By Rob Fetterhoff Jr.
Photo: Rob Fetterhoff Jr. sends us a unique tip for using vinyl gloves. Here, the hunter poses with a pretty 8-pointer he took on the southern tier of the Empire State’s western side.
Like many hunters, I use disposable gloves while field-dressing my deer. Obviously, gloves minimize the amount of blood on my hands and sleeves, but here’s something you might not have thought about.
After I’ve finished with a field-dressing job, I hang on to the gloves for another purpose. I peel them off, leaving them inverted so the bloody exteriors are now the inside. Then put my knife (sheathed), Butt-Out Tool, and anything else that got nasty, into the glove.
Now the inverted glove can be placed in my backpack, preventing the bloody tools from getting my pack messy. I can clean up things when I return to camp or get to fresh water.
Editor’s Note by Tim H. Martin
As many times as I’ve used disposable gloves while field-dressing deer, I’ve never thought of using them to put my bloody gear in until I read Rob’s tip — pretty smart!
Several years ago, I invested roughly $14 in a 240-count supply of disposable vinyl gloves from Costco. It’s turned out to be money well spent.
I immediately divided the gloves into three Ziploc bags and stored them in three different places: my backpack, my kitchen cabinet and behind the back seat of my truck.
Field-dressing deer isn’t their only purpose. I put on a pair every time I clean fish, quail, rabbits, ducks, doves or squirrels. They keep my hands clean if I have to check the oil, too.
Please forgive my bluntness, but they also come in handy for keeping your hands scent-free if you have to go No. 2 in the woods. When you peel them off, just leave them inverted and don’t leave them in the woods.
The gloves I store in my kitchen cabinet are used for handling raw chicken, beef and pork.
The ones I store in my truck have come in handy countless times. They sure helped the time a buddy claimed he couldn’t pitch in with cleaning quail because he’d left his rubber gloves at home. I simply reached behind the back seat of my truck and pitched him a pair!
— Photo Courtesy of Rob Fetterhoff Jr.