gloves while cleaning game ?
 

I'm a little old fashioned and don't mind getting my hands bloody when field cleaning game. I'm lucky if I remember to take off my watch & ring and roll up my sleeves before I begin!

But more and more, I'm seeing guys in the field dressed like they're about to do open-heart surgery :) I'm not sure if it's to keep themselves clean, or to protect themselves from some sort of infection.

Does anyone have any direct, personal knowledge of a hunter getting any kind of disease from cleaning an animal without gloves ? DIRECT or PERSONAL knowledge only please!

Don’t know anyone who picked up anything from cleaning game animals without gloves and have never worn them myself or hunt with anyone who does

I do know a trapper who picked up a parasite from working on raccoons without gloves

I've worn nitrile gloves at work for years now and I'm so used to it I don't even notice I'm wearing them. Now I even wear them at home when I'm processing or even just grinding meat for sausage. When I need a clean hand I just take the gloves off and discard. I find it way more convenient than washing my hands every few minutes. As for in the field my only "concern" I may have would be open cuts on my hands from work allowing anything from the deers system into my system. Whatever that may be? Maybe now I'm just a germaphobe? Plus like I said clean up is pretty much immediate. Gloves are cheap. I have boxes of them.

Brucellosis is possible to be spread from game to humans during the field dressing/butchering process. That being said, I don't wear rubber gloves when handling critters. I have a friend who does and whenever he gloves up I ask him if he wants me to hold his purse.

Both, but the infection control part is more important. Our hands usually take a beating while hunting, and a lot of times you won’t know an animal is infected until you get to the worst pocket. By then you are already exposed from bacteria in blood if you have any cuts scrapes or rose bush *****les in your hands. Or you happen to nick the guts and expose yourself to all the intestinal bacteria.

Walking Buffalo has a bad story, I’ll let him tell it.

My grandpa had a finger swell up like a sausage, ended up on antibiotics - there were fish, deer, grouse and yard chores done that week so who knows which one got him.

Not gonna pretend I always wear gloves, but I am trying to be better about it. They suck in the cold, so I put a fleece glove then the rubber ones over top

I'm with you. Do the same.

I bring gloves just to keep my hands clean without having to wash. First time I skinned a deer it was -20 C and washing your hands in ice water sucks...

That being said I have used gloves and if you are not careful it can still come in by your wrists and you gotta wash anyways...

Never used gloves and surviving just fine.
Having said that I could care less if someone uses them as long as they pack them out and don't leave them with the gut pile.

It’s the pain in the butt getting your hands clean when you stop to eat, or if you wheel into the liquid refreshment vendor on your way home from a successful hunt, and the poor girl at the counter starts backing away from you cuz your sleeves or hands have blood on them.:scared0018:

I run cattle obstetrical gloves with grease monkey nitrile gloves over top.
The obstetrical gloves are very handy for carrying deer heart and other innerds.

I don't know about diseases, but dressing an animal is just so icky that I need gloves. It also smells bad so I wear a dust mask with some perfume sprayed in it. I keep all of these handy in my purse, right next to my... never mind :scared0015:

I never worried about disease before I started wearing gloves.
I wear nitriles now just for the fact of having clean, dry and warm hands after field dressing. Less chance of infection also I suppose.
I just turn them inside out and throw them in my pack no mess what so ever.

I use nitrile gloves. Haven’t found a downside yet.

I also use nitrile gloves, but over top of kevlar gloves. A couple of years ago three of us were skinning a moose that was suspended from the forks on a loader. The guy standing next to me got too aggressive with his skinning knife and nicked my hand that I was using to pull the hide down as I was skinning. He sliced the nitrile glove on my hand but the kevlar glove prevented me from sustaining a cut from his knife.

I never used to wear gloves but now I do because I seem to forget water when I go hunting. I just throw in 5-6 pairs into my backpack at the beginning of the season with my ammo & tags and then I always have them with me. Much cleaner afterwards.

I enjoy bloody hands too much to use gloves.
Seems that my lunch tastes better too.

