Ok so has anyone here cut themselves while field dressing a whitetail? Feel free to laugh... I'm fairly new to hunting and on Saturday I was making my first cut, knife slipped and I cut myself in the shin. I'm just asking because now my other half has me paranoid and convinced that I pick up deer aids or something haha. Is there any risk of disease from that? The cut was small and filled up a sock full of blood so im assuming fairly clean. Thanks

OK, I laughed. No real problem as long as you cleaned the wound up well like with any cut or puncture. Do watch for that redness marking an infection.

I would recommend using surgical gloves when dressing a deer however. Cleaner and quicker work. Also a bit more of a sure-handed grip.

By the way, deer don't have aids but ya gotta be careful of that gonnorhea.

yeah deers don't get aids.

deer herpes tho, that sucks, can't get rid of it.

I left my damn gloves in the cruiser, that and I bought a sharper knife for next time. Its always fun to laugh at some someone elses expense though huh? I was going to mention my worry about the other deer VD's but I knew someone would cover them!

Have you had any swelling in your neck?

Do you have any desire to bend over saplings with your forehead?

Do your male coworkers seem to piss you off for no reason?

Do you find yourself digging up the carpet and peeing in the hole?



If you answer yes to any of these things, consult a physician immediately and stay out of the woods. Otherwise, a little triple antibiotic and a bandage will probably be all you need.

I cut my thumb bad enought to require stitches a few years ago. After the 40 mile drive to the hospital, I was joking with the doctor and I said, "I bet I'm the first guy to ever cut his hand while cleaning a deer." He said, "Well, you're the first one today."

Fast Ed

Take Shaman's advice and watch for symptoms of deerosis.
Yeah I laughed as someone who durn near amputated a finger and still bears the scar from cutting a deer in half with a butchers clever. Boy did that smart.

BCR

Well this is 2009 and the powers that be will tell you that you can get all manner of desease from deer such as chronic wasting that has been around for about 100 or so years and wasn't serious until the liberals got hold of it, and now you can die of blood poisening from lead core bullets so you must go green, perhaps thats what happens when monolithic manufacturers pay off politicians! ...In my life time I have yet to known of a "confimed case" deer gutting death other than a fight over who shot the deer, kinda like global warming that really does not exist and it won a Nobel prize, but thats kinda like a prize in cracker jacks these days...but it was the ultimate con job by the man who invented the internet!!!..:)

A knife cut can get infected and thats about it IMO...I have been gutting deer and big game without gloves for 65 years or better, cut my hand a few times but nothing serious, and so far so good..I have also been working cattle and casterateing them and dehorning them for many years without incident..I think some folks just get unlucky and would probably have been run over by a train anyway...:)

The use of gloves to gut deer does keep ones hands clean and you can then pick your nose the remainder of the day!

Back when I was smart and knew it all at age 16, I stuck an Uncle Henry Pocketknife point first in my thigh while gutting a deer after dark.
Worst part was not knowing whose blood was all over my leg.
No stitches, but wish I had.
Stuff happens. Make sure you go slower next time. I would only be concerned about "regular" infections.

stumpy

I cut myself every year some where between pulling the trigger and putting fork to mouth.

You will live.

It is not unusual for me to cut myself slightly when cleaning/ skinning/butchering a big game animal. I have found that frequently I get a low-grade infection at the site of the cut. The cut gets red and sore, swells up a bit and then after a few days, the infection goes away. To head the infection off I douse the cut with hydrogen peroxide. That stops it.

Tetanus immunization up to date?

Don't knoiw about most other places, but where I hunt the deer have deer ticks All over them. It's a safe bet that virtually all of them are carrying Lyme bacteria. If I got cut while dressing one I'd treat it the same way we handle deer tick bites on people. Basic course of antibiotics.

I got the bright idea to use a filet knife to process an elk in the field. I'm generally pretty good with a knife and hadn't cut myself in years. I was used to my regular hunting knife and the filet knife was a tad longer. I felt a slight tug at the second knuckle of my middle finger on my left hand. No pain or anything so I knew the knife was still sharp.

