Carrying or dragging moose through the buck brush

[44inchStone]

I've carried my share of thousands of pounds of meat on my back. Now that I'm in my 50's, carrying those northern bull hinds is getting a bit much for these old bones.
These are fly in trips, no horses, quads, just plain old humping it!
With the amount of new products out there, I would think there has to be something to help in dragging a portion of meat to save a walking trip and yet small enough to fit in the side of a beaver. I've thought of those small sleds but for those of us that have flown in many float planes, there just in not much space behind those seats.
We also know that buckbrush is abrasive so heavy poly won't cut it. Need something durable enough to carry the weight but also have the strength for rope attachements.
I'm not trying to load this up with hundreds of lbs. Maybe one hind and some neck meat. Some walks are a KM, some are alot longer.
Any ideas?? I'm sure some of you are in the same boat as myself. What product makes your lives easier?

[bighornbob]

Find a kids crazy carpet and drill some holes down the sides that you can lace up to keep the meat in place.

bhb

[44inchStone]

If I drill holes down the sides of the crazy carpet, is the material strong enough to with stand the pulling witha rope or do ya think it would tear the material over a distance? It sounds like you have experience with the strength of these sleds

[butcher]

I got a kid who should be about the right size to pack the heavy stuff for me when I'm not up to it. Excellent planning on my part really

[Ferenc]

Mylar belt works good... and the good old UHMW.. in thin sheets.

[Buckmeister]

Don't know the terrain you will be traversing, but will something like this be an asset?

http://www.packwheel.com/

[Hunter gatherer]

I use a crazy carpet ,drill holes and put tarp grommets in . I found without the grommets sometimes the rope would pull through the holes. Amazing how much easier the drag is.

[boxhitch]

I have a section of a truck box liner that I keep in the truck, not really small enough for a 185 though, but indestructible even behind a quad

CC's sound good until you realize the size, just not wide enough to wrap around anything

A Dead Sled is more appropriate. http://www.deadsled.com/products?product_id=30
Similar plastic can be bought at Northern Plastics

[klondikemike]

That black plastic pond liner looks an awful lot like crazy carpet. Find some of that and you could make it whatever size you like. Probably pretty cheap too.

[Knute]

I have a section of a truck box liner that I keep in the truck, not really small enough for a 185 though, but indestructible even behind a quad

CC's sound good until you realize the size, just not wide enough to wrap around anything

A Dead Sled is more appropriate. http://www.deadsled.com/products?product_id=30
Similar plastic can be bought at Northern Plastics

That looks promising. Rolls up into a nice small bundle and lightweight.

[Gun Dog]

Lumber wrap is almost indestructible. It's like a fibreglass reinforced tarp material. Cut holes in it for rope and it doesn't tear. Slippery too. The other thing I have is a long sling of webbing. I put it over one shoulder so I can pull with my body instead of my arms.

If you're not familiar with it; it's used to wrap lumber for transport. Almost any lumber yard will have bins of the stuff. A friend used to have hundreds of roll ends. Awesome stuff.
https://www.itape.com/~/media/Images/Market%20Segments/Lumber-Wrap/IPG_productapp_lumberwrap1.jpg

[mastercaster]

I have a section of a truck box liner that I keep in the truck, not really small enough for a 185 though, but indestructible even behind a quad

CC's sound good until you realize the size, just not wide enough to wrap around anything

A Dead Sled is more appropriate. http://www.deadsled.com/products?product_id=30
Similar plastic can be bought at Northern Plastics

Another on that's similar is the Deer Sleigh'r. Rolls up pretty tight when you're done so it wouldn't take much space in a plane.

