Getting older and having several surgeries in the last three years has me thinking about getting deer out of the woods and in a truck easier. Any tips tricks or gadgets that help you guys?
Break them down and pack them out in pieces, either in a plastic sled or in a backpack. Also have a very simple rope/pulley system for pulling them up steep slopes, almost one handed.
Well if you need some young strong men to help just call all the ones you know and tell them you just killed a Pope and Young and that would fall under “Tricks” lol…
I hunt public land...no motorized vehicles. I bought an Eberlestock F-1 pack frame last year. I haven't had the opportunity to use it as far as packing out a deer but that's my plan. I don't plan on dragging a deer anymore. Quarter it up and pack it out.
I used to be proud of dragging and loading deer alone.Not so much now but if I had to go it now I could probably muster up one last drag of a drag,drag.
Quartering it out could be fine if its legal where you live
I can't drag a deer 2 feet because of fused back, bad hip replacement and a hernia mesh that stabs me when I try.
I made up a rig from a 2000# boat wench that I can run with a cordless drill that will pull a deer up a cliff. I have 100 ft of mule tape on the spool, I found that cable has a tendencey to bird nest. My rig straps to a tree, I pick a clear path, pull that distance, walk up the hill pick another clear path and so forth. My rig pulls at a rate of 1 foot every 2 seconds with my drill on low speed, it weighs about 8#.
I tried a smaller 600# wench at first but it would overload the drill, it only had 2 reduction gears, my 2000# winch has 4.
I call it (tongue in cheek) my deer drag-a-matic 2000.
I have two drills and 4 batteries, I can drag a deer out of the deepest hollow on my place ot a point where I can get my tractor to it. I usuall put the deer in a jet sled whe I am pulling it.
I can go about 50 yards straight up a steep hill on one of my low amp batteries. I don't know how far I could go on flat ground because I am alway pulling up hill where I live. I have 3 higher amp batteries that I haven't tried out yet, I suspect they would each pull at least 100 yards on a charge.
Do like me and shoot Bambi's. On a more serious note, as far as getting it in a truck is concerned, I'm able to use Jack's method 90% of the time. I do have a 2-section bullet proof, tubular steel canoe rack that is designed for trailer hitches and can be used horizontally (canoe in bed) or vertically (cab over). In that mode the pulleys/comealongs mentioned here would probably get it high enough off the ground to sling the low end onto the bed. Somebody that welds could most likely "roll their own" and improve on the design. You can also skin them hanging from the vertical T-bar section, but I prefer them hung higher. I've got a log chain and chain hoist between two trees and use the "banana peel" method for that!
When I get a deer to my truck, an F250, there is no way that I can load it by myself.
The best money I ever spent hunting was a receiver hitch deer hoist. This is a cheap one from the Sportsman Guide that I bought off Amazon for $89. I strained my back every time I loaded a deer before I bought this, no more.
I keep it in my truck during deer season and have picked up 3 fresh road kills with it as well.
If I was lifting heavy northern deer I would get a hoist that had an adjustable foot that sits on the ground, my cheap hoist will flex a bit with a 200# deer but will get the job done.
Another thing about these hoists; they all come with a gambrel and were my go-to tool to skin a deer before I got a tractor with a front-end loader. You can adjust the height of the deer to work on what section you are skinning at the time.
Now I gut a deer with it in the bucket of my tractor adjusted to just above waist level, no more time on my knees bent over to do the job.
I use a sled now and I have a 2x10 ramp I keep in the back of my truck during hunting season to slid the deer into the bed with. Considering breaking down also if back in too far. My old elk hunting group bought a chainsaw capstan winch that was slick, not sure where or what happened to it though. That 2000# winch and drill looks slick also.
I have used a sled but where I hunt I usually have to drag it over logs etc. The one I had would turn upside down and I was always having to turn it back over.
If I have a long way to go, then I take them out in pieces. I use an ice fishing sled to get them to where I can reach them with a 4 wheeler or truck, but that's on private ground. Also using a cargo rack that fits in the rear hitch works very nice. You don't have to lift them very high.
This being the last/latest of my big deer, I positioned the handle of the cart to the tailgait, and with a pully attached to the front of the bed, lifted the ass end up as I maintained tension on the pully rope. I have since purchased a ramp for the tailgait and thereby intend to lift less and pull easier with a four sheeve pully rig set good for 2000lbs..
