Elk Rope - What kind to buy?

[cornhuskid]

Assuming I'm lucky enough to tag out on an Elk this year within 200 yards of a road, what type of rope would you guys suggest for pulling her out with?  I was looking at 600' of 1/2" Poly Pro, but don't know much about rope in general.  (my wife prefers handcuffs. HA!) 

Suggestions?

Jeff

[BC CHASER]

Mule tape.

[cabin308]

 

[rasbo]

if mule tape is the flat stuff sparkies use ya that.strong and light

[Woodchuck]

yup thats mule tape, use it, awesome stuff, VERY strong, very light

[cornhuskid]

Found the link to the manufacturer...

http://www.neptco.com/website/neptco.nsf/6beab7c8323bf63a85256918005237d7/6d7c010ecaaeb78e852575b00055e1c1?OpenDocument



 

[Woodchuck]

we also have 2 800' spools of 5/8 poly rope that we use for ones down in the "hole" put a pulley on one bumper and tie to another and drive out slow, pulled a nice 6x6 about 1200 ft, you could have played a tune on that stuff but he came out, head, hides, guts and all, with my kid ridin him up

[Woodchuck]

should be able to get it at like a ranch and home, or any kind of feed type store

[jackelope]

i googled it cuzz i had no idea what it was. you can buy it online, not too expensive either.

[rasbo]

the large deer sleigh works awesome they sail across the ground

[cornhuskid]

Deer sleigh? 

[rasbo]

Deer sleigh? 

Its a big piece of hard plastic that you put an animal on .Look in cabelas.I haul my bears out on them works awesome,man the fly when ya hit the down hill

[Woodchuck]

try that stuff jackelope, was introduced to it last year, highly impressed

[cornhuskid]

This:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?type=product&cmCat=Related_IPL_221989&id=0035361227679a


or this:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?id=0005553221989a&navCount=0&podId=0005553&parentId=&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=QZ&rid=&parentType=&indexId=&cmCat=netcon&cm_ven=netcon&cm_cat=Google&cm_pla=deer%20sleigh&cm_ite=netcon&hasJS=true

[cornhuskid]

Also - on the mule tape I am seeing a couple different sizes.  What are you using?

j

[jackelope]

What are you using?

a backpack...sorry i couldn't resist.

[cornhuskid]

That's a distinct possibility...  My hunting buddy got run over by a pickup about 10 years ago, so I get to most of the heavy haulin now.  This is a TOTALLY selfish thread as I hit 46 this summer and am too damn old to be strapping Elk parts to by back!  Yeah - I'll probably end up packing it out, but I'm sure looking for alternatives.

j

[GoldTip]

Mule tape is the ticket.  I think we have the 2500lb stuff, bought like 3000' of it for like $150 and split it with a buddy.  I've known guys whove pulled wrecked four wheelers out with this stuff with the wheeler riding on it's seat, straight out of hell holes.  Tuff stuff.

[Intruder]

Good luck getting your elk 200 yards from the road 

A good snatchblock will do wonders if you can get a 4 wheeler or other vehicle close.

Will mule tape work in a come-a-long?

[jackelope]

i can't picture what you do with the mule tape...hook it to the front of the truck and start backing up? i guess a snatch block would help.
 

i hope i can still pack an elk at 46.

[Intruder]

snatch block and a 4 wheeler are great.... just need to be able to fasten the block to something solid.  I've pulled elk and deer out of some crazy places in CO. 

Not much good for anything around where I hunt now... but those rope come-a-longs work dang good in tight places.

[Jason]

mule tape is the ticket, light weight and strong, we have a 6500' roll of 2500lb and love it,
we winched these two bulls out whole last season with 1000' of mule tape, 125' 3/8" cable and a snatch block.

[NW-GSP]

mule tape is the ticket, light weight and strong, we have a 6500' roll of 2500lb and love it,
we winched these two bulls out whole last season with 1000' of mule tape, 125' 3/8" cable and a snatch block.

nice job!

[GoldTip]

Good luck getting your elk 200 yards from the road 

A good snatchblock will do wonders if you can get a 4 wheeler or other vehicle close.

Will mule tape work in a come-a-long?

I don't know why it wouldn't work in a come along, just pull out the actual cable and then use Mule tape in it instead.  Just to give more room on the spool.  I've actually thought about building a chainsaw winch with one of my old chainsaws and using Mule tape instead of cable.

[cornhuskid]

jackalope,

"i hope i can still pack an elk at 46."

It doesn't help I'm a desk jockey either.  I'm certainly not the bigest guy in the world (5'7")  

What's a chainsaw winch?  Power tools, sounds fun.

  

[GoldTip]

jackalope,

"i hope i can still pack an elk at 46."

It doesn't help I'm a desk jockey either.  I'm certainly not the bigest guy in the world (5'7")  

What's a chainsaw winch?  Power tools, sounds fun.

  

Guessin from your handle your from Nebraska?  A chainsaw winch is a chainsaw that has a set of clutches off the drive side with essentially a spool coming off it.  Put the spool in free wheel and spool off your cable or rope.  Chain the chainsaw to a tree, or hold on if you weigh around 1000lbs or more, fire up that chainsaw and drag in your elk.  They work pretty good but are heavier once converted than is a chainsaw.

