CalHunter, I had better cool off for a while. Take a break a while from new threads. I just ordered that deer hunting book online. I would like to thank
Bocajnala for sharing his gear with us. I wonder how one uses a DRAG ROPE but still protects the meat from contamination. When I shot my buck on my guided hunt, I only had to drag the deer to the guide's Dodge 4x4 about 100 feet in the woods. He wasn't gutted yet, that was done back at the ranch house.
I looked "drag rope"up on Google and found this video: the guy has his doe gutted already and is dragging her along the ground with the body cavity open to possibly get contaminated with dirt, leaves and debris as he is dragging.
Field dressing on the ground. My concerns are my bad back (severe pain from stooping/squatting, I do much better standing up or sitting) and soiling the meat with dirt, grass and leaves. Big Uncle says I should learn to gut a deer on the ground. Could it be that there might not be a tree handy with a low branch in certain deer fields to hang a gambrel in Oklahoma? There are those deer gambrels that have long tripod legs and ones that attach to the hitch receiver or bumper of a truck. Of course, that's adding to the cost and complexity of gear. Lots of compromises. Those of us with some physical limitations or a degree of handicap may just need more gear than we really like. One thing I don't have to worry about in Ok is large predators like brown bear. From what I gather, a cougar or a black bear in this plains state is about rare to none at all.