Magnum Deer Sleigh'r Game Sled - 138755, Game Carriers & Hoists ... (https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=12&ved=0ahUKEwiVnKnJi5XTAhUT6mMKHWDxDi8QFghHMAs&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sportsmansguide.com%2Fproduc t%2Findex%2Fmagnum-deer-sleighr-game-sled%3Fa%3D1591656&usg=AFQjCNFzljVxgyqi3psYnuXrU2BXlR1qHQ)

[Wild one]

All the recommendation of using a something to help it slide are helpful. 1 thing that makes game even easier to drag when combined with this is a deer dragger. Basicly it is a five point harness with a rope coming off your back. A tree stand harrness works great as well. This makes it way easier and gives you the most pulling strength along with being hands free. Even without the crazy carpet it makes a huge difference

Google deer draggers they are cheap I bought mine for just over 20$ 15years ago and it has saved me a lot of hard work and worth every cent. It is the one trick

Only better option for dragging game is take a rookie and use him for a pack mule in exchange for your knowledge

[guest]

If you have lots of cash, and crazy carpets keep breaking, spend big money, never buy another one, hand it down to several generations if our critter populations hold up, and purchase a SKED RESCUE Stretcher.

you will never need another. Done.

[takla1]

Ive pulled many a bull out of the bush and thru buckbrush 5 ft high it can be a tangled mess from hell,then add in swamps, uneven terrain ,deadfalls ect ect many of the suggested means here just don't work so well.Bone out and Pack is the way weve always done it with difficult extractions.If its getting too hard on the body ,well that's why my dad finally slowed down and eventually quit on the hunting and we brought my sons in when old enough to pack meat.
last few yrs Ive noticed those quarters don't lift up to the hang pole like the used to..
We also cut a fir pole about 6-7 ft long and drive it thru the ribs on the fronts and the lower leg tendons on the rear quarters then a guy on each end of the pole will get the moose out of the bush quite efficiently..but you knew that
theres no magic bullet unfortunately


takla

[two-feet]

Ive pulled many a bull out of the bush and thru buckbrush 5 ft high it can be a tangled mess from hell,then add in swamps, uneven terrain ,deadfalls ect ect many of the suggested means here just don't work so well.Bone out and Pack is the way weve always done it with difficult extractions.If its getting too hard on the body ,well that's why my dad finally slowed down and eventually quit on the hunting and we brought my sons in when old enough to pack meat.
last few yrs Ive noticed those quarters don't lift up to the hang pole like the used to..
We also cut a fir pole about 6-7 ft long and drive it thru the ribs on the fronts and the lower leg tendons on the rear quarters then a guy on each end of the pole will get the moose out of the bush quite efficiently..but you knew that
theres no magic bullet unfortunately


takla
I agree, no easy way. With blow down and other fun things dragging can be a pain. I have used a lewis chain saw winch but this is hard heavy work as well. Unless there is snow on the ground, packing on your back seems to be the most efficient way.

Hunting by canoe is another option.

[wideopenthrottle]

i tie my drag rope to my thickish leather waist belt when i drag medium distances on level ground to use my legs instead of my back for med deer <2km-otherwise radio for assistance if available..heheheh...if really steep ill do a loop on each end of the rope around the shouders and free travelling through the ankle holes....that way you can hold it back and swing it from one side to a spot on the other side as you decend or let it go if you have to..then flip it around as shoulder straps to drag it shorter flatter bits..works great ...i always carry 20' of rope on my belt when in the bush...when going up you can slip one side off run it up hill till the other loop is at the ankles tie to an anchor point with a flat spot below it pull on the loop at the anklesas it slips through the ankles it act like a pully making the pull almost cut in half...pull it up to the flat spot and tie to new anchor point...walk back down untie first anchor and pull it up to the new landing .....it means travelling twice as far of course unless you have one person on each end then it is much easier with each person taking turns pulling, anchoring/resting

moose on the otherhand ...we have floated them whole across lakes or spent hours cutting trails to get quads in to them... also the old "tie it to a pole" with two people...we have a rescue team at work and get monthy training including the use of a SKED Stretcher...the Firefighter fellow who does most of our training sesions swears by the Sked for dragging moose portions but you must add some additional ties to keep it place (a lot of safety equipment expires after 5 years so i may be able to repurpose an old one one day too...heheheh) ....a deer fits in a sked stretcher like a hand in a glove and ties up nice with existing straps (he's shown us some pics of moose and deer wrapped up for dragging as there are 4 hunters on our 10 person team)...

