Did You know - outdoor edition

[K-Guy]

Everyone I have hunted with or talked to always did the skinning belly up. The ones that buckskin would leave the legs off the body hide and remove that hide for laces and tassels.

[Magicman]

I never gut an animal, just cut the hide down the back and do as you described.  If I am at camp I hang it or in the field, I handle it on the ground.  You can easily get the tenderloins so nothing is wasted.  Lay the quarters in bags on some limbs, etc. to keep them off of the ground.  Drag the carcass away from the quarters and open the belly so that bears probably will not bother your meat.

[beenthere]

Depends on the size of the elk, the location, and a number of other things. Generally the technique mentioned works. But not always.  ;)

[JD Guy]

@barbender Just thinking a bit more on your increasing reactions to wasp stings. You might want to have a conversation with your doctor and see if he would recommend keeping Benadryl or even a EpiPen within reach. 

[WV Sawmiller]

Depends on the size of the elk, the location, and a number of other things. Generally the technique mentioned works. But not always.  ;)

When would it not work?

   This show I was watching was the first I'd ever seen it done. I watched an Innuit lady hunter on one show cleaning a moose and she ripped the belly and had to use a winch or ropes or such to move the legs out of the way for access. Looks like cutting down the back would eliminate that. 

[Old Greenhorn]

JD Guy has a good point. Anaphylaxis is a 'learned response' by your immune system. Each time it encounters the 'assault' it responds with a bit more of that undesirable stuff with the intent of combating the insult to your system. This can include restricting blood vessels and constricting the throat which can make living difficult. Each time there is a reaction the responses increase and at some point can get untenable. Best to check in with a Doc and talk this over before it gets any worse. The fever and chills are a new set of symptoms in my experience and might be something you want to understand better. Allergists are really good at that stuff.

[Ianab]

My Mother had never had a bad reaction to bee or wasp stings for maybe 70 years. Then she was stung by a wasp and went into shock in about a minute. If my nephew hadn't been there, called paramedics, AND told then it was a sting,  she would have died. Was in ICU for a couple of days and Drs were worried about brain damage as her heartbeat and BP were almost nothing. She carries an EpiPen now.

[Larry]

White snakeroot, a pretty native flower is in full bloom here.  Usually found in rich woods soil.  It can be toxic if eaten but who would ever eat it?  Cows do if ran in the woods.  Causes something called milk sickness in the time and Abraham Lincoln's mother died from it.  Scientists figured it out.  What we learn from the past can have application in today's world......

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know when people are allergic to shellfish it is often the iodine in the shellfish that causes the reaction? 

   Our daughter had a bad reaction when she was 16 and ate some lobster off the buffet and had to be ventilated. Our doctor warned her about the iodine being the likely cause and years later she was going to have a kidney function test using radiated iodine and warned them and they did a test and immediately she had a serious reaction so they used an alternate compound or procedure.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know that most flu vaccines are made using eggs? The egg is injected and produces antibodies that are extracted and processed and used in the vaccine. I think yellow fever is another grown in eggs. People with allergies to eggs either cannot take such vaccines or have to be monitored when they get vaccinated for the severity of the reaction.

   My wife is mildly allergic to eggs (She sneezes a number of times after eating foods with eggs) and generally does not take the flu shots. She took the yellow fever shot which is required for access to most of Africa and some other countries but had wait in the nurses office till the reaction passed. 

[doc henderson]

How Influenza (Flu) Vaccines Are Made | CDC

the egg actually is used to grow and replicate the virus that is then made inactive and injected (antigen) and your body makes antibodies in advance of you contacting the virus during the season, so you are already immune.

[WV Sawmiller]

    I understand snake anti-venom is typically made by injecting venom into horses and often the reaction to the horse blood is worse on the bite victim than the venom of the snake bite. Of course in some cases the bite could have even been a dry bite with little or no venom injected.

   We visited a Pygmy camp near the town of Kribi in southern Cameroon in the early 2000's and the chief/medicine man/woman had a viper head on a stick slowly roasting over a slow fire. They said when it was dry they would grind it into powder to use in case of snake bites. I figured then the reason that might work was because it might have been a dry bite. If it did not work the witch doctor could always say it was evil spirits that killed the guy.

   I remember on that trip I met the worlds best negotiator - my boat captain. He had negotiated with our guide to take us upriver to the pygmy camp and back and I'd pay him when we got back. After an hour or so up this remote jungle river with the captain running the 15 hp outboard and three deckhands bailing the water that was leaking in his old wooden pirogue, we tied up at the mouth of a creek at the village for a couple of hours then when we returned to leave the captain said he had decided he needed his money "Now". I laughed because he knew we were not going to stiff him or try to renegotiate for a lower fee! Since I am here to write this tale it is obvious I paid him on the spot.

