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Getting your harvest out

yakcraz

yakcraz

Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2018
Messages
51
Location
Guntersville, AL
You’ve had a successful hunt & found your trophy. Now, how do you go about getting it out? Over the years I’ve had to use several different methods, from dragging by hand to cutting a pole tying the legs to it & two guys shouldering the pole & toting it out. Probably the most common though is dragging with my deer drag that stays in my pack until I get it to where it can be reached with a vehicle of some sort. Fortunately where I usually hunt is family land & usually there’s someone to help if needed, & drags to the ATV trail, edge of field, or highway are relatively short. There’s some public land around that I go to a couple times a year though & most of it can only be accessed by foot. So for you guys that are going an hour into the woods on foot, what do you do when you get one?
 
Nutterbuster said:
Cut. Him. Up.

If it's a short trip back to camp/truck/boat, i just whack the quarters off and pull the backstraps. If it's a hike, I skin and debone the quarters and stuff them in a black contractor bag.
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I’ve never had to do that before. Matter of fact, it’s been years since I’ve skinned & quartered one up. Usually we just gut them & take um straight to the processor. Do you strap them to a frame pack or something to carry out?
 
A frame pack definitely works the best. I've also lashed quarters to my treestand back when I still used one. But an average Deep South doe will fit in a regular backpack just fine deboned.

I HATE big backpacks, so I generally hunt with my little pack and keep a medium ALICE pack back at the canoe/truck. If I kill something that won't fit in my regular pack, I'll walk out, drop my gear off, and go back for the critter. Yes it's a pain, but it's less of a pain than always carrying a big pack.
 
Nutterbuster said:
A frame pack definitely works the best. I've also lashed quarters to my treestand back when I still used one. But an average Deep South doe will fit in a regular backpack just fine deboned.

I HATE big backpacks, so I generally hunt with my little pack and keep a medium ALICE pack back at the canoe/truck. If I kill something that won't fit in my regular pack, I'll walk out, drop my gear off, and go back for the critter. Yes it's a pain, but it's less of a pain than always carrying a big pack.
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That’s kinda what I was wondering. I hate big packs too. I don’t carry much gear, just a daypack size pack with a small cleaning kit, some toilet paper, small first aid kit, gloves, neck gaiter, beanie, a snack, water bottle, a deer drag, headlamp & batteries, ink pen, small hand saw, & add my poncho if it looks like it might rain. That stuff pretty much fills my bag so nothing else is gonna fit. I strap my clothes to the outside if needed. I guess I need to pick up a frame pack to put in the truck & watch a YouTube video to brush up on my knife skills before I hit the public land. Was thinking about going there in the morning but may just hunt at home & save the public land for next season when I’m more prepared. I do have a Jet Sled XL. If I’m gonna walk all the way back to the truck to get something to carry the deer out anyway, I wonder how it would work taking it.
 
yakcraz said:
That’s kinda what I was wondering. I hate big packs too. I don’t carry much gear, just a daypack size pack with a small cleaning kit, some toilet paper, small first aid kit, gloves, neck gaiter, beanie, a snack, water bottle, a deer drag, headlamp & batteries, ink pen, small hand saw, & add my poncho if it looks like it might rain. That stuff pretty much fills my bag so nothing else is gonna fit. I strap my clothes to the outside if needed. I guess I need to pick up a frame pack to put in the truck & watch a YouTube video to brush up on my knife skills before I hit the public land. Was thinking about going there in the morning but may just hunt at home & save the public land for next season when I’m more prepared. I do have a Jet Sled XL. If I’m gonna walk all the way back to the truck to get something to carry the deer out anyway, I wonder how it would work taking it.
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Quartering one up is stupid-simple. Takes all of 10 minutes tops if your knife is sharp and the deer didn't die somewhere goofy. Backstraps are a bit more fiddly and time consuming, but not bad at all.

Deboning hams is easy. Shoulders are the PITA. They're more bone than meat.

I hunt a lot of marshy/swampy areas and riverbottoms that are filled with washed-up deadfall. Dragging on a sled isn't really an option for me. Walking one out on your back is way easier. I generally don't even have to stop for breaks. Dragging I get winded pretty quickly.

You try. You like. :)
 
Check your regs - in some states quartering a deer is illegal. I use a cart, a plastic flat "sled" and my yaks - really depends on where I am hunting that day.
 
Nutterbuster said:
Quartering one up is stupid-simple. Takes all of 10 minutes tops if your knife is sharp and the deer didn't die somewhere goofy. Backstraps are a bit more fiddly and time consuming, but not bad at all.

Deboning hams is easy. Shoulders are the PITA. They're more bone than meat.

I hunt a lot of marshy/swampy areas and riverbottoms that are filled with washed-up deadfall. Dragging on a sled isn't really an option for me. Walking one out on your back is way easier. I generally don't even have to stop for breaks. Dragging I get winded pretty quickly.

