Dragging/packing a mule deer solo...?
Colorado
Just did some scouting with good results...
how far is too far to drag/pack out a deer by yourself? I am in good shape. I hiked a trail for 4.5 miles. Saw deer at the very end and at the 3.5 mile mark... as well as sign before hand along the way
Elevation wise it wasn't too bad. But how far can one conceivably haul out a deer solo?
Also, it's hot in colorado... how will this effect the meat on a deer during bow season? how hot is too hot?/timeline of ruined meat?
(only have my 2 feet)
The first step is to break the deer down into quarters and edible parts. Put the quarters and meat in a quality game bag to keep the flies off. Hang these bags in a tree with a lot of shade.
Take what you can carry out on your first trip. If you have a quality bag this might be half the deer and your camp or the whole deer boned out without packing your camp.
Hang the meat again close to the truck in the shade until you have everything packed off the mountain. When you are ready to leave, put all the meat in a cooler or two and get to ice asap.
If quartered and hanged meat can last a couple days in the shade. If you don't get the animal dressed and skinned or quartered within 12 hours your going to see spoilage in the core areas (hind quarter joints) and the insulated ground side. This is an all too common problem with the early seasons.
I suppose each person has their own limits on distance to pack out solo but the terrain is a factor. I'd say a boned out deer could be packed in one trip if your fit and take your time and have a quality frame pack. 4.5 miles would be ok for that.
Quality game bags, water filter, and good fitting quality boots are among the most important items you will need.
I would cut up the deer and pack it rather than dragging. Unless it's downhill every step of the way[unlikely] dragging is really hard. You should be able to get all the meat in two loads, maybe even one if it's small and you bone everything. You can always come back later for the head if it's a buck. There is no exact timeline for the meat. The temperatures can vary hugely with elevation. There is also a big difference between late August and mid-September in many cases. Just apply yourself to the task and get it done as quickly as you can. Make sure to keep any meat you can't carry in one load in the coolest shadiest place you can find. Good luck!
I agree with above comments, Yep, de bone the meat. Dragging it out not a good option unless it is within a few hundred yards of your camp/truck. If a creek is near by, place the quarters or deboned meat (in meat bags) in a plastic bag (only if the meat has cooled) and place in the cool water. I have done elk meat this way for a few days with no spoilage.
If you hang the meat at the bottom of a north-facing slope near a creek bottom it will keep for days. Dramatic difference in night temps will cool the meat through. We've hung elk quarters for five days like that at relatively low elevation in September.
As far as distance, all depends on you, the terrain, and the size of the deer. I killed a giant-bodied old buck in WY once that was nearly as big as a spike bull.
Deboned, a buck is one heavy trip or two less heavy trips. I usually don't hunt with a pack big enough to carry a heavy load comfortably so the plan, if alone, is take a lighter load back to camp and then go back with a good pack and get the rest.
As stated above, if you get it broken down into game bags without a big delay, put the bags off the ground in the shade, you are ok on time.
Some of the best years we ever elk hunted were using llamas. They'll haul anything, anywhere you can crawl, up or down. They don't need a lot of care - no certified hay - they seem to prefer brush, & even tree bark, to grass. They need water every three days or so. Far less hassle than horses, unless you already have one. If I ever considered going "solo" again, I'd bring a llama or two. One Llama would probably make the biggest buck a one trip venture - depending on how much stuff is in your spike bundle, and how much your own back can handle. One Llama = ~ 75-100 lbs of extra "whatever". Pretty goof camp watchdogs too - but the alarm bark will make you say "WTF"!!!? No, I don't own or rent any - just sharing our experiences...
Dragging a deer? Don’t even consider it.
Look up the “gutless method” for field dressing a deer. There are probably videos for deboning a deer out there too. Do that.
Get some good game bags. Spend the money on good ones with good material that can be used for many seasons.
Figure on about 55-65 pounds of boned meat, cape and head. With your camping and hunting gear, that will likely push pack out weight over 100-110# which is probably doable for you for fairly short hauls, but will be rough if you are looking at over 3 miles.
You can loose a lot of excess weight by caping the head cutting out the scull plate and tossing the bone and meat there. Look up how to remove a deer cape if you haven’t done that before.
