Dragging Deer Out...

[Daubs]

Hunting public in Sandhills of Nebraska. Foot traffic only.

Other hunters said leave the wheeled game cart at home, as the sandy soil makes it difficult to push/pull.

I tried a "trophy tow all terrain transport sled." Light weight, easy to pack in, but awkward setup, not durable, kept having to re-tie the ratchets. Not good.

Best option so far has been my decoy sled. First time I just positioned the rope around my waist. I've since purchased a shoulder harness and fitted with carabiners for quick connection to my sled. Worked pretty well.

I've heard of Tyvek game bags, but i'm thinking the sled is still probably my best option. One trip with sled seems like a better option than packing out quarters on my back.

Thoughts?

 

[ivorytip]

packing out a deer quartered up isn't all that bad. plus side is an awesome picture with your harvest on your back. ive dragged a lot of full body deer out just because it seemed easier and faster. now, anything over half a mile gets quartered and packed. with a good pack you can do this in one trip. I drug an elk out on a decoy sled once and it was awesome, but there was snow on the ground. with two people packing a deer out is as easy as a normal day hike.

 

[mallardsx2]

packing out a deer quartered up isn't all that bad. plus side is an awesome picture with your harvest on your back. ive dragged a lot of full body deer out just because it seemed easier and faster. now, anything over half a mile gets quartered and packed. with a good pack you can do this in one trip. I drug an elk out on a decoy sled once and it was awesome, but there was snow on the ground. with two people packing a deer out is as easy as a normal day hike.

Well said.

 

[JNDEER]

If you process your own game: why sled our or drag out a deer only to get it home to cut it up?

I have done my share of dragging. Take the time to learn how to quarter and/or de-bone a deer. Buy a backpack that can carry out a deer and pack it out. If you are hunting that far from a road you probably already have a pack on anyways.

 

[rjroberts15]

Totally agree with Ivorytip.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

I've packed out (& dragged) my share of deer over the years. Hunted mostly wilderness areas of Calif where we hunted up to 4 or 5 miles from camp. We always had a horse in camp for packing out our deer. But sometimes the horse would be in use and I had to pack the deer out on my back. Yep on my back. (I was a lot younger then!)

Split the knee joint above the front hooves and disjoint, leaving the skin intact. Slice the skin between the tendon and bone on the rear legs. Slide the front legs into the rear at the slice opening, pulling the bone thru. Makes a good pack frame. I always sewed up the abdomen to keep a lot of the blood off my shirt. Slide into the legs, pushing down on rear legs. Pull head by the horns over one of your shoulders and head for camp. I always had someone else to help. I've packed out deer that field dressed 135# & larger.

Packed a lot of deer this way.

 

[Hilltop]

I've packed out (& dragged) my share of deer over the years. Hunted mostly wilderness areas of Calif where we hunted up to 4 or 5 miles from camp. We always had a horse in camp for packing out our deer. But sometimes the horse would be in use and I had to pack the deer out on my back. Yep on my back. (I was a lot younger then!)

Split the knee joint above the front hooves and disjoint, leaving the skin intact. Slice the skin between the tendon and bone on the rear legs. Slide the front legs into the rear at the slice opening, pulling the bone thru. Makes a good pack frame. I always sewed up the abdomen to keep a lot of the blood off my shirt. Slide into the legs, pushing down on rear legs. Pull head by the horns over one of your shoulders and head for camp. I always had someone else to help. I've packed out deer that field dressed 135# & larger.

Packed a lot of deer this way.

I did this once cc... It worked but man was I a bloody mess when I got back to the truck.

 

[JimP]

I tried that once on a deer that I shot in the Henry Mountains in Utah one year. I got the buck up on my shoulders but I couldn't move. The next trick was to split him in half and I was still having problems so I just quartered him. A buck that I shot here in Colorado a few years ago had to come out in pieces. I couldn't even drag him a short distance on 6" of snow to a tree. I had to cut him in half to get him to where I could get him off of the ground for the night. I came back the next day and it took me 3 trips to get him out.

I figure that I have to start shooting smaller deer now that I am pushing the medicare age of life.

 

[Umpqua Hunter]

My current way to move meat is to carry a set of TAG game bags (high quality game bags, reusable many times) in a daypack equipped with a meat sling (I currently use a Kuiu Icon day back). While hunting all you are carrying is a few ounces of game bags and when you kill you just do the "gutless" method. If there is something nearby I let the quarters hang in the air while I am processing in order to dry the outside a bit. If not the meat goes immediately into the bags to keep it clean. A deer will come out in a load or two depending on the size. If you think of it a tool to "drag" the deer is going to take you two trips (one to go get it and then the trip to drag the deer out).

TAG bags also has what they call BOMB bags (Boned Out Meat Bags). The bags of boned out meat end up in bags the shape of a huge sausage (a narrower diameter compared to length). These are designed to fit on a backpack well and distribute the load.

