How far can you drag a deer?

[Larry Gibson]

............. I'm wondering how far you can drag a deer .............?

How far depends on whether you drag it by the horns/ears or by the hind legs............

Larry Gibson

[psmokey]

I let the kids take care of that part.

[shaune1022]

I've drug speed goats over a mile across stubble field. No meat damage but one side of the hide was hairless by the time I got to the truck.

[Oreo]

I've drug speed goats over a mile across stubble field. No meat damage but one side of the hide was hairless by the time I got to the truck.

My eyes played tricks on me. I read you've drug speed BOATS over a mile across stubble field. I'm sitting here thinking what an odd thing that is to do and wondering how it's relevant.

[AlaskanGuy]

Me and a buddy once drug a fat bull caribou about 6 miles.... We were following a heard waiting for a shot at one of the tender bulls that just kept getting farther and farther away... Diddnt realize how far it was till after we got the bull down and finished dressing him out.... It was about 10 years ago when i was in good shape, but even with 2 of us dragging, seemed to go on forever in the frozen, uneven tundra of the Arctic. I thought my hips and knees were forever damaged... I had a hard time walking when it was done... Joints were hurting from all the holes in the tundra that we stepped in cuz you couldn't see them under the 1 inch of snow that hid them...

Here is the caribou. Dressed out about 360 or so.
Attachment 87402

Alaskan

[gandydancer]

Been there done that. to old now. bad back. knees are shot. I go in the woods & see where they are moving around and bedding down, check for feed plots.check for the best racks for a few days. and then I go in no more then 2 miles. I must mention here I have a large bag of home made oatmeal cookies laced with catnip and Valium. I then leave a trail of cookies back to my truck. with my tail gate down & more cookies in bed of truck & rear window open 6.5x55 carbine in hand and--well you get the picture. IS THIS WRONG? PS while waiting I have cookies and coffee and if there are no shows?? Who cares. lol

[Oreo]

And in other news: Gandydancer was just found dead lying in the bed of his truck next to a deer. Both apparently fatally overdosed on valium cookies.

[gandydancer]

Dang!! What a nightmare..

[JakeBlanton]

I find I shoot deer much closer to a vehicle than I used to.

I know the feeling -- I've been trying to get 'em to just climb in the back of my truck prior to me shooting 'em.

Seriously though, I've actually passed up on shots of large bucks because:
1. I really didn't need a trophy on the wall.
2. I was so far back in the woods that I would have probably had a heart attack getting him out.
3. Even dressed out, he was heavier than I wanted to carry or drag.

Mainly reason #2 though.....

[JakeBlanton]

Wonder what people did prior to the common (universal) 4 wheel drive and 4 wheeler?

We were younger back then.

And if you mean even further back than that, well, there were horses and pack animals -- 4 hoof drive.

[WilliamDahl]

Far enough to have a heart attack and not a foot further.

[Reg]

I have an 8' section of an old aluminum extension ladder I keep in the truck. Once you have the deer to the truck, flop it on the ladder, it's a cinch to pick up one end of the ladder and set it on the tailgate, pick up the other end and it slides right in.

Nothing more fun than trying to get a good sized deer up into a truck with frost on the bedliner....

Great idea. exactly what I was talking about. I think I have a perfect candidate for this stored out behind the calf shed.
Need to play with this a bit but not only can the deer be loaded but it also might serve as a loading ramp to put the gote in the back of the PU as well.

[OnHoPr]

Not as far as I use to.

[wolfe28]

Good Morning!

Thanks for all the insights, as well as the laughs. While I'd like to shoot something close to the vehicle (you can't really call a Rav4 a truck), I think that everyone else that is hunting on public land is trying to do the same thing. So, hiking a mile in, on a trail that is on the top of a ridge, and then drops about 300 feet in the last 1/4 mile is probably my best bet to have some place to myself.

The other thing is that I've wanted to go hunting since I was 12, but since neither my father or either of my grandfathers hunted, I never got the chance (I went fishing with one of my grandfathers, and I still think about those times every time I pick up a rod, but I digress). Now that I actually can go, all the family that did hunt is gone or 2 states away, and I can't make the trip due to work. So, I'm on my own.

Sunrise on opening day is 0730, so I'm planning on having the vehicle parked by about 0530 and then heading out to "my spot". From what you all have said, I think a sled might be the best option. I can throw all the gear I'm not wearing in it, and then just drag it there. Besides, since I don't have a stand, the sled would be a dry place to sit.

Thanks again,
D

[JMtoolman]

If you are more than a 1/2 mile, by all means skin that critter out, bone it and pack it our in a packsack. One quarter of the effort that dragging it. You can learn to skin an animal on the ground and it is easy. Sometimes I don't even gut a deer or elk, just skin the top half, bone it out on the half skin, then roll it over and do the other side. If you want the heart or liver, then just open the cavity and remove what you want. Heck of a lot easier than gutting them first! Good hunting always, the toolman.

[Blammer]

wrapping the rope around a stick and then pulling the stick is a far bit easier than just hanging on to rope.

[taco650]

The only "fly in the ointment" is the nicer bucks are usually further from the road. If you're a meat hunter only, then you'll probably be able to stay closer to the vehicle. Do your pre-season scouting to know where the deer are and prepare accordingly.

[MarkP]

My Dad and I shot 2 bucks on public ground in the sand hills of Nebraska; we dragged them by the antlers about 1 mile to our vehicle. It was a significant amount of work; fur was completely worn off of rear hind quarters, and no meat damage. Mainly dragging through prairie grass and would occasionally snag on a yucca plant, which would about rip your arm off.

The whole way I was thinking of a new invention for hauling deer out.

[starmac]

Alaska guy I have had friends try to get me to go bou hunting on the haul road (rifle) which would be a five mile haul at the very minimum. If I ever get week enough to walk 5 miles across that tundra, I will take a camera instead of a gun to make sure I don't have to haul one out, And since I can take all the pictures I want from the road, I don't see myself walking across the corridor. lol I like caribou, but not that much, maybe when I was younger. lol

I have a friend that takes a few dogs (small dog team) to drag them out.

[TCLouis]

I'm guessing the wear-and-tear on the hunter will be the greatest damage to meat.

A little snow will protect both a little more.