Gloves---
 

I know that many coyote trappers wear protective gloves.The yote carries some bad stuff.The seal hunters of old never wore protective gloves--There was an infection called seal finger,amputation,sometimes the only answer.I helped skin for sure 250 bears,and around 80 moose without gloves,some times with nicks and cuts. maybe only luck I didnt have a problem.Late years I do wear gloves,for protection,and to have quick clean hands.Better safe than sorry.

I prefer having blood on my hands and cleaning them in the snow...my hunt wouldn’t be the same without that.

Working in industry, I have gloves for every job, and it was natural to adopt a glove for cleaning animals. Wonder if that’s the case for those that do or don’t. I know I have to go after the new hires, wear your gloves, form the habit.

Yep. Clean up in the snow. Some blood always gets left on the fingernails.
Enjoy a bite of lunch.....it just seems to taste a bit better.
It's a tradition.

Agreed no bitch mittens needed

I never think of it until I'm washing my hands. Doesn't seem like a bad idea.

I am not a fearmonger and when younger skinned and dissected many forms of wildlife. I wear gloves now because I have become more educated and am proactive in trying to stay healthy.

This site might give some insight into possible concerns.
https://www.avma.org/public/Health/P...r-Hunters.aspx

It says:
"Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water or an alcohol-based sanitizer immediately after handling wild game or fowl, including the tissues and meat.

Wash tools, equipment and working surfaces (including tables and cutting boards) thoroughly with soap and water, followed by disinfection immediately after handling any wild game or fowl. Adding a minimum of 1 tablespoon of bleach to 1 gallon of water is usually adequate for use as a cleaning and disinfecting solution."

It also says in CWD prone areas...
"Wear latex or rubber gloves when field dressing deer, moose or elk. When skinning the animal, use extra caution around the anus and other areas that may be soiled by stool."

Just wish some guys would take their gloves home with them. I’ve found a couple of gut piles with a set of gloves discarded right beside it.

Wow. I sure am in AWE of all of the big, strong, manly-men that seem to think they need to belittle the guys on here who wear gloves...
What possible difference could it make? The OP asked about infections and or bacteria. Not for an opinion on your “bitch mittens”

I don’t usually wear gloves - unless it’s damn cold out and i don’t feel like washing hands in snow. I keep some in the garage for when I’m hanging/skinning/butchering though - for myself, i know i would rather see someone packaging MY food wearing gloves, so out of respect for my family, i package theirs wearing gloves. That’s how i see it. To everyone else, wear them or don’t - but if you do, plz don’t leave it with the guts, that’s just ONE more thing to p*ss off the landowners and other public land users.

Last year, I shot a mule deer that had ring-worm. In the field, we could tell that the deer was not healthy, but didn't know what it was. Not wanting to waste an animal, my son field-dressed it for me (without gloves), but when we got it home, we decided that I would turn it into F&W. The officer that looked it over, suspected ring-worm and issued me a new tag. He also provided me with some information about ring-worm, commonly found in mule deer, and which indicated that it is transferable to humans. Sure enough, 2-3 weeks later, my son developed ring-worm on his hands. It was a pain to get rid of, and finally he required a doctor's prescription to get rid of it. Once it started to disappear, he was a little lax in applying the cream, and it would come back with a vengeance. All in all, I think it took him 7-8 months of treatment, before he got rid of it.

Tried it for the first time tonight. Nitrile glove will be in my pack from now on!

Didn't used to wear gloves whether pullin a calf or guttin a deer, but don't really enjoy any of the fluids you get from either any more. Don't much enjoy washing it off my clothes, or how it feels when it's 30 below on bare skin. Seems like I always got a cut on my hands somewhere and I don't like the idea of catching something that a 10 cent glove might have stopped.

Wow that reads like a really old man post that I did. Just should of said yes I like wearing them now,lol

Thanks HBH - that's the sort of 'direct and personal knowledge' I was looking for. !

Never worn gloves while field dressing, if you do great if you don’t great. Never had any issues. But with all the latest studies and things coming out, it’s likely not a horrible idea to use them.

LC