Best Way To Drag a Deer Out Of The Woods?

This weekend my wife and I were hunting and I killed a buck that only ran 30 yards into the woods. However it was very, very thick brambles. Took us forever to just walk through them to find the buck. Took us over 30 minutes to drag the buck out through all the vines and thorns. Now I need to say that we both are almost 70, but it took everything we had to get that buck back out where we could load him up in the truck. Any body got any tricks on making it easier in dragging a deer through thick stuff. This old man could use any suggestions that you may have.

Machete and/or a 4 wheeler with a long tow strap.

^ This. There's no easy way about it. Also, drag from the head, so you don't pull against the animals fur for increased resistance.

This, or gut it where it falls to drop about 30-40 lbs.

One for younger guys, Tie each end of a rope to a back leg, or to the head, step into the loop and pull it up to your waist and start walking.

Take a look at some of this company's products...

http://vikingsl.com/hunters/

I had the same problem when my daughter killed a big six point on youth weekend. The two of us could not get it loaded on my hitch hauler to move away from the feeder for gutting. Had to dress it where it fell to get rid of some of the weight. Even then the two of us had a hard time lifting it. I certainly could've used some of their products. By the way, I'm not affiliated with the company and don't know anything about them. I just found their website while researching hoists.

You might look into getting a deer sled or deer cart. Google it.

I did see a guy use a snow sled, like the kids play with in the snow.

I am getting an electric wench with lots of cable and a roll of anchor line now. I have a creek that cuts my place in half and the feeder is 100 yrds from the roadside of it. I will not drag another deer manually again unless I have help.

Speaking of Wally world had a Reese electric 2,000 lb winch priced at 59 dollars the other day with a abck up hand crank could be handy.

Get someone young to haul it out for you.

I bring a two wheeled dolly with me. It stays in the back of the truck until I need it. Then I lay the deer flat on it and use a couple of ratchet straps to hold him down and then lift and pull. It's not perfect, but it works and it MUCH easier than dragging it out of the woods. It also comes in handy for hauling corn to the feeder that the truck can't get to.
Thanks!!
Matt

I put a winch on the Gator for stuff like this. It has drug my fat butt out of a creek, it'll handle a deer.

You pick that sucker up and walk outta the woods like it's a sack of taters!

Gut it if your far enough in.. I try everything I can not to have to do it but if I have to drag it more than 100yrds by myself ill shed that 40lbs real quick.. my tree harness also has a deer drag loop built into it and comes with a nice drag rope and snap ring.. makes life nice..

Back in my youth, and I guess it'd work Ok now, I'd make a cut in both deer back legs and cut a chunk of tree limb or small sapling. The wood would be about an inch thick and 2 1/2 feet long. Stick it through the leg holes and drag with that. Makes it a lot easier.

Pretty much had to get good at dragging before 3Wheelers came on to the scene.

Luckily, a buck in central Texas is about half the body weight of the bucks I used to shoot in NE Louisiana. I'm older and the deer are lighter. Works for me.

I have a deer cart I bought from Cabelas and hauled a friends mule deer buck about 400 yards back to a road on it once. I have also seen a hard but plyable plastic sled with a tow rope that would slide across any ground very easily. It was lightweight and could be rolled up and stored/carried easily.

My dad had kids and im doing the same, but at this point in time I'd have to carry the kiddo and drag the deer... few more years and its time for me to kick back

The following has worked well. Tie a rope around the horns or neck and attach the other end to the middle of a piece of broom handle about 2.5 feet long or cut a right size limb. Makes the job easier for one of two people.

Use the bucket on the tractor to get the briars out of the way...roll deer into bucket, back out the same way you came in.

Great minds think alike. Then chain back hocks to each corner of the buck and raise anus to eye level to begin the dressing.

I use a Jet Sled. Roll the deer into the sled and drag it to a point where I can get to it with the Gator. Attach the sled rope to the gator's hitch and drive it to the shop.

Works great!!
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Shappell-...5766&rid=20

JR

I use a wheelbarrow. Much easier than the game carts on rough ground and in the mud. My wife says she knows when the season is approaching when she sees it in my pickup.