Jet Sled for getting out whether by myself or with help. I have an old step ladder that a leg was messed up on that I repurposed as a ramp. I also keep a game handler in the tool box if I happen to not have the ladder. Look up gamehandler.com.
I drive a RAV4 these days.I got a Harbor Freight cargo carrier mounted to the trailer hitch.Maybe 2' off the ground at most.Might be low enough on a truck for easy loading as well.
I use a DeWalt winch using my cordless drill.Anchor to the rear truck bed anchor to the front bed anchor with a pulley.I have a piece of plywood under the bed mat.Stand by the tailgate and use the drill to drag big hogs up the plywood ramp.
A piece of 3/4 plywood you can carry in your truck bed makes a good ramp. Slide deer on it then lift back end and slide whole thing in truck with deer on it.
my strong son usually is able to help me load a deer on my sidexside!he has done carpenter work and is very strong and willing to help the "old" man out!
Another thing, I strap the winch loosely to a tree so it is hanging down, when I get tension on it when I start pulling, the winch straightens out and I can easily push it side to side while I am running the winch to spool the mule tape back on the spool neatly and evenly.
Here I am testing my winch for the first time; I pulled my 4 wheeler up a hill easily. Later I locked up the brakes on level ground and slid it easily, my 4-wheeler weighs 400#.
I have a game cart to get it out to the road and then this rope and ramp to get it in. A hole in the top of the plywood, rope tied to a tree and back the car up loading both. Haven't needed it yet but hopefully someday.
We always drag deer to the back corner of our property to gut them. My son bought a new bike a few years ago and this was his solution to not dragging.
4 wheeler, with a chainsaw strapped on, pulling a small trailer built on a 4 wheeler axle. Trailer same width as the quad. If there’s a deep draw I have 500 ft of mule tape on a big spool.
For the most part I don't shoot dear unless I can drag down hill and drive up to them. On the rare occasion when I get one on public property, I have a cart I made with 24" bicycle tires.
Like others, I have a pair of 8' ramps I used to load a motorcycle up with. Those and a come-a-long hand winch, fasten to the front of the truck bed, keeps this old man (I'm 72) hunting without much help.
I use a set of straps that are designed to use the deers own weight to leverage them into the truck or on atv--- they are called Game Handlers and there are some YT videos showing them in use. My wife bought me an El-E-Vator this year and it works very easily on big deer.
These days, animals get quartered and put in my frame pack. All my hunting is on National Forest land with hikes in 2-3 miles most time, 4-5 other times. Thick land to get through as well and dragging just doesn't work.
I quarter, chop ribs, cut the neck roast, take the heart and liver, and then everything fits in the meat shelf of my pack.
I try to kill them, where I can get to them or at least close to them if possible, and pull them home with my four-wheeler or side by side, but I just hunt on my own farm, mostly.
I have a funny story to tell, happened this year, not bowhunting related. I was gunhunting on the second day (Sunday morning before church) of gun season. First weekend of regular Gun Season, and prime time rut. I had to hunt, because it's one of the most productive days of the year, for me.
I am watching a field crossing, from a tree stand. In short, I shot this fairly nice 8 pointer, running across my field, but he ran and jumped the fence into the dirt road and dropped out of sight. I knew I hit him good, I thought, but figured he continued on into the woods on the other side of the road but found him dead in the ditch on the dirt road, and I couldn't drag him out of sight to hide him while I went to get my side by side. I was afraid to leave him there.
So, I called my wife who is getting ready for church and still has rollers in her hair. I talk her into jumping into the pickup and coming to me. She shows up still in rollers, and I still can't load the deer in the truck, so I leave her standing by the deer, in rollers, which I drive back home and get my side by side with a rope. I come back and tie the buck's head to the rear bumper and tell my with to get in the side by side, and we drag the deer down the dirt road to the house, where I can hoist him up with my front-end loader and skin and quarter, into an ice chest. It made me late for church, but my wife still made Sunday school just on time, but she wasn't too happy, that I had throwed her a little late.
I ended up dragging most of the hair off of the deer one side, but the meat was not hurt. I have some of that deer thawing out, right now for supper.
