How to get deer up a hill by yourself
 

So you hunt a spot with no way to use an ATV to go get it and no buddies to help you drag it up the hill? No problem, here is what I do.

I devised a "Deer Retrieval Kit" or what I call my "DRK'' to get my deer up the hill where I hunt as I have no atv trail and don't want one because the arduous process of getting a deer out of there keeps other hunters out of my favorite spot.

Here's what you need:

-2 quick release ratchet straps, I use 6' ones.
-2 pullies
-2 D clips
-100' nylon rope

You need to premap your course so you don't run out of usable trees to mount your pulley on, I do it in 30-40 foot segments and believe it or not, the steeper the section (within reason), the easier it is to use this method as your weight and gravity make it easier to drag the deer up while you go down the hill.

-Tie your rope around the ratchet strap, make sure it's the same side the hook you attach the tree pulley to or else you won't be able to quickly detach from the tree (it will be looped around the tree).

-Take the rope that you just tied to the tree and go down to the deer. Wrap a ratchet strap across both antlers several times, attach your D-clip to it and attach the antler pulley to the D-clip. Put the rope through the pulley and walk back up to the tree.

-Attach the pulley to the D-clip and the D-clip to the base of the hook on the ratchet strap, I usually keep the rope and the pulley on the right side of the tree.

-Put the rope through the pulley and you are ready to go.


As you pull the rope down the hill, the deer will go up. I usually wrap it around my hand a few times, throw the rope over my shoulder and walk down the hill.

Once you get the deer to the tree you are using, you simply detach your ratchet strap on the tree, walk up to the next one you're using and repeat the process.

You'll get the hang of it pretty quickly, and it's relatively easy. The biggest pain in the butt is if the deer gets wedged under something or the rope gets a bunch of sticks caught on it.

Tips:

-keep the part of the rope you are pulling on straight down the hill, it makes relocating the setup on the next tree a lot easier.

-Keep the tree pulley as high as you can because it keeps the deer's head up higher and creates less drag and helps get over obstacles easier.

-clear your path of any dead limbs while you are setting it up from tree to tree, it makes it easier.

-Strap your backpack to the deer and drag that up with it.










I have drug a lot of deer using this method and I hope it helps some of you, maybe help you go a little deeper in that public land than you were willing to go in the past.

Here is the grade I have to deal with:



If the deer dies at the bottom, which they usually do, (son of a guns don't seem to like running up once shot, lol) I have to go up 5 flats like this, a total of about 350 yards and it takes me about 2.5 hours at a slow pace.

I shot this guy this year, and he actually dropped where I shot him, which was only 2 flats from the ridge, which was nice.

VERY GOOOOOOOD!!!!!! You wouldn't own a KLR would ya?? (Nice deer!!!)

Kawasaki KLR?

I do own a blue 300 KLX. :o

in west va you need something like that lol, steepest hills ive ever seen

True story!!

By the time I get the deer to my 4wheeler I am wiped out. By the time I got that top one out I was so beat down I actually used the rope and pulley to help me get it on the rack, lol. It was raining so hard that day that I spent twice the energy as usual getting it up, which is already a considerable amount of energy.

But hey, my spot is a great spot, and I can't let age, laziness, or lack of a trail stop me from going there......yet.

*I used to drag them to the bottom of the hollow and then take a trail up to get my atv but the trail is so damned dangerous now that I had to design this method.

That 2 step and throw em method is too rough for me, plus the ground is so soft it usually is 1 step, stumble, drop the deer, cuss, and then sit on my ass a while. :lolabove:

Good for you bud! Great deer and great story.

This post made me laugh. I ride a KLR...and I have also done similar to pull deer up a hill...mine wasn't so fancy with the pulleys etc...but a rope around the tree helps for sure.

I used to live in Charlestown. Hunting near there was up and down some hills for sure. I miss that some. At least it was always interesting...

