Gloves or no gloves?

I’ve been hunting for 25 years and I’ve never used gloves when field dressing a deer. I learned that way and I continued that way. But I’m seeing more and more about using full length gloves to field dress a deer (especially with the very low chance of CWD).

Is it time to adopt gloves? Hand or full-length? Or is it unnecessary?

 

I’m a veterinarian. I’ve had my hands in more dead animals than you can imagine. I always wear gloves when I “gut puddle” in dead animals. I’ve gotten to the point of putting on gloves when I clean my guns and change the oil on my car. Gloves are cheap.

 

We use the long "veterinary gloves" with the normal medical gloves over top to keep good dexterity in our hands during the whole process. When you're done, just strip them off and you are still clean to your arm pits. Way better than our old habits of trying to wash your hands in snow and leaves.

 

I've never used gloves.
Don't get blood past my wrists field dressing.

But with new nasty stuff (plus whatever old nasty there is)...........not a bad idea to toss some purple gloves in the truck.
Be my first yr w em, if I remember.

 

I use them when i remember them. More often than not im already done cleaning and one of my buddies will walk up and go "ya want a pair of gloves....oh...never mind" then wander away.

I do almost always have a baggy full of them in my backpack....its just the remembering part.....

 

Same as loonwulf, if I remember or have time. I've noticed I've nicked my self more when wearing them, I use the thick purple one my mom gets from work and even then one of both break anyways. I keep a water bottle on the outside of my pack to wash up,

 

I wear gloves at work a lot between dealing with various oils such as engine oil, hydraulic oil, and ATF as well as agricultural pesticide solutions so I am very indoctrinated into glove culture.

I bought a bunch of really cheap nitrile glove in a bucket from HD last year and they hold up well. I always have some laying close by when I need them. Have them in my house, garage, shop and both vehicles and never forget to put them in my hunting pack.

 

https://ufgloves.com/big-game-gut-glove/

Picked these up at the Iowa Deer Classic some years ago, the best I've found. "Uncle Freddie's Big Game Gut Gloves". Heavy duty synthetic rubber, shoulder length that will fit over heavy clothing (ie: sweatshirts or light jackets sleeves). Only gutting glove I've ever found that were big enough for large hands. Easily washable and will last for years.

 

^^^Yes, they are.

I always have gloves in my hunting backpack, along with paper towels and wet wipes. Many times because of where I hunt, it's now always easy to wash your hands after field dressing(unless there is snow). Besides the blood and any other nasty fluids in the body cavity, there's the issue with the fat of deer that has a low melting point. I don't need all of that on my hands, spreading it on everything I touch, for the rest of the day, until I get home. Pull off the rubber gloves, rinse my hands with the wet wipes and I can eat a sandwich with clean hands. If you know how to take rubber gloves off properly and turn them inside out as you remove them, anything on them, stays on them. I put them back in the ziplock bag I took them out off and take them home to throw them out. Please be a dirtball litterbug and leave them lay in the gut pile. I just use the disposable latex gloves that come up past your wrist. Really no need on an average deer to go to your shoulders with 'em. While I know to some it's not "manly" to wear rubber gloves while field dressing, it really makes little to no sense to not use them.

 

I use gloves while dressing.

In my day pack I keep a simple dressing kit in a 1gallon ziplock bag:

1 pair of "vet" gloves that go to shoulder length. These keep my shirt etc. clean, they're very light, but very flimsy.
1 pair of blue examination gloves to go over the "vet" gloves cause they're a little fragile.
Wyoming saw
Couple "Blue" shop towels to wipe off my knife & the Wyoming saw.
Couple baby wipes in a smaller ziplock to wipe me off.

When done dressing, the trash goes back into the ziplock bag.

On multi-animal hunts with a couple tags to fill, I'll make up multiple "dressing kits" and just leave them in the truck until needed.

 

I use gloves when I clean them most times. Although I don’t when putting the meat on the grill, which I suppose I would be equally susceptible to anything it could transfer to me but it doesn’t get me as messy.

I don’t use gloves for dove but they are a little less involved.

 

I don't normally gut in the field. In most cases, getting a fully intact deer back to where I can hang it upside down is pretty simple, plus I try to avoid gut piles in the woods, since we have a limited amount of stands and blinds. I try to limit the trash for coyotes and the like to be prowling around. I wear gloves until all of the innards are in the bucket. I use those purple gloves that come in the bulk box from harbor freight. When I am finished skinning and quartering, Mrs. Fl-NC brings me a 5 gallon bucket full of hot water and some dish soap so I can wash my hands and clean my knives. I'm not worried about blood/hair/fat on my hands and hunting clothes.

 

I use the cheap non-latex gloves just because it keeps my hands clean for the hike back out. Incidentally I also have switched to gutless field dressing and that's a substantially less messy process than the old fashioned way.

 

We bought a box of the shoulder length disposable gloves and a box of the thick black nitrile gloves. Put the shoulder length on then a pair of nitrile over those to keep things tight around the fingers. Works well and keeps things cleaner than otherwise.

 

Used to use the long style gloves to keep my hands and jacket clean.

I used to reach way up in the neck to cut the wind pipe/trachea and it saved cleaning the jacket.

CWD makes it more important.

 

Great Info and so important. Also like the Game commission suggest I never gut them in the wood any longer if I do not have to. Just saw a bullitin advises to put the remains in a plastic bag. CWD is a SERIOUS disease. And I WILL obey the law and NOT use real urine for a attractant.

 

I wait until rural king or Walmart clearances their hunting section and get them for about $99 most the time. I put the shoulder length ones on and surgical ones over those to keep them tight and dexterity. I hate field dressing stuff as it is so gloves are a must. One time they broke and my hand was somewhat broken so I had to finish with one exposed hand and it was nasty. Now it’s 3-4 pair and some wipes or water bottles.

 

Wow! You forgot the decimal point I guess.

 

I use gloves because I feel they give me a better grip on the knife and keep my hands clean, but mostly for the grip.

 

I guess I buy cheap, because my fingers kept coming through the ends, so I stopped using them. This thread did make me rethink that. I might try the surgical gloves over veterinary examination gloves thing.

 

I hate gloves for any activity but I’m getting older now and terms like carcinogen and blood born pathogens seem like they could actually harm me. I glove up more often these days.

 

I’ve had the same experience. Fingers always pop through. And I never feel like I can find my way around inside as well, I rely a lot on feel as I determine what and where to cut.

Will have to try better gloves. Post is confirming my hunch, probably time to take up the gloves again.

 

I see it from the perspective of waste. It’s more material that doesn’t biodegrade that we’re putting into landfills for dubious reasons. I’m not doing surgery and don’t need sterility nor am I dealt by with carcinogenic materials. Furthermore, the odds of getting any disease from a deer while cutting it are extremely low.

 

good point. I’ve always cut the windpipe from the outside and yank it out from the inside. Don’t have to reach in as far but still get up to my elbows. I don’t usually save the hide so an extra cut doesn’t hurt anything.

CWD is the main driving factor for me. Thankfully only 1 case in the county that I currently hunt so far.

 

how do you get the gut pile in a bag??!? Do you hang and then gut?

I’m trying to picture myself trying to slide or lift a stomach into a plastic bag...Don’t see it going so well. Everything else pretty easy I would assume. Do you do this for all deer or only those that might be tested or potentially have CWD?