Deer hunting question

[Alpo]

You go hunt deer. You kill one.

 

How do you get it out of the woods. That is how do YOU get it out?

 

Every time I've ever been involved with something like this the deer has been close enough to a road (car track through the woods) that we could drive to within maybe 150 yards, and then drag the deer to the truck.

 

GotGUY ON another board posted. Man killed a deer, dressed it, and then cut it up to pack it out. When he came back for another load a brown bear had laid claim to it, and the bear killed the man.

 

One of the responses on the thread was that it must have been a huge deer that it had to be parted out to be carried out.

 

The last yearDEER I killed dressed out 40 pounds. Not that difficult to put on my back and take out of the woods. The first one I killed dressed out 150. Fortunately I had two other people with me and between the three of us we took it to the car. But if I'd been alone - yeah I would have had to part it out.

 

So do you hunt deep enough in the woods that you would have to take the deer out in chunks to get it back to transportation? Or can you pretty much drive up close?

 

Edited November 2 by Alpo
otto

[Texas Lizard]

I thought you brought your wife along for the heavy work....

 

Texas Lizard

[Finagler 6853 Life]

I'm lucky in that I hunt on my own place. I have trails that we drive UTVs on so it is usually a short drag unless I hunt across the creek.  Then it is about a 100 yard drag down to the  creek and another 100 yard drag to the closest trail road.  A good healthy doe will run around 140 pounds. A good healthy buck can go 170+ dressed. Our deer are fed corn, alfalfa, apples and veggies they purloin from the garden. I've been walking out the garage door the past few days to find a half dozen does eating crab apples off the ground.  I've seen a couple young bucks as well. 

I remember as a "yout", if we shot a deer the drag  could be a half mile or more. There was usually more than one of us to help but even 100 yards seems a lot longer on a drag through the woods. There aren't many flat spots. 

[Jabez Cowboy,SASS # 50129]

Up here a Whitetail  Buck will dress out between 200 - 350 pounds. And Mule deer Buck between 225 - 375 pounds, With some going upwards from there.

When I worked in the trade We live weighed several bucks over 500 pounds...

 

Jabez Cowboy

[Pat Riot]

I haven’t dragged a deer in quite a while. I must be a terrible hunter. 
Anyway, I dragged a deer about an eight of a mile once. 
 

Regarding the guy and the bear. A guy I worked with lived elk hunting. He hunted alone. He finally got a tag in Idaho. I guess he’d waited years to get one. So, he goes to Idaho and shoots an elk. He cut the elk up and carried a portion and the antlers out as the sun was setting. He returned in the morning to carry some more meat out. Trouble is there were two grizzly bears divvying up his spoils. He took a photo and left. 
The photo resides under the rack in his living room. 
 

Edit: the deer I dragged an 1/8th of a mile wasn’t mine. I belonged to this older gent who claimed he had a bad ticker. I helped him gut the deer and drug it out for him. He promised to give me some of the meat. I loaded the deer into his truck bed and he drove away. Never saw him again. 

Edited November 2 by Pat Riot

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

if you can, hunt where there are a lot of trees with long, fairly straight limbs.  I have always carried a small hatchet and a few yards of some sturdy cord.

 

I've managed to to find some branches to make a travois.  And I have NEVER hunted where I was very far from a partner for any number of reasons.  Remember that the wilds are called that for a reason.  You can die from any number of things.  Falls, animals, lack of water, injuries, weather, drowning, and almost everything in the wilds is against you.

 

Always have a plan.

 

Prepare for the worst.  You will not likely need it. but why risk your precious body.

[Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474]

For deer, I carry  carried a drag rope and hauled it out to the truck or my car.

Later, Dr-Dr Bob introduced me to a vinyl plastic sled that made things easier to skid out. 

 

Moose were a VERY different story.

Sometimes one of the group would venture into territory they shouldn't and pulled the trigger.'

THEN, it was field butchering, cutting into commercial cuts and packing the cuts out on a pack frame.

OH WHAT FUN!!

[Pat Riot]

@Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474 those are some impressive photos. 

What does moose taste like in comparison to venison or beef?