I've done the throwing method, the rope around the tree, and the sit down and pull. Most effective so far has been drag to the bottom and find another way out. I've got a couple very good spots that require uphill drags though. Typically I only hunt those if I'm with a friend or cousin. Still being in my lower 20's, two of us can typically get a deer out of anywhere it decides to go. That is slowly changing though. I'll keep this in mind, great post and good pictures showing how it works.
-Jake

Many Kawasaki KLR riders have a reputation of coming up with ideas overcoming difficulties that arise in difficult situations (kind of a KLR thing)

Boy ain't that the truth...guess that's why I have Mermite cans hanging off my KLR instead of expensive aluminium boxes....and several other home brew fixes....:happy0157:

:party0005:

LOL this is my way of doing it too. Think I may have to give the pulley system a try. Thanks for posting!

I don't drag out of the National Forest down here in NC...I call the deer in and get my registration number, take my rachet pulley out of my backpack and bone the deer out...I load this in my backpack and walk out with it...

Why drag the carcass out when you have to dispose of it later?? Leave it where the other critters can enjoy... :)

It's amazing how some states hold on to stupid laws like that...If you are "back in" there is no reason to drag that carcass out...It's much easier and faster (the meat will be better) to butcher in the field and bring it out...Can you imagine doing that with and elk???

Uphill
 

Great plans here!

I usually lash the deer to a 3-4 inch limb snug to the deer's underside.

Drape an orange vest high up, grab the head end of the pole and up and over the shoulder it goes.

Then dragging is no more than short hauls and long rests.

Had to do this in Luray VA a few times. Lots of ravines there. The first year I did that I came up on a still that had been trashed by some Revenuers years before. Interesting find.

I've passed up on big deer due to this problem.
Now, I am thinking, I'm bringing a hacksaw, and cutting the deer in 1/2 behind the rib cage, and drag out 1/2 at a time.

Anyone try that ???

No, never thought about that. But with my way you half the weight, so basically you would be doing the same, and if you wanted to carry more rope, you could add a different pulley and quarter the weight. Hey, where there is a will, there is a way.

Hell, if I really wanted to, I could keep a few hundred feet of rope, grab a buddy, and winch them up 25 feet at a time while I just steer the deer away from trees and rocks. I like the loner method though, it's all part of the process to me.

Also, I should note, once you set up this sytem, you just take the ratchet off the tree, the pulley and rope stay on it and you just go to a higher spot and reratchet, you don't have to do anything other setup with the rope or the deer. It's really not that bad, the drag is the easy part, the rifle, the sticks, the bag, and walking the hill twice is the pain in the butt of it.

Physics does work. I just take my darn good time and drag a bit at a time. I'm in no hurry after the shot.

That's a very ingenious idea, but too time consuming for me. I'd rather just do the drag a bit, rest, and drag some more routine. Most of the distance that I have to drag is fairly level, but it's usually about a half mile or so out to my truck. At 55 I often ask myself how much longer can I do this? lol

I am, I want that deer boned out, in the cooler, iced down as quickly as possible...I usually have that done within 2 hours of the shot...

Cutting him up
 

My brother has cut-up and packed a few out. He does this regularly.
Carries a homemade frame pack out there and that's what the deer comes back on.

I knew a few guys in my early twenties that cut the meat off the deer where it dropped, bagged it in ziplock bags and into a cooler it went.

Left the carcass and entrails where it dropped.

too late smart
 

try this , the alaskan way. cut hide down the back from neck to tail and down the back of the ham and down the front of shoulder.
peel the hide down and take the meat off the bone, roll him over and repeat . pack up the meat and walk away. you can get it all even the backstraps. leave only coyote bait.

I use to have the good fortune of hunting on the side of a mountain and could just drag the deer downhill. Most of the time I had to race it to the bottom as it wanted to slide down on its own. :D

Thanks for posting this method. I try to avoid the hilly terrain, getting up in years. I think I will try this method one day who knows might get that buck of a life time!

Oh, great post and very good graphics.

CVG Ohio