[Rob]

All the recommendation of using a something to help it slide are helpful. 1 thing that makes game even easier to drag when combined with this is a deer dragger. Basicly it is a five point harness with a rope coming off your back. A tree stand harrness works great as well. This makes it way easier and gives you the most pulling strength along with being hands free. Even without the crazy carpet it makes a huge difference

Google deer draggers they are cheap I bought mine for just over 20$ 15years ago and it has saved me a lot of hard work and worth every cent. It is the one trick

Only better option for dragging game is take a rookie and use him for a pack mule in exchange for your knowledge

A guy I work with does this. He uses an older harness and trimmed off the extras and ties off on the D ring on the back. Great idea as having a rope digging into your shoulder isn't fun

[Wild one]

A guy I work with does this. He uses an older harness and trimmed off the extras and ties off on the D ring on the back. Great idea as having a rope digging into your shoulder isn't fun

Actually picked this up from a rookie I took out deer hunting in Alberta. I told him the deal for taking him hunting was he had to drag any deer shot to the truck and he came prepared lol. After watching how easy he dragged his deer out I had to try it myself. Way easier on the body, hands free, and gives you more pulling power without a doubt. I have actually jogged dragging deer down a de activated road using a harness

awseome tool but if you are way back in the bush de boned in a pack is still best.

[Jedcote50]

Find a friend of a friend who is a "Bar-buster" or a rebar trier (the guys on commercial construction sites who tie rebar) ask him for one of their "purses" or their "hair pin" bags. These things are made of heavy duty nylon weave fabric with straps and can handle 1000 lbs or more. They come in 2 sizes, 2x2x2 or 3x3x3 and can hold a whole lot of crap without falling apart. I'm know they can handle regular buck brush unless you hook up on something real sharp. Harris Rebar make a real nice one and they fold up tight and tiny. You can also get nylon fabric garbage bins, the kind a person who's doing a home renovation can fill up with crap in their drive way and then they come by and hoist on to a deck truck, but these are a bit bigger, you could put the whole moose in one and hoist it with a chopper or tow it with your quad and it will stay clean.
Hope this helps, the few I've been able to smuggle off the site I''m on aren't clean or pretty but they don't seem to stick around before one of my buddies seems to need it.

[monasheemountainman]

Ive pulled many a bull out of the bush and thru buckbrush 5 ft high it can be a tangled mess from hell,then add in swamps, uneven terrain ,deadfalls ect ect many of the suggested means here just don't work so well.Bone out and Pack is the way weve always done it with difficult extractions.If its getting too hard on the body ,well that's why my dad finally slowed down and eventually quit on the hunting and we brought my sons in when old enough to pack meat.
last few yrs Ive noticed those quarters don't lift up to the hang pole like the used to..
We also cut a fir pole about 6-7 ft long and drive it thru the ribs on the fronts and the lower leg tendons on the rear quarters then a guy on each end of the pole will get the moose out of the bush quite efficiently..but you knew that
theres no magic bullet unfortunately


takla I agree, unless you are on flat even hard ground with no deadfall in the way, packing is the easiest/fastest way out

[J_T]

Everytime I drag an animal I swear I'll never do it again. Packframe is the most efficient. Dragging might work down relatively steep inclines, but once you turn and have to go uphill, all the forces are working against you.

[sparkes3]

don't tie your pull rope onto the crazy carpet
lash the meat to the crazy carpet with the leg knuckle at the front and tie to it

[okas]

look in a dumpster at a outfit that sells teck cable the big spools have a wrap of heavy black plastic over the wire in the spool this is tough stuff

[xcaribooer]

you could always try one of the plastic sleds they sell for ice fishing

[Spy]

My old neighbor once told me you can't drag a moose backwards through the snow, the hair acts as an anchor. I suppose the same goes for mud and thick brush.

