Came home with bloody hands tonight.

[turbo]

I have a neighbor who is OK with welding, cutting, heavy equipment, etc, and who has done me some favors after retiring to this area. I try to watch his back, too, and we are pretty cool. He is next to clueless about hunting, though. He shot a nice 8-point buck this afternoon (maybe 200# tops) and called me in a panic because he has no idea how to properly gut a deer. I rushed over there in failing light, and tried to instruct him as I cleaned his buck for him. I was unable to do a thorough, decent job because he had to stay close and the fragrance from the fabric softener in his clothes was cutting off my wind. I did a quick and sloppy job of it and left him my knife so he could trim up the odd bits, but I HAD to leave so I could get to my rescue inhaler. What is so wrong with smelling like people? Ken is an older guy, and he was so excited about that buck that I would gladly have stayed and done a thorough cleaning job (and taught him how to go beyond field-dressing to full-dressing) if his scent was not killing me.

 

[Redbelly98]

I'm no hunter, but would have expected the odor of deer guts to overwhelm anything else. That must have been one powerful scent!

 

[binzing]

I don't understand how people can stand these "body sprays", etc.

 

[lisab]

Do unscented drier sheets trigger your reaction? I use those - not for the scent (I don't like heavy scents, but that's just an esthetic issue) but to suppress static electricity in my clothes.

 

[turbo]

Do unscented drier sheets trigger your reaction? I use those - not for the scent (I don't like heavy scents, but that's just an esthetic issue) but to suppress static electricity in my clothes.

"unscented" products often feature masking fragrances that are designed to suppress your sense of smell, and they can be deadly because they are hard to detect (scent-wise) and are very potent.

 

[turbo]

General message. I do NOT mind the smells that some people want to associate with themselves. The problem is that the chemicals used to generate these smells are generally volatile organics and I seem to have (fatal or near-fatal) reactions after inhaling these.

 

[turbo]

I'm no hunter, but would have expected the odor of deer guts to overwhelm anything else. That must have been one powerful scent!

The smell of an animal being gutted and cleaned is mild. It is something that our ancestors have dealt with (and probably exulted over) for a VERY long time. Gutting a deer has never bothered me, even when I was young.

 

[binzing]

So for you, how much of living out in the woods is for the lifestyle and how much for necessity (ie to get away from pollution, etc.)?

 

[turbo]

So for you, how much of living out in the woods is for the lifestyle and how much for necessity (ie to get away from pollution, etc.)?

It's just living the way I was raised for. We can't get away from pollution from mid-west power plants and it may take generations of new regulations to help.

 

[binzing]

Yeah, just wondered if it had an re-enforcing effect on staying in a somewhat cleaner environment than city life...

Dunno how much you know about the Desert Rock power plant controversy, but if they end up building it it will be the third full size coal powered plant in our COUNTY.

 

[Redbelly98]

The smell of an animal being gutted and cleaned is mild. It is something that our ancestors have dealt with (and probably exulted over) for a VERY long time. Gutting a deer has never bothered me, even when I was young.

Yeah, and I missed the potentially fatal allergy aspect you alluded to in the OP. Glad you're okay now.

Mark

 

[Moonbear]

Why was he wearing scents to go hunting? Don't hunters go out of their way to try to remove every trace of scent from their body to try to prevent the deer from getting spooked by their presence?

For redbelly, there's really no scent to fresh-killed animals. Maybe the slight metallic odor of the blood, but that's about it. If it's smelling bad, you might want to rethink eating it.

Hope you're feeling okay now, turbo.

 

[turbo]

Thanks, Moonie. I am tired and baggy-eyed and short of breath today, but I'll live.

As for hunting, it is a good idea to stay as odor-free as possible. He got lucky. He drove his truck down to his lower field and was sitting in it to keep out of the rain, and a doe came out of the woods, followed closely by the buck.

 

[moose]

General message. I do NOT mind the smells that some people want to associate with themselves. The problem is that the chemicals used to generate these smells are generally volatile organics and I seem to have (fatal or near-fatal) reactions after inhaling these.

Out of curiosity, does this remain true for designer colognes?

 

[Monique]

Why was he wearing scents to go hunting? Don't hunters go out of their way to try to remove every trace of scent from their body to try to prevent the deer from getting spooked by their presence?

For redbelly, there's really no scent to fresh-killed animals. Maybe the slight metallic odor of the blood, but that's about it. If it's smelling bad, you might want to rethink eating it.

Hope you're feeling okay now, turbo.

I once had to cut open the belly of a mouse in a class and it didn't have a pleasant smell.

 

[Redbelly98]

For redbelly, there's really no scent to fresh-killed animals. Maybe the slight metallic odor of the blood, but that's about it. If it's smelling bad, you might want to rethink eating it.

Well, I do remember in The Empire Strikes Back, Luke Skywalker was nauseated by the smell when he had to cut open his horse/camel-like steed in order to survive the cold of night on planet Hoth.

But from what you're saying, it's almost as if the Star Wars movies were taking liberties with basic scientific principles.

Please say it ain't so.

 

[turbo]

I once had to cut open the belly of a mouse in a class and it didn't have a pleasant smell.

Gutting a fresh-killed deer is not at all unpleasant. Like Moonie says, the blood has a slightly metallic smell. If you're a decent shot and you've killed the deer cleanly (shot in the heart, lungs, neck, etc), everything in the stomach and intestines is pretty well contained.