[cornhuskid]

GoldTip,

You are correct.  Origionally from Lincoln, NE.  I've been here about 7 years now, work for Milgard Windows.

I'd love to see a pic of the "Chainsaw Winch"!   

Wish I had the bucks for one of the Honda Capstan winches.  Looks like just the ticket.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Portable-Capstan-Winch-HUNTING-KIT-incl-case-Factory-2U_W0QQitemZ360163647271QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_2?hash=item53db6d1f27&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

Jeff
 

[heavy hauler]

grab rope. we toted a s load of that last year moose hunting.we didnt use a bit      but we should have.commercial crab rope rules

[coachcw]

Isn't the pack half the fun , I carry a pack frame just in hopes of getting blood on it. seems like the elk I see 200 yards from the road have about 20 blow downs between them and the road . those deer sleds really work . I had a hurt back two years ago in oregon , that sled saved me . it kinda was a fun ride too. havn't used mule tape but from your talk it sounds bad ass.

[mrgoodwrench]

Most all of ours come out on pack frames, but our only experience with mule tape was that it broke right off the bat and didn't move the guys cow.  I've also seen poly rope break, and that stuff loads up and slingshots animals around when you come up tight on something.  The few we have pulled have been with sections of 1/4" haywire (including the mule tape cow) and a block hung as high as you can for a bit of lift.  The wire doesn't stretch and slingshot the animal and you won't break it pulling an animal, four low on the truck and an idle is all you need....but most guys you see on the harbor have a big spool of poly rope and they just hammer down and look like *censored*s.  You can fit a lot of sections of wire under your truck box and stick a whole animal in the bed without dealing with a spool of rope in your way.

[high country]

I have miles of 1800 and 2500lb muletape, it is good for low snag pulls. the problem is that in dry brush it snags on everything, it is also worthless on a capstan winch. for my cap winch I use 3/8 or 5/16" 3strand which is good for at least 3500lbs and stretches waaaaaaaaaay less. a 600ft hunk of mule tape can stretch to about a mile. one thing is for sure, something is better then nothing. if you can get your hands on a simpson capstan winch and 300' of rope.......life is good.

[Houndhunter]

mule tape is great, and you can make the meaniest knot out of it and it'll come back out like cake

[Old Mule]

I Packed many Elk out on my Back, That's why I need to roll out of bed onto the Floor to get up in the Morning, With Age comes Wisdom!  A Mag Hauler from Cabelas works great, 2 guys can load a whole Elk unless its to steep, then half an Elk works fine and you should still be able to stand up the next day.

[BULLBLASTER]

3/16 steel cable is the only way to go!!!!

[bow4elk]

What are you using?

a backpack...sorry i couldn't resist.

No sh_t...backpack man!!  Roping out elk - not by me.  That meat is too precious to yard over hill and dale with a winch and cable.    

[littlebuf]

i saw that you guys were talking chainsaw winches on here earlier if i had the extra right doe id buy this one, it looks pretty good

http://seattle.craigslist.org/oly/spo/1244509274.html

[high country]

i saw that you guys were talking chainsaw winches on here earlier if i had the extra right doe id buy this one, it looks pretty good

http://seattle.craigslist.org/oly/spo/1244509274.html

for hunting a capstan winch will beat that all around, lighter, faster and longer pulls. look up simpson capstan winch

[littlebuf]

this does look a lot lighter, is this what your referring to?

[high country]

I have that exact saw and winch. I have rescued several snowmobiles from the deep mountains and put many a critters in reach of the truck.......it's a great tool. I drilled a hole in my grip with the throttle where I like to run it and I can pin the throttle to free up my hands..........works sweet

[cornhuskid]

That... is cool.

"More power; that's my motto!"

[royalbull]

I've tried mule tape broke on five point bull not gutted might have worked had we gutted it but we wanted to do it when we got him to the road. Now have 2500 feet of 1/4 cable installed on a spool that plugs into trailer hitch. Only bad thing about it, is that it is heavy. I have a photo of it but can't figure out how to get it out of my photos, and onto an attachment.

[fishing is for fools]

    Does mule tape work with a Capstan?

[Kain]

When using a chainsaw winch I recommend attaching the winch near the animal.  When we first used ours we attached it to a stump at the top of the hill.  I was down with the animal guiding it over and around any obstructions and snags.  Was hard to communicate with the guy at the top of the hill when I need him to hold up.  But the next time we used it we had it attached to the animal and it worked awesome.

[high country]

    Does mule tape work with a Capstan?

no. it jumps the drum and makes a heck of a mess. use 5/16 or 3/8" rope. you can get a 300' hank that is light and typically less then a c-note for 4000lb rated rope

[royalbull]

If mule tape doesn't work then why do electricians use it to pull in their utilities

[royalbull]

MY elk yarder

[high country]

the utility companies will typically use a butterfly or reel to capturethe mule tape, or just pull it and leave it as most never reuse it. the mule tape seriously lacks abasion resitance. you will never see a line company making near capacity pulls with mule...it will always be rope. at least in my 10 years with the utility co.

you CAN pull mule with a capstan BUT you have to babysit it the whole time and be SUPER careful not to free spinn too long as it chews the mule up. in my exp it will jump to the inside of the drum on a simpson winch, perhaps on some of the bigger drums you can make it fly, but the simpson just eats it up........trust me.