by John Jefferson
Twenty years ago, I did something embarrassing.
Several wildlife biologists were invited by Al Brothers, legendary whitetail biologist and manager of the H.B. Zachery Ranches, to hunt does on the ranch near the border to help control the ever-increasing doe population.
THIS EMACIATED COYOTE was taken on a trip to New Mexico with Gary Roberson, owner of Burnham Bros. Game Calls. We named it the “Chupacabra Coyote” since none of us had ever seen a coyote that looked like this. There was very little hair on what is usually a bushy tail on a healthy coyote. We wisely refrained from touching it due to its unhealthy and sickly-looking condition. Not all disease-carrying wildlife exhibits a “Don’t Touch” appearance like this one and should only be handled with gloved hands. (Photo by John Jefferson)
Brothers and Murphey Ray’s landmark whitetail management book, “Producing Quality Whitetails,” heartily encourages removing does to keep the resident deer herd in line with the carrying capacity of the habitat.
I had worked in the Wildlife Division of TPWD and was invited to hunt, too. Another wildlife journalist, the late Jim Cox, with TPW Magazine, was also along.
After shooting two does, I drove to pick up Cox at the stand he hunted. He asked if I had shot one. I held up two fingers. He looked at my bare hand, and quizzically asked, “Then where’s the blood?”
Bloody hands were almost a rite of passage among deer hunters. How else could you field dress a deer without getting your hands bloody?
Actually, you can if shot placement is perfect. Mine hadn’t been.
“I sorta cheated,” was the answer I gave. I had worn latex gloves to dress both does. And I felt a little like I was a sissy. Looking back, I’m glad I did that. Nowadays, a box of latex gloves rides in my truck during deer season.
This week, I received a long message from another hunter, Aaron Hipp, telling of an infection that has caused him great misery. A fungal infection on his left thumb incapacitated him for considerable time. He saw several doctors and they had him check his cell phone pictures to see when it had started affecting him. That showed it began shortly after handling a strange looking coyote he had shot.
The medics decided he must have had a cut on his hand and got the infection from the sickly-looking coyote he had dragged with his left hand.
Since my first use of latex gloves 20 years ago, most hunters I know now use some kind of gloves to handle game. I even double-gloved to skin a coyote near Laredo once. That hide now trims a deer skin vest my wife wears.
Using gloves helps control your knife and makes it easier to handle the deer’s inner body parts. They also assist in skinning. The best gloves for this duty are kitchen gloves that are thicker and less apt to tear on sharp bones or when struck accidentally by your knife. Most kitchen gloves extend higher on your forearms and keep blood off your arms and clothing They are also more effective than latex or nitrile in handling game since most have better gripping surfaces. They also keep your hands warmer in cold weather, and even when butchering thawed meat from the freezer. Even latex helps there.
Kitchen gloves cost more than latex but are easily washed for additional use on the next critter.
But take it from Aaron Hipp and me – always wear some kind of hand protection when handling wildlife.
JJ