You can hang your meat in a shady spot for up to a week, but I would not recommend it Being unattended for too long. Birds, bears, pine martens and other critters will gladly eat and crap on your meat and game bags if you leave it very long. If you do leave a load out overnight, leave as much human stink as possible (leave sweaty clothes, pee in the area, etc). to keep critters away.
Good luck! Shoot a big one!
Couldn't even imagine trying to drag one even a fraction of that distance unless it's all downhill. My dad, brother and drug one a half mile on a flat Ks. pasture. We got it done but WOW. It was brutal
I drug my share of WT back in the day, never again.
I can quarter up a deer and pack it out much easier.
Here is my kuiu 1850 with an entire big WT doe ready for travel.
Please don't drag it, just learn to keep the meat clean in the field and use good game bags. Last fall I shot a big buck about 2 miles from my truck on a warm day (70+), did the gutless method and took out the head, all 4 quarters bone-in, backstraps, neck, tenderloins and the brisket, in two trips. All the meat hanging weighed over 80lbs. and none of it was spoiled, it was a good hunt.
I pack meat out in Packs. I don’t drag animals
Cut it up, stuff it in a pannier, grab the lead rope. 'Best times, ever... The only thing better than heading out with a heavy pack full of hunting gear is something else to carry it for you. 'Makes 5-10 miles in a pleasant jaunt, rather than a duel. Good on all you guys that can still tough it out! Brings back some memories... T minus 38 days, but who's counting :)
i packed a good sized buck deboned but had the whole head too about 5 miles out in one trip, it about killed me but was worth not going back in.(10 miles roundtrip) It was some nasty terrain the first 2 miles up and down and an easy 3 the rest. Most of the pack out was in the dark in some good bear country and I was a walking meat stick so it gave me good motivation to beat feet.
Don't forget to leave proof of sex if boning-out!
Ahh, yes!
And it must be attached!
You can skin the scrotum and separate one testicle to each ham keeping them attached by the vein.
That is the cleanest way and doesn’t taint the hams that have much of the best meat.
/even with an either sex tag?
Does are messier. You can trim around the female parts and leave it attached to one ham. Or the udder which is even messier.
I marched by 3 clowns from back east with a whole boned cow on my back while they were killing themselves draggin a little 3pt buck. Those were young legs back then!
I'm tellin you - Llamas... The lead rope might weigh 8 oz... What you want to carry on yer back is up to you. My all time personal record is moving 45,000 lbs in a single day ( hay). I was strong as a bull, but not exceptionally bright - at least on that day. Guess what they expected the next day? Guess how many more days that job lasted?
Llamas can really make for a great backcountry experience. Really easy going in with them packing all the luxuries and then a little tougher coming out with your deer or elk. They are amazingly easy on the terrain and seem to enjoy the work.
soccern23ny did you just move here or are you not from colorado or just say your from colorado?
Don't matter either way but i watched cheese-heads drag a cow elk 2 miles to the end of the wilderness boundary then a cart for another 3. I passed them on a horse, my horse did not like the cart that much.
If your tough enough you could carry a deer out 10 miles!
If it's a nice trail a game cart will make things easier. You still might need to pack it on your back to the trail but if you can use a cart for part of the trip it will speed things up considerably. Also if the packout is mostly downhill it will be faster than uphill.
@ski & skin.
from the northeast, 2nd year in CO, first time finally going out....
yeah out east, hunting is generally easier, usually not more than a half mile from car, and land so flat you'd think the earth wasn't round. Add snow at the start of gun season(a monthish long) and you can push the deer once and it will be back at your car.
I use to talk up llamas too and now they are booked way in advance...can never get em any more and the price has gone way up...
If it doesn't go in your mouth or on the wall leave it!!!
Guess you need to buy a little herd of llamas, Ted!
Then you could rent them out to some of us bowsiters:)
Paul uses carts to get critters out and it sounds like a good idea. I keep saying I’m going to look into one of those....
Then Lou up and decides to get an electric bike! Now that with a cart has some serious possibilities!
Those hills are actually getting lower, but I’m getting older much faster!