[IronNoggin]

http://gallery.fishbc.com/albums/album1107/Nog_Loaded_Packs_1.jpg

[Walksalot]

I've carried my share of thousands of pounds of meat on my back. Now that I'm in my 50's, carrying those northern bull hinds is getting a bit much for these old bones.
These are fly in trips, no horses, quads, just plain old humping it!
With the amount of new products out there, I would think there has to be something to help in dragging a portion of meat to save a walking trip and yet small enough to fit in the side of a beaver. I've thought of those small sleds but for those of us that have flown in many float planes, there just in not much space behind those seats.
We also know that buckbrush is abrasive so heavy poly won't cut it. Need something durable enough to carry the weight but also have the strength for rope attachements.
I'm not trying to load this up with hundreds of lbs. Maybe one hind and some neck meat. Some walks are a KM, some are alot longer.
Any ideas?? I'm sure some of you are in the same boat as myself. What product makes your lives easier?

I just had this conversation with my doctor at my last physical. Going on 66 years of age I asked him if he thought I was foolish thinking I could hike the back country and if I was lucky enough to get one of the larger members of the deer family, pack it out. His reply was that I may have to take lighter loads but if I kept myself in good shape it should be doable. I guess it boils down to common sense in so much as not getting too carried away and get too far back in the bush. The problem is that when the tracks are fresh and you feel you are narrowing the gap, common sense can take a leave of absence.

[boxhitch]

Nothing wrong with that, as the common sense usually comes from experience, and that tells us how to make the best of things. If that means choosing brains over brawn, thats okay too.

When pulling a sled/drag/body gets tough, throw on a pulley or two and add some rope to build an advantage.
Slow and steady gets there too.

[takla1]

All it takes is one difficult extraction and one learns his lesson.If access is hard just hikeing in then hikeing out with 7-800 lbs of bull moose meat/antlers will be a killer.Ive passed on easy kills because of the distance and terrain to get the animal out to a trail that we could access with atv.
One area we hunted for over 20 yrs had excellent numbers of bulls but we would pass on many that were just too far back .We waited for the bulls to filter into a valley that was close to access ,we made all our kills in this one area that was hidden from the trail in but less that 200 yrds away.Weve had to build makeshift bridges into this area just to get closer with the machines because of the swampy conditions
For many yrs the annual hunting trip was harder on the body than full time work back at home,id usually take an extra week to recover after the trip before resumeing my full time job
Remember every yr theres case's of older hunters having heart attacks and strokes,some never making it home,i know of many such cases.My dad had a stroke in camp in 2012

takla

takla

takla

[Wild one]

Nothing wrong with that, as the common sense usually comes from experience, and that tells us how to make the best of things. If that means choosing brains over brawn, thats okay too.

When pulling a sled/drag/body gets tough, throw on a pulley or two and add some rope to build an advantage.
Slow and steady gets there too.

My main hunting partner is an arborist and carries micro pulleys. I need to pay attention to his tricks one day because what he can move with the way he rigs pulleys is amazing

[fireguy]

I brought two goats off a mountain once at the same time , whole, by dragging a canoe up the mountian, loading them in and dragging them out. Helped that there was snow and a snowshoe track to follow along but the bush was thick and they came out very easily

[two-feet]

Packing a big moose out from deep in the bush is just so very epic. The feeling of getting the last load out to the road is amazing. Because of work I may not be hunting the rut like I used to, I think the late draws are going to be my focus, hunting in the snow. I feel this should make the extraction much easier using a polar boggin or such.

