Dragging deer out of the woods

[wolc123]

The problem with the sleds, is that you have to go back out to get them, leaving your deer in the woods.  Not a great idea with all the coyotes around.  My suggestion would be to call a friend or relative on your cellphone as soon as you kill the deer.  Give them your gps position, if you each have one, or some identifiable terrain features if not.   As you are gutting the deer, they can be on their way to help.  They can carry out all your gear, while you drag the deer and you can take turns if necessary.   I did that two years ago, with my father in law helping me on a 200 plus pound, field-dressed Adirondack buck, and it worked great.  I had to drag that sucker a mile or so thru swamp and thick bush until we could get his ATV to it.  I never could have done that while carrying my rifle and other gear.  

Another suggestion, for future seasons, would be to get yourself into better shape.   It does not take a lot of effort and will help you in all areas, not just hunting.   Try starting some morning weekday workouts before work and some cardio stuff after.  A couple 20 minute workouts each day can do wonders.  Dragging deer is a lot easier and you are much less likely to sustain injuries doing it if you are in decent shape.     

I had gotten rather spoiled on this for many years, mainly just hunting my own flatland farm and using a tractor with a loader or 3-point carryall to bring out all the carcasses.   Hunting the in-laws Adirondack camp the last few years has forced me to get back into shape, which makes hunting those elevations a lot easier, in addition to making the drags a piece of cake.  Also remember that even if you are in good shape, you will need to drink a lot of water to drag a deer a long way.  Get one of those special straws, or carry some purification tablets, along with your canteen, especially in warmer weather conditions.   I bet I drank 4 gallons of creek water on one five mile, Rocky-mountain mule deer drag when I was younger.       

 

Edited August 27, 2016 by wolc123
correction

[BizCT]

Always just used a drag rope.


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[Tughill Tamer]

I have used my son's ice fishing sled on several occasions and it works pretty well.

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[Jaeger]

14 hours ago, ants said:

Those cheap plastic sleds work well, even with no snow. Other than that ……...Buy an ATV… You will kick yourself in the a$$ for not buying one years ago…….LOL!!

I use the cheap plastic sleds all the time over rocks, blowdowns and through swampy wet areas, they work great but not really packable in, have to come out of the woods to get it.

The stiffness of a sled seems to work better for me than a tarp or cloth bag that snags on everything, the sled just glides over it all if you can keep it upright.  Better ones have handholds that can be used as tie down points.

 Now if they only made them in a non-reflective black or camo instead of neon yellow!!

Edited August 27, 2016 by Jaeger

[fasteddie]

I believe what works best is to shoot the deer closer to where you are parked ! 

[turkeyfeathers]

1 hour ago, fasteddie said:

I believe what works best is to shoot the deer closer to where you are parked ! 

It is sometimes tough to get them over the ditch at night as I have to have both hands free and put the spotlight down

[jperch]

1 hour ago, fasteddie said:

I believe what works best is to shoot the deer closer to where you are parked ! 

And make sure the deer is pointed toward the truck as you squeeze the trigger!

[Rockspek]

If you're gona use a sled, wax or armor all the bottom

[Core]

Great thread timing! I am "healthy" and "young" and almost stroked out dragging a deer out last year (not literally, but wow it was not fun).

For me the dragging sucked. But the hills were murder. I'm talking a couple of 30 degree or more inclines (I mean it). Other than quartering the deer, which I am not planning on doing (I'm sure I'd butcher the hell out of it, plus lose a bit of meat, plus it's a filthy job), my other thought was either cart where possible, or even using this pulley system just for the hills, with maybe 150 feet of line to get 35 feet worth of hill: https://www.amazon.com/Hme-Products-Hanging-Gambrel-Olive/dp/B000UPI3SG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1472305437&sr=8-3&keywords=deer+pulley

I am thinking this pulley could also be connected to a cart to drag the deer up a hill. Now you could do a cart with a battery powered winch on the front (pretty sure I've seen somebody do that online) to drag the wheels through mud and up hills. My focus is big time on hills, though. I don't have to get a deer far but it's terrible terrain.

Of course, the best idea is to have a buddy help out, but I know a lot of us hunt alone.

One of the spots I plan on doing this year I picked in part because it's 80% "flat", with just a gully or two.

You know what I might try one of those sleds over a cart. it won't solve the hill issue, though.

Edited August 27, 2016 by Core

[Core]

13 hours ago, MACHINIST said:

check out the rackpacker

http://therackpacker.com

Okay honestly that looks pretty darn excellent.

[2012_taco]

I bought a dead sled a few years ago it sits in the corner of the garage, I used it once on a good sized buck only to have half of the connecting straps break off! I've been meaning to doctor it up and give it another try but haven't gotten around to it. Now you got me thinking... gotta fix it up before deer season. I like the pvc pipe idea on the tow rope, has to feel better on the belly!

[wooly]

I use my treestand harness to drag.

When I get tired of that, I'll just tug away on the horns for a little while until my back needs a break, then switch back to the harness.

I don't get excited or in a rush about LONG drags, but dragging is the exclamation mark on the end of the hunt for me!

That's when my own sense of accomplishment, and my respect for the animal really sets in.

 

After all the time, energy, preparation, and effort that leads up to killing a deer, it just seems appropriate to me that getting him out of the woods shouldn't be the easiest part. I'll take plenty of breaks along the way to snap a few pics and just to look back and admire my trophy in his natural environment one last time.

