That’s what one Pennsylvania hunter found out after being exposed to rabies while field dressing a deer he shot on Jan. 20, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

“The hunter contacted us about his concerns that the deer was unfit for human consumption,” said John Veylupek, Game Commission Wildlife Conservation Officer.  “The hunter said that he saw the deer standing in a creek, straining and growling.  He thought there was a coyote nearby from the sounds the deer was making.”

The hunter, who was not identified, reportedly had scratches on his hands and was not wearing gloves while dressing the deer. Veylupek added that after gathering samples for testing and information from hunter, the deer was determined to be rabid. The hunter was advised to contact a doctor about post-exposure rabies shots.

According to the report, any mammal is susceptible to rabies. Wildlife veterinarian Walter Cottrell urged hunters to wear rubber or latex gloves when field-dressing animals to avoid spreading the disease to other mammals — including hunters and their families.

Bowhunting is the single most gear-intensive method of hunting on the planet. If you have a bowhunter on your Christmas list the number of options for a present from Santa is long, diverse and, frankly, staggering. You can spend a little or a lot, but one thing is certain — there’s no such thing as a bowhunter who has everything. The following is a list of a dozen great products that we at Bowhunter Magazine have tested and approved.

If your bowhunter doesn’t have everything on this list then your search is over!

Want more outdoor gift ideas? Check out more Holidays Gift Guides for the big game hunter, fisherman, dog lover, waterfowler and gun nut on your list.

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Easton Injexion Shafts

We used the new Easton Injexion arrow shafts this past summer and were impressed by the precision and engineering, which was focused on creating the ultimate hunting shaft. Injexion shafts are micro-diameter so the thin profile contributes to deep penetration in game and a reduced cross-section that’s more resistant to the effects of wind. Running around 10 grains per inch, Injexion shafts carry enough weight to buck the wind and achieve maximum penetration. The Deep Six System features stainless steel inserts that strengthen the broadhead-to-arrow connection as well as increase front-of-center balance for better flight. Carbon Injexion shafts will cost you $85 per six (with Blazer Vanes), and the A/C (aluminum/carbon) version will set you back $150 for six (with Blazer Vanes). Visit www.eastonarchery.com>Easton Archery

Ohio native Zach Barker, 12, killed this 11-point buck in Perry County in Southeast Ohio, and grandfather Ronald Gleason Sr., who accompanied the young hunter, couldn’t be more proud.

“This was probably the greatest moment that I have ever experienced in all the years I’ve been hunting,” said Gleason, the self-proclaimed “happiest grandpa in the world.”

For more information, check out Petersen’s Hunting.

But as Bowhunter editor Curt Wells discovered in this clip from Bowhunter TV, a little moisture on the ground in fall makes a world of difference between that exciting hit and the most painful miss.

Ohio bowhunter Ronnie Stevens shot this 11-point typical after spotting it several days earlier in a bean field near a Columbus suburb, a kill that could find its way into the top 20 in the Boone & Crockett record books.

According to Field & Stream, Stevens first spotted the buck in a field while driving home from his kid’s volleyball practice. After securing permission from nearby homes, Stevens set up trail cameras. Within a week, he had the buck of a lifetime. The buck green grossed 196 inches with a net score of 189.

Someone asked me the other day why I eat meat. I detected a tone of righteous vegetarianism in the question.

I answered by explaining that I like to give my food a fighting chance. “I consider it unethical to eat anything that can’t run for its life,” I said. “Think about all those poor salads just lying around until someone comes along and eats them. How fair is that? At least my food has the opportunity to outwit, outsmart or outrun me, and usually it does.”

I got the distinct impression that my answer was not well received, so I went home and ate a steak. I felt much better after that.

In hindsight, I suppose I could also have pointed out that a number of recent medical studies have demonstrated that red meat, in particular lean red meat from wild game, reduces the risk of heart disease. My own family physician verified this not long ago after sending me for some routine blood tests.

