Packing out deer?

[woodchucker]

Well, more power to you fellas!!!!!
I've been dragging deer for over 40 years... Catskills, Adirondacks, Maine... Farthest one, was the 208# 8pt, That I shot 7 miles up the Union River in Maine. It just seems easier to "stop" and sit down & rest, than...
"I pick things up and put them down..."

[Gehrke145]

That's all we can do in the west.  I'm not sure what's not ethical to cut it up on site or in the barn?

[LC]

I'm getting older and been doing this "trad" thing before it was even called that. My state which is usually last in doing things passed a law you can check in without taking a full body! Now you can cell phone check in. I've never drug a deer since then. I'll go back and get a back pack and pack out meat only.

[old_goat2]

Bone them out and pack them out. I've also quartered with hide on and took rib meat, that was an 87# pack and three mile hike and it was just an average mature doe. It's several trips for an elk

[YosemiteSam]

The last deer I shot was about 2-3 miles in.  Shot it on the way to where I was going to camp for a few days but never even made it to camp.  My pack was basically an oversized daypack -- no internal frame meant for ultralight packing.  I took everything out in 2 loads of about 40#.  Quarter field dressed (gutless method), kept the bones in the quarters for the sake of time but left the hide and ribcage meat (still regretting that).  This was a very active bear area so I wanted to get it out as fast as possible.  Oh well.  Shot the deer around 5 pm, validated my tag at the nearest fire station around 10:30 pm and was home by midnight.  Covered about 8 miles total but never carried more than about 40-50# at any time (counting my heavy rifle and the head).

Mind you, I like to run and backpack a little.  I'm no power lifter but by hunting season, I've done a few 20+ milers.  I prefer a couple lighter loads to one big load.

Last year, I got a tip from a cowboy that there were some bucks a few miles deeper than where I camped.  I went to check it out.  But I turned back when I realized what 2 loads at 6 miles in were going to require of me if I actually got one.  Hunting solo has some limits.

[randy grider]

Quartering out a deer means carrying useless bones out, to be desposed of later. I reccomend boning out the animal, take only whjat you can use, leave the guts, bones for scavengers. Most whitetail can be reduced to 40-70 # of bonede out meat, dont care how big they are, and 70 would be a huge deer. Those bones are heavier than you think. Its a simple process. Splity hide down the belly, the inside of the hide is your clean working surface. cut meat off the bone and place in clean game bags, or cheap pillow cases. Carry what you can, hang the rest in a tree, at most two trips should get it. The tenderloins can be accessed by a slit, and reach in gut cavity to pull out. Hide also can be used to carry meat out and keep clean. Its so simple, cant understand why some complicate it so.

[calgarychef]

Depends on where you're hunting as to how much a boned out deer will weigh.  Canadian deer are on average a bit bigger, I get 70 lbs, of very clean and trimmed deer meat once it's all cut and wrapped.  I'd think I start with about 90lbs of meat deboned in the field (I keep every morsel).

A small doe can be packed like this, hard to describe but easy to do. Cut through the Achilles' tendon, push the front foot through the space you've created.  Then cut partially through the front ankle and bend it sideways to partially break the joint.  It'll stay jammed in the back leg like this and you can put it over your shoulder like a haversack.

[randy grider]

Then you are carrying bones, hide, hooves everything. I think the original post was how to easily pack a deer long distances. Less weight is easier, and to get less weight would mean deboning and trimming away all useless matter in the field.

For a whole deer, I have made it easy.  I have an aluminum cart.  I clip a tree stand safety harness to the pull bar so the cart rides at about butt level.  Then it allows one to put his body weight into the load.  This rig has hauled out many deer as I let anyone use it.  As a result when I get a deer that needs hauling, I call someone in my town. They hook up my trailer that has my cart in it and come out and help me strap on the deer, and then tell me how easy it is to pull out a deer with that rig, while I follow along.

[Chain2]

Where I'm at your never too far from a two track. Even one that has some growth in it. I sled or cart. I also drag sometimes though but I connect from my safety vest and keep it short. Dragging is a lot easier with the best.

[calgarychef]

Randy, yes you're carrying everything except guts and head, but like I said a small doe can be carried like that.  For big deer like I shoot    you'll need a backpack or game cart.

[randy grider]

most of the time mine are easy to get out, at home, its a 4 wheeler, and some on public land have beena short drag to the truck, but for those way back in there, I bone out. just cant see carrying something that im going to throw away.