 

Quick funny story:

My Dad and one of his buddies went to Canada to hunt moose. They had no idea what they were doing and apparently hired a guide with the same knowledge. They got skunked, but on the last day of their hike with guns my Dad’s buddy had to go tinkle.
He went behind this tree and while he was standing there doing his business a bull moose came up behind him. The moose was smelling him as he stood there scared out of his wits and he couldn’t stop peeing. About a minute after he was finished the moose snorted against the back of his neck and turned and walked away. 
Apparently his gun was leaning against the far side of the tree and he was afraid to move because of all the stories he’s heard about bull moose stomping the heck out of people. Apparently the locals regaled them with stories of the dangers of moose at the lodge where they were staying. 
They didn’t get a moose. They never went back to Canada to “hunt” moose. 

[Duffield, SASS #23454]

Sportsmans Guide has a plastic wrapper that makes a deer easy to drag. They also have a two wheel cart. We have used a larger version of this cart to recover elk. It helps a lot to have a friendon a long drag!

Edited November 2 by Duffield, SASS #23454
Spelling

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Some years ago an F&G guy came to talk to our gun club.

 

one of the topics was the moose permit. If you had a moose tag you could bring someone with you. If you shot a moose in the deep woods, you were allowed to just bring back the fore legs. If it was a female, they also wanted the ovaries. One of the members piped up, “how can you tell? It’s all guts.”

[Pat Riot]

17 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

Some years ago an F&G guy came to talk to our gun club.

 

one of the topics was the moose permit. If you had a moose tag you could bring someone with you. If you shot a moose in the deep woods, you were allowed to just bring back the fore legs. If it was a female, they also wanted the ovaries. One of the members piped up, “how can you tell? It’s all guts.”

What’s an F’ing Gee Guy? 

[Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life]

For me, first I shoot a lot of deer and antelope. I butcher the meat myself. If you like deer, elk is a lot tastier. Moose is the best wild game meat I have ever eaten. I prefer it over beef.

 

It depends on the kind of hunting you do that dictates how you handle your kill. Blind hunting usually means you can get pretty close to you kill and they are usually dragged out a short distance to your transportation. If you hike and are a long ways from your transportation, you usually need to lighten your load a lot. I usually bone all the meat and pack it out. The other thing is that I NEVER hunt alone, so I always have help. Also depending on the country, I use a 2 wheeled cart. It all depends on the country you are hunting,  how you protect your meat. In Colorado we don't have any Grizz, just black bears. In grizz country I usually am prepared to spend the night with the meat. I build a fire and dress out the meat. If we leave, I am prepared to hoist the bagged meat up in a tree until it can be packed out.

 

Once you shoot your animal, the fun is over and the work starts!

[Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life]

20 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

Some years ago an F&G guy came to talk to our gun club.

 

one of the topics was the moose permit. If you had a moose tag you could bring someone with you. If you shot a moose in the deep woods, you were allowed to just bring back the fore legs. If it was a female, they also wanted the ovaries. One of the members piped up, “how can you tell? It’s all guts.”

Usually (in the states I hunt) you must leave evidence of the animals sex attached to an edible chunk of meat. 

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

Back when I was still hunting we didn't know about plastic sheets, etc.  I wish we had because dragging a travois is really more work than I wanted.  We used a small tarp to drag a deer out...ONCE!  A real PITAT.  Toward the end someone sold a fold up cart, sort of like  a wheelbarrow.  I saw some in stores but never saw one used.  Maybe ten pounds of aluminum, a couple of web straps,  and a solid rubber-like tire, folded into a 2' x' 2' x 1' pack.

Edited November 2 by Forty Rod SASS 3935

[Pat Riot]

Forty’s post reminded me of two guys I saw struggling to push a two wheeled game cart with a big mule buck like a wheel-barrow through a muddy field. They did not look happy and they were griping at each other. 
I yelled over “Would you like some help?”

One yelled back “Heck yeah, please”

”Try pulling the cart.” 

Life got a little easier for them…

I was going to also tell them that they should have gutted the deer first, but I didn’t want to kick them in the shins. They had a rough morning. 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

34 minutes ago, Pat Riot said:

What’s an F’ing Gee Guy? 

Fish and Game

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

31 minutes ago, Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life said:

Usually (in the states I hunt) you must leave evidence of the animals sex attached to an edible chunk of meat. 

It’s not attached to the forelegs.

[Henry T Harrison]

Our deer in Pennsylvania aren’t that big so as a younger man I had no problem dragging one out to the camp or nearby road. After dragging out a small doe when I got older I surrendered  and now use my quad with a 150 foot whinch. Problem solved 

[Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474]

2 hours ago, Pat Riot said:

@Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474 those are some impressive photos. 

