In mid-October 2003, I arrowed my largest Maine buck. It wasn’t a massive-racked, record-book contender on the same scale as some bucks that come out of Illinois, Ohio, Iowa and other big-buck-producing states, but at 200 pounds field-dressed, with nine typical points and a 141 3/8-inch Pope and Young score, it remains the largest Maine buck I’ve ever taken.
I still remember the shot. It was late in the day, and the setting sun was casting dark shadows across the heavy foliage. The buck eventually stepped onto the old tote road I had walked in on several hours earlier.
There were only a few minutes left before legal shooting hours ended. I was hunting with an old, well-used Martin WartHog compound with laminated wooden limbs and cams about the size of a 50-cent piece. I was new to bowhunting and shooting instinctively, so I needed the buck to get closer.
As luck would have it, he walked in my direction. About 30 yards away, he turned and gave me a perfect broadside shot.
I took it, but the thing that remains most vivid in my mind is watching the arrow fly like a Tom Brady Hail Mary pass to Gronk. I never thought it would reach its mark.
Of course, it did.
But the arrow flight wasn’t the most memorable part of that hunt.
The most memorable part came after I killed that buck. That’s when I discovered I was allergic to deer.
I’ve hunted since my teenage years and all my adult life. I’ve had successful hunts for bear, elk, caribou, moose, pronghorn and, of course, deer, and never had a negative physical reaction to any of them during or after the field-dressing process.
Until that day.
I’ve never been allergic to anything. They say the human body changes every seven years. I don’t know if that is factually true, but something changed because I had experienced no reaction to the deer I arrowed the year before.
That made me think the itchy, swollen eyes, congestion, wheezing, sneezing, runny nose and facial redness that occurred shortly after field-dressing the buck were just a fluke.
“Maybe he got into some poison ivy or something and it was still on his body,” I thought.
But that was wishful thinking.
I’ve experienced the same reactions to deer during every successful season since. The good thing is that the symptoms don’t last long. After taking a hot shower, I take antihistamines, which ease the congestion, wheezing and runny nose. The swollen hives take a few days to go down, but in less than a week, I’m back to normal.
To this day, I don’t know precisely what it is about deer that causes my body to react the way it does — dander, blood, saliva or urine, all of which can cause uncomfortable symptoms.
I eventually spoke with my family doctor, who suggested I see a dermatologist to determine the exact cause and what could be done about it. But since my initial reaction to that big buck, I have experienced no symptoms from other game or animals in general. I have no reaction to eating venison and have no other allergies.
I had a pretty good idea it had something to do with deer, so I declined the referral.
In time, I’ve learned to live with it.
I know the symptoms will be coming, so when I head for the woods each day, I go prepared. In my pack, I carry a nondrowsy antihistamine such as Claritin, Zyrtec or a generic equivalent. If I arrow or shoot a deer, I take one and wait about 30 minutes before touching the deer.
I also carry a painter’s mask to limit airborne particles such as dander and, as an extra precaution, swimming goggles to protect my eyes, which, other than the wheezing, seem to be affected the most.
To provide some protection from blood and other fluids, I wear elbow-length latex gloves during the field-dressing process and while getting the deer out of the woods.
If there’s a water source nearby, I wash my knife and other tools used to field-dress the deer. If not, I carry antiseptic wipes to clean them before returning them to my pack.
Finally, I always carry hypoallergenic baby wipes to wash my face, neck and other exposed skin. I even wash my hands after removing the gloves, just as an extra precaution.
While these precautions may not be medically ideal or all that can be done to relieve my annual fall curse, they reduce the effects enough that I can live with them for a few days.
I’ve since learned that deer allergies are not as uncommon as some might think. I’m not alone, and others also suffer from the same fate each fall, surprisingly including one of the cutters at the deer processor we use.
It hasn’t stopped him from doing what he does or from hunting.
And it won’t stop me, either.