Lots of good ideas but this made me think of an old joke.....Bubba and Billy were out hunting when Bubba dropped a buck about 1/2 mile from camp. After they were done celebrating they each grab a leg and start dragging the deer back to camp. Not too long after they started Billy says, you know this would be a lot easier if we grabbed his antlers and used them like handles. Bubba agreed and they each grab one side of the antlers and start going again. About 15 minutes later Billy looks over at Bubba and says, see I told you it would be easier. Bubba looked over and him and says, yeah your were right......but we sure are getting a lot further away from camp.

I had a very large hog run off into some super thick, tangled nasty stuff once. It was probably a hundred yards in when I found him. There as no way i was going to try and drag him out, so I went and got a bunch of ropes, tied them together until I got to him, and then tied the rope to his back legs. Then I just pulled him out with my truck. Couldn't have been any easier!!!

I remember as a kid at the family hunting camp an old timer telling a story of when he was younger
Him and a buddy had been hunting miles from the nearest road in rugged terrain.
The Friend shoots a big buck and after gutting it he dragged it about 200 yards before getting worn out.
He offered the old timer a few dollars to carry it out for him (this was probably in the 30s or 40s)
The old timer cut the bones out of the legs and tied the legs together making a back pack.
The old timer said about half back, his friend said it looked too easy and asked if
he could carry his own deer the rest of the way.

I remember as a kid thinking that would be an easy way to get shot in some back woods area having some dumb-a$$ try to shoot the deer while your carrying it.

If you're lucky, all future deer will either drop right there or run in a different direction.
You might consider quartering the deer, allowing you to carry lighter portions. A set of lopping shears and hedge clippers will let you clear enough brush out of the way to work & get in & out of that thick stuff.

Get a Glens deer handle. Go to deerhandle.com. I will not go out without one. When you go to the website you can click on video examples of people using these. They make deer dragging and loading much easier.

I hunted GV and killed a few pigs way back from any road. I always carry my fleece backpack when I bow hunt and would carry extra grocery bags in it. I could have one boned out and loaded in the bags/backpack in 30 minutes or so and comfortably walk it out

Deer?

I haven't used this yet, but they're on sale at Cabela's and I used up my points yesterday ordering this and a bunch of other stuff I had saved.

Mike's yank strap

It might help in Mr. T's situation, if you can get a vehicle within 500ft. It's what we used to call "mule tape" in the utility industry. 'course a winch would do the same thing, but 500' of wire cable takes up a whole lot more room on a spool.

I usually have a set of loppers in the truck for just such a problem. I have had to cut my way into several hogs and then had to actually cut out a couple that were entangled. I think these are the best loppers in the world when it comes to transportable size, light weight, and functionality. Note that this is a very specific model of anvil loppers...
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Fiskars-13-1-4-in-Power-Gear-Titanium-Anvil-Lopper-69725966J/202589054

Cutting your way in may take a little while, but between loppers and some good gloves, you may not save a lot of time, but you will save a lot of hardship.

Once you clear a narrow path, the drag will be much easier.

I was hunting in Wyoming once, shot a mule deer that took off through the brush. If it weren't for my two boys with their good eyes, I would have never found it. It went into a river and drowned 3/4 of the way across the river. So we drive out to the road, across the bridge, find the other side of the river. The closest we could get the truck was about 500 yards from the deer. By this time it was dark. We climb through some pretty rough country.......one of the boys strips down to his underwear and wades out to tie a rope onto the deer. Good sized deer, even after we gutted it it was likely a couple hundred pounds. The three of us had to carry it uphill through rough country about 500 yards, in the dark, at elevation higher than Texas. That's when I swore that I'd always shoot them in the shoulder to drop them rather than trying to save the meat. We decided there was no good way to carry them out, it just takes work.