What does moose taste like in comparison to venison or beef?

 

Like deer, a lot depends on what they are feeding on.

Up here for example once forage gets scarce here, deer start eating cedar bough greenery and the tender new growth. It really effects the taste of the meat.

They seem to know instinctively, that the cedar oils act as type of internal antifreeze during the winter. 

 

Moose, (Swamp Donkeys) prefer aquatic plants and roots, although that is not their sole source of feed.

Our season is basically in October, just before or at the start of the transition to winter feeding habits. 

We were taught a lot of the taste is affected by the way the meat is handled once the animal is dispatched, (Quickly or chased/tracked after a wounding, the rut etc.) then gutted. bled, cooled etc.

The meat can vary according to the food they are eating. I find it tasty, but drier than beef because there is little  or no marbled fat.

I have served it to guests and they didn't know it was anything other than beef.  I cook a roast with bed of chopped onions, a sprinkle of garlic powder, salt and fresh ground pepper, often some prepared mustard smeared over it and some red wine, all inside a LOOK Cooking bag to hold the moisture and capture all the juices for gravy.

I don't do a lot of steaks, because I find them harder to cook due to their dryness and I make a mess of them..

When we butcher, we turn as much as we can into roasts, a few steaks then stew or hamburg.

[Alpo]

1 hour ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

Some years ago an F&G guy came to talk to our gun club

 

58 minutes ago, Pat Riot said:

What’s an F’ing Gee Guy? 

 

24 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

Fish and Game

See, that's why we always called them simply A WARDEN. No confusion. People have these initials - G&F, F&G, GFWF (that last one is game & freshwater fish - that's what they call it here in Florida). Confusing.

 

It's like a carry permit. LCP? CWP? CFP? Everybody's got a different initial for it. But everybody knows what a carry permit is.

 

And most people understand Warden.

[Stump Water]

Drag it to where ever you could get to it with a 4-wheeler.

 

Where we hunted in in SW Va. was approx. 800 acres.  Half private land and the other half an adjacent lease.  Averaged 15 people in the group that hunted it.  While everyone hunted "alone", everybody knew where everybody was.  If you heard so-and-so shoot (or thought you heard so-and-so shoot - it can be hard to tell back in those hills) you swung by his stand on the way out to see if he needed help.  Back at camp, if it got to be well past shooting light and whosiwhat wasn't back yet we knew where he was and went out to check. 

 

When cell service came to the area it was a game-changer.  But even today, if you're down in one of them hollers, you'll need to get up on a ridge to get a signal.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

1 hour ago, Alpo said:

 

 

See, that's why we always called them simply A WARDEN. No confusion. People have these initials - G&F, F&G, GFWF (that last one is game & freshwater fish - that's what they call it here in Florida). Confusing.

 

It's like a carry permit. LCP? CWP? CFP? Everybody's got a different initial for it. But everybody knows what a carry permit is.

 

And most people understand Warden.

But he was not a Warden, just a F&G employee.

[Pat Riot]

4 hours ago, Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474 said:

I don't do a lot of steaks, because I find them harder to cook due to their dryness and I make a mess of them..

Get yourself a decent pellet smoker - not a Traeger. I have a Louisiana Grill, which the company that makes them originated in Canada. Anyway, slow smoking some of those steaks at 190-210℉ for about 40 minutes then quick sear them and you will have some tender juicy swamp donkey steaks. 
 

Swamp Donkey  Love that name. 

[Eyesa Horg]

I pretty much hunt my own property, so would drive my ATV and a trailer to it if I ever get one. 

And for sure, moose is the tastiest meat I've ever consumed. A half inch steak could be put between bread and eaten as a sandwich. It was better than the best black Angus I've ever had. 

And holy crap is it a lot of work after you pull the trigger!! Thank God some locals showed up and helped us get it off the mountain! Every single thing about a moose is work except eating it! 

 

Edit: 

Ours weighed 838# dressed and quite unlike the video Fish & Game sent us, they do not JUST roll onto their back like a deer.  I think I mentioned, they are a lot of work! 

 

Edited November 2 by Eyesa Horg
Added text

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

4 hours ago, Alpo said:

 

It's like a carry permit. LCP? CWP? CFP? Everybody's got a different initial for it. But everybody knows what a carry permit is.

 

Here in Washington it's a CPL-- concealed pistol license.

[Cactus Jack Calder]

Peeper’s Bear

 

This is a long winded story, so if you opt out, no big deal.
 