I looked down and saw the sliced knuckle. Couldn't really tell how bad it was bleeding because blood all looks the same. I ripped off a corner of my bandana and tied it over the cut and kept working.

The first load out weighed 105 lb. and that kept my blood pressure up pretty well on the way back to camp. I left a decent blood trail in the snow all the way back to camp. I still have a little scar but that's it. I don't use gloves. I'm just old fashioned I guess.

First: Cut away from yourself, not towards your body. Jam the knife into your groin and hit your femoral artery and infection will be the lest of your worries. Had an acquaintance-guide that should have known better-sink a 6in blade into his groin. Blood going everywhere. He was lucky in that an oral surgeon was there who had an extensive first aid kit and got things under control or he probably would not have made it. Learn something from that shin stick.

Second: I have had Lyme disease. Lucky because I caught it quick. However, you have to be kind of unlucky to get Lyme. According to my physician only about 1 in 10 ticks carry lymes and only 1 in 10 of them will transmit it. Don't ask where he came up with those numbers, I don't know. Just know what he told me. Between my dogs and myself I can't tell you how many ticks I have taken off. Most of the time on myself I catch them before they attach. On the dogs I have removed a couple hundred and that may be conservative.

Miles, Lyme disease is caused by a virus not a bacteria and there is a vaccine for it now.

Actually, it is a bacteria. Very much like the syphilis bacteria - spirochete I think they call it.

And, I don't want an oral surgeon working on my groin for some reason. Doesn't seem right.

Craig

He was kidded about that. To tell the truth I don't think he would have cared if it was a proctologist. He was on his way to the happy hunting ground.

4 S ter has it right. The bacteria is a spirochete. Similar indeed to brucellosis and syphilis bacteria, and in fact similar symptoms are often present. There is a vaccine for it. It is not the most effective and needs frequent boostering.

Mr. jml403;
I�d like to extend a welcome to the fire to you from southern BC.

I will confess that years back I gave myself minor nicks so often while gutting deer, my hunting partner would tease me that I was suffering guilt and was subconsciously punishing myself.

He quit teasing me after I cut him a few time while we were cutting up deer on the side of the mountain on backpack hunts.

As others have mentioned though, as with other things in life, we do well to learn from our mistakes. A cousin had a close scrape when he slashed his palm open gutting a moose. It was something like 25 miles out with a snowmobile and then another while to the hospital by pickup for him, but it turned out OK.

By our very nature, we as hunters are often a long way from help if we get injured, so do take care. You have been given some good advice and I would perhaps add that once the animal is down, take a minute to relax and unwind before the knives come out.

Good luck in your future hunts.

Regards,
Dwayne

Maybe 15-20 years ago here in Montana a guy did get his femoral artery while field-dressing a bull elk. He was alone and they found him just as bled out and dead as the elk, within a few hours after it happened. Cut away from yourself.

Being a standard native Montanan, I have never worn gloves but it isn't a bad idea. Another guy got bubonic plague from a pronghorn a few years ago and was just as dead.

I have nicked myself quite a few times while field-dressing and quartering but nothing serious. The worst bleeding, though, was when I was gutting a big northern pike my wife had caught and wanted to take back unfileted to brag on. Pike die hard and this SOB grabbed my left hand even though his insides were all about out. I had to pry his jaws off my fingers with my knife blade. They have some sort of anti-coagulant on their sharp little teeth and I bled for close to an hour....

If I'm going to get cut, it's probably when removing lungs/heart by severing the windpipe. It happens once in a while but so far (knocking on wood) never serious.

I cut a finger pretty badly while getting the liver out of an elk a few years ago. After all the cattle I've butchered working in a slaughter house it was a little embarrassing.

Lyme is caused by Borrelia burgdorferi- a rickettsia. There is speculation that it may have been engineered by a Nazi germ warfare specialist working for the army on Plum Island in the late 1940's. The army claimed there were no ticks there but there are in actuality over 140 species on Plum island. It lies in the flight pattern of birds going on up to Olde Lyme ,Ct. so it is not much of a stretch to figure out how it may have escaped.
Trivia-FWIW!

Thanks for the welcome, and thank you for all the responses. The number one thing I took out of this is the response who said to relax and hang out for a few minutes after the kill. If I had done that 1. I wouldnt have forgotten gloves 2. gone slower 3. asked my hunting partner for the sharper knife.

That's good advice, jml. It is also a good idea to not hurry. It always takes me longer than everyone else to gut my deer. I just accept it and take my time. I agree with Lawdwaz on the dangers while severing the windpipe. Sometimes both hands are up in the chest cavity at the same time, with the knife in one of them. There's probably better ways to do it, but I don't know them.

I'm a blood brother with many a deer.

-

I've not had a chance to try it yet , but a neighbor at camp and his buddys kill a few deer a year . They gave up on the reaching in for the windpipe. A small 3" cut in the neck gives them access to the pipe .
Anyone else try this ?

I cut my hands once or twice a deer but that is it. I am pretty comfortable gutting a deer and I am very careful. I usually get a little sloppy/quicker when skinning.

I got in the habit of using gloves back when I was a deer biologist and was posting several dozen to over 100 animals each year. I still use them, but occasionally nicky myself, especially while field dressing elk for some reason. I carry a small plastic bottle of hydrogen peroxide in my day pack and make it a point to clean the cut, douse it with hp and band-aid it when I am through.

I have never contracted tularemia or other forms of blood poisoning from field dressing or posting deer and elk, but several of my graduate students and colleagues did. It's not pleasant. If you notice tenderness in the lymph nodes in your neck or arm pits or start to see red streaks in the skin near the cut, run, don't walk to the nearest health care facility and get treated with a good broad-spectrum antibiotic.

Jml403:

Risk is minimal health wise, but do keep the event in mind if anything remotely strange pops up in the coming months. Cures are far easier if issues are caught early.

The most serious potential in field dressing is a self inflicted mortal wound. We've all slippped from time to time, but one should NEVER EVER be cutting or forcing a knife toward our own bodies. Fingers etc are not too bad, but wrists, forearms, and legs are another issue.

About 8 years ago a hunter in our county bled out right beside his cow elk. Speculation was he had clasped a leg between his legs as he was forcing a knife along in the skinning process. The slip punctured his femoral artery, and he was either not equipped or quick thinking enough to save himself. Probably dead after 30 to 90 seconds.

With quick thinking buddies around, one may have a chance. Out in a wilderness where help or a plane may be hours to days away, it pays to truly keep the risks in mind as one works. Glad you are OK, but do keep it up front in the memory banks as a lesson learned.

Sharp knives, because they cut easily, are the best to work with from a risk standpoint. When a surgically sharp knife makes a cut though, there are no ragged edges to help foster clotting. That being, cuts from sharp instruments will bleed for a long long time. I'm a hobby flintknapper, and obsidian breaks to edges only a single molecule wide. A quarter inch long 1/8 th inch deep cut in an index finger from obsidean can take a half hour to get shut down. Pressure can stop the bleeding, but the instant one turns loose or flexes the tissue, it's going again. The up side is those wounds will heal completely in 24 to 36 hours, because tissue damage is minimal.

Again BE SAFE out there. Tell your other half that the most dangerous component of your outing was the drive out and back. If we let risk control our lives, we'd stay in bed and not ever take a shower. 1Minute

Cut a finger slightly this year - now my hair is turning gray, falling out, and my gut is getting bigger. Be careful out there pilgrim....

JB,

Those big ol pike have a pretty good grip for dead guys 'eh?

Same thing happened to me about 15yrs ago. That might be why I enjoy eating them so much.

