I finished my latest hairbrained invention, I call it the Dear-Drag-A-Matic 2000. Much better than the former deer drag-a-matic 600, this one had 100 feet of mule tape, variable working load of either 600 or 2000 pound pull and attaches to the tree straight on facing the deer. It has one drill driver and two 20V batteries to supply the power.

Don't know if it will work yet, I have to find a deer that wants to be dragged, not an easy task.

At 71 With back problems and a repaired hernia I may have ripped back open it is either come up with some dragging help or quit hunting.

You would think I would no how to spell DEER.

If it works like you think it will you may really want to call it DEAR.

has potential, but needs some mossey oak camo paint before you can market it to the masses.

Could double as a hoist for skinning and butchering or getting your truck unstuck too.

Lots of possibilities as long as the drill and batteries hold up

good idea but that's what they make 4 wheelers for, best investment I ever made for getting deer out of the woods, doesn't matter how deep the ravine or how far in the woods they are if you have permission to use one you can get them out. Just carry some extra rope to add to winch cable for the ones that want to die in the deepest holler. I don't use mine for pleasure riding strictly a work 4 wheeler, have hauled hundreds of ricks of wood and probably a 70-80 deer out of the woods.

Great idea, hope it works. Wish I lived closer and you wouldn't need a Drag-a-matic. Hope it works and keeps you hunting!

I'm recuperating from surgery, no heavy lifting etc. If that works I want one!

And could you do some sort of crane attachment to get the deer into the pick-up bed?

;-)

You could easily get that to work...there are enough trees to get it where you want it. Even if you had to zig zag it...it beats dragging it.

I got one better. Wrap a rope around ypur deer and tie it to the 4 wheeler and out he comes.

I like it, let us know how it works.

Pay someone to drag it out.

Great idea! I was thinking about doing something similar a few years back. I was going to use a chainsaw engine to power it.

Would work even better with some RC - that way you could walk alongside your deer, manage the speed and not just slam your way through the woods....

Don't think that is going to get the job done. Too many things against it working. Battery op drill and the terrain for a couple. Someone runs the drill who's going to guide the deer around thick brush and trees.

We do not allow 4 wheelers on our hunting grounds. Deer carts are recommended.

Murray

Looks great! I love the fact you not giving up just because of a few physical challenges. Your inspiration should a least drag a few other guys out of their chairs and into the woods.

We have hollows around here that aren't 4 wheeler accessible, I only have a 2 wheel drive one that has limitations. All the management areas here are walk in only, no quads allowed.

Even on my place there is a hollow with over a 45 degree slope. I know any deer I shoot is heading to the creek bottom at the bottom of this slope. If I can pull a deer up the 50 yards out of the deep chasm it will be in a position I can get my four wheeler to.

Where I hunt there is no level ground, all hills and deep hollows.

I have a 20# weight restriction now because of an injury, I have to be resourceful.

4 wheelers don't hurt a thing as long as the people running them respect the property they are on, problem is there are a lot of morons running around the woods on them just like everything else.

Eric, if i'm reading correctly, this is your second one. how well did the first one work? i like the concept.

I strapped the first one to the side of a tree, it had a tendency to slide around the tree. I also had 75# of stiff cable on it that wouldn't feed back on the spool evenly, with the winch sliding around the tree it would pack up on one side and wrap around the spool's shaft.

#1 was a 600# winch, at the time I didn't know there was a know there was a full torque setting on my drill. I would set it on what I thought was max torque (22) and it would torque out pulling a deer.

If you don't know it, there is a litte barber pole looking setting on your cordless drill past the normal torque setting. This is what I call "balls to the wall" setting, max power, no stopping it.

I forgot to mention, I will be using my winch to pull an ice fishing sled with the deer in it some of the time if the land is fairly clear, the sled pulls easily.

I can see it working with the deer on a sled in a cleared area. At some point the deer has to be at the cabin or at the back of a pick up. What is going to be your procedure at that point?

