Horned By A Dead Deer – First Aid Crisis

In years gone by, I was part of a hunting party that focused on fellowship as much as the hunt. The group was Bob (my dad – a service station owner); Dan (a man who was like an uncle); Doc ( a connectionist); Ralph ( a grocer); Jack (the local banker); and Jerry (sporting goods store owner). That was a mix of many talents that all came together for 10 days in deer camp. We called it Big Buck Hunting Shack.

One year back in the day, all was right in the world. That evening our group had two deer down, a nice 8 point and a doe. All the tags were filled and it wasn’t even the end of season! The deer were harvested in an area lovingly called The Island. Making our kill there meant a long hard 3 mile drag back to camp in the dark. These deer needed to be cleaned up better than just the field dressing we’d done, and then we needed to pull the cape. Before these things could happen, we would need to add them to the already loaded meat pole.

So started the chain of events. When we returned from the hard day in the woods, we removed our hunting clothes, got a cold drink and Jack started dinner. Jerry got ropes around the necks of both deer and had a younger member of the group help him hoist them up. It was not long before the majestic buck was lifted into place next to the other deer that had been taken that day. All of them were hanging on a strong small oak tree that was used as a cross member. There was no fear of it breaking. Jerry started to cut and pull on the buck’s cape. As he did so, the limb moaned and groaned with the weight of all the deer. Jerry kept cutting and pulling. When the cape began to peel off the buck with greater ease, he pulled harder. Then he gave a great pull on the cape and the rope broke! The buck fell. Jerry was unable to get out of the way. The buck’s head and rack stuck Jerry in the chest. One of the tines from the rack ripped into Jerry’s clothing and plunged into his upper chest!

First Aid was needed and needed now! We got to work with our first aid kit, and got our friend Jerry out of danger. Hunting reminder: what needs to be in your Field First Aid Kit?

The following is a good list:
2 absorbent compress dressings (5”x9”)
1 blood clot kit
10 adhesive bandages (assorted sizes)
1 adhesive cloth tape (10 yards x 1”)
3 antibiotic ointment packets (1 gram)
3 antiseptic wipe packets
4 packets of asprin (81 mg each)
1 blanket (space blanket)
1 breathing barrier (with one-way valve)
1 instant cold compress