree and went back to work. That was the only time i ever used a pair of gloves to field dress an animal. I have to admit it was nice not getting messy, but i don;t carry them in the woods with me. I'm not worried about the deers bodily fluids.Hey, I couldn't let the backstraps go to waist after i couldn't find any bloodshot damage, I know it sounds like a redneck roadkill story but, oh well whats the use, i'll never hear the end of this one anyway.  

[3Under]

I do!. Know of a person who got a viral infection that cost him his life. So now I wear them. It's a small price to pay. Before I found out about that person's misfortune I never did!

[Arwin]

I don't but might after reading 3under's post. I would have liked them the first time I had to gut a deer. Boy that is a lasting impression,LOL!!!  

[Jack Denbow]

In my younger days I didn't but I do now. In my younger days I never wore a safety belt but I do now. I guess as we get older we get wiser.
Jack

[jacobsladder]

i always use them if i have them in my pack...seems  like a easy decision..they cost hardly anything and keep your hands clean...and if they do help with disease or parasites...then that is more reason to ... i see more harm in not using them than using them....just my 2 cents...

[Aggie1993]

Never have used them either but I would if I had an open wound on either hand.  I have nicked myself a few times on sharp bone and immmediately clean after dressing.  So far so good.

[buckeye_hunter]

Even with gloves a sharp bone cuts right through 'em.  I always seem to wind up with a cut on my hand when cleaning animals.  Even if it is just squirrels or rabbits.  Still wear them 'cause it is easier to clean up.
-Charlie

[woodchucker]

No

[ishiwannabe]

I always try to wear em. Easy to clean up and why take the chance at being one of the unlucky ones that gets ill or worse.

[draco]

I do`nt on deer,but do on hogs and javelina,the hogs always smell bad and the javelina always have fleas. Note to Killdeer; reply to more things more often,as I just love to read the thoughts you have and your descriptions of them.

[Molson]

I was one of the unlucky ones last year.  Spent a week in the hospital after a small cut on the knuckle while dressing my son's deer got infected. Went from my knuckle all the way up my arm.  Might bit painful and the fever, well, lets just say I know why the sweat lodge invokes visions!

I've worn gloves, but most times don't.  Truth is, gloves wouldn't have made a difference.  The knife would have cut through them too.  The infection came from the mud puddle I rinsed off in, not the deer.  I'll be carrying baby wipes and Purell from now on.

[Bonebuster]

When taking care of a deer, I will use them if I have them.

When skinning a yote or coon, always.

[Dave Coalter]

I never have but after watching my brother dress a deer last year I think I will now. He had them at the time, and after he was done we were bothe suprised on how much cleaner he was after wards.

[Minuteman]

No. I don't wear gloves.
I can't imagine allowing the plastic snickety sound of the latex into the woods with me. Makes my stomach queezy thinkin' about it. I'd rather be bloody! The deer gave his life so I could live, the least I could do is gut it with my own hands. You are more likely to pick up somethin' in a public restroom than while gutting a deer.
 Course all this flies out the window if yer gutting something that has shown signs of some kinda communicable disease, use yer head. To each his own path ya know!I won't hack on ya too much if I see ya gutting one with full length latex gloves on , might have to call you Dr. Deer for awhile! Or if the timing was right , tell you "the deer doesn't need a rectal exam, its dead."