Several years ago, a good friend, an outfitter in Cody, Wy., and a friend of his went for an afternoon deer hunt up in Deer Creek country, south of Cody. My friend had gutted a lot of big game of all sorts during his career but made one little mistake with the deer they got this PM, a mistake that cost him his life. He severed his femoral artery and bled out in less than two minutes. His hunting buddy said there was nothing he could do. He tried to come up with a boot string or something but it all happened so quick that he was helpless.

I heard of a hunter from Thermopolis, Wy. that almost had the same thing happen. He severed the artery but had presence of mind enough that he quickly cut the inside of his thigh open enough that he could grab the end of the artery and walked out then drove himself to the hospital. Of course, I didn't witness this so do not really know whether or not it is true but it sure is one of the local legends.

Just goes to show that there is no such thing as being too careful.

I have been lucky, and careful. In all my years I have cut myself with a knife only twice. The first time I was a Tenderfoot Scout with a knife too big and a sharping stone too small. I still cary the scar.

The second time was a small little nick on the side of my left thumb while I was working as a butcher. It wasn't large but it cut to the bone.

A few years ago we had two guys on our deer lease cut themselves badly enough to need a trip to the E.R. and stiches. One was using his skinning knife as a screw driver.

The other was already late for a dinner date with his wife when he shot a nice buck. He was in a hurry to get it gutted and cut his hand.

The same E.R. nurse saw them and her comment to both was; "Well, it looks like the deer are winning today".

Unless I am saving the cape, I open the deer up from A-hole to chin.

Never Ever pull a knife towards you while gutting or cutting through the brisket or stomach cavity. Always push the knife away from you. I have heard of more than one hunter that was gutting an animal and the knife slipped and stuck in his thigh and hit the femoral artery . They bled out before help arrived.
Hope this helps.

Theoretically, Deer can potentialy carry a number of diseases or conditions that are transmittable to humans and these are transmitted in a variety of different ways including blood to blood from misphaps with a knife like the one mentioned.

Off the top my head, and in no particular order: TB, Brucellosise, Rabies, CWD, Anthrax, Lymes disease, tape worm, and liver fluke to name a few..

As part of our hunter education system, this subject is taught in some depth, including what signs or symptoms you might see on a deer that indicates the potential presence of one of these.

The risk isn't huge by any means, but being able to recognise when something is not normal while doing the gralloch, and getting into good habits such as wearing latex gloves, minimises what risk there is even further.

For any one interested in learning a bit more, take a look at the link below and click on "Carcass Preparation" on the left hand side...You will then see various sections including a couple on carcass inspection and basic hygiene.

http://www.dcs.gov.uk/BestPractice/default.aspx

Edited to add the following link is to a discussion on a British deer stalking forum and it contains pictures of the results of one such carcass inspection...

http://www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4357

Personally, that is one carcass I would not eat as there are a couple of indicators of possible TB....

I got myself really good in my hand this year when I was boning a deer out. Just going too fast with a really sharp knife and I paid for it.

I sliced open my left thumb last deer season with a sharp hatchet while busting open it's rib cage

I used to cut myself almost annually reaching in and cutting the trachea/esophagus. Now we always use the neck cut. It's easy and gets all the pipes out - right up to the point of cut. I usually make the cut right in the center of the white patch on a whitetail. The cut can actually be just a poke - maybe an inch wide. Then stick your finger in and pull out the tubes. Cut them while on the outside. Then pull the whole works back through the inside when pulling the chest contents. It can take quite a bit of tugging to get the pipes if you severed them way up in the throat. Sometimes helps to loosen them up from both ends with your fingers.

I've seen people try this and dang near cut them from ear to ear. Dang unsightly, that.

Craig

Watch out for folding knives that don't lock.

Use a sharp knife. More people are cut with dull knives because they are fighting the blade instead of guiding it.

Like others have said, cut away from yourself. My dad grew up in his father's meat market so I've had that (and the sharp knife business) well pounded into my head. Still I've nicked myself in the off hand when trying to rush the job or not taking the time to reposition myself or the animal for an easy cut.

Also blades over about four inches give me trouble. I tend to pay attention to the front end and loose track of just where the back of the blade is.

