Bear and Deer loading for solo hunters

[Stay Sharp]

I know every state has different laws on fresh kill transport and western states hunters do things different than midwest hunters (we are midwest hunters that bring out game animals whole to transport them to our processing setup on the farm where we break them down and process them like livestock in a clean, butcher room setting with running water, tables, etc) so we prefer to bring out game animals whole.

Im in my 50's and hunt solo most of the time and have a bear hunt coming up this fall so my son and I upgraded my bear and deer loading gear for my truck because loading a bear or a large midwestern buck into the bed of a truck with a high bed is not an easy task for a single person. We hoped to make it easier.

After trying and testing out a variety of methods (not a bad way to spend Fathers day working with your son getting ready for bear and deer season) We ended up with a 7:1 ratio block and tackle (freshly re-strung with 115 feet of rope) and an 8 foot (trough style) ramp to keep animals centered rather than sliding off the edge. Here is a 1 minute video of the final product and a test pull of 225 lbs (I think it was actually more than 225 since the crate corners really dug into the ramp increasing the friction) Either way, he should be good to go for any animal he kills while hunting alone.

[video=youtube;USbA6psnwew]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USbA6psnwew[/video]

 

[JimP]

That should work. We just used a 4x8 sheet of plywood that fit into the bed with a couple of holes cut in one end to attach a rope to. Just lay the plywood out on the tailgate to the ground and put your animal onto it and then lift and pull it back into the truck. This way worked on full size elk.

 

[ivorytip]

you are always coming up with stuff to do, that's awesome! great idea. comealong and 4 wheeler ramps work awesome too. a few years ago my brother and I didn't wanna quarter out a big bull moose if we didn't have too, moose was 200 yrds from truck, lots of rope and that comealong made fast easy work of that beast. not often you see a full moose in the bed of a truck.. haha was a fun time. I'm going to try your idea.

 

[CrossCreeks]

Pretty good set up, thanks for sharing.

 

[HuskyMusky]

My dad once took the tailgate off his truck and used it as a ramp to haul his deer up it, said it worked great.

 

[hoshour]

How are you planning to get a whole bear out of the woods to put it onto the truck?

I shot a bear in Montana a few years ago and once we had him field dressed we tied his paws together in pairs, slid a good stout green branch through and carried him out with the pole on our shoulders. We looked like a couple of smurfs and had to stop every 100-200 yards to switch shoulders or rest because it was so darn heavy, but it worked.

 

[Stay Sharp]

With a rope and perhaps a game cart.

 

[Stay Sharp]

Finally came upon some slippery plastic sheet stock 1/8" thick. The ramp is painted with a couple coats of exterior house paint and the plastic was added. Now to kill something and test it.