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Hunting Tips | Deer Transport

Don't carry a deer

Don't carry a deer on your back or on any type of deer carrier without wrapping orange around the deer and yourself. If you don't, someone could mistake it for a live deer moving through the woods and take a shot at it. Yes, there are still people out there that will take shots at deer colored objects without making sure what they are looking at. Always make sure of your target and what's directly behind it, before you pull the trigger. Someone's life could depend on it.

Finding your deer

Nothing can ruin a great hunt quicker than the frustration of becoming lost (or should I say "geographically embarrassed" because we never get lost right?) while trying to return to a specific point. So the one thing I always keep in my backpack on every hunt is about four glow sticks, or kem-lites as we called them in the army. Many times I have dropped two deer within seconds/minutes of each other right at the evenings last legal shooting light (where legal in that state) and was faced with getting two deer, my treestand, and weapon back to my truck. As I usually hunt solo this would end up taking me at least two trips to get everything back. So I would 'crack and shake' a glow stick and hang it in a tree branch head high above the deer and/or at my treestand.

Getting it out of the woods

A 4 wheeler is great for getting your game out of the woods. During the 99 season I used mine to retrieve a whitetail buck and a bull elk. It saved me a ton of work, not to mention the sore muscles and the trips to the chiropractor. If you can, get one with 4 wheel drive and a winch.

Getting your deer out

I keep a 4-foot by 4-foot plastic tarp folded up in my day pack. After dressing out my deer, I wrap the deer in the tarp and drag it out. The tarp keeps dirt and debris out and the deer slides along the ground a lot smoother. This works even better with a couple of inches of snow on the ground.

New type of deer drag

New deer hunting drag has Aluminum handle and 16 feet of rope (pull tested to over 350 lbs.) works great with 1 or 2 people. Gives you something to hold onto so that the rope is not digging into your hand. It has storage in the handle and comes with a zip lock plastic bag for heart and liver, field dressing gloves, a moist towelette for cleanup, a pen to sign your license, a safety pin, strike anywhere matches. It also has room left over for a small knife or anything else you may want to put inside. It is very light weight, only 10 oz. Just clip it, with the quick snap clasp, to your hunting belt and you're on your way. I got it from a friend and he got it off the internet at deerhuntingdrag.com. Cool idea and cheap, only $14.99.

Put deer on a cart

We have had good luck, getting our deer out, by putting the deer onto a handcart that we bought at KMART. A $30.00 investment will save you a lot of sweat and backache. We secure the deer to the cart with rubber bungee straps. Now all that you have to do is pull the deer out on the handcart. Try it, it works!

Simple deer drag

If you are like me and like to pack light while hunting, I've got a great tip for getting your deer out of the woods. After field dressing your deer, take your knife and cut a slit from nostril to nostril through the deer's nose. Do not cut all the way through the tip of the nose. Cut a stick approx. 1-foot long by approx. 3/4" diameter, not a rotten stick or dead limb. Fresh cut from the tree works best. Push the stick half way through the hole you made in the deer's nose and you know have a handle that one or two people can use to drag the deer. If you are considering having your deer mounted I do not recommend this technique. I've done this for several years and it works great. Trust me, The deer will not feel a thing. Also, If you cut the hole right, the nose will not pull off.

Use a plastic sled

After you field dress you deer use a plastic sled to drag it out of the woods. The sled is much easier to pull and it also helps keep dust, dirt and debris off the animal. Other benefits are, they are very inexpensive, light to carry or drag and they are sold almost everywhere.