threw my back out loading up my opening day buck this year...old age is creeping up on me! Anyway, thinking about mounting a winch in the bed of the truck and a scrap piece of board to use as a ramp, but wondering if anyone else has a better solution?

I have a trailer hitch hoist that works for me after I use it to gut it

Been there. I like the loaders that mount into the trailer hitch with a winch on them. They rotate and one person can load a big deer with a minimum of effort. Loader can be hauled in the truck bed and mounted as needed.

I have often considered one of the trailer hitch loaders, but they looked flimsy...what exactly are ya'll using?

I got one at Buckees that is rated for 400 lbs. Cabellas has one that is similar. A THF member also makes/sells them.

Sure beats wrestling/dancing with a big deer to get it loaded.

Im young enough, and sting enough to drag a mature deer into a truck bed. But I started using a hoist 2 years ago after attempting to load a deer and slipping, falling on my butt on the tailgate and then onto the ground flat on my back. I laid there, having hot my head on the deers head, gasping for air. That was the last time I’d try that alone.

Similar thing happened the year prior while loading corn into a tall feeder. I had to stand on the bed rails of the truck to be able to throw 50lbs of corn into the feeder that was still over my head. A few bags in, I slipped and fell into the truck bed, dropping 50lbs of corn on my gut. So I built a stand an fill feeder.

I learned a lot hunting in Africa, them boys can make loading a Kudu in the back of a Toyota look easy. They have a piece of channel iron that connects to the brushguard and one on the headache rack with a roller . They run the winch line through the rollers, get the head on the tail gate and winch um in the truck.

No more than I shoot anymore I don’t have to worry about loading much anything.

My Dad got a hoist, and he loves it. I found getting the hoist hooked up a bigger pain than loading the deer. However, I had my and I am in my 40s and my cousin is in his 50s. We can lift most anything out at our place at least once. May want to look at getting a hitch hauler. Still got to lift the deer, just not as high.

Hitch mounted game hoist. Bought this off a forum member but I can load deer, feed corn from the road feeder and load/unload my generator which weighs over 120 lbs by myself. Looks kinda stupid but it works. Loaded two 150+ lb deer this last weekend with it. This one is made by monarch hunting products.


And/or get a small trailer similar to what harbor freight sells. IIRC they are like 200-250$ and are perfect to load a deer but not much else.

A friend of mine gave me some flat strap hoops. I put them around the deer’s head and get over the tailgate then I put the ring around my waist and just walk towards the cab. I can get a deer up to 175lbs by myself. Bigger than that I put them on a receiver hitch basket.

For a long time I managed to load deer and hogs into the bed of my truck by myself, but not anymore. I decided some time back to start considering my age and make some adjustments to my loading. I put together a simple little affair out of a boat winch I picked up at a swap meet for about 10 bucks and have loaded a lot of animals with it. I have loaded a number of hogs in the 300 lb. range by myself with no problems. I have found it I get the head of the animal high enough, I can easily pick up the hind feet and swing the carcass onto the tailgate.

My daughter told me to start working out so I installed small Warn winch in the bed of my truck near the cab.

I pick 'em up and hang 'em with my front end loader...1 handed operation and haven't sprained my wrist or thrown out my back yet. LOL

Small cheap block & tackle.

I use a piece of plywood to tie the deer to. It functions as a sled so I can drag it with the truck to a place like a small hill or ditch where the back wheels can drop down and make the tailgate closer to the ground. Also having the deer on the board makes it easier to handle, just get the front edge on the tailgate and then slide it in the rest of the way. I do have a ATV winch that I want to mount in the bed to make it all super easy, but haven't gotten around to designing the mount yet..

Shoot smaller deer

the easiest way (for me) has been cut the deer up, put the pieces in
freezer bags, and put them in the cooler in the back of the truck.
this year especially, the blankety-blankin' deer was too heavy to pick
up by myself, so after ******* around with it for 45 minutes, i went back
up and got the tractor and the deer rode back up on the top of the
shredder. a whole lot easier than trying to lift the heavy thing up into
the back of the truck.
one year, the tractor battery was dead, so the riding mower got to
drag it back to where i could cut it up.

Viking Solutions L-E-Vator Portable Deer Lift

Found this a few weeks back for my pop.

I found a really easy way to load deer in the back of pick up. I just kept an aluminum 6ft. ladder in the back of the truck....or left it at the lease. All you have to do is lay the deer on the ladder and pick one end up to tailgate and push the other end up and it slides right in. Also works for a sled if you need to drag a deer any distance.

Since I hit 70 and the grandsons weren't always with me I had to find a way to get them loaded!!

Gonna pay attention to this thread. I used to be able to get the head of the deer just on top of the tailgate while the rest was on the ground, hold it there while I hop up in the bed of the truck, then grab a hold of the antlers and pull it up in the bed with me. Same thing I do on the ATV to get it onto the back.

But, I got my old man card... went and bought a cap for my truck. Sunday I found out that ain't very convenient when trying to load one up. I managed by laying back into the bed, but I'd rather not do that again since it ends up on my legs. Got deer juice all in my snake boots.

Front end loader has got to be the easiest I have found.