What drill are you using that is not going to quit working after ten minutes? Especially under all that torque. Not trying to throw water on your idea Eric, just being a realist.

I smell a burned motor in your future.

if it helps you get the deer to where your 4 wheeler can access it, by all means go for it.

I like your resourcefulness. Whether it works well or not so good, you get an A+ for effort.

It should be fine dragging a deer not lifting it. I'm not sure two 20v batteries will be sufficient for any long haul. We are anxiously waiting to see if it will work, great job Eric

I own my land so I use em. I used to hunt some farms but the farmers kept using tractors running all around their fields.

Just an FYI...

#1 is the sled

#2 - Deer are heavy; rope is (comparatively) light

#3 - most of us have a harness with us anyway

If you strap a pulley to a solid anchor at the top of a hill, you can use your own weight to your advantage and drag down-hill while the sled goes up. Use a Prussic knot so you don’t lose any ground to back-sliding and use an extra sling and a ‘biner to anchor any time you need to stop to steer the sled, take a break, whatever.

This way, you can take a steep, direct route up the hill, rather than straining and sweating and swearing all the long way around...

I like it better that the Butt out tool

Good Idea Eric let us know how it works.

Didn't I see Wile E. Coyote use something similar unsuccessfully when I was a child? Oh well, "nothing ventured, nothing gained" as the saying goes. Good luck, at least if it disappoints I think the chances of bodily harm are nil.

I like the concept and your ingenuity. I use a Lewis Winch for all my pulling...can handle several thousand pounds. I did make the mistake of trying to pull a boulder and it skidded my F-350 pickup backwards instead.

Do more missing.

No long hauls expected, I hunt close to the road.

As for dealing with a deer when I get is to a manageable area on my place, it will be 4 wheeler out of the rough stuff and my little tractor after that. My land was dozed off about 50 years ago, the windrows and gouged out places are all over the hill side, to tippy for my narrow tractor.

Best toy I ever bought 12 years ago, mighty handy, in this case loading an osage log.

GF, with a 20# weight restriction I can't drag, even down hill.

The thing is, you young able bodied guys can't comprehend not being able to do the things you have done in the past. This past year has been an abrupt turning point for me as well, from hard charging athlete, gym rat with no quit in him to a wimp.

I know what you mean buddy. I tore my rotator cuff and feel helpless. I am cutting up my deer now.

Talk to the local football coach or shop teachers and offer to pay a little to a few kids to help you drag. It's a good opportunity to introduce them to hunting and the outdoors and you get your deer out. It's a win for everyone.

We had a capstan come-along for elk hunting that had a chainsaw motor on it with 100' of rope. Hook to a tree and let the rope coil as it comes toward you. Then move 100' and do it again. I think 1/4 of an old canoe would be a good thing to use as it would have the v-shape front to guide better through the woods.

I walked out in my woods and took this picture of what I am dealing with, turned out to be a rewarding trip. We don't have many white oak acorns this year, I found a lone tree dropping acorns they were really hammering.

Anyway, here is the grade on my land down to the creek.

Eric I bought a Kubota B26 with front loader and backhoe about ten years and have loved it, wouldn't trade it for anything. You would not believe the work I have done with that little beauty. I was a John Deere man until they wouldn't fix a warrantee problem, so I traded it in on a new Kubota.

Yep, the capstan come-along would work great there.

That is quite a steep grade. So while you are running the drill who is going to be guiding the deer around the trees? It doesn't look like a straight shot up the hill. You drill for a bit, deer gets hung up, you go down pull the deer around the tree, walk back up the hill and run the drill until the deer gets hung up again.

I guess I don't seeing it being very efficient. Guess I would call the neighbor out for help. He will only be needed a couple times a season.

Don't get me wrong Eric, I feel your pain. I turn 70 next Feb but I have 4 grandkids to do all my gutting and dragging.

I saw a video where a guy put a noose around a deer's neck and put a half hitch around the deer's nose where it would drag nose first with everything trailing behind. It looked like this package wouldn't hang up as much.