I don't think I would drag an animal again if it was over a few hundred yards.

To see how to do the "gutless method" go to YouTube and do a search. There are several good videos on how to do this. You are basically doing the steps a meat processor will do, just in the field, and not moving a lot of unnecessary weight.

 

[hoshour]

I figure that I have to start shooting smaller deer now that I am pushing the medicare age of life.

You shoot the small ones; I'll shoot the big ones and quarter them up.

Plenty of small deer back east but you have to sit in trees for hours - not nearly as much fun!

 

[JimP]

You shoot the small ones; I'll shoot the big ones and quarter them up.

Plenty of small deer back east but you have to sit in trees for hours - not nearly as much fun!

It is funny in that the older I get the bigger deer I end up shooting. That one here in Colorado was pushing over 400 lbs live weight. I'm 6'4" and 230 lbs and I was having a hard time moving him around and I was a spry age of 59. The one that I shot last year topped the scales at the processor at 195 lbs skinned without his head, but I got him less than 20 yards from a road and brought him out whole after field dressing him.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

When I was doing the packing on my back I was a young stud in my 20's & 30's. With me and all my hunting buddies it was a macho thing, now older and wiser, I'll bone them out and carry them out in a pack. I really shoulda said ..... a lot older. LOL

 

[Daubs]

Appreciate the feedback. I'm 49 this fall, in pretty good shape, but have some foot issues that make me shy away from packing out meat on my back.

Packed caribou out while on Alaska hunt...that was rough. Once you got up you didn't want to stop, or sit down. Rough going.

With the sled I can power up hills, stop as many times as I like to catch wind. Going down hills required little to no effort. And with the short grass prairie and sandy soil, the sled glides pretty easily. Add snow and it's a breeze.

Nebraska allows for quartering, but not boning out.

Here's my first Sandhills deer, shot just minutes after legal time on opening day.

 

[ivorytip]

that's a great looking buck, those sleds can be pretty slick and if that's what works for you, right on. Nebraska doesn't allow for boning out??

 

[Slugz]

I kinda go back and forth depending on weather and hunting situation/season/style. Earlier seasons I quarter everything up. Once the snow starts flying/late season cow usually, I keep this 20$ plastic toboggan like thing in the truck. Used it a few times with elk sized quarters and it worked well.

 

[Slugz]

My current way to move meat is to carry a set of TAG game bags (high quality game bags, reusable many times) in a daypack equipped with a meat sling (I currently use a Kuiu Icon day back). While hunting all you are carrying is a few ounces of game bags and when you kill you just do the "gutless" method. If there is something nearby I let the quarters hang in the air while I am processing in order to dry the outside a bit. If not the meat goes immediately into the bags to keep it clean. A deer will come out in a load or two depending on the size. If you think of it a tool to "drag" the deer is going to take you two trips (one to go get it and then the trip to drag the deer out).

TAG bags also has what they call BOMB bags (Boned Out Meat Bags). The bags of boned out meat end up in bags the shape of a huge sausage (a narrower diameter compared to length). These are designed to fit on a backpack well and distribute the load.

I don't think I would drag an animal again if it was over a few hundred yards.

To see how to do the "gutless method" go to YouTube and do a search. There are several good videos on how to do this. You are basically doing the steps a meat processor will do, just in the field, and not moving a lot of unnecessary weight.

I like the idea of these T.A.G. BOMB bags......just might have to give them a try this year as they seem o be of good quality and a ton smaller then the Alaskan bags.

 

[Daubs]

Nope. NE Game and Parks: "Quartering - The carcass may be separated into loins and quarters with the femur and scapula naturally attached, provided that the head accompanies the carcass to the check station."

Wife and I have ATV'ed in Colorado, and I can't imagine pulling a sled through the mountains with all the trees and rocks.

It's a little different in the Sandhills

 

[PlainsHunter]

I'd pack one before trying to drag it on a sled although it seemed to work out for you. I grew up in Nebraska and hunted deer on public land on occasion. Didn't shoot any big ones like you found. You definitely shot a nice one! Congratulations!

 

[Gr8bawana]

I tried that once on a deer that I shot in the Henry Mountains in Utah one year. I got the buck up on my shoulders but I couldn't move. The next trick was to split him in half and I was still having problems so I just quartered him. A buck that I shot here in Colorado a few years ago had to come out in pieces. I couldn't even drag him a short distance on 6" of snow to a tree. I had to cut him in half to get him to where I could get him off of the ground for the night. I came back the next day and it took me 3 trips to get him out.

I figure that I have to start shooting smaller deer now that I am pushing the medicare age of life.

When my brother and I were much younger and much dumber like 20 years ago, every deer was packed out whole on our shoulders.
I guess there's an advantage to being strong and dumb. Now we just cut them in half and we each carry them out on a backpacks, what great inventions.
Too bad it took us so long to figure it out.