This is what I have been using for the last few years. It slide easily over any type of grass or brush as well as snow. It also make it easier for an old fart to load a deer into the back of a pickup by himself.
Gotta be an easier way to do business...
- Thread starter AbLonewolf
- Start date
I also had to join the handi capped club when I got the heart issues a few years ago. Takes the wind out of your sails that's for sure. My plastic sled is an Argo, or the ATV. If I can't get either right to the animal I hook the winch to it and bring to the machine. Gone are the days when I could hoist a deer up on my shoulders have my hunting partner drape my orange coat over it and my orange toque on the head and off we went to the truck. Never thought I would be dependant on a machine to get me around the bush or get the game out but I don't have a choice. No use in hastening the trip to the marble orchard.
This is what I have been using for the last few years. It slide easily over any type of grass or brush as well as snow. It also make it easier for an old fart to load a deer into the back of a pickup by himself.
I have used an Equinox Trail Toboggan (made for towing behind a snowmobile) to extract 4 moose. 3 of them we loaded(rolled) whole into the sled and skidded it with a quad over bare ground for as much as 3 km.
My wife and I pulled a nice 4 point WT in the same sled. Bare ground but at least it was level-ish for the first 400 metres.
Sure takes the work out of Moose extraction. We also make good use of a Lewis Winch to get moose out of nasty places to where we can load them into the sled.
Mine is a 6' Pelican from CT. Might have paid $50 for it 5-6 years ago. The last 10 years have truly taken a toll on me. Gone are the 18hr days of heavy work, be it logging, cutting wood, or building homes. Can't carry what I could as a kid, can't work as long, can't do as much "night work". Turning 50 has dang near killed me. I got out-walked by a kid last year hunting 'yotes in 2' of snow. I thought I was gonna DROP and he was barely breathing heavy. Granted he was 25. What the heck?
I started using the sled for game retrieval and it has become useful all year round. Brought a 500lb elk out in two trips over grass and leaves. And, as long as I can get one end up on the truck, I can get the animal up there as well. That sled hauled a 220lb whitetail buck 700yds back to the truck through poplar deadfall filled woods last year and without it I would have died trying to untangle his antlers from everything I encountered. Instead, it took about 20 minutes to walk out and I still had energy to put it on the truck. It needs a solid trace (which you can buy from pelican, but I didn't) or it will run you over going down hill. I just let it go ahead of me til it stopped.
Nope, no more dragging out for me. I have a truck, a quad, a toboggan, and LOTS of rope. I also shoot more rounds at an animal trying to knock it down before it can get in the woods. I used to think anyone needing more than the one round was a idiot. For 30 years I shot game with one round, waited for it to die, tracked it down or lost it. Now, I shoot a moose 'til it goes down. I don't want to ever have to get one up out of a poplar choked ravine again. I'd rather not shoot it.
I started using the sled for game retrieval and it has become useful all year round. Brought a 500lb elk out in two trips over grass and leaves. And, as long as I can get one end up on the truck, I can get the animal up there as well. That sled hauled a 220lb whitetail buck 700yds back to the truck through poplar deadfall filled woods last year and without it I would have died trying to untangle his antlers from everything I encountered. Instead, it took about 20 minutes to walk out and I still had energy to put it on the truck. It needs a solid trace (which you can buy from pelican, but I didn't) or it will run you over going down hill. I just let it go ahead of me til it stopped.
Nope, no more dragging out for me. I have a truck, a quad, a toboggan, and LOTS of rope. I also shoot more rounds at an animal trying to knock it down before it can get in the woods. I used to think anyone needing more than the one round was a idiot. For 30 years I shot game with one round, waited for it to die, tracked it down or lost it. Now, I shoot a moose 'til it goes down. I don't want to ever have to get one up out of a poplar choked ravine again. I'd rather not shoot it.
I am a baby boomer, and now that I've pretty well finished up ruining the world (according to some of the young whipper snappers!), the very thought of dragging a deer any distance gives me the shivers. I turned 67 the other day, and have had a mild case of asthma for the past 4 years. I kind of avoided hunting last Fall and this one. I don't mind, as I've had a good 50 year run. I never was a whiz bang, gotta get the big buck hunter. I liked to get maybe a two year old buck or two, depending on the numbers.
The idea of a sled is great. It seemed whenever I looked at one, the price was enough to scare me. $50 or so sounds good! My wife has a log cabin just shy of the 56th parallel, on the western side of SK, right on the south end of Peter Pond Lake, so right in the bush.
Hmmm. Aw jeez, now I'll have to get me a sled!