Another guy put his drag rope through the bridge of the nostrils for the same streamlined deer package to drag.

I do have a cleared path up to my backyard from just above the spot in the picture, not much to hang up on but still not tractor accessible.

Over the years I have probably drug well over 100 out, a lot of mine and some for other people, I know about the hang up challenge.

I suspect short pulls will be the ticket, bounce from tree to tree selecting the clearest path from point A to B.

I’m in a similar situation Eric. While I am only 64, I have respiratory issues, and have a very hard time dragging uphill like you. The only place I have to hunt on private property looks about like yours. It’s 1-1/2 hour drive from home and many times I hunt by myself. Sometimes I have young, big, and strong youngsters with me. I can usually drive up to the edge of the timber where the slope starts, so I had a similar idea. I picked up an ATV winch that my brother is welding me a plate to mount to my truck receiver. I have rigged up 4ga cable to run from truck battery to rear of truck and added a plug to plug the winch into. Even if I have to go up and done a time or two to get deer around a tree or rock, I wont be dragging a 200# deer up a 60 degree slope. (I only weigh 150#). It may not work but I figure it’s worth a try.

I'm tellin you guys, you should look at that capstan system. You aren't limited in how much rope you use. If you want 100 yard of rope, you can do it.

Think I got him talked into the "call yer buddy" plan.

But you know how folks are with their huntin' spots. ;-)

First test, I need to weld the nuts on the drive shaft as because they turn lefty loosey in a pull.

I took the drive nuts off, put the hand crank on and could easily pull my 450# four wheeler up a moderate grade. I did have the mechanical advantage of the lever but it took almost effort to turn it.

My 600# winch tightened the nuts on a pull, the extra gears changed the 2000# winches direction.

Do you guys thing JB weld is strong enough to lock the nuts in place?

I have limited experience with JB Weld, but based on my experience I'm going to say no. What about the stuff for threaded bolts/nuts? Maybe the red and not the blue.

Eric, if you are putting your socket on the bolt head of the bolt you are using as a drive shaft, why not drill a hole through the nut and bolt at the other end and use a tiny cotter pin to keep the nut in place? The threaded end of the bolt is under minimal torque so it shouldn't be a structural issue.

I thought about using roll pins through the nut and shaft as they are stronger. If I weld the nuts on I can't use the hand crank if I want to.

Duh, I am slow sometimes. All I have to do to get the nuts to tighten on a pull is to wind the mule tape on the spool in the opposite direction.

I did some scouting in my ghillie suit yesterday evening. I ran about 15 deer out of the field walking in. They came back about 30 minutes later but were on high alert. Several does came within 25 yards of me but they were walking stiff legged, stomping their feet and looking hard for me. They never picked me up in my ghillie suit even though I was sitting in the open.

I can't bow hunt because of a hernia weight restrictions, M/L opens today but it is raining cats and dogs, I don't hunt with one of my flinters in the rain. The wired deer I saw yesterday would have jumped the string on a flinter making them hard to hit where you would want to, if at all.

I can’t get a 4 wheeler any closer to my downed deer than I can get my Chevy Silverado. Plus I can haul a lot more than 3 in my truck. The problem is getting them up out of the river bottom that I hunt that’s usually about 100 yards uphill.

I bear hunted with a group in NC that used a small gas powered winch with 500 feet of cable to pull a big bear out of the coastal swamps we hunted. Worked like a champ.

I got up in my ladder stand yesterday evening, my first hunt, I wasn't up there 10 minutes when I saw doe and two youngsters coming up out of the hollow. The youngsters looked small so I passed on the doe.

They worked their way to my food plot which was behind me and downwind. I stood up to watch them and saw another monster doe that I hadn't seen. The big doe got my scent and turned back into the thicket. The other doe and youngsters came out on the plot, caught my scent and eased off.