I worked 30+ years for Orange and Rockland Utilities. They served electric customers in southern New York, northern New Jersey and a strip of Pennsylvania along the Delaware River. Up along the Delaware on the New York side the Co holds large tracts of forest land as the water source for Hydro Generation. O&R let employees hunt the forest land in the appropriate seasons.

 

Peeper Earl was a Relay Tech at the Co. He was a little older, 60+, and sported a steel plate in his cranium. Peeper was a hunter and gun enthusiast. One year he decided he wanted to harvest a Black Bear. He scouted out one that looked fairly large and had regular habits. On opening day of Bear season Peeper set up in a likely spot and waited. Sure enough that Bear showed up on schedule, climbed up on a boulder and began sniffing the air. Peeper figured the Bear had caught a trace of his scent and decided this was the time to shoot him before he got too familiar. Having studied Bear anatomy in preparation for this hunt, Peeper knew right where to place his shot for a clean kill. Just behind the ear, was what he told me later.

 

So, BAM, Peeper let him have it with his 7mm-06(08?) I’m not sure of the 2nd # but 7mm rings true in my mind. Anyway the Bear goes down off the boulder and Peeper waits for signs of activity. After an appropriate time Peeper Indian’s up on the rock and looks for the carcass. Nothing! Ught Oh, this could be a problem. However, careful examination of the ground around the rock indicates that the Bear may have crawled into a good sized crack underneath. Using his flashlight Peeper sees fur well into the space. Well Peeper is prepared for any eventuality. He calls his adult son who is posted just down the road hunting dear. No sense in doing any heavy lifting when he has a healthy 20 something son. The young man arrives and they talk it over. They are not 100% sure the Bear is dead, so they get a long stick and poke it through the crack several times. No response, so likely it is deceased. Now how to get it out from under that boulder? The rock is too heavy to move.

 

The son volunteers to crawl in with a rope and tie it to some part of the Bear so they can try and pull it out. Dad is to sit just outside ready to shoot the Bear again if the son exits in hurry with the Bear after him. I’ll say that young man was braver or more foolish than I would have been. So the son crawls in and secures the rope to one paw, as that is all he can get a hold of. With that tentative purchases on the body they do manage to work the Bear out from under the rock.

 

Now they have to pack the entire Bear out to the Game Check Point for the Game Warden to measure, weigh and pull an eye tooth for study. New York State Game Laws did not allow the hunter to gut the animal before the Warden did his measurements. This Bear is large, too large for the two men to pack out to their vehicle. They need another alternative.

They leave the Bear and head out to the Check Point to consult with the Warden. ‘Could the Warden come out to the sight and do the record keeping? Or, could they clean the carcass and bring all the guts in a separate package?’  The answer was NO! The Warden couldn’t leave his post as he was the only one in the area and other hunters had to check in with him and sorry but rules are rules and he didn’t want to get in trouble for bending them.

 

I said Peeper was a hunter. He knew things I’d never know. One of those things was that when Bears are all prepared for winter hibernation the fat in their body will not allow rigor mortise to set in. The Bear’s body will not spoil overnight. That’s what he told me! What do I know different? I’ve never hunted Bear. So they go home and make arrangements to retrieve the Bear in the morning. They enlisted help and the loan of an ATV with a cargo rack on the back.

 

In the AM they show up at the sight and the body is undisturbed. Due to the fat, the body is so loose and floppy they can’t lift it onto the rack. They get the head end on and try to lift the back on and the head end falls off. And vice versa the other way around. Finally someone says let’s tip the ATV up on end so the rack is next to the Bear, tie it on, then pull the ATV upright. To their amazement it works. Sure there’s a loose paw hanging off here and there, but the main body is secured. A few extra loops of rope and they’ve got done. They head out to the Game Check Point to register the Bear. After careful measurements, it turns out this Bear is the second largest one ever taken in Orange County, NY and the third or fourth largest in NY State at the time.

 

Well Peeper had the skin prepared as a rug and the meat was parted out to his son and friends that helped retrieve it. One day Peeper brought some Bear Jerky in to the Energy Control Center where I worked and shared it with us System Operators, while regaled us with his story of the hunt. That was 40 odd years ago. I lost track of Peeper once he retired and I expect he is in the Happy Hunting Ground now. He had a million stories to tell and was always a good guy to have around.

