First Hunt - Hauling Deer From The Bush?
- Thread starter maple leaf
- Start date
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Hunter...60" bull moose. Buddy...yup pretty big one...might just have to eat it here.
I'd say anything over 1/2k and you'll need a pack frame with rope at a minimum. Suggest some knowledge of de-boning game will definitely help. Game bags are a must in all cases. Will keep the flies and wasps off your meat and allow it to cool. Bought a CT plastic kids sled..worked wonders on moose quarters and 6" of snow. Be creative with your options....but be sure not to drag your game through the weeds. Your cutter will be most pleased. Others will charge extra for dirty game.
Hunter...60" bull moose. Buddy...yup pretty big one...might just have to eat it here.
I'd say anything over 1/2k and you'll need a pack frame with rope at a minimum. Suggest some knowledge of de-boning game will definitely help. Game bags are a must in all cases. Will keep the flies and wasps off your meat and allow it to cool. Bought a CT plastic kids sled..worked wonders on moose quarters and 6" of snow. Be creative with your options....but be sure not to drag your game through the weeds. Your cutter will be most pleased. Others will charge extra for dirty game.
A large cat or bear could sneak up on you while you're grunting and groaning trying to drag a large, blood covered snack pack out of the woods too. If there's blood and you're in predator country you need to be vigilant either way. We gut and drag simply because we hunt in mixed farmland. It's rarely further than one or two hundred yards to somewhere we can get a truck or ATV in.
Amazingly, two guys can pretty easily backpack a moose out in a couple trips. I've hauled some pretty big bulls close to 5 miles. It's just knowing what you are doing.
Personally I'd pack it out boneless...turning that 250 pound deer into about 75 to 80 pounds.....a heavy but very manageable load.
CoryTheCowboy
CGN Regular
My favourite trick is to say to someone else (a little sister works well) "I bet you can't drag this deer back to the truck". Works every time.
Cory
Cory
THIS IS WHAT I HAVE BEEN USING the last few years. They slide over grass and moss as easily as snow. They tow easily by hand.
BigUglyMan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- New Scotland
It's easier to carry in a 20lb bag of potatoes and a 10lb bag of onions and eat the prick right there than to carry or drag them out.
I use a 4dr suzuki sidekick with a 3" lift and 31" mud terrains. Full lockers and lots of lights for night retrivals. It goes anywhere a 4 wheeler will but more comfy and doesn't matter what the weather is doing.. Loaded up as many as three large deer inside it at a time. You can pick on up on kijiji pretty damn cheap.
I'm going up to 21A after Thanksgiving to see if I can fill my bull moose tag this year (so far by myself it appears). The potential size of the animal and the problems in getting it out of the bush are the only things I've got trepidation about. I hope the weather is not overly warm because it will take me several trips to get it all out and the first loads will be sitting in my car while I go back for susbequent loads on foot. Hmmm, maybe put the A/C on and leave the car idling, lmao, are you kidding at the price of gas now?????. I'll just have to stay closer to roads.
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blasted_saber
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- A blue part of Ontario
I picked up one of these a few years ago and its worth its cost (around $5). So ar ive dragged out half a dozen or so deer with it and I'd much prefer this over grabbing an antler or using a normal rope/stick.
http://www.amazon.com/Allen-Company-Deluxe-Shoulder-System/dp/B000LC2K2S
http://www.amazon.com/Allen-Company-Deluxe-Shoulder-System/dp/B000LC2K2S
Well, as far as horror stories go...
I went on a retrieval trip with a bud of mine that shot a cow moose with a bow, right at last light. It went out into a fairly large pond to die.
He got nekid and swum out and got a rope on it, hauled it up on shore and field dressed it in the dark and wet. Then got himself un-lost, well enough to find his truck in the dark.
He made it to work the next morning, we cadged a scam day and went and found the moose. Eventually.
Once we found it, chainsawed a way through the wind fall, beaver fall, and generally made somewhat of a plan for the route out, we quartered it and loaded the whole thing onto his ATV to haul it out in one go. Rolled the hole lot over twice on the way out, winched it back upright and generally got tired, wet, muddy, sore, and laughed like lunatics.
Fun!