It'll be interesting to see how the electric bike thing plays out. A motor is a motor, except... I can see that being a "senior/handicapped" option. 'Pushed a mountain bike a few miles up the hill once. The ride down was a blast. 'Not worth repeating the push up, for us, anyway. Llamas need to be booked by late winter, if not sooner.
Speaking of llamas, a friend of mine hunts the Sarvis every year and owns llamas. He asked me to hunt with him so I did for a week about 6 years ago. We took 6 llamas. There were four guys and a very cozy camp. The llamas were great and very easy to take care for. I'd use them again in a minute.
cnelk and I are alike - I have the Kuiu 1850 for my daypack and it expands to hold an entire boned out deer. I bring the smaller Wyoming saw and cut the antlers off (not much for stuffed heads). The additional weight is 70-80 lbs - gets tiring but the deer is back to camp that night. Similar for elk - getting 80 lbs out on the first trip means one less round trip later. This has gotten more important because my hunting partners are getting up in age. An extra day of packing for each animal shot would leave my hunting time down to nothing.
Been doing this in one method or another for our 25 years out west. First mule deer I shot we attempted to drag - that lasted 200 yards and the hide on one side was worn down to the ribs. The rest have been cut up - first just gutted and cut in 1/2, now leaving as much bone in the woods as possible. This method works well as long as you can carry 90-100 lbs for one trip.
Great article with weights of deer at various ages, sex, and break down.
I have used a game cart for deer 4 times and can't imagine going about solo recovery any other way. The furthest trip was just over 1 mile and shortest was 200 yards. Each trip was much better with wheels. Someday I'll kill an elk that I can retrieve with my game cart.
Game carts are okay - if you have trails/roads to roll them on. If you shoot your deer/elk in a blowdown area, they wouldn't be worth it.
The CWD laws insist that you don't bring back the brain/spine to your state. Doesn't make a lot of sense to get either of those back to your camp only to cut them off.
About the only downside I have found with boning them out in the woods is I tend to get more hair/dirt/sticks on the meat than I would if cutting it up in a controlled environment. Others are probably better at this than I am.
I don't worry about twigs...leaves and sticks AT ALL...stuff it up in some evergreen to cool and be in the shade...put it in an airy cool spot.....splay the meat out a bit...I have killed well over 100 animals and never lost anything...I get it back and wash it in the sink scrubbing with green pad. I know some people that are super anal about it and have lost stuff...taking too much time to be careful...cut it up and get it in a cooling spot and get it out...heat is what is going to get you...not sticks and twigs
I do my best keeping the meat clean and, with a lot of years of practice do very well. I don’t worry about a little dirt, leaves, twigs, or hair though because I’ll trim that out when I get it home. Getting the meat cooled down as quickly as possible will make for the best tasting meat later on. Have even had good luck putting meat in a little cold creek for refrigeration between loads on elk and it turned out perfect.
As mentioned above it's not too terribly difficult to keep meat clean after boning if you are careful. The meat certainly cools down quicker once boned. The biggest problem I've had with boned meat is flies laying eggs. I often buy the cheapest, lightest weight game bags available (around $2.00 each). They help keep meat somewhat clean and flies off.
Once to the truck I have a giant cooler (or 2) where I try to get ice ASAP. This is especially important if I want to keep capes from spoiling. I was turkey hunting this spring in 90 degree weather. I had turkey meat and capes on ice inside coolers for 5 days and swapped out the melted for fresh ice 1 time. I usually place the ice on the bottom of the cooler inside garbage bags...then place meat and capes on top. On my turkey hunt I replaced the melted ice/water with fresh ice bags after a couple days. When possible I toss a sleeping bag over the coolers to help keep them cool.
One of the most useful things you can keep in your pack is a 9x9' piece of siltarp. It's lightweight and makes a good ground cover so you can put quarters and meat on it while working on the animal. Adding several grommets around the perimeter of the tarp you can attach cordage which makes it a multi purpose item. It can be a butchering aid one minute and then a hotel the next if needed.
If there is snow on the ground think about using a sled. I borrowed my kids' plastic sled in October and got a cow elk out in one trip. We've also used an ice fishing toboggan and got two elk out in one trip with that. Need to have a pretty wide trail for the toboggan though.