 

[Moonbear]

As for hunting, it is a good idea to stay as odor-free as possible. He got lucky. He drove his truck down to his lower field and was sitting in it to keep out of the rain, and a doe came out of the woods, followed closely by the buck.

Aww...the poor buck got shot just when he was expecting to "get some." Though, I guess that's the point of using hunting to keep the population under control.

We have a bumper crop of deer this year it seems. I think bow season has already started, but the full season doesn't start until next week or the week after (it's always very close to Thanksgiving). Definitely, auto season is in full-effect (LOTS of dead deer on the sides of roads). There are a few stretches of highway up near Pittsburgh where the deer-car collisions have gotten so bad, they've been advertising them on the news to caution drivers. Of course it's worse when drivers panic and make bad judgement calls. One stretch of interstate was shut down yesterday or maybe two days ago with a 5 car accident after one driver swerved to avoid a deer, and instead wound up hitting another car. If you can't avoid a collision, go with the deer, not another car.

 

[redargon]

I think if you manage to rupture the stomach or intestines, you're going to get some pretty interesting odours, but guess it would just smell like a pretty intense fart

Seeing that buck are herbivorous, I would assume the odours produced in there digestive tracts are less pungent than carnivores or omnivores.

Do odours travel further than bullets? would your scent really spook a deer, even if you were in firing range (like 100m or something)? I've never been hunting, so wouldn't know. I thought your scent would only be important if you were literally tracking and coming into very close proximity of your prey, like most wild predators that have to make contact to kill.

On a separate note: If it was just following behind the doe when it was spotted, then it sounds like he got his lights put out before she put out... poor bastard.

 

[redargon]

too slow... damn

 

[Moonbear]

...everything in the stomach and intestines is pretty well contained.

That's the key. If you rupture the intestines, especially the stomach, the stench will make you gag. But, then, if the intestines have been ruptured, the meat is contaminated anyway. I wouldn't take anything other than maybe the rump roast (which will be tough anyway) from an animal with ruptured intestines. The whole point of learning to properly dress a deer is to learn how to remove the entire intestinal tract from stem to stern without breaking it open and contaminating the meat.

 

[Moonbear]

I think if you manage to rupture the stomach or intestines, you're going to get some pretty interesting odours, but guess it would just smell like a pretty intense fart

Seeing that buck are herbivorous, I would assume the odours produced in there digestive tracts are less pungent than carnivores or omnivores.

Actually, ruminants are worse than monogastrics in terms of odor if you rupture the stomach. Rumen fluids are full of bacteria that help aid in the digestion of all that plant material, and the odor of that will truly make your eyes water. I've been present for a few necropsies on farm animals where we had to puncture the stomach to get a sample of rumen fluid or investigate a blockage. I can usually stand it, but it's horrible. On the other hand, we had one sheep die from acidosis, and after the sample was collected to verify the cause of death, I had to keep stepping out of the room for fresh air to stop myself from gagging. You could have made the diagnosis by odor alone, which the vet performing the necropsy had already done, but we still had to send it off for the official lab results.

So, DON'T rupture the intestines!

 

[Evo]

On a lighter note, a beautiful deer was walking down the sidewalk the other morning on my way to work. I wonder if I can get some deer in my ravine? I know they live nearby, but there is a fence keeping them out.

 

[turbo]

On a lighter note, a beautiful deer was walking down the sidewalk the other morning on my way to work. I wonder if I can get some deer in my ravine? I know they live nearby, but there is a fence keeping them out.

That must be one hell of a fence, Evo. My relatives in CT put up chain link fences to keep the deer from eating the shrubbery. The deer just jump the fences - they're still getting fed AND getting exercise.

 

[hypatia]

Gun season starts here tomorrow, and my Hubby finally got the OK from his Dr, to go hunting!
The hunters here go to great lengths not to smell like anything. Cloths washed in water only, then hung to dry outside. Packed in canvas bags, some times they even toss a few leafs or apples in. No scented soaps, colognes or shave items.

 

[turbo]

My brother-in-law packs his clean hunting clothes in a bag with cedar boughs.

 

[turbo]

I've got the liver and the heart from that buck soaking in iced salt water to get most of the blood out. Mmmm! I'm thinking fried liver and onions for supper with fried potatoes and maybe some steamed fiddleheads.

 

[turbo]

We had deer heart for supper tonight, fried in butter with a little salt and a lot of pepper. With garlic mashed potatoes, whole-kernel corn, and green beans on the side. Yum!

Now I have to shoot one of my own.

 

[Moonbear]

That must be one hell of a fence, Evo. My relatives in CT put up chain link fences to keep the deer from eating the shrubbery. The deer just jump the fences - they're still getting fed AND getting exercise.

They can easily jump a 6 ft fence, sometimes even an 8 ft one. When I worked with deer, the pens needed to be surrounded by a 10 ft double fence so even if they got enough of a running start to clear the first fence, there wasn't enough space between the fences for them to get a run at the second one. 10 ft was too high for them to jump from a stand-still.

Gun season starts here tomorrow, and my Hubby finally got the OK from his Dr, to go hunting!

Woo hoo! Glad to hear he's doing so well and can resume some of the fun activities now.