I have an “Expedition Sled” like fisherick’s; it pulls easily over everything but dry logs, and — especially since I gave up my pickup — it’s awfully convenient to have a big, leakproof catch-basin to keep blood from sloshing all around the interior of a wagon or SUV. In case of steep uphill drags, you can carry a 6-foot sling of 1” tubular webbing, a length of lightweight, low-stretch line, and a small pulley; then use gravity and your own weight to drag the sled with far less effort required. There’s leap-frogging involved, obviously, so it’s not the fastest, but you don’t have to hurt yourself..
Out West, we go in for miles to camp and miles deeper to hunt every day, so obviously that’s a skin/gut(or gutless)/quarter/bone out proposition. Elk leg bones are genuinely Massive, and carts are illegal, so we pack out only the important stuff to keep it down to about 5 stout loads for a bull. That would probably be more loads for fewer people, since you’re doing laps, but last time we had 5 of us and 3 were fit guys in their 20s…
But there’s no reason to haul a deer out intact unless you’re required to, and if you can lighten the load in your sled, you may as well. Both And.
One of those jet sleds would have been handy for this one. I may get one of those, sometime. I just bought a motorcycle, a Yamaha TW200, affectionally called the "Tdub", which really gets around good in thick woods, compared to even a four-wheeler, which may come in handy for dragging one out of the woods.
Those light flat bottom sleds are great, I wish they made them with a canoe shaped front. I found the sleds with the ribs on the bottom dig into the dirt too much and cause too much drag.
To me jet sleds make a world of difference much easier to slide than hair…as well as for loading. If I a higher piece of ground I’ll put the deer /sled there then back the open tailgate to it. In most cases there’s no lifting just sliding it in.
I use a game cart to get my bucks out of the woods and load them in my truck by hand mostly, sometimes I use a six-foot ladder to lift them up and slide them into my truck bed.
Shot this buck a few years ago a mile into the state game lands. I busted my butt getting it to my truck. I was wore out when I got it to my truck. It was my inspiration to buy my game cart. "lol"
Reading this , (i think I have tried all the above) The de boning makes a lot of sense and I Could take a gambrel and pully with me and do the job standing instead of up and down. My back hates that. As long as there are some tree's
I also hunt public land, no motorized vehicles. This year one of my best friends introduced me to a deer hauler that was his daughter's. He got a small buck on opening day of gun season here in Ohio. He gutted the deer while I went for the hauler. We were "about" 1/2 mile back in the woods. He had been walking with a walking stick all day as his knee was giving him problems. We loaded the deer on the cart and had to climb about a 3 story hill to get started back. Now I am 69 with a partial knee replacement on one side and a total knee on the other. He did help a little going up the initial hill, the rest I did by myself. That was the SINGLE EASIEST deer removal out of the woods I have ever had. From the time we started to the truck, maybe 20 minutes, and that was with me stopping for a breather before the last up hill grade. I had a 2 wheel cart I had used for a couple of years, I sold that within 2 weeks and ordered me one of these. The tires are inflatable and wider than the 2 wheel cart. It does go over small logs A LOT easier than the 2 wheel one and it has great balance when when pulling it. I was constantly fighting to keep the 2 wheel cart balanced using it. Now I will admit I had to put it together by braille (no instructions came with it) and buy a couple of extra washers to take up some axle slop. Just thought I'd share. DANNY
+1 for finding a spot where the road is cut into a hillside and backing up to is so that you can just slide it in….
I was on a lengthy hike today, and was rudely reminded of how poorly my fingers tolerate a stiff breeze when the temps are in the high 20s…. I was thinking about the challenges of boning out a deer in that kind of weather. Gotta get on that before it can cool much!
I don't have to hunt that way, but if faced with a long drag, anymore, I would probably opt to just debone the whole deer, and pack it out, in a backpack or pack board.
Getting them into the truck, I had a length of PT 4x4 that I attached a boat winch to. Place on top of ladders, crank it up, drop the tailgate, lower it, push it in.
Lost run, I couldn’t tell you. They showed up at my house about 8 years ago. My son went sledding with some friends and they been sitting in my shed since then. I modified them last year and been using them for dragging since then. Work great.