“Your cholesterol count is a bit high,” he announced, holding up my chart.

“What do you prescribe?” I asked.

“Go shoot a moose,” he said. “And don’t forget to bring me a backstrap.”

Who am I to argue with medical science?

I admit it, I am an unrepentant carnivore. I like meat. I like the flavor and aroma. I like the sound my steaks make when they are sizzling on the grill over a bed of hot coals. I like to slice into a thick slab of venison seared on the outside but still red and juicy in the center. I even like the anticipation when I go to the refrigerator to sneak a quick look at the steaks that I have marinating in oil, vinegar and fresh garlic, and sprinkled generously with a variety of herbs and spices.

My muley buck is obviously big, but he’s even bigger when I tell friends the tale of this hunt.

But perhaps most of all, I take pleasure in the simple knowledge that the food on my plate is there because I either stalked it, lay in wait for it, or tracked it down. Maybe that speaks to some sort of primal longing inside of me — a throwback to the hunter-gatherer lifestyle of my forefathers. (My father and his father before him were also hunters.) Or maybe I’ve just discovered that I have more fun picking up my bow and walking a trail in the bush than I do pushing a shopping cart along a grocery aisle. Whatever the case, I have found that the hunt itself enhances the overall culinary experience.

An old proverb says, “He who chops his own wood is twice warmed.” That may be true, but I would better that by adding, “He who grills the meat that he has hunted over coals from the wood that he has chopped is both warmed and filled.”

On the wall of my study, right beneath a framed photograph of me posing with a recently deceased 6×6 bull elk, is a Biblical quote taken from the 27^th chapter of the book of Genesis. The words, originally spoken by the patriarch Isaac to his eldest son, Esau, have since been repeated in some form or another by countless others down through the years, who, like the hero of old, have appreciated the opportunity to sink their chops into a good steak. The verse reads, “Take your bow and a quiver full of arrows out into the open country, and hunt some wild game for me. Prepare it just the way I like it so it is savory and good, and bring it here for me to eat.”

Granted, the dialogue is taken directly from a story of rivalry, deception, trickery, and lying — none of which draw a parallel to any archery hunter with whom I am acquainted. But despite this discrepancy, it seems to me that these ancient instructions must not be ignored. I can assure you that I, for one, will not be accused of showing disregard for a clear Biblical directive. If the Bible tells me to pick up my bow and arrows and go chase down some wild game, that’s exactly what I’m going to do!

I have also found that I enjoy introducing others to the savory delights of wild game. Recently my wife and I donated a dinner party to the annual charity auction that is put on by my church. The meal was advertised as a wild game barbecue that we would host on our back deck.

For me, nothing beats the taste of a good venison steak. I do eat vegetables, as long as they are served at their rightful place -- on the side.

It was a great success all around. A good price was fetched for our chosen charity, and the eight people who together made the purchase — five of whom had never before parted their lips for a piece of meat that had not been domestically raised — left with a new appreciation for the succulent flavor of well-prepared game. They started off a little tentatively, but within a short while were lining up for the kabobs, chops, and steaks that were coming off the grill.

To create the right atmosphere, and to ensure that our guests would have the full experience, I had hung a couple of whitetail mounts on the corner posts of the deck. I was worried at first that I had made a strategic error, as I began to hear whispers of, “They’re so cute.” But once the meal began not much was heard other than the smacking of lips, brief words of approval, and a smattering of incoherent phrases that seemed to indicate gastronomic delight.

As the evening progressed, the conversation naturally began to shift from eating wild game to hunting wild game. This took surprisingly little prompting on my part. Having been primed by the fine meal and a few glasses of wine, they were now eager for the main course — a full and detailed account of some of my most memorable hunts. For the next hour, as I toured them through my trophy room, I entertained them with tales of my accomplishments and left them with the general impression that my skill and cunning as an archery hunter border on the legendary.