[doc henderson]

antivenom is premade antibodies to inactivate the toxin.  you would not have time to make the antibodies yourself as you would sadly die first.  With tetanus, we give a shot to prepare your body but if you have neglected to get the shot, and have a bad wound, you get tet vaccine or booster, and antibody injections.  There is no commonly given vaccine for rabies but for the folks at risk.  kind of like the folks like Howard that go to remote spots in less developed areas.

Snake antivenom - Wikipedia

[WV Sawmiller]

Doc,

   I tried to get the rabies vaccine when I was in the USMC and had a good little squirrel and coon dog and was all the time catching critters. They would not give it to me and only gave it to the vets I think. They said if I got bit or scratched I'd still have to take the series of shots. Our company used to give the vaccine to workers on the pipeline in Cameroon in case they got but by a monkey or rat or such while they were working in remote areas because it might take a long time to medevac them.

   My son got the shots when he got bit by a skunk he had caught. After insurance our co-pay was $800 and my wife was not some happy about it. When he told her "Mom, Dad will understand" then when I called (as I was working away from home) and told her "Don't be too hard on him as I did show him how to catch them" then she really blew up and was mad at both of us. About a year later he came home with 3 baby coons he had caught while fishing at our local COE lake. They got loose in the house, I grabbed one, his buddy grabbed one and he grabbed the third. Our German Exchange student ran in her room and locked the door and my wife and daughter were standing on the couch. My wife said "Sean, we are all going to get rabies from them!" He imprudently replied "No me, I've had my shots." Correct but not the best answer to give!

[trapper]

30 or more years ago my daughter and I got the rabies vaccine.  It was set up by a member of our trappers group,  You had to buy a vile it and all used at once as it would not keep.

[WV Sawmiller]

   The last time I got a Yellow Fever shot I had to do the same thing and round up enough other people to use up the whole vile vial.

   I had never thought about trappers needing the vaccine but it certainly makes sense when you think about it. Thanks for sharing.

[WV Sawmiller]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/leprosy-spreading-domestically-us-experts-100108589.html

   Did you know that armadillos often carry the bacteria that causes leprosy? It is questionable whether they can spread it to humans since there is little direct contact between humans and them (although I can personally certify that a properly prepared armadillo tastes like good roast pork).

   I was surprised from the above article how far north they have spread which includes Tennessee and I believe they said Indiana or Illinois (one of them furin cold weather states). I was surprised several years ago to find in them in SC north of Charleston as when we were stationed in Beaufort in the late 70's/early 80's there were none to be seen in the state. We spotted one in a park in a pine plantation and I herded it back to my wife, daughter and Patrick to photograph and it ran between them, stopped at the back wheel of my wife's truck then jumped up and ran right smack into the wheel. (Did you know armadillos are not very smart and have poor eyesight?)

    Leprosy has largely been irradicated around the world but there was a leper colony/compound run by a little French nun outside of Douala, Cameroon and my wife and I visited it in 2001 or 2002. The patients in some cases had lost fingers or toes and one was blind but they were in amazingly good spirits and wanted their pictures made including the blind man. His friends explained to him how he looked on the viewer of Becky's camera and they laughed and joked and it made my day to watch them.

   Anyway, if you do decide to have roast armadillo for Sunday dinner when the in-laws come over you might be well advised to wear rubber gloves while cleaning it.

[TroyC]

My veterinarian friend agrees Howard. 'Pencil Pork'. He pulled into camp one time with a road killed pig. Claimed he hit is so he knew it was fresh.....

[WV Sawmiller]

  Do you know the traditional spear gun uses rubber tubing for propulsion? In face many guns have several sets of bands. The rubber tube is attached to a wire on each side. The spear is typically a 1/4"-5/16" stainless or chrome plated rod with notches cut in the end of the rod  and the wire is pulled back and locked in the notch similar to a crossbow. The front end of the rod is threaded and a barbed point. You put the spear in the groove on top if the gun, pull the band(s) back and place the wire in the notch. When you shoot a fish it typically shoots all the way through the fish and the barbs (often 3-4 inches wide) open up to keep the fish on the spear. The spear may or may not have a coiled line on it attached to the spear gun to keep the fish from swimming away with your spear. (Caution - if you have such a line attached to the gun and you have a lanyard on your wrist to the gun and you shoot a 500 lb fish, you could be in for a wild ride!) You typically pull the fish in and secure it on a ring, line or in a bag, unscrew the barbed point and pull the spear back through, reattach the point and start over.