Something I miss about my old 1994 half ton chevy, you could sit on the tailgate without jumping and it was a piece of cake to throw a deer in the back. Last deer I loaded into a truck was my dad's 2018 RAM 3500 4x4... it might be a foot and a half higher than my old namesake chevy.

Good idea

Sportsmans Guide hitch mounted winch. Been using it for years, think it's rated at 400lbs. Easy one man loading. I also gut mine while hanging. Easy peasy!

Its nice to have a teenage son that thinks he's tough and I got one 3yrs younger.

Essential equipment.


This one is home made, very well built. Breaks down into two pieces, the bottom has round stock welded in place so the top part of the mast swivels, winch him up, swivel it to the bed, let him down. The bottom piece is tubing and where it slides into the receiver there are two pieces of angle iron inside making that part almost like solid bar.

I like that, and I 'm getting old and have to use a tractor front end loader to get my bucks up onto the pickup bed. This looks a lot easier.
Or I guess I could shoot smaller bucks!

Im still on the working end of that myself but my brother and I have a few coming up in the ranks.

I took a cheap atv dump trailer and beefed it up with solid wheel barrel tires and built a frame and new deck with a block and tackle to pull the deer up. Was easy to build and works like a champ.

Viking also has a hitch mounted lift that has a flat plate made out of a rim of steel and covered in a expanded metal like a hitch mounted game/cooler mount big enough to put a deer on easily. You put the load on the plate at ground level and use the crank to raise the plate up and swing it into the bed of the truck and shove the critter off where you want it.. Been thinking about getting one to use loading furniture with too. Last I looked they were running about $200. The BH & I chase antique furniture 52 weeks a year and loading a heavy arsed 5'-6' long solid oak dining room server is a real pain for a pair of ever more decrepit 75 year olds..
Ron

I use a game hoist similar to this. As mentioned before, lift the head and I swing the rear half in by hand.

My gin pole has saved my 70 year old back more than once.

Beautiful old buck! And more pictures of the top and foot of your gin pole rig please. Where do you get that square tubing with the holes?

^^^^

Man....I hear ya.

Daughter shot a buck a few years ago and we went to load it in her truck (Ford 4x4). I had the head/antlers and she had the rear legs. The plan of course, was to swing it back and forth and on the third swing...lift and try to project it up on the tailgate. I'm old (65 now) but still a pretty large person (6'-5" 270 lbs) . She weighs less than half of what I do and was having trouble getting her end of the deer up high enough.

On the fourth try (and switching ends of the deer) we finally got it in the truck. A good, healthy buck here will go 180-200 lbs. on the hoof. But as everyone knows, 'dead weight' is hard to handle. So after that fiasco....I just take a small trailer to the kill site and load them on that.

Who is the forum member that makes the game hoist?

'Hadn't seen him on here in a while and I can't remember his screen name. NW of Georgetown I think. I bought one and picked it up. Heavy, but hell-for-stout.

bholt, thats where i got mine. I know his last name is holt, but i think thats it.

Yep thats it. And a very nice man to deal with.

Creek: Had to cobble two old pics to show both top and bottom. Found the tubing at a metal recycling yard while shopping for wheel weights. Two diameters, so the lower part fits truck hitch and top slides into lower. Went with an eye-bolt at top to run the cable thru, but the cable will eat thru a soft eye-bolt so have since replaced with a pulley. Pretty simple welding job and has held up to a 290# boar.

Another vote for the hitch winch. You can pick them up, drive to your cleaning area and do all the messy work while it hangs.

I'm nearly 76 with arthritis in my thumbs and knees. I can't get on the ground - or if I do, I can't get up easily.

At some point, I'm going to have to resort to taking pictures and breathing fresh air, but the hitch winch has extended that date.

most of the time I have not had any issue with loading deer in the bed of my truck or Kubota RTV ... but last year, the big 10 point (194#), it just wasn't happening by myself. I used two ratchet straps around the body of the deer, one in front of hind legs, one behind the front legs... legs facing away from vehicle. pulled up on one end at a time before engaging ratchet, then ratchet up as high as it would go, then roll the legs over the top and into the bed. worked like a charm. There are similar videos on YouTube if you search "loading deer in truck by yourself" ...

Full live weight buck of any type size is a chore for one person, lot easier with the entrails out and 40-50 lbs. lighter if don't have a hoist

agree DQ, but we are supposed to log live weight in our log book on one lease, i.e. no dressing in the field ... anywhere else, they get field dressed before loading, which makes it much easier.

The fold up hitch racks are the easiest. Add a short 3 ft price of 2x4 and you have an easy drag up ramp

Cut them in half and toss them in.

What I have found and now do is that I don't shoot anything bigger than I think I can load.

I use a comealong like the one pictured above hook one end to the bed roll out the cable use a dog choker chain, pull loops thru both ends go over the hooves it wont come loose when tightened crank one end or the middle of the deer up to the tailgate, then its pretty easy to load the rest of the deer. also a d ring on the tool box will also make a good anchor

I got a rope come along from Amazon and hooked it to the tie down in the bed of my truck. Then I wrapped the rope end with the hook around his antlers and comealonged him into the truck. Once the head and shoulders were in, I just pushed the back half in. I did not want the cable comealong, the cable would cut the bed liner on my tailgate.