Lots to be said in favor of stripping the carcass of all the edible bits, and leaving the bones and hide for the local critters. Pay attention to the provincial needs for keeping the tag on the quarter that has the evidence of ### and species on it. Have a plan, pay attention, esp around the genitals and tail.
I have hauled a LOT of deer out of prairie fields and bush using nothing more complicated than a single cargo strap as a haul rope. The one end is used to truss the front legs together behind the head of the deer, the other makes a loop that goes around your hips to be able to drag without trashing your back.
Deer hair slides pretty well on the snow or grass. If ya gotta skid it out, trussing the legs behind the head keeps the head from digging in, and the deer naturally stays open side up on the drag. Not much edibles directly inside the body cavity, so washing it out does not soak down the good bits.
This does presume that one removes the heart and tenderloins and stuffs them in yer pack from the start.
This leaves the hands free to deal with climbing, carrying the rifle, etc.
Cheers
Trev
I went on a retrieval trip with a bud of mine that shot a cow moose with a bow, right at last light. It went out into a fairly large pond to die.
He got nekid and swum out and got a rope on it, hauled it up on shore and field dressed it in the dark and wet. Then got himself un-lost, well enough to find his truck in the dark.
He made it to work the next morning, we cadged a scam day and went and found the moose. Eventually.
Once we found it, chainsawed a way through the wind fall, beaver fall, and generally made somewhat of a plan for the route out, we quartered it and loaded the whole thing onto his ATV to haul it out in one go. Rolled the hole lot over twice on the way out, winched it back upright and generally got tired, wet, muddy, sore, and laughed like lunatics.
Fun!
Lots to be said in favor of stripping the carcass of all the edible bits, and leaving the bones and hide for the local critters. Pay attention to the provincial needs for keeping the tag on the quarter that has the evidence of ### and species on it. Have a plan, pay attention, esp around the genitals and tail.
I have hauled a LOT of deer out of prairie fields and bush using nothing more complicated than a single cargo strap as a haul rope. The one end is used to truss the front legs together behind the head of the deer, the other makes a loop that goes around your hips to be able to drag without trashing your back.
Deer hair slides pretty well on the snow or grass. If ya gotta skid it out, trussing the legs behind the head keeps the head from digging in, and the deer naturally stays open side up on the drag. Not much edibles directly inside the body cavity, so washing it out does not soak down the good bits.
This does presume that one removes the heart and tenderloins and stuffs them in yer pack from the start.
This leaves the hands free to deal with climbing, carrying the rifle, etc.
Cheers
Trev
- Location
- The Conservative part of Ontario
When I started big game hunting, the atv did not exist. Where I was hunting it wasn't really practical anyway. I learned to haul by hand. Sometimes from miles back in the bush. Pulling a deer isn't that hard. Kepp the head up and they slide right along. The help of good friends make it a real pleasure, and adds to the stories told back at camp.
We had to try African carry for example, and the guy in front was a tad shorter than me, so the buck worked forward on the pole and kept spearing him in the back of the legs.
Then we had to try pulling backwards (hind end first). This is like pulling two deer at once, and the hair really puts the brakes on so we berated the guy who suggested that.
Then, at the big hill, we would run to try and keep ahead of the sliding deer to keep it sliding straight. When there was snow, you could almost ride it down the hill.
Then there was the time that we were dragging out a deer, and a new hunter in camp, just ahead and out of sight opened fire! We all hit the dirt yelling. Turns out he was shooting the other way, and was not even aware we were there. Missed too!
There was the time that one of the guys cut down the raspberry cane on the beaver dam to make the drag easier. Sticking up like a wire brush, that drag was hell.
Only once have I had the convenience of an ATV (last year) I still had to drag to the main trail, but avoiding the half mile to camp was a nice touch!
We had to try African carry for example, and the guy in front was a tad shorter than me, so the buck worked forward on the pole and kept spearing him in the back of the legs.
Then we had to try pulling backwards (hind end first). This is like pulling two deer at once, and the hair really puts the brakes on so we berated the guy who suggested that.
Then, at the big hill, we would run to try and keep ahead of the sliding deer to keep it sliding straight. When there was snow, you could almost ride it down the hill.
