Sled or cart for hauling deer

[airedale]

I have been using one of these harnesses for a good long time, I have found them to be the best when it comes to dragging out a Deer on my own even as an old geezer, and they do not cost much.

Al

[Northcountryman]

Yup; same here. Cart might be good for certain situations, but I dont see it working if the ground is real uneven; same with a sled.

[hunter]

I have to say the cheap plastic sleds tip easily on uneven ground so you have to tie your load to the sled. Not sure if jet sled is immune to that but I would tie the load down just after experiences I've had with the flat ones.

[wolc123]

I always pack light.  3 ft of nylon rope and a butt-out tool work ok dragging, especially if there is a little snow.  

I have very rarely needed to drag one further than about 50 yards, to where I could get at it with a tractor, field-car or ATV.   
 

When I’m hunting the mountains, in areas without atv or tractor access, I try and do it mostly at higher elevations, such that the drag will be downhill.  
 

The farthest that I ever dragged a deer (when I was in my early thirties) was about 5 miles thru the Rocky Mountains.  I’m in my late 50’s now, but in as good or better shape than I was back then.  

Staying in decent physical condition does not take that much effort, and it makes a lot of sense for more than just keeping the ability to drag out a deer carcass.  
 

If it’s getting harder for you to drag out a deer, consider getting yourself a stationary bike and/or a rowing machine and get yourself back into shape. 

 If you’re so “stove-up” now, that you don’t think you could drag a 150 pound deer carcass out of a particular spot, you probably should not be venturing there alone for any reason, anyhow. 

[airedale]

1 hour ago, wolc123 said:

Staying in decent physical condition does not take that much effort, and it makes a lot of sense for more than just keeping the ability to drag out a deer carcass.  
 

If it’s getting harder for you to drag out a deer, consider getting yourself a stationary bike and/or a rowing machine and get yourself back into shape.

Good advice wolc, I do not think there is enough emphasis talked about here about the importance of diet and good physical condition. There are many hunters that keel over in the woods every year from lack of taking care of their health.

Al

[New York Hillbilly]

5 hours ago, airedale said:

I have been using one of these harnesses for a good long time, I have found them to be the best when it comes to dragging out a Deer on my own even as an old geezer, and they do not cost much.

Al

These things are great because they are dual purpose.  They make dragging a deer out easier, and if the wearer croaks over it’s easier to drag them out. Lol 

[luberhill]

3 hours ago, wolc123 said:

I always pack light.  3 ft of nylon rope and a butt-out tool work ok dragging, especially if there is a little snow.  

I have very rarely needed to drag one further than about 50 yards, to where I could get at it with a tractor, field-car or ATV.   
 

When I’m hunting the mountains, in areas without atv or tractor access, I try and do it mostly at higher elevations, such that the drag will be downhill.  
 

The farthest that I ever dragged a deer (when I was in my early thirties) was about 5 miles thru the Rocky Mountains.  I’m in my late 50’s now, but in as good or better shape than I was back then.  

Staying in decent physical condition does not take that much effort, and it makes a lot of sense for more than just keeping the ability to drag out a deer carcass.  
 

If it’s getting harder for you to drag out a deer, consider getting yourself a stationary bike and/or a rowing machine and get yourself back into shape. 

 If you’re so “stove-up” now, that you don’t think you could drag a 150 pound deer carcass out of a particular spot, you probably should not be venturing there alone for any reason, anyhow. 

I run 6 miles almost everyday , the days I don’t I bike 20 miles.

I take Sundays off .

I have a heart stent that was done 13 yrs ago when every Dr said the pressure I was feeling was a pulled muscle … 98 percent blocked LAD..

Lucky one Dr listened and sent me for an angio 

My main issue is my shoulders . And now a ruptured bicep..

Both shoulders have impingement of rotator cuff 

My dragging at the place I’d need the sled is a gully that’s mostly uphill on the way out , I’ve dragged several out of here the last few years and it wasn’t easy .. thru deep snow on one ..

Ill try the sled , it’s also handy for hauling in my two ground blinds and office chairs

[wolc123]

3 hours ago, luberhill said:

I run 6 miles almost everyday , the days I don’t I bike 20 miles.

I take Sundays off .

I have a heart stent that was done 13 yrs ago when every Dr said the pressure I was feeling was a pulled muscle … 98 percent blocked LAD..

Lucky one Dr listened and sent me for an angio 

My main issue is my shoulders . And now a ruptured bicep..

Both shoulders have impingement of rotator cuff 

My dragging at the place I’d need the sled is a gully that’s mostly uphill on the way out , I’ve dragged several out of here the last few years and it wasn’t easy .. thru deep snow on one ..

Ill try the sled , it’s also handy for hauling in my two ground blinds and office chairs

My father in law has one of those large black Jet sleds up at his place in the mountains.  Ive never used it on a deer, but it does work great for ice fishing.  When I get out on the ice, I sometimes take everything out of it and stand it up in the flat end, for a windbreak.

 It is so big and bulky, that it seems like it would be tough to get into most of the spots that I’d need to drag deer out of.  I did kill this heavy Adirondack buck down in a gully up there back in 2014, and there’s no way I could have got that sled in there.  

Manually dragging that one, about 100 yards through the thick brushy creek bottom to where I could get to it with an ATV, was as hard as I’ve ever worked for a deer in NY state.  
 

If I ever kill another bigger one down there, I’d probably break it down where it dropped, and just haul out the meat.  You might want to consider that for your gully spot.  

[luberhill]

1 hour ago, wolc123 said:

My father in law has one of those large black Jet sleds up at his place in the mountains.  Ive never used it on a deer, but it does work great for ice fishing.  When I get out on the ice, I sometimes take everything out of it and stand it up in the flat end, for a windbreak.

 It is so big and bulky, that it seems like it would be tough to get into most of the spots that I’d need to drag deer out of.  I did kill this heavy Adirondack buck down in a gully up there back in 2014, and there’s no way I could have got that sled in there.  

Manually dragging that one, about 100 yards through the thick brushy creek bottom to where I could get to it with an ATV, was as hard as I’ve ever worked for a deer in NY state.  
 

If I ever kill another bigger one down there, I’d probably break it down where it dropped, and just haul out the meat.  You might want to consider that for your gully spot.  

I dragged a nice 8 point out of the gully by myself a few years ago thru deep snow and all uphill !

I was sweating like a Banchee