I had one other thought on your case of poison ivy.  In many places where I have hunted, there are patches of poison ivy that are growing straight up out of the ground (not attached to trees).  When deer browse on the winter tips of these ivy patches, there is a residue of urushiol on the ends of the single plants of ivy.  As the deer walks through the ivy patch, the urushiol oil is deposited on the fur, especially the legs.  When you handle a deer that has recently walked through one of these ivy patches, the urushiol gets transferred to your skin.  It’s best to always use surgical gloves when transporting and field dressing a deer.  I hope this has been helpful.  Happy hunting and Happy New Year!

That’s a good question and I don’t straight out know that answer.  To the best of my knowledge, urushiol oil is partially soluble with alcohol (not water) so my best guess would be urushiol would not start to get broke down until after the cud was chewed and swallowed.  At this point the contents would start to ferment; fermentation begins in the first and second stomach cambers (rumen and reticulum).  So if you field dressed a deer that just consumed poison ivy recently before the deer regurgitated, then the likelihood of getting poison ivy would be greater than if the deer was recently bedded down and had already swallowed the cud. 

Thanks for all your help and info. The guys around here will find this interesting. Good luck the rest of this year and the new one to come.

It was a clean kill one shot. Quarting towards me, not the best position but the situation called for it.. The stomach was intact untill it was completely out. Shot in the lower neck - out behind the opposite leg/shoulder. Thanks for that information. How long do you guess the stomach acid would take to break down the urushiol oil.

Thanks