Then there was the time that we were dragging out a deer, and a new hunter in camp, just ahead and out of sight opened fire! We all hit the dirt yelling. Turns out he was shooting the other way, and was not even aware we were there. Missed too!
There was the time that one of the guys cut down the raspberry cane on the beaver dam to make the drag easier. Sticking up like a wire brush, that drag was hell.
Only once have I had the convenience of an ATV (last year) I still had to drag to the main trail, but avoiding the half mile to camp was a nice touch!
As for nightmare drags, all I will say is that after one hunt, I had to institute a rule for my partner.
"No more downhill bucks, Chuck. Ever. Uphill bucks only."
LOL
The first deer I ever shot, I had to drag about a Km through Alberta mountain/woods terrain to the main cutline where the trucks were. It was the very end of the season, but it had turned unseasonably warm. By that I mean it was the end of November, and all the snow we hunted in through the early season was gone. Completely gone.
I had bought a drag harness on the advice of the kind fellow who took me out that season, and after he showed me how to gut the thing (another story unto itself), I tied on around that doe's neck and started dragging while he headed to the truck to drive up the cutline to where we were.
I put my head down and started plodding ahead, working AWFULLY hard (I thought, anyway...), first up a gradual slope of about 200m, then along the trail and out to the cutline.
Working AWFULLY HARD... I thought, for sure.
Every time I had a 'woe is me' moment, I'd look back at the deer, and there she was, lying on her side facing me, just like every other time. I'd keep looking back just to make SURE I wasn't dragging her against the grain of her coat... nope. Still nose first!
I finally made it back to the cutline, and propped the doe up in the shade of a tree with a stick between the ribs to promote cooling. Did I mention it was unseasonably warm? (The thermometer in the truck would reveal that it was about 12 degrees that day.)
When my gracious mentor got to me with the truck, he had a long look along my backtrail, and burst out laughing. When I finally had a look myself... there was a clear trail of deer hair all along the ground over every step of the way.
We flipped the doe over, and sure enough, that drag had pulled every single hair off the one side of her body, thanks to the rough ground, winter-dead foliage and lack of even one flake of snow. Completely bald!
No wonder it was such a hard pull!
"No more downhill bucks, Chuck. Ever. Uphill bucks only."
LOL
The first deer I ever shot, I had to drag about a Km through Alberta mountain/woods terrain to the main cutline where the trucks were. It was the very end of the season, but it had turned unseasonably warm. By that I mean it was the end of November, and all the snow we hunted in through the early season was gone. Completely gone.
I had bought a drag harness on the advice of the kind fellow who took me out that season, and after he showed me how to gut the thing (another story unto itself), I tied on around that doe's neck and started dragging while he headed to the truck to drive up the cutline to where we were.
I put my head down and started plodding ahead, working AWFULLY hard (I thought, anyway...), first up a gradual slope of about 200m, then along the trail and out to the cutline.
Working AWFULLY HARD... I thought, for sure.
Every time I had a 'woe is me' moment, I'd look back at the deer, and there she was, lying on her side facing me, just like every other time. I'd keep looking back just to make SURE I wasn't dragging her against the grain of her coat... nope. Still nose first!
I finally made it back to the cutline, and propped the doe up in the shade of a tree with a stick between the ribs to promote cooling. Did I mention it was unseasonably warm? (The thermometer in the truck would reveal that it was about 12 degrees that day.)
When my gracious mentor got to me with the truck, he had a long look along my backtrail, and burst out laughing. When I finally had a look myself... there was a clear trail of deer hair all along the ground over every step of the way.
We flipped the doe over, and sure enough, that drag had pulled every single hair off the one side of her body, thanks to the rough ground, winter-dead foliage and lack of even one flake of snow. Completely bald!
No wonder it was such a hard pull!
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I'm with you here...dragging is stupid.
I'll be running a Kifaru this year
.And maybe a Suzuki Eiger
.
I usually haul them home (5 minutes away) un-gutted, and it is a hell of a job loading it onto an ATV with 2 people. 300+ lbs of dead weight[/QUOTE]
Try standing atv up in air, tie to back rack, stand atv upright again. Easy to do.
Try standing atv up in air, tie to back rack, stand atv upright again. Easy to do.