BTDT...

I cut my left hand pretty bad once while doing a gut job on a deer...was in a hurry of course.

Almost down to the bone.

I did notice that when I got home I had this urge and started chasing my wife around....

If I remember correctly, I caught her.....

Tony

The sun was setting as I was gutting a single caribou years ago. I was using a very sharp knife and as I reached inside the ribcage my left index finger's knuckle just barely bumped the edge of the blade I was holding in my right hand. It smarted was all but I noticed my own blood. I got the animal gutted and cut out the tongue - a major reason for getting that animal for camp meat. It took no more than an hour to return to camp. When I got there however, I noticed that the wool liner mitt in my choppers was rather soaked - the bleeding hadn't quit. We made some warm water and washing it out well and bandaged it. Even so, a day or so later that knuckle was swollen big and red; I couldn't bend it. The local clinic ended up lancing the wound to remove pus and then treating with local and oral antibiotics.

I never did figure out why that one tiny slice out of many I've gotten became infected- and bullet hole and gutting job were very clean guts-wise. The lesson is always to keep an eye on those nicks though; most don't, but some do.

And, in this part of the world there is common local knowledge about cutting two kinds of animals to be very careful of. One is seal, the other salmon. Salmon teeth can really cause troublesome wounds which sometimes develop cysts in them, something I try to avoid ever getting....again. Seals can cause a nasty infection people call seal finger. Never had that, but know that it can lead to trouble down the road including arthritis in the affected joints.

Sounds odd, but that is correct. Seal finger is known in Norway and Sweden where it does lead to very nasty things (things traditionally cured by amputation, now mostly antibiotics). Current evidence from my neck of the woods (the Baltic) implicates a mycoplasma as I understand it.

John

I nick my self everytime I skin, gut, quarter, any kind of critter! Everyone who knows me knows that I do this and hangs $hit on me.. I havnt ever had an infection or got sick.. I cut myself twice, the other nite, cleanin a squirrel!!

I've nicked myself several times while field dressing deer. It usually happens when I'm reaching way up in the chest cavity to cut the esophagus.

Unless your wanting to save the cape, this is one of the better method's to use. The only downside is that when you've cut the two pipes (the food pipe runs at the back of, and is attached to, the white cartilage like windpipe) you can get stomach contents spill inside the body cavity as you draw the pipe work out. This is particularly bad news as it can contain all sorts of bacteria such as Salmonella, Listeria, E.coli O157 or Campylobacter all of which are real nasties as far as food poisoning goes.

The way to stop this contamination is to tie off the food pipe before pulling it through...A couple of simple overhand knots will do, but you need to seperate the two pipes first (running your fingers between them is usually enough) and then scrap the flesh off the outside of the food pipe to expose the white "inner" underneath, otherwise the knots will slip and come undone as you pull through.

Althernatively, you can close the pipe using a small cable tie; much simplier and you don't need to scrape the pipe first for it to grip.

After gutting the animal, if you intend leaving the head on while the carcass is being taken back to camp, be aware that a small amount of gut contents can come back down from the mouth and upper throat if the deer has been "cudding" and this again can contaminate the inner neck area...By using two cable ties an inch apart on the food pipe and cutting between them, this absolutely stops any form of contamination from this operation...

Regards,

Peter

Zip ties , good idea !!! Never worried about what was left above the cut point before . Just reach up inside as far as elbows allow , finish separating gut pile from what I'm keeping and then drag it back to camp.

......How in the world did you cut your thumb off? I can't see it happening gutting a game animal. Details?

...I've gutted and skinned a pile of deer over the years without incident, that is up until a few years ago. I was using a Wyoming knife to zip open the belly skin and slipped causing the knife to turn on my finger and cut my pinkie finger pretty good. I bound it up with a strip of tee shirt and it healed up OK.

Phil,

We put alot of our deer carcasses into the commercial food chain via what we call gamedealers.

