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conflicted

Pulled a set yesterday in some pretty big woods for my area. It's over a mile from my car through woods/swamp. Stuffed ratchet straps, lifeline, etc in a back pack, slung the Dick's $50 hang on over one shoulder and the old Summit climbing stick over the other and started to walk out. Just past the opening in the stone wall I discovered a wide community scrape with antler broken licking branch along with a few rubs, both fresh and historical and fresh doe tracks. I had not hunted the stand last season and so never saw the sign. Part of me wants to return in March and place a comfortable hang on in a perfect spot for a few long sits in this pinch but the (very small) logical part of my brain says the drag would be hellacious. At this point in my life should I stick to the easy hunting spots and not challenge myself ? More importantly and to the point, should I admit defeat in an existential way ? Sooner or later the bell tolls for all of us.

I’d say allowing some young people to help you drag a buck out would probably make them feel very happy and helpful. It would be a gift you give them to show them they can keep going for longer than they think.

Other than first week of shotgun you can break deer down.

Or, if you have a discreet younger friend, you could show him the spot. Then later on recruit him to help you drag from another place.

I'd put a cam on the scrape and hang the stand there in spring. There's always help available to drag. Can never have too many stands..

Mhg, I'll never show that spot to anyone ; there's no place quite like it in my area. It's coyote central so I'd have to debone and pack out in two or three trips, making sure for the return trips to bag and suspend meat out of reach of yotes. Maybe a horn porn buck pic from a cam might inspire me. A caped head and some meat can be a load in itself . But it would be a great challenge , and succeeding would be the sweet side of existential . I think that bell is faintly tolling in the distance; there's still time !

I agree with Ungie. Cam it. I would rather face a hellacious drag than tag soup! Get help with drag and also commit to only shooting a trophy there rather than average buck. Then you won’t mind the drag :-)

Ungie I can't bring myself to reveal that spot ; just not in my DNA. Worked too hard to find it. Not a lot of deer but a few big deer. Proline , you're correct about only shooting a trophy. My grandson is a big kid, 6'2" and strong. He's sure gonna have a hard time dragging blindfolded, LOL.

What was the point of scouting for that great spot if you're not going to hunt it or share where it is? You will probably only hunt it a couple times a season, figure out the help you'll need (keep grandson on speed dial) before you hunt it, just in case you're successful. Hell, a good grandpa would just put the kid there, lol. Then you can help him.

Never let the drag keep you from hunting a spot. There is always a way. Plenty of people would be willing to help, people that wont take your spot.

Cam it. Hang it. Shoot a giant. Make 3 trips out.

I'm with Lunker on this.

Sounds like more of a mental thjng than a physical thing right now. See what happens in March and then reevaluate.

Possible solutions: Set another stand a few hundred yards shy of the happy place. Invite another trusted friend or family to park and hunt at your place in that stand. Drop them off at shalow stand and pick them up on the way out. If you nail a worthy one give a shout for the drag out.

Or... part 1. install a pulley on your stand to hoist that buck when it happens and cape it out. +Take front legs use a short rope and sling over shoulders... Part 2,: Then go back for back legs and straps.

Part3: recover in hospital with drinking buddies.

Find a non hunter friend who loves venison. He helps and gets half the meat (or % of your choosing.) You get half the meat, antlers, and a hell of a story with your buddy. And he won’t hunt it.

A blind guy.

Hunt it. One day we all will go out for a hunt, it will be our last, and we won't even realize it at the time. It's coming for all of us. Hunt it.

Sosso, In a different twist to your thought there was an outdoor writer whose health was failing. Before his death he wrote a short story about an old dying man who ended his life dreaming that he was on a hunt , young and invincible in a wonderful grouse cover. He postulated that heaven was your soul returning to a place that you immensely enjoyed in life , a compelling possibility for when the bell tolls.

Do it

BD - It's literally how I want to go out. If I had my choice it would be a massive heart attack while dragging a buck. Coming off the high, cool morning, sun coming up, I should be so lucky. Dear god please don't let me die in a hospital bed.

The answer is ....ill go with ya. ..problem solved.

Sosso, allow me to quote a relatively obscure poet, Edmund Vance Cooke, who summarized it well in the last stanza of his poem "How Did You Die ?....."Death comes with a crawl or comes with a pounce and whether he's slow or spry, It isn't the fact that you're dead that counts, But only how did you die".

If you have friends who can help drag, hunt away. If not... more proximal spots are better than an MI... Gotta admit though, I'd be tempted.

Bd your a wise man, you must kno that the energy spent to find the spot is worth the energy to hunt it! Save it for a special day and try atleast once, you'll always regret it if you don't try while you can

SOsso, that's how I would probably prefer to go out, but while I'm sucking in my last breaths, I would be hoping someone finds me and the buck in time to get the buck into the cooler. No sense both of us decompose in the woods. Let me rot, but don't let the venison go to waste.

Shanation......well said

Shantion x2

Guarantee there’s like 3 deer drives that go through there.

Agree, hang a cam or 2 there and then decide if it’s worth the drag. Are you talking about knee deep water that you have to hike through kinda swamp or is there a way to get a sled or cart around it? Heavy mud, water that you would not want to drag a field dressed deer through, I can see the conflict.

A number of years ago I spent an hour clawing and crawling through a metrowest swamp and putting up a camera—convinced that I was probably the only human to ever set foot on that ground. Or in that water, however you want to put it. Left the camera there for several months, primarily because it was such a pain in the arse to get in there. Finally I bit the bullet and went in to retrieve the camera, and came home for the big reveal—monster bucks for sure, maybe even a bear! But it turns out, in three or four months, the only thing on that camera was another guy. Who, like me, had probably watched a few too many Dan Infalt videos.

Hunt in the morning when you have nothing else planned that day. If you kill, take your time. Drag a short distance, rest and repeat. Make a morning of it. No rush. Enjoy the outdoors and get your exercise in small bites. I’ve done it this way once or twice out of necessity but I’ve found it’s all how you look at it. Also pack water and a few bars.

I always let my wife and 2 sons know where I'm hunting, for safety.

A couple of times my sons have helped me drag, when they were not at work.

I use a Jet Sled for dragging. A couple of years ago, I bought a Jet Sled with ballon tires. I also bring a pair of ramps, and just wheel the sled into the back of my truck.

Over on CT forum, from 'steve'.

Quarter it and take it out in pieces.

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