I hunt in a hollow that has no ATV trail and I don't own it so I can't put one in it. I hunt every opening day there and then move onto my land which neighbors it for the rest of the week. It's just too good of a spot not to be opening day, so I deal with the ordeal of getting a deer out. My buddies just assume I am dragging one out of there every opening day, lol.
Years ago I would drag it to the bottom of the hollow, then walk back up the hill and get my ATV, drive down to it, and then drive back up. Unfortunately that trail has become too damned dangerous and honestly, it was more of a task than my new system, which is to drag the deer straight up the damned mountain.
I usually have to drag the deer up 4 "flats" to the ridge, 5 this year since the deer ran down to me after I shot it this year. So I carry 100' of rope, 2 pulleys, and 2 ratchets in my backpack when I am hunting there. I attach the end of the rope and 1 pulley to a ratchet and attach that to a tree above me, then I route the rope through a pulley on the ratchet strap around the deer's antlers and then back up through the pulley on the tree above me. As I go down, the deer goes up the hill. It works really well and takes me about 2 hours to get the deer up the hill.
My system layout:
The opening day 6 point:
The system in use:
The hill's grade:
So if you have a great deer spot that kick's your butt getting a deer out of, try this system, it works well. Also, the steeper the grade, the easier it is to pull him up since gravity is on your side. Also, the higher you mount the tree pulley the better as it keeps his antlers from dragging the ground and getting caught up every log, rock, or crevice there is.