[K-Guy]

Howard
If you wanted a tetanus shot from the military, all you had to do was get a couple small surface cuts on you somewhere and say it was from a something rusty. Then as a precaution they will give you one, at least that is how I got one in Canada but I really did cut my hand on a rusty barrel.

[WV Sawmiller]

K-Guy,

   Tetanus  shots were no problem to get. What I wanted was the rabies vaccines and they would only give them to the base Vet.

    By the time I stopped traveling my International shot record had long run out of spaces to add more shots and vaccinations. I think I got vaccinated against everything except Mange - and Rabies.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know that in addition to the rubber band powered spearguns you can also buy compressed air guns? I guess it has a little compressed air cylinder inside similar to an old fashioned BB gun. I used one that was a pistol and shot about a 12" long spear and had about 12' of coiled monofilament line attached to it. I cocked it with a plastic piece in my hand that I put over the point and pressed the spear in the barrel, like a muzzleloader, till it cocked and locked. You could also push straight down on the spear against a hard piece of coral till it locked. I wore it on my leg in a rubber holster and it was very convenient to carry around. I mostly used it at night when I had blinded the fish like gigging frogs. I'd put the spear tip up to within about 6" of the fish's eye and shoot then put the fish on a ring like a big safety pin on my weight belt (Yeah - I know, it would have been safer to keep them on a line floating overhead to prevent sharks or barracudas from trying to get them but I could ditch that belt with the flick of a quick release button and I didn't need it at the speed I was going to be heading away from Jaws. No doubt I'd have blown my lungs out in the process with the air expanding in them as I surfaced too quickly. :). After I had strung up the fish I'd unscrew the tip, pull the shaft out and screw it back on and look for my next fish.

  The compressed air gun did not have the range and accuracy of the long band guns which I used during daytime trips when the fish were wary. I still remember groupers (our preferred fish to hunt) peeping over a chink of coral at me like squirrels looking around a limb on a tree at me.

  I did kill a 50 lb wrasse in a cave one night in the Red Sea near Jeddah but that was not a smart thing to do and not something I recommend to others. I shot him from a range of 2' in the R eye and he went crazy and broke the pot metal spear on the side of the cave. I was blocking the only entrance out. It took a while to get him out. I'd go in after him and when I'd get tangled up in my gear or when he charged and knocked my mask off and my regulator out of my mouth my dive buddy would pull me out by my heels and I'd get resituated and go back in. I finally stabbed the fish in the head to the hilt with my dive knife and got a stringer on him and finally pulled him out. Fred had the stringer tied to his wrist and when we pulled him out of the cave he made one last run for freedom and was towing Fred towards the coast of Sudan at a pretty brisk pace till Fred got the brakes on and we towed the exhausted, dying fish back to shore. We fed our whole compound off that fish.


 

 

[doc henderson]

I had my nurses trained.  if I ordered a tet. booster but the person changed their minds my nurse would not say a word and lift my L sleeve and I got the booster.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know the Fall Foliage season on the east coast is much prettier than on the west coast? In the east we have vibrant red, yellows, oranges, browns and some hardheaded green all mingled together. We went to Colorado for a wedding in August a few years ago and everyone was talking about how pretty the Fall Foliage was becoming and that we had come at just the right time. I'm sorry but all I saw was a bunch of yellow aspens and cottonwoods in the valleys and if somebody saw a splash of orange they had to take a picture for the local newspaper. 

   We are peaking out on our colors right now and it is a really pretty sight to see a yellow maple or poplar with a bright garnish of red from a Virginia creeper or poison ivy vine wrapped around the tree.

[Old Greenhorn]

Going back to post 3641 (wasp stings, etc) I just had and incident that was pertinent, if not belated.
 So it's pouring out and I am working in the shop on a commission job. Got a good start and I was at a beak (thinking before I cut the wrong thing) and I took my safety glasses off to relax and think. I didn't even have time to throw the glasses on the bench when out of nowhere this paper (black) wasp comes straight at me and nails me between the bridge of my nose and my left eye. I whacked him right quick and didn't think he had time to sting me, but in a few seconds I knew full well he had scored. My truck was in the other driveway so I threw on a holy raincoat and got my MSG. Not wanting to shake the stuff into my eye I wetted a folded paper towel and put the Adolfs on that and then held it on. Pain gone for n 20 seconds. So at least I know my 'stuff' isn't too old. No I gotta figure out where that dang wasp came from, maybe  lighting the stove had something to do with it? All I know is that guy was mad and headed right for me. I got a bad feeling this isn't over yet.