How to haul deer and elk

[Buffalobob]

Here is how I hauled elk out of the woods and then to home.

This is a deer cart from Bass Pro that I spray painted with camo so the dead elk would not see it and get spooked. The wheels come off by removing a couple of clips and the frame folds up really small. I can move 100 pounds with it easy enough. Because it is designed for whole animals I first totally deboned the elk and packed the parts in quart and gallon and extra large plastic bags and then put that into back packs and tied them onto the cart. About once every half mile or so I would hit a rock or log that would over turn the cart and I would have to righten the cart.

The elk went into the Coleman Extreme coolers - two large ones required. The coolers were set in a walk in freezer for 48 hours and then 5 pounds of dry ice were placed on top of the meat. The meat was still frozen five days later.

The shotgun is loaded with slugs so if while I was all bloody and hauling meat a bear had become suicidal I could have granted his wish.

The last picture I named "stupid" because I totally filled up that freezer and then could not lift it into the truck bed. I had to empty it and put the cooler in the truck bed and then refill it. Dam, but that was stupid.

 

[bailey1474]

There are alot of $150-$200 options out there for pump shotguns. Would save a guy some wear and tear on his O/U.

BTW, while only a few fellow Okies may understand this, I would like to state that I did not place an O and a U next to each other capitalized. There is a / inbetween.

 

[royinidaho]

Pretty nice base camp area!!! Ya gotta love Idaho!!!

Hey, you gotta watch those wheeled things, they'll run over ya every chance they get. They're worse than a horse.

No worry about bars (griz) in that area, they say. But about 30 years ago I was witness to a griz that walked up in fresh snow behind my hunting buddy. He was pretty surprised when I showed where the griz walked up and face him @ 15 yds (he was looking the other way) then meandered off on his merry way.

We also watched a wolverine for awhile.

That was on Morgan Creek Road headed away from Challis and just before the top when it drops done into Forney.

Hey, do you use that string idea on all of you rhuntin' weapons? Or don't the swivel thingers fit on the O/U either. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[redbone]

Buffalobob

The Pic,s look good .but do you have an patten on the sling studs on you shoot gun .

I like to use red hay string on mine , But your white looks good.

Redbone

 

[Mule]

Buffalobob,

How many trips did you take to pack the elk out? I had to use a wheel barrow this year up an old rail bed and it took 4 trips for two elk (hinds and fronts, bones and all) and it was uphill and nearly killed me and my buddy. My cow weighed in at 275 at the processors so it was good size. I think next time I will bone it out but I am still interested since I do not know if it would shed 100++ pounds by removing the bones. I like the cart better than an old rusty minning wheelbarrow but it still looks like several trips.

Thanks for your thoughts

Mule

 

[NYLES]

Anyone ever tried a X-large ruck with frame?...works pretty good! Takes the push pull out of the equation. That buggy there is what I used for 2 hogs this year had both on it at the same time easy 350#s'.

 

[Buffalobob]

BJ

Where I live I am not allowed to possess a handgun. The little O/U weights 6 ¼ pounds and I am pretty good with it. In two days of hauling elk it took more damage than in all of the past 35 years I have owned it. It is enough to make a person cry.

Roy

The reason I used string on my rifle was Macmillian goofed up on my flush cups and mixed the wrong cups with the wrong swivels and I did not have the tools to fix it while I was in Idaho. Since then I have fixed it and Kirby knows to watch for their goof ups.

Redbone

I prefer fluorescent green but I was tired and the white was handy. The issue is obviously that the gun has to be immediately ready to use but out of the way. A bear will not give you much warning so when it is time to dance you better have your dancing shoes ready.

Mule

The brown pack on the hauler is an external frame pack. The first day I used the frame without the bag to haul out the head. That was a chore, with the antlers getting hung in all of the bushes and trees. It is much better to shoot a spike so the head is not so heavy.

The second day I spent deboning the elk. I put a plastic sheet on the ground (1.5 mil 9'X12') and put the cut meat on the tarp and when it was all cut up I then took quart, gallon and extra big plastic bags and bagged all of the meat. Then I loaded up the two back packs with all the meat they would hold and tied them on the cart and set off for camp which was four miles away down an old firelane bulldozer trail. The last day I went back for the meat that was still left laying up there on the plastic tarp (that was a little scarey wondering if a bear would be waiting on me) and loaded the meat into the backpacks and tied them onto the hauler, cleaned up any trash (snickers wrappers mostly) and headed back to camp.

Nyles

The brown ruck was used without the pack to carry the head and rack and with the pack to hold the meat onto the carrier.

I have a large internal frame pack for actually camping in the backcountry but I would not like to goo it up with blood.

2007 improvements

The wheeled carrier has such large opening that you have to have a frame pack to keep the fluid feeling meat from going through the openings and dragging the ground. I am going to find some plastic construction fencing or hardware cloth or something so the meat can put in large game bags and be loaded directly onto the hauler.

 

[davewilson]

Bob, you won't be able to use that puppy where we're going! i'm still jealous of your hunting adventure this past fall.

 

[Buffalobob]

Dave

Can we rent a helicopter?

 

[NYLES]

BB,

Drill holes in the handles for a pin when you want it extended out! If you havent done it yet load that puppy down and let it bite your finger one time!

Reason I said framed ruck is because you can get them pretty cheap and they are very washable.....Id say you could get 80# a trip. buggies are the best but there are places they can make for a ruff trip. Ill send you a pick with the two hogs I loaded at the same time. Moved em about a mile to the truck.........was very tired!

 

[shortshooter]

Live in North Idaho and must say that cart would be not be useful in much of our area. Alright on logging roads and such, but the brush here is just too thick for most cart applications.

The pack subject is interesting. I will not use an external pack after using an quality internal pack. Frame packs don't fit the body and are way uncomfortable.

Look at packs from Kifaru and Mystery Ranch. Get some Kifaru game bags to keep the pack clean, and your set. Those old externals and packboards bite into the shoulders and are not great for positioning weight. Get modernized with a quality pack.

 

[davewilson]

Bob, yes, we can rent a helicopter. you'll have to pay for "most" of it!

if i remember right, the walk to the "spot" is a piece of cake. i was referring to getting the deer out.

 

[sambo3006]

buffalobob,
Don't feel too bad about overloading the cooler on the ground. My buddy and I did that in 2005 when we stuffed an entire boned out cow elk plus ice in a 150 qt cooler on the ground. Luckily we were able to drag it over to a spot where the ground sloped off and we could back the truck up to it. We only had to lift it about a foot but I thought I needed to do the old "turn your head and cough" test after it was loaded! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif