Worst Drag EVER

[JackOfAllTrades]

DoubleLung: 

Thanks!  I figure every day since is a bonus!

It wasn't your time to go!  Just a warning?

Thanks for sharing that, because each of us needs to know our limits, and just reading through other people's experiences teaches those that pay attention. Most of my hunting partners over the years are overweight, out of shape, (except for Wally), and smoke. I'm no saint and not in the best of shape, but better than most that don't run five miles a day. Yet, I know that at any time any one of us could have an annurism, clot, heart attack in the field. Your perseveriance that night saved your life. Some people would just give up and die out there. Which is OK too, I guess. I hope to die doing something I enjoy. But pushing one's self to absolute extremes, being sleep deprived, not eating healthy, drinkin and smokin, is certain to put ya on the fast track to meeting our maker.

That said... Dragging an animal out whole is for the birds. Deer carts are relatively cheap -and useful in a lot of situations. Mine stays back at camp until I need it. I still always have an empty frame pack, (packboard) buried in my gear back at base camp.

-Steve

[squeeze2drop]

Great post Jackofalltrades, I agree with all of that

[Elkpiss]

Great topic! I've had some whopper drag/pack outs, but here is the easiest one I have ever had:

First year of archery elk. Hunting buddy Barny and I follow a herd of 12 cows and one 4x4 raghorn for three miles. It was actually just a big loop that ended near a large hay field. I sent the arrow and hit heart/lung gold and the bull walked 15 yards and dropped. We waited 30 minutes and headed over. I had nailed a bull my first year out archery Roosie hunting. Pulling out my Kershaw, I began the gutting process. Just as I pulled the two pieces of heart that my muzzy had split in two we hear a kid from the top of the hay field yelling at us. I stood up to talk with him and he was excited that we had knocked this bull down. Then out of no where he offered to get his backhoe and drive it to his farm a mile away! We hiked back to my 1970 International "cornbinder" and drove ten miles out of the back roads to get to the farm. The kid and his grandpa pulled up to my truck and we slid the bull, whole, in my truck. To top it off they gave us a beer and invited us back to hunt the property!

Thats a good story dude.. It dont get no better then that, suprised they didnt give you a hoggie sandwich too!! 

[Sorefeet]

This and many other hunts that have followed.   Sorefeet and no meat!!  Dang!!

[bear]

Worst drag ever was when my brother shot a spike deer..... in the head.  The antlers were completely loose.  It's no fun to try and drag them uphill without anything good to hang on to.  Bear

[halflife65]

Worst drag ever was when my brother shot a spike deer..... in the head.  The antlers were completely loose.  It's no fun to try and drag them uphill without anything good to hang on to.  Bear

I drew a doe tag one year and shot one outside of Morton in this really thick brush in a STEEP clearcut.  This was before I had a packboard.  I found it impossible to drag, so I went back to my truck and dumped my extra clothes out of my gym bag, went back to the deer, boned it out and brought it up in the bag.  No kidding, there was a game warden standing on the landing when I got to the top.  I'm carrying this bag full of meat with blood dripping out of the bottom.  "Whatchya got in the bag, son?" All legal with the old time tag (before the yellow sticker they had for a few years) tied in its ear, so he just kind of smiled and shook his head.  I was probably 18 or so.  That's definitely NOT my hardest pack out but it was kind of funny.  Come to think of it, that's the only doe I've ever shot, too.

[Buschingc]

Man those are some horror stories. I just bait the deer into the bed of my truck and wait.. Once the deer jumps up into the truck I kill it.. Not much for a drag.. 

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

My easiest was one time a friend and I were up in the Manastash unit cutting firewood, we had just thrown some logs in the back and got in the truck when he saw some deer coming down the edge of the clear-cut, he grabbed his bow and shot one.
Due to the steep upward angle, the arrow hit thhrough one lung into the spine and the deer just rolled over and over until it lay in the road in front of the truck !
We turned the truck around, gutted it and threw it on top of the firewood and drove back to camp.
He still swears that deer are attracted to the sound of chainsaws.