The idea of a sled is great. It seemed whenever I looked at one, the price was enough to scare me. $50 or so sounds good! My wife has a log cabin just shy of the 56th parallel, on the western side of SK, right on the south end of Peter Pond Lake, so right in the bush.
Hmmm. Aw jeez, now I'll have to get me a sled!
I am a baby boomer, and now that I've pretty well finished up ruining the world (according to some of the young whipper snappers!), the very thought of dragging a deer any distance gives me the shivers. I turned 67 the other day, and have had a mild case of asthma for the past 4 years. I kind of avoided hunting last Fall and this one. I don't mind, as I've had a good 50 year run. I never was a whiz bang, gotta get the big buck hunter. I liked to get maybe a two year old buck or two, depending on the numbers.
The idea of a sled is great. It seemed whenever I looked at one, the price was enough to scare me. $50 or so sounds good! My wife has a log cabin just shy of the 56th parallel, on the western side of SK, right on the south end of Peter Pond Lake, so right in the bush.
Hmmm. Aw jeez, now I'll have to get me a sled!
I managed to get that asthma in my late fifties too. I'm 63 now, and it ain't no better. Cold air just about kills me. I still get out, but, it ain't like the old days.
Guess we should start up an old bones club!
Only requirement that you were born between 1946 & 1964 and have had at least one major health scare.
skneub
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Got the rope...so far been lucky enough to reach out with the truck and the rope.
Dropped 500$ on a husky 445 to chop deadfall away from my elk this year, old saw needed fixed
Like the snatch block idea, and the sled
Well TYVM for the input. It is obvious many are using these sleds and like them...and I will too! Gotta be the way to go when the snow is flying late season.
Checked around and Equinox seem to be making a good product. Walmart (online only) has a few Equinox models. I ordered the Tundra model today!
Thanx again...
Checked around and Equinox seem to be making a good product. Walmart (online only) has a few Equinox models. I ordered the Tundra model today!
Thanx again...
http://www.rapala.com/otter/sleds/pro-sled/Pro+Sled.html?id=21
These are incredibly hard to pull in snow. Especially if there is any depth to it.
These are incredibly hard to pull in snow. Especially if there is any depth to it.
The front edge looks way too steep...
This is what I have been using for the last few years. It slide easily over any type of grass or brush as well as snow. It also make it easier for an old fart to load a deer into the back of a pickup by himself.
Used that exact sled to haul out everything I shot this year. The most interesting extraction involved lashing a big mulie to it, running over 1,000 feet of rope to the pickup parked at the top of the canyon, and then pulling the sled and deer straight out of a spot we had no business shooting a deer in
I'll never, ever be without this handy piece of kit -- it's right up there with my rifle, binos and shooting sticks as essential gear.I have used a knock off crazy carpet a few times in the past and it worked great. I buy them from the dollar store and pitch them in the trash once they rip. They are great to pack as they roll up and take up hardly any space.
Regards
Regards
double post I know
but the Equinox is a very sturdy rig. you won't be disappointed
nowarningshot
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
look up sasquatch carts....i think the guy makes them in the okanagan.
Had a buddy who shot a small buck, loaded it in his pickup and was on his way home... a huge buck ran up out of the ditch and its head hit the windshield right in front of the steering wheel... after he got the truck under control he backed up to find the buck and finish it off... looked high and low and couldn't find the deer anywhere in the dark... he assumed it had only been stunned and had taken off... he drove home and backed into the garage to unload his deer... only to discover he now had TWO bucks in the back of his pickup, both were very dead... the one that smashed his windshield had a dandy rack.
Only requirement that you were born between 1946 & 1964 and have had at least one major health scare.
You guys make me feel old. I am going to go hang out with my son and his friends, trying to uncomfortably fit in. I might even pick up some tacticool gear in an attempt to look cool. Thanks everyone. Lol
Will not hunt moose without ATV, unless where they are prohibited. One such hunt the last 20 years and it was this year. Dragging 130 lbs quarters across a bog is not what I will do every year. Next time I will have a cheapo canadian tire sleigh with me. My back is not what it used to be.
Wrong Way
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Canadian tire sells 'adult' sized crazy carpets....you need to buy one and a heavy duty hole punch. Punch holes every 3-4" along the sides, 2" in from the edge. Roll your animal onto the CC, use para cord to lace from side to side (like lacing your boots) pulling tight as you go. The end result is a neatly tucked slippery roll o' deer that slides over *everything*. We hunt the granite cliffs and thickets of the Boreal where quads are useless and drags over a km to the boats aren't uncommon....trust me, the crazy carpet is your friend