 

CJ

[Alpo]

I shall tell a hunting story - actually two - of Suzee Silk Knickers.

 

Those of y'all that have been here a while remember Suzee. otto doesn't - he keeps changing the way I write her name.

 

Suzee lived in San Diego, but she was a big game hunter. She went North one year for Caribou. And before she went she verified with her guide that his generator would power her hair dryer. She said she was not going up in the woods for 2 weeks without a hair dryer. Her hair would have never unfrizzed.

 

But she was only up there about 3 days. She got Rudy, and since her license only allowed one caribou, there was no sense staying up there for another week or so so she came home. Without her hair dryer.

 

The first night, as she was drying her hair with her hair dryer, all of the guy hunters were snickering. And after she finished drying her hair, she used it to dry her boots. And they quit snickering. And they begged to borrow her hair dryer. And when she and Rudy went back to San Diego, they wouldn't let her take the hair dryer with her.

 

 

The next year she went to Alaska after Kodiak. I don't know what she used on Rudy - she didn't tell me - but when she went after bear she carried a 416 Rigby and was wearing a 454 Casull.

 

And she shot one. And he slid down in a crevasse. She and the guide spent the next several hours trying to figure how to get the bear up out of the hole. Then they gave up, went back to get supper and some sleep, and then they went back up the next day with a new plan for getting the bear.

 

And when they get to the crevasse they look down in, and there's a pack of wolves down there eating the bear.

 

Oh well. So she didn't get a bear that year. And I think it was the next year that the tree fell on her.

[Eyesa Horg]

8 minutes ago, Alpo said:

And I think it was the next year that the tree fell on her

  that sucks!

[Alpo]

Yep. December of 02. She was walking her dog - a long-haired dachshund - and a eucalyptus tree fell down on her.

[Sawhorse Kid]

I hunted in hills and brush.

So, depending on where you killed the deer depicts how much effort retrieval requires.

Sometimes you can drive right to it or at least get really close, other times you may have to drag it until you get to or near truck access.

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

2 hours ago, Alpo said:

Yep. December of 02. She was walking her dog - a long-haired dachshund - and a eucalyptus tree fell down on her.

 

I well remember stories of her when I joined here in '04.

[Alpo]

She told me about going to visit her brother, who was going to college in England. And they were supposed to meet at the Metro station.

 

And while she was standing there this French guy came up to her and said, "100 pounds?"

 

Suzee was doing competitive swimming at the time, and she said she was in the best shape she had been in years. She shook her head and told the guy, "102".

 

He thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "d'accord". Then her brother walked up, smiling. Spoke to the Frenchman quietly. The Frenchman smiled, nodded politely, and walked off.

 

Then her brother tells her, "He wasn't asking your weight, he was asking your price".

[Three Foot Johnson]

In my younger years, when we were much more avid "hunters", my cousin and I would make a challenge out of waiting until 30 minutes before sunset on the last day before setting out from my house to fill our deer tags, giving us one hour. I don't specifically remember ever getting skunked...? It's mostly open fields and accessible draws, so driving right to them or within a very few yards to load 'em up isn't a problem. Elk are a different story, and unless I draw a cow permit, I normally have to hit the woods, but I'm careful anymore not to take one somewhere I'll need to quarter it and pack it out, or haul horses in. The only moose permit I've ever drawn was in extreme northwest Montana, and I was very fortunate to drop it in a shallow spot on the bank of the Yaak river where we were able to drive within a few yards of it... after wading/swimming, dragging/floating it across a wide slow moving part of the river with a rope to the other side where the road was... in October... while my hunting buddy kept shouting across the water to me, "Would you hurry it up, I'm freezing over here"... 

 

Taken from my garage door. There's a stock tank in the bottom of the draw directly behind the juniper, so it's pretty common to see deer, elk, and even moose on a couple occasions. I'm sure bear and mountain lions also use it, but I've never seen one actually drinking out of it - the bears hang out a little higher up the mountain and the cats tend to stay hidden during the day.

[Capt. R. Hugh Kidnme]

As a "ute" I had no problem dragging field dressed deer, travois style (as 4T Rod said) whether in the woods or on farm fields. Now, I don't think I could make 25 yds without injuring myself.  So now, I only shoot targets, whether steel, clay or paper. They don't need to be dressed and they don't need to be dragged. 

[Michigan Slim]

I passed on a buck a couple of years ago on my place. That hill he was at the bottom of was looking a mite steep.