[JackOfAllTrades]

He still swears that deer are attracted to the sound of chainsaws.

There's more than one person that'll back that statement up!

-Steve

[littlemac]

He still swears that deer are attracted to the sound of chainsaws.

There's more than one person that'll back that statement up!

-Steve

Great place to hunt is a logging operation (if there are any left).

The deer love the downed tree bows I guess.  I have talked with loggers that kept a 30-30 handy (like in the cab of a skidder) and got their deer every year while at work.


Go figure.

[runamuk]

He still swears that deer are attracted to the sound of chainsaws.

There's more than one person that'll back that statement up!

-Steve

I find the recently logged areas in the forest usually full of deer not sure if they like sniffing diesel or are just nosey 

[Pathfinder101]

No need for a story here.  Before and after pictures say it all...
CoryTDF in his younger years...

[bow4elk]

I shot this little blacktail in '98 just before dark in a nasty clearcut in Capitol Forest.  I had this neat idea that I'd just drag him up out of the hell hole to an easier spot for field dressing.  I nearly killed myself getting him out of there and my shins were raw from dropping into holes between limbs and debris.  My face says it all, bright red and sweat pouring!  It was my first animal with my homemade takedown recurve, so that was cool.

[Rob]

OK, not my story, but a friend of my Dad (whom I know). 

He was in Africa on a safari, and there was a gimped up giraffe (survived a lion attack I guess) hanging out near camp.  My dad’s friend asked the Professional hunter (PH) if he could shoot the gimped up giraffe for half price.  The PH said no.  Days pass, and every night around the fire the PH and my dad’s buddy go through the same routine:
Dads Buddy:  Can I shoot the the gimpy giraffe for half Price?
PH:  No

Finally, on about day 12 of a 15 day hunt (gotta love safaris) the PH gives in.  The y go out and find the injured giraffe right on the road!  He shoots it and it drops to the ground in a crumpled heap dead as a doornail.  Giraffe can be 14 feet tall and weigh in at 2600 pounds.  So having it fall by the road was a windfall.

Dads buddy walks over to get a photo of him standing on the neck.  (the readers are all yelling at the top of their lungs “don’t open that door!  Just turn around and walk away and everything will be OK!!”

Well there is a saying in Africa that goes like this “It is the dead ones that kill you”.

About this time, the Giraffe “came to” and imagine it’s surprise when it discovered a guy standing on its neck!  It flung itself up, shot my dads buddy off its neck like he was standing on a catapult, and proceeded to run about t200 yards into the thickest, nastiest brush Africa had to offer.  And died (for real this time).

It took them a good 4-5 hours to cut a path inot where the giraffe lay, and another full day and a half to skin it, and pack it out piece by piece.  And this was the PH, hunter and 2-3 trackers all working together.

He had the hide tanned and on the floor in his hunting lodge in Texas…  He can now stand on the neck with no danger to himself or others.

[brew]

shot a small 6 pt bull in manastash a few years back with my bow and had it die on an atv trail that was 100 yds from the main road....5 of us drug it whole to the truck but it was a short bed dodge and loaded it whole but had to pull the rack back and tie it to the bumper with Mr. Green Jeans parked just down the road watching the whole event....he never even came over to check tags....shot a great forked horn buck on crappy, rainy, windy day late season in Weyco in a clearcut 300 yds straight downhill from the road with my bow.  Gates closed at 6 so i didn't have time to go out and get help...just grabbed on to the horns and took it two feet at a time, biggest bodied blacktail i have killed yet, was only able to pick up the front and drag it a couple feet straight up then rest for a minute.  I had a lifted Toyota truck so when I finally got it to the landing had to back up to the slag pile they left with the tail gate down and drag that dam buck up the pile and into the truck as I couldnt lift it in...as for does any more I cut a couple 6 inch slits in the forehead about 7 inches apart, skin between the cuts and use that as a handle to drag....works like a charm