Allergic reaction

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LenS

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Joined
Nov 19, 2008
Messages
270
City & State/Province
Montgomery County, TN, USA
Anyone else have an allergic reaction to deer? I break out in hives, get itchy eyes, and sometimes have my eyes swell shut after handling a deer. Crazy thing is that only bucks cause the reaction.

I popped 2 Benadryl before cleaning my buck this morning and it minimized the effects but there was still a reaction.
 
I'd field dressed over a hundred before it happened to me. Now it does sometimes and others it doesn't. Just keep Benadryl on me in case. Strangest thing…
 
Not yet.
Horses caues the absolute worst reaction I've ever had. Awhile back there was this female friend of mine who wanted me to go horseback riding with her. She asked me to brush them a little while to keep them calm while she hooked up the saddles. I did as asked, because, um... I really enjoy riding horses and everything like that...:D in just a few minutes, I was halfway down.
 
Deer and horse hair kill me. After skinning them I'm good. My hands and arms whelp up, eyes itch and I sneeze. Not as bad when they're hosed down with water.
 
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I'm allergic to the blood. Gotta make sure i wash anything in contact with blood asap or it gets systemic within an hour. My uncle couldn't touch them at all. He always made sure he had someone who could drag, gut, skin, and process for him.
 
I'm allergic to the blood. Gotta make sure i wash anything in contact with blood asap or it gets systemic within an hour. My uncle couldn't touch them at all. He always made sure he had someone who could drag, gut, skin, and process for him.
So can either of you eat or prepare venison for cooking?
Is it just the hide and blood that causes problems?
 
Yep, I developed an allergy to deer hair after fooling with them for probably 30 years. If I ever touch my eyes while I'm skinning one, it's over! Now I wear nitrile gloves and don't touch my eyes while I'm skinning the deer and take a shower asap and get along pretty well. But yeah, it was weird when it first happened.
 
I thought I was the only person that was allergic. If I kill one I have to make sure not to touch my face too. My eyes have swelled almost shut and sneezing nonstop for about an hour. I carry a Benadryl in my pocket for when I kill one. But the does are worse on me than bucks.
 
Anyone else have an allergic reaction to deer? I break out in hives, get itchy eyes, and sometimes have my eyes swell shut after handling a deer. Crazy thing is that only bucks cause the reaction.

I popped 2 Benadryl before cleaning my buck this morning and it minimized the effects but there was still a reaction.

The same thing happened to me years ago. I couldn't tell what it was or what caused it. At the time I was starting to have sinus problems months before deer season and when I shot a deer that year my sinus went crazy while cleaning it. That went away over the years but I still have sinus problems today. I have to take Zyrtec-D twice a day to keep it under control.
 
Wow! I thought I was crazy….🥴

But I first noticed the same symptoms noted , swelling of the eyes mostly.
But have never noticed any difference in does or bucks…
It stared with me around 20 years ago..

I had skinned several deer when I was younger and don't recall it being an issue..
 
I am allergic to the blood, makes my hands itch.. I were gloves when gutting a deer. I can eat venison with no problem. I also have the Alpha Gal meat allergy, this may be why the blood bothers me.
 
Like dewclaw said, I too handled deer for most of my life and then all of a sudden became allergic to their hair. Once I get it skinned, things settle down for me pretty well. I now have to use nitrile gloves while handling the deer and then I wash my arms and hands well as soon as I'm done. I also try to make sure that I am upwind of the deer while gutting and skinning it to avoid the hair blowing into my face as much as possible. I even keep a gallon-sized ziploc bag of those gloves in my backpack and have learned to put them on before even touching a deer after I have killed one. If I forget to use them and accidentally grab/touch the deer with my hunting gloves on, then I remove them immediately and put on the nitrile gloves making sure not to touch my face at any time. I should mention here that I always gut, skin, and quarter my own deer at a skinning tree at camp to avoid leaving anything around my hunting spots. I don't worry about the guts ruining my hunting spots. I worry about the guts drawing in the predators (coyotes, etc) that end up ruining my hunting spots. So, I even drag my deer out with those gloves on. If it is hot outside, then this allergic reaction is worse. The colder it is the less of an issue it is for me. Weird that it is that way, but for some reason heat and sweating seems to magnify it for me. Once I have it skinned though, there doesn't seem to be any issue for me (some others mentioned the blood causing a reaction for them). Use the gloves! They will help you A LOT!
 
BigDave12, I haven't thought about the temperature playing an issue. Have to check that out. I'll definitely be looking into getting some gloves. Popping the Benadryl yesterday seemed to have helped lessen the symptoms, although my eyes are still itchy and swollen today.
 
I only have that happen under hard physical labor. But my boss calls me a liar. Joking aside if did have terrible allergic reactions like that to cleaning deer. I believe I would take them to a butcher. But apparently y'all have weighed it out. And it's not worth it for you. But I don't usually kill much so my butcher bill would be very limited.
 
One school of thought is that if a tick bites you (or possibly other insects) that you can possibly develop an allergy to random and new things that you were not allergic to before. Some suggest that exposure to whatever they had feed on recently might create an allergy in you.
 
Anyone else have an allergic reaction to deer? I break out in hives, get itchy eyes, and sometimes have my eyes swell shut after handling a deer. Crazy thing is that only bucks cause the reaction.

I popped 2 Benadryl before cleaning my buck this morning and it minimized the effects but there was still a reaction

Anyone else have an allergic reaction to deer? I break out in hives, get itchy eyes, and sometimes have my eyes swell shut after handling a deer. Crazy thing is that only bucks cause the reaction.

I popped 2 Benadryl before cleaning my buck this morning and it minimized the effects but there was still a reaction.
Good buddy of mine has the same allergic reaction to the hair. Once the hide is off he is good. One time I thought I was going to have to take him to the er.
 

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