Over recent years there has been a big push to raise hygiene standards for carcass handling so the carcass is presented disease free and as hygienically possible. With that in mind, the second cable tie was one little refinement which some people like to do. Some, myself included, also use one to seal the exit pipe when pulling the "cored out" anus & penis back through the inside of the pelvic cavity if you don't want to split the aitch bone in the field.

Truth is there are many ways to gralloch a deer, but as long as you end up with a clean and disease free carcass back at the larder, exactly how you do it is not too important..Having said that, I always like to watch an experienced hunter do it as envariably you pick up tips and ideas...

Regards,

Peter

Yes indeed. My method is a combination of three (at least) from watching and being guided by more experienced hunters, one a veterinarian. There's nothing special or unique about my method, simply the steps involved suit the way I move and handle the knife.

"Gralloch" is a new word to me, I like it. Perhaps the visceral appeal of the word has something to do with my ancestry.

I open up the throat, and free the trachea by splitting the hide and neck and then sternum. spread the sternum and cut out the diaphram having good visual and hand access. I typically do this after opening the gut cavity. After splitting the pelvis and excising the anus and rectum tying off the rectum to keep poop out of the cavity. Evrything just pulls out. You trophy hunters recognise the spoiled cape, but I am a meat hunter, with all my fingers, so I will take the heat.

When I hunted bear for pelts, I would skin the bear on a tarp and then gut it and debone it packing the meat only, and hide. That way both a good cape, and clean meat were assured, and my safety protected.

The slow down and cut away from self is ultimately the best advice.

Randy

When spltting the sternum,(cutting ribs) I cut the sternum at the medial condral joint, on moose I do both sides so there are no sharp bones, and there is an opening to start the spread.
Randy

Medican,

For us laymen, where is the condral joint and what advantage does it offer to split the sternum there?

I don't generally split the sternum or the pelvis in the field as I want to minimise the number of meat surfaces open to contamination. However, I realise that due to circumstances sometimes splitting or or both of these bones is the way to go..

Regards,

Peter

it is the grizzle joint where ribs attatch to the sternum, and it cuts much easier than bone as a soft joint. As I say I hunt for meat and am pretty clumsy with a knife so it is as much safety as ease of getting the chest cavity clean and cooled.
Randy

I like the Sagen Saw for splitting pelvis and sternum. It has finer teeth than some of the others so doesn't hang up on the sternum as much. But you don't need to be delicate there. At the pelvis, short strokes so the protected end isn't battering the innards and it's pretty hard to make a mess of it. A couple much more experienced deer cutter-upers I know use them now.

Here's a picture

Thanks Medicman, I think I know the joint you mean...

Nighthawk,

When I need to open the sternum in the field I saw a "T" handled Gerber E-Z saw...As you say the course blade tends to hang up a bit and is not ideal especially on our smaller deer such a roe and muntjac. IIRC the Sagen is made from a section of band saw blade and so cuts better, but is not stainless and I found it a bit short although I think Sagen make a slightly longer one now..

I used to have one of these below which are made by a guy here in the UK.


Essentially he "converts" a butchers knife by adding the pull cut teeth (no bone dust in the carcass) and giving it a blunt tip. If I get another I will specify he uses an orange handled knife as a starting point so I might hang on to it a bit longer next time!

Regards,

Peter

That's how I lost my Gerber saw, leading to the Sagen. Can't imagine having a camo handled knife for long though they seem popular.

Stabbed myself in the thigh while gutting a deer on the ground once. Only made about a quarter inch slit not too deep. Really not much at all. When I got home my wife convinced me to go to the emergency room for a couple stitches and a tetanus shot. The first thing the doc said was 'I bet your wife made you come in for this didn't she?' We had a good chuckle over it. I generally slice a finger or two every year. Only once this year.

Just glad you stopped before you got that leg completely skinned out!

Sycamore

A major arterial bleed is bad news. It has to be stopped immediately. Your heart pumps the entire volume of blood in your body in about 200 beats. If it's an uncontrolled femoral bleed you don't have much time.