I hope it works for you Eric. I'm curious to see your results. I have similar slopes on my property. Last season I had a buck down at the bottom of a hill. We couldn't get the utv to it. We tied a snatch block on a tree limb at the top of the hill and used a long length or rope to drag it out with the utv. My dad drove as I guided the deer around trees and over logs. Our property is pretty thick. It took several rounds of pulling and shortening the rope but we got it out with very little physical effort. We discussed getting enough rope and pulleys to reach any spot on our property but we haven't done it yet.

Got to test myself be this morning. Worked pretty well. Only problem I had was keeping winch cable winding side to side instead of balling up in one spot. Had to stand at the winch and help guide the cable back and forth sideways. 150’ drag up hill, Used the 50’ winch cable, and two sections of 3/8” x50’ poly rope looped together. When cable end reached winch, unhooked from 1st section of rope and pulled it down and attached to second section, and pulled up, then unhooked and pulled cable one more time down to deer, and finished pulling it the last 50’. Slow but I could not have drug him out by myself.

Should have read , Got to test my drag-o- matic out myself this morning.

The final test with the deer drag-a-matic; I put all of my lead collection and two fuel cans of diesel fuel in my deer hauler sled and tried to pull this load up a hill, piece of cake. The drill could pull the load on a low torque setting, it looked like 100 ft did deplete the battery some but it was far from being dead. I think I was pulling about 120#.

Hope you get to use it on the real thing now Eric.

Another update, not a bow kill but this deer ended up in the bottom of a hollow in a washed out 6' ditch with vertical sides.

My deer drag-a-matic pulled the deer out of the ditch and up about 100 feet out of the steep hollow to a point where I could get my 4 wheeler hooked up to it, I only needed one battery for this drag and didn't have to use my backup.

good deal, Eric. nice buck

I love it when a plan comes togather. Congratulations Eric.

Congrats on the buck and the success of your invention!

Well done on the deer and your invention Eric. Definitely makes getting a deer out of the woods much easier.

That's great Eric. I was hoping you would get the chance to try it out this year. I was hoping it would work as planned. Nice simple and effective.

Eric, I love your can do stay in the hunt spirit. I bet you'll work out the kinks in it bc yout motivated. I'm just about 65 and decided last year to go the gutless route. Bone him out where he lands, put meat in bag(s)/backpack and go back to huntin further in like I prefer. Broke down and got an outdoor edge replaceable (very sharp) knife to do most the on the ground work. Cut up 4 last year and worked fine. But, about a month ago I backslid and gutted one cuz I wanted back straps and it was only about 125 yards, but steep like your grades, to a drive to spot. Result: hernias on both sides of groin. Think I'll go back to no gut no drag. VA allows you to check in deer on line or by phone. Bear have to be taken to a check in station which dampens my enthusiasm a little but not entirely.

Eric, Congartulations on the deer and the ingenuity. Your invention reminded me of the Warn Pulzall. We used a couple of these in the corded version to rehab my neighbor's sawmill a year ago. They were invaluable, along with his Michigan front end loader and my 50 horse Bobcat with FEL! As I get older, at least the tools are getting better! The design of the Warn would allow the operator to walk along side of the deer.

I have $34 in the winch, $12 in the mule tape and another $8 in the metal bracket and a longer grade 8 bolt through the spool. Everything but the metal and bolt are from eBay shipped free.

I found my drag works the best if the ratchet strap is just hung on the tree and not tightened. As soon as you start a pull the winch pulls away from the tree and keeps the strap tight. With the winch a foot or so from the tree it is easy to push the winch from side to side as the mule tape retracts and keep the tape both flat on the spool and feeding perfectly even side to side with no bunching.

I used cable initially and found it was impossible to spool 100' back on under tension without making a bird nest. The 3/4" flat mule tape solved that problem, it also has a 1200# breaking strength.

I forgot to add; If one had to buy the cordless drill to power the winch it would add considerably to the cost. I am a tool guy like most reading this and have cordless tools in abundance in my shop. I have a 1/4" impact driver and a regular cordless impact that take the same batteries.