In some strange way, dragging is like a primitive ritual to me that I really do enjoy!

Sometimes I'll even take the scenic route home!

 

[DirtTime]

6 hours ago, Rockspek said:

If you're gona use a sled, wax or armor all the bottom

Not sure about this. You will leave the smell of that stuff in the woods.

 

I am all for the plastic sled. Will be getting one for myself in a few weeks. 

[Big John]

IF I shoot a doe I don't remove her from the woods until it is to dark to make another kill, I figure just her being near my stand will bring in other deer.

[Buckmaster7600]

Quarter them up and pack them out on a packframe...Beats hell out of dragging.

This is exactly what I do if I'm way back in at camp, I have a 8-10ft piece of tyvec in the pack that I lay down then quarter and skin on I have 3 mil-surp frame packs hidden in the mountains and I pack em out. It is a hell of a lot better than dragging!


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[Buckmaster7600]

Before I started quartering them up and still if it's under a 2 mile drag I find a nice dead limb or sapling and cut it down to about a foot long with a 18-24" piece of 550 cord tied around the horns and front feet. Hold it in the small of your back and start tugging. The key I have found is to only go a short way at a time, drag 30-40ft go back get the gun and pack carry it 60-80ft go back get deer to pack and repeat over and over.... I have made some long drags over a few mountains and it ain't killed me yet. The best part of dragging a deer is that ice cold beer or 10 at the end.


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[fasteddie]

Buckmaster7600 -- I did that in my younger years . Dragged my 1st bow kill buck almost a mile . Never again ! I will be 75 this coming bow season .

[wolc123]

"IF I shoot a doe I don't remove her from the woods until it is to dark to make another kill, I figure just her being near my stand will bring in other deer. "

Great idea that I saw work once.  It didn't take the long though.  Two bucks showed a few minutes after I killed the lead doe from a big group of antlerless deer with my ML.   I did not even have time to reload the ML, and used my backup gun (Remington 870 12 ga) to drop the larger buck right next to the dead doe.  That was a particularly easy recovery, as they were right on a logging road thru my woods.  After gutting them both,  I walked back to the barn and got a tractor and put both of them in the bucket to get them out.

I always like to get the guts out of the deer ASAP and I am not sure that having a gutted doe around would be as attractive as a "fresh" one.  Do you gut them and leave them nearby, or do you leave the guts in until dark?

      

[growalot]

I do more of a " back them out" over "drag them out"..I visually map out my route a  little at a time and walk backwards...easier on back,legs and knees. I never understood that preference until physical Therapy. They had me use the weight pull. Explaining pulling the same amount of weights backward and forward would be much more difficult going forward.  Surprisingly so actually.

[nyslowhand]

Gotta agree with Fasteddie, the real solution to the dragging issue is to either shoot smaller deer of hunt closer to your vehicle. Kidding...! Excuse the pun, but you young bucks can drag or pack out a deer all you want. I'm retired, so dragging isn't in my vocabulary any more! Famous last words from my dear, old dad, "Don't get old!"

[Big John]

9 hours ago, wolc123 said:

"IF I shoot a doe I don't remove her from the woods until it is to dark to make another kill, I figure just her being near my stand will bring in other deer. "

Great idea that I saw work once.  It didn't take the long though.  Two bucks showed a few minutes after I killed the lead doe from a big group of antlerless deer with my ML.   I did not even have time to reload the ML, and used my backup gun (Remington 870 12 ga) to drop the larger buck right next to the dead doe.  That was a particularly easy recovery, as they were right on a logging road thru my woods.  After gutting them both,  I walked back to the barn and got a tractor and put both of them in the bucket to get them out.

I always like to get the guts out of the deer ASAP and I am not sure that having a gutted doe around would be as attractive as a "fresh" one.  Do you gut them and leave them nearby, or do you leave the guts in until dark?

      

I do not gut the Doe until last light then I move her to a location away from the stand near the drag out path and gut her there.

 

[Doc]

Hunt the high country or side hill areas so you are always dragging down hill. That is, assuming you are in hill and valley country. Do not ever reverse that!!!

Another option is to pick up a younger hunting partner or two and some electronic communication.

There might be a third option. If you can legally run an ATV on your hunting area, perhaps this is the time to consider getting one. There are two things we know for absolutely certain. One: the price of these machines will not be going down as time goes on. Two: you will never be younger than you are right now. Time marches on. Don't be stubborn, or someday there will be people trying to figure out the best way to drag you out.

Edited August 28, 2016 by Doc

[Rockspek]

17 hours ago, ....rob said:

Not sure about this. You will leave the smell of that stuff in the woods.

 

I am all for the plastic sled. Will be getting one for myself in a few weeks. 

Good point. Where I am though there are so many different scents all over the place and I think the deer are pretty much used to it so I wasn't really thinking about that. I'm surrounded by housing developments with limited huntable area. 

[tj1187]

Being 63 that is why I hunt with my son and his friend ,. they are both 35.  They drag I carry the guns.

[DirtTime]

3 hours ago, Rockspek said:

Good point. Where I am though there are so many different scents all over the place and I think the deer are pretty much used to it so I wasn't really thinking about that. I'm surrounded by housing developments with limited huntable area. 

If you want to wax it use cheap cold weather ( it will last longer ) snowboard/ski wax. That usually has a floral smell. I still wouldn't do it, but for those who may want to try I would go that route.