Game retrieval

[fillthefreezer]

I won't backpack hunt without trekking poles or an ice axe. Poles make climbing easier, axe will self arrest a slip. Take your time and remember that often the long way is the easy way.

do you use an ice axe in rocky/dirt, warm weather, loose or sandy hills?

[high country]

I don't own an ice axe, but know several who do use them in those conditions.

[fillthefreezer]

i ask mostly cus i was coming down a steep section last saturday and bent one of my trekking poles trying to dig in and slow my fall

[fish vacuum]

For the people who insist on bringing a deer out whole, I'm curious if you've ever brought one out quartered or boned out. I assume most people who cut them up have done the dragging method before and made their choice based on experience.
People can get their deer out however they want (within the law). It's not my business. After trying many methods of getting a deer out of the woods, it's a no brainer for me to bone and pack if there's any real distance to cover.

[washelkhunter]

Thx for posting the pic and vid Billy. That is very ingenious and i can probably use it one day. Thx again.

 

[Ridge Roamer]

If you got snow that helps - I normally have had snow, parked the truck &  then hunted uphill of it, dragging downhill with the snow is not to bad. Of cource it can not be to steep or it can get away from you,

[deerslyr]

If you got snow that helps - I normally have had snow, parked the truck &  then hunted uphill of it, dragging downhill with the snow is not to bad. Of cource it can not be to steep or it can get away from you,

Thats when you sit on there back and hold on to their antlers, kinda like the deer back pack, but a deer sled  And yes ive done it before, it actually works pretty dam good.

[h20hunter]

Kind of excited. I have upgraded my game retrieval plan. Picket up a moutain bike this weekend and also a beat up but sturdy "kid hauler". It is one of those things that carries about 150 lbs and tows behind the bike like a little trailer. It would easily handle a boned out deer/bear in one trip.

[saylean]

Totally depends on where it is for me. I've killed a deer on my dads property, where we could just get the game cart and wheel it over the field.

I've boned them out, dragged them etc. If I am any distance from a road, which seems to far to drag, its always bone out for me. I would rather take a load or two, try to save my back, than take it all at once. (thats what she said)

[Guy]

My hunting pard, packing out a buck taken three miles from the trailhead, at about 8,000' ASL. He took part of the load, and I put the other part on my back. Not bad at all.



We really didn't want to drag it... He's amazingly good at boning out a buck fast. I'm slower and clumsier at it, but it is still a great way to go, particularly in rough country. Sometimes I'll just quarter them. That's a little faster & easier for me, but doesn't result in as small and light a load.

I have carried out a boned out deer myself, not bad either. Beats the heck out of dragging them most of the time.

Guy

[high country]

I have my camp/pack weight down to 40-45# wet. I add 40-50# of boned deer to that vs drag 100-150#. In the country I hunt.....its hard enough to get out, let alone drag a critter. I use the gutless method and it will amaze you how clean and quick it can be. It adds about 15-30mins depending on terrain and makes that 5mile hump back to the truck very rewarding.

[Glockster]

I don't see any logical reason to carry out bones and hide. ~Gonna get rid of them anyway and if you bone it out it's not much more complicated than filleting a big big fish.  Get a sharp kife, carry a sharpener and watch some vid's on the 'boneless method' of field dressing game.

One of the keys of course is keeping the meat clean as possible and rinsing and processing next day (if possible).

I think alot of meat goes bad because people insist on dragging it out whole. It has to be pretty darn cold to get a whole carcass cooled enough to prevent spoilage and we  never see temps that cold in a general WA hunt season.  I think people insist on dragging out whole critters so there is that wow factor when they hang it at home and gives them a chance to show it off to the whole neighborhood....an ego thing that costs alot in terms of poor quality table fare after processing.  Me. I work too hard for the darn things...rather have great venison than accolades. 

[Dansk]

Ive done it all.. drag, cart, tarp, quartered, frame-pack....  best solution yet:

Gutless method where he lay
6x6 thin painters plastic drop cloth to put boned out meat on
Industrial 'fish bag'
Kifaru Meat Baggie (1oz bag can hold 100#s meat !)
J107 Dragonfly

Gun and deer in pack.. walk out with hands free.

...then throw on ice in a cooler in truck.

Least amount of time & mess, and no work to do when i get home.

Hunting partners can still hunt and I can walk out when they are ready to go.... no multiple trips to car.

[Sitka_Blacktail]

If you got snow that helps - I normally have had snow, parked the truck &  then hunted uphill of it, dragging downhill with the snow is not to bad. Of cource it can not be to steep or it can get away from you,

Thats when you sit on there back and hold on to their antlers, kinda like the deer back pack, but a deer sled  And yes ive done it before, it actually works pretty dam good.

Actually works better if you roll them on their back and sit on their chest to sled them out Deerslyr.  Then there are no legs hanging down to hook a branch or otherwise cause a drag.  You steer with your feet. Dig in the heel on the side you want to turn to.

I was using this method bringing out a big 3x3 I got on the Kodiak road system one year. Was dragging it as I usually do as it's pretty easy dragging deer on snow, but came to a big steep part of the trail and didn't want the deer sliding into the back of me taking my legs out. So instead of just pushing ot over the edge and letting it go with no control over where it ended up, I decided to sled it down and it worked perfectly. I slid down a couple hundred yards and hit the bottom in a spray of snow. I was chuckling to myself at how well it worked when I looked up to see two guys with packs on their backs staring at me in wonder.  They asked where I'd gotten it and what all I'd seen and I passed along that I'd seen many more deer even on the way out, but they must have decided I'd fouled the area as they turned around and left.  Took two buddies in the next day and they both scored.  We drug and sledded them out too.