To those with an untrained ear it may have sounded as though I was bragging, and perhaps even embellishing some of the details as I told my stories. But to everyone else it was obvious. Of course I was bragging! Unabashed, shameless boasting is one of the foremost rites of those who hunt.

The evening could hardly have turned out better than it did. Our guests headed for home with their appetites satisfied and their ears ringing with some of the juiciest hunting folklore that has ever been told. As they were leaving, they told me that next year they would outbid anyone for the privilege of coming back for more of my food and my lies.

How good is that?

And just to set the record straight, I do eat my vegetables. (I’ve been told that they’re good for me.) But until broccoli develops the stealth of a whitetail buck and peas learn to keep up with a speeding antelope, they will never be served as a main course on my table. And until a head of lettuce grows a body, some legs, and maybe a set of antlers, it will remain a lowly side dish.

Anything else just wouldn’t be right.

The author, a resident of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, has written several humor stories for Bowhunter.

Using a buck or doe decoy by itself worked pretty well, but the results weren’t nearly as impressive as when I started using the two together. This wide eight-point is proof of the drawing power of two decoys.

If one deer decoy is effective, are two deer decoys twice as good?

The date was Wednesday, November 10. I got to my treestand before dawn, set up my decoys, and waited for daylight to arrive. When it did I could see 250 yards in two directions, and there were deer running everywhere.

When a nice eight-point walked out of the woods, I reached for my grunt call and gave two grunts. The buck turned, saw the decoys, sprinted over and faced up to my buck decoy at 15 yards, his glaring eyes rolled back and hair standing up on his back. This buck was lucky he was only a 2½-year-old…

Over the past five years, I’ve had pretty good success using decoys during the Pennsylvania rut. My first rule is I never use decoys until I know the rut is in full bloom because I want the bucks to be fully committed to the setup the first time they see it.

I started out using a buck decoy, and that worked fairly well. A doe decoy was better, but the bucks still weren’t fully committed. Once I started using a buck and doe decoy together, my success increased dramatically.

The next consideration is location. Field edges work best because you can see more ground, and a buck can see your setup from a greater distance. Setting up in the woods can work, but when a buck spots a decoy at close quarters, it often spooks him.

Wind is always critical. Position your decoys so that a responding buck that wants to get downwind of the decoys must put himself in your shooting lane.

Everyone has their own technique but I like to position the doe decoy within five or 10 yards so she is facing directly towards me, looking into the woods. I place the buck decoy five yards behind the doe, facing her tail at a 45-degree angle. In my experience a buck almost always approaches the front of the buck decoy, offering you a quartering or broadside shot.

Once your decoys are set up, spray them with a scent eliminator, lay down some lure scent if you wish, and then hang on for the start of the action.

When a buck acts aggressively, he cannot help himself and must address the double decoy setup. If he needs encouragement, I use a snort-wheeze call.

…Suddenly, at 2:30, a giant stepped out across the field. When he started walking across the field I grunted three times to get his attention. It was a repeat of the earlier encounter with the young eight-point, and within seconds this buck was coming face-to-face with my buck decoy. At 30 yards he started to posture at the decoy with his ears laid straight back, his hair standing up, and his eyes bloodshot and focused on the decoy. Now at 20 yards, I grunted at him with my mouth. The buck stopped. I concentrated on a spot and released the arrow. The buck jumped, kicked his back legs high into the air, and ran out into the field where he started to stagger. My heart was pounding with excitement and joy as the magnificent eight-pointer with a 22-inch spread tumbled to the ground!

After climbing down and laying my hands on the gorgeous buck, I reflected on how the double decoy setup has taken my bowhunting success to the next level. Pennsylvania is a tough place to kill mature bucks, but using both a doe and a buck decoy in concert has made my November deer hunts more action-packed than ever!

The author, an avid whitetail bowhunter and friend of the magazine, hails from Sturgeon, Pennsylvania.