I tried the regular impact to drive the winch but it had so much power I was afraid I would twist off the winch drive shaft, it puts out up to 250 ft#. I didn't try the 1/4" impact driver because the drill worked so well.

Kudos for a great idea , sticking with it and proving it works!

Wouldn't those things be noisy?

Congrats Eric and very cool idea! You gotta appreciate the ingenuity in play here. Work smart, not harder has always been my motto!

As long as you hold the anti reversing lever out of the way there is very little sound from this unit. Of course if the anti reversing lever is in play you have the constant click, click,click of the unit.

I have found it is best to take the lever out of the way because it has a tendency to slip to the opposite direction and stop your winch, at which point the drill will try to twist your arm off before you can let go.

I got a request for a parts list so here goes; wench;

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2500LBS-2-GEAR-Hand-Winch-Hand-Crank- Gear-Tool-Fit-Heavy-Duty-ATV-Trailer-Boat/123338190729? hash=item1cb7876f89:g:8XYAAOSw3EpbhaCG

Mule tape,the winch will hold 100ft easily but you have to spool it on under load because it stretches at first and won't go on right if you spool it on loose. Be sure to spool on the mule tape so drill will tighten the drive nuts instead of loosen them.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3-4-x-100-2500-tensile-polyester-pull- tape-mule-tape-webbing/153299816092? hash=item23b1618e9c:g:zpMAAOSwEW9aVkyA:rk:2:pf:0

The metal and bolt I bought a Home Depot.The metal was a 1 1/4"X 3/16" piece about 3' long. I cut a piece to form the U to keep the winch spool off the tree. I  got it uneven on my first try so I bent another piece and got it right the second time with the holes lining up with the spool shaft. You could do a bunch of variations on attaching the winch to a tree and not need the brackett. I was sure I needed the winch strapped tightly to the but found out that is not the case as it tightens itself to the tree when you start pulling.

The nuts for the crank are metric but have close to american threads. I don't remember the shaft size but a 3/4" head size fits just fine. I put one nut on the 2000 lb winch drive and added a second to have more surface area for the deep well socket to fit on. I had to fill the inside of the second nut to get the flats to line up just right on both nuts.

I bought a grade 8 bolt 1/2" longer than the one used as the spool axle. I bought a nut as well so I didn't have to go metric. 

I left the 600# drive empty and carry my crank handle and an extra nut in case I end up in a jammed position and need to unlock the winch one way or another.

OOPS; I had to file (not fill) the second nut slightly to get flats to line up perfectly with the first nut.

I wish I had a wench to pull deer out of the woods for me, I hate the no edit feature on posts here as I challenged by typos and senior moments.

I used the Drag-A-Matic again yesterday to pull a huge doe out of the bottom a steep hollow, it wasn't a bow kill.

The more I use this contraption the more ways I find to make the pull go smoothly. I no longer ratchet the strap to a tree and just tie it with the stiff ratchet strap, Yesterday I tied it off to some 3" saplings that just happened to be in the line of sight with the deer. I found short pulls are the key to keep away from things that will snag you deer.

I haul deer in an ice fishing sled behind my four wheeler so I won't have to pick them up (bad back) and load them on the four wheeler. This time I tied the Drag to the back rack on my four wheeler for the last pull, I put sled against the back wheels and pulled the deer into the sled with the Drag.

One problem I had was the socket occasionally came off the drill as I pushed the winch side to side to spool the line on evenly. I am going to buy a cheap 3/4" deep well socket and weld it on the 1/2" drive adapter to prevent the socket from coming loose in the future.

Just pulled another huge doe out of a steep hollow with my Drag- A-Matic. This was a very steep hollow, I found that on a very steep pull one battery lasts about 60 yards, I changed batteries and pulled the doe up to where I could tie drags mule tape around the lift arm on my tractor and pull the the rest of the way out with my tractor.

I repositioned the drag three times for a straight shot with no trees in the way to snag on.

I didn't put her in the ice fishing sled to haul her up the steep slope but should have because the sled pull so much easier.

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