[M.Dean]

Find a kids crazy carpet and drill some holes down the sides that you can lace up to keep the meat in place.

bhb Then, after you've got the chunks of moose tied down real good, "Do Not" tie your drag rope onto the crazy carpet, tie the rope onto the big chunk of steam'in moose meat and Bob's your Uncle! Which has me think'in right now, I'm going to hook a set of quad tire's and rim's onto a pair of my old gum boots, and next moose I get I'll cut the leg's at the knee joint on both hind leg's and slip them into the boots, next I'm going to tie both front leg's together with hundred mile a hour tape, the head and neck should sit quite nicely on top of the legs I'd think! Now all's a guy has to do is tie the hooves onto the trailer hitch of your quad and home you go! Hell, add a couple brake lights and all you 604 boys could drive the moose all the way back to the coast! Oh ya, Patient Pending, of course! No copy Cat's!

[Jelvis]

--- I dragged a few moose out of the bush but no where near what some of you moose hunters have.
-- PG, Barriere, Lil Fort, Kammy, Tsinsunku, Jay My son and so on Valemount too.
I get mine as close to the road as possible firstly, I road hunt for moose basically and hopefully on a slope down or at least flat.
-- Then when I see the moose I can take from the road I hone in for a deadly accurate shot in the boiler room.
- Once the moose is down I gut, I don't use gutless so I get the liver and heart and ribs.
All depends how big the moose is too.
- Quarter and cut all lower leg bone off with hoofs.
--- Put a rope on and start grunting, a big moose you'll need to eigth not just quarter to get it out even 300 yards in the bush off the road. Have a crew to help, if weather is cool enuff or if it's still to warmish, get it out fast and get the hide off to cool it out, then get it to the cooler.
Jel-- a strong back and a weak mind helps -- your going to have to lift a bit too not just drag.
-- Do not use plastic to cover warm meat, use proper game bags --

[blister]

the Honda capstan winch (http://www.westcoastwinch.com) i bought (with help from a thread on this site) could work. weights 20 pounds.

[moosinaround]

--- I dragged a few moose out of the bush but no where near what some of you moose hunters have.
-- PG, Barriere, Lil Fort, Kammy, Tsinsunku, Jay My son and so on Valemount too.
I get mine as close to the road as possible firstly, I road hunt for moose basically and hopefully on a slope down or at least flat.
-- Then when I see the moose I can take from the road I hone in for a deadly accurate shot in the boiler room.
- Once the moose is down I gut, I don't use gutless so I get the liver and heart and ribs.
All depends how big the moose is too.
- Quarter and cut all lower leg bone off with hoofs.
--- Put a rope on and start grunting, a big moose you'll need to eigth not just quarter to get it out even 300 yards in the bush off the road. Have a crew to help, if weather is cool enuff or if it's still to warmish, get it out fast and get the hide off to cool it out, then get it to the cooler.
Jel-- a strong back and a weak mind helps -- your going to have to lift a bit too not just drag.
-- Do not use plastic to cover warm meat, use proper game bags --
jelly bean, why can't you get the heart liver and such doing the gutless? The parts are there, once the meat is off the bone, cut in and get them!! moosin

[sako75]

proddetail.asp (http://www.bkkenterprises.com/proddetail.asp?prod=DS001) deer sleigh'r work good on bare ground and unbelievable on snow

[Cordillera]

To die with a moose on your back..... There is only one other way I'd rather go.

As I get older I now take very small hind quarters (no ribs) or I just debone everything. I have never packed a front more than a hundred meters. Take more trips and fewer pounds per load.

I've never used them but have seen a simple canvas stretcher that looked pretty good. It I was a few hundred meters off the lake or river then two guys and a stretcher would make sense. More than five hundred meters and I'd debone everything, cut a nice trail with a chainsaw, and enjoy every trip.

[two-feet]

Im still hurting from every moose I have packed out. The moose last year bruised my soul.

[Jelvis]

gutless on a blacktail deer maybe but a moose has big juicy ribbage for the barby dood.
Any major dude wood tell yah
Jelly -- moose have major ribs and meat in betwixed -- pick up the sticks