some cool post's Back home it was team work.. First deer got with Old Kentucky, double teamed with my bro... i hit it first, bro finished it off while i was reloading.. Bro had cut his leg with chain saw bout week before hunt, so he carried rifle & shot guns... Gutted first, one of his brother-in-laws & i grabbed horns & dragged... Deer catching on every thing, was bout 250 yrds away, twas down hill, toldem get it on shoulders & i'd carry it out, tired of draging... So one grabbed head & front legs the other hind quarters, & lifted... Bout this time 4th member, another bro-in-law of my bro showed up over small hill, said it looked like 3-stooges... My head & shoulders went inside deer cavity, seen nothing but ribs... Many times snow on ground, deer slides some, yet feet sink knee-ta crotch deep in snow with every step...
Here in Texas, most every one had 3or4 wheelers, or could drive with-in several yards of deer...
Public land, twas archery only, so used some type tree stand... A chain on, had ladder sticks 3-4 sections.. Take two sections, lay out in a V... Using straps that go around tree ta tighten one end tagether, & always cary extra, rubber straps... Lay deer on sticks, strap tight.. take, safty belt, hook to wide end of sticks & to safty harnes. Slip inta harness, grab one stick each hand... Ya have old style Indian drag... Don't know if that makes scents, that's my best english i gots..
Hogs done plenty at OSBWMA best method tis what HCA discribed...

Not sure about super thick brush but I recently just left my tree stand harness on and looped the part that attaches to the tree around the deers neck. Then dragged....it was still tough and I had to stop frequently to catch my breath and im not that out of shape...I was also carrying my rifle, backpack, and 35 lbs climbing tree stand

At "almost 70" you shouldn't be dragging anything heavier than a cold beer. You risk someone else having to drag your body out. Rent an ATV or UTV with a winch or someway to attach a cable or rope. I used to fly a medivac chopper in Utah and hauled 30 to 50 older hunters out per season. Some made it... some were DOA.

Thanks to everyone for all of your suggestions: This is what I decided to do.
1.ordered Shappell® Jet Sled® from cabela's
2.order Mike's yank strap from cabela's

Going to put the deer in the sled, tie the 500 foot strap to the sled and drag it out with my truck. If that does not work, I'm going to call, js4242, who contacted me saying he was hunting only a few miles away from me and gave me his phone number to call and he said he would come and drag it out. We got some great members here on THF.

Something about the name Mike's Yank Strap scares me. Mr. T, you won't be disappointed in the Jet Sled. Wish I discovered them years ago.

JR

I've taken a good length of rope and tied one end around my waist and the other around the deer or hogs hind legs above the knees. Then I use my legs to drag it from behind.

I also use my leg strength to load deer on the rear rack of my ATV. First, I drag the deer and lay the head as high as I can get it against the front of the rear fender. Next, I stand on the front edge of the rear rack and squat down low and reach down between my legs and grab hold of the antlers. Then I use my leg strength to lift the animal high enough so that it will fall across the rear of the seat. That makes it just an easy matter of sliding back to the rear rack.

Use a machete to clear out the briars/brush. Gut him where he lays to lighten the load. Drag him by the antlers, one person each side. This months Outdoor life has an article on how to load a deer into your truck bed, by yourself, uaing a single pulley and a rope. I recommend you get a copy.

I was given around 1500' of nylon cord used by the utility company to pull cable, They said they throw it away after they use it, so I got it for free and I tie it to the animal and the other end to the hitch on the truck and drag the animal to where I can drive the truck right up to and load it.
I have used it on mule deer and a cow elk, dragged one mule deer about 500 yards and the cow elk about 300 yards.

I prefer to use either my son or one of my nephews. They are still young enough to do it for me.

Snow sled

Years ago I bought a product called a "Deer Sleigher." It was a roll up plastic sled with a rope attached. I never used it for a deer. I did use it to drag goose decoys onto a wheat field. I think it would of worked. Another idea would be to put a deer onto a plastic tarp, so it would have less resistance being pulled. Either way, gut it first.

My dad was always fond of having his oldest son drag the deer (pre ATV). That son was me.

These days I usually just drag em with the 4wheeler. It isn't that far from the various blinds to the barn. But, sometimes I'll field dress the deer and then hang it from the rear flat rack. Put the hind legs on one side, using heavy duty rubber straps and the front legs on the other side, using heavy duty rubber straps. The deer hangs below the rack. Works pretty good, since I only have to lift one end at a time. The old Yamaha handles the load real well.

Use a truck or a young whippersnapper.

I try to keep a few of these hanging around.

Hi shoulder shot and they don't run.

use the Dead Sled all the time for pulling through vines.

http://www.amazon.com/Unknown-27375-Dead...words=deer+sled

Most likely a skedco we use them in the military to get injured out of the kill zone if we have time