You try. You like. :)[/QUOTE
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Is there a frame pack you recommend?
 
Jet Sled!! I've successfully drug out 4 deer and a hog this year with ease through the thick brush downed trees and swamp. I simply modified the rope to make it longer. It will even pull behind a bike. best $40 ive spent so far. sled.jpg
 
yakcraz said:
I’m in Alabama & will be on TVA land so should be good if I have to quarter one up.
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If you don't have a ton of hills/creeks to cross, I would not overlook those cheap hard plastic deer drags. they roll up into a very small roll, weight little to nothing (1-2 pounds) and they work amazingly well. I got my last buck out this year using one as I have for several years. Game carts are great if you have trails/roads without a ton of fallen timber. I packed out enough elk and mulies in my younger years to know that works well also.
 
yakcraz said:
Is there a frame pack you recommend?
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I use an old ALICE because it's what I had. My dad had one lying around thanks to his stint as a combat engineer. They're fairly cheap, heavy, and not that comfortable to me if you're using them heavily, but they're fine for packing game out. It would hurt my feelings to use a nice pack for bloody heads.
 
spear0 said:
Jet Sled!! I've successfully drug out 4 deer and a hog this year with ease through the thick brush downed trees and swamp. I simply modified the rope to make it longer. It will even pull behind a bike. best $40 ive spent so far. View attachment 9240
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I've been wanting to try one of these. Some areas I hunt you cant't quarter up and the game cart in not practical. Maybe use for loose gear in the back of my truck when not in use?
 
spear0 said:
Jet Sled!! I've successfully drug out 4 deer and a hog this year with ease through the thick brush downed trees and swamp. I simply modified the rope to make it longer. It will even pull behind a bike. best $40 ive spent so far. View attachment 9240
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Here’s mine. I’ve never used it for hunting lol. We use it at the beach to transport chairs, cooler, umbrellas, fishing gear, etc & sometimes drag it behind the four wheeler to transport firewood. It does a great job on the sand with two people pulling it. May have to give it a shot for hunting!!!
16F52AE5-221F-4C36-8586-7356F69547D8.png
 
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Public said:
I've been wanting to try one of these. Some areas I hunt you cant't quarter up and the game cart in not practical. Maybe use for loose gear in the back of my truck when not in use?
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I've been keeping my loose gear inside the sled in the garage ready to go hunting. When I leave drag to side door and load my gear into the cab then slide the cooler, bike and sled into the shell. This thing is legit. There are beefier models out there but so far this one fits the bill. Wont go hunting without it. Its great for yard work too!!
 
Nutterbuster said:
Quartering one up is stupid-simple. Takes all of 10 minutes tops if your knife is sharp and the deer didn't die somewhere goofy. Backstraps are a bit more fiddly and time consuming, but not bad at all.

Deboning hams is easy. Shoulders are the PITA. They're more bone than meat.

I hunt a lot of marshy/swampy areas and riverbottoms that are filled with washed-up deadfall. Dragging on a sled isn't really an option for me. Walking one out on your back is way easier. I generally don't even have to stop for breaks. Dragging I get winded pretty quickly.

You try. You like. :)
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The problem with deboning is that I'd end up losing many of my favorite cuts. No shanks, ribs, whole hams, crown roast/rack of venison, etc. I kinda like leaving the shoulders bone in too, but that's mostly down to laziness to be honest. I imagine deboning the neck would be a bit of a pain in the field too. Something's gotta give if you're deep in, but wherever possible I'm keeping everything short of the head, tail, spine, lower legs for food purposes.
 
DaveT1963 said:
If you don't have a ton of hills/creeks to cross, I would not overlook those cheap hard plastic deer drags. they roll up into a very small roll, weight little to nothing (1-2 pounds) and they work amazingly well. I got my last buck out this year using one as I have for several years. Game carts are great if you have trails/roads without a ton of fallen timber. I packed out enough elk and mulies in my younger years to know that works well also.
Click to expand...
Here’s the one I use now. It was cheap, takes up no room in my pack, you can sling it over you & use your whole body to pull, & it works fairly well on flatter ground with no debris.
7A6372CA-FCCB-4CFB-AC3E-D7DC24010CF8.pngAA96604B-077E-4D30-9603-184743AF1786.png
 
Nutterbuster said:
I use an old ALICE because it's what I had. My dad had one lying around thanks to his stint as a combat engineer. They're fairly cheap, heavy, and not that comfortable to me if you're using them heavily, but they're fine for packing game out. It would hurt my feelings to use a nice pack for bloody heads.
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I’ll probably just use what I have for now. But, I’m definitely gonna pick up a frame pack of some type next year, because I’m kind of a gear whore lol.
 
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