I chime in with the idea of just leaving all the parts you can't eat or have mounted laying on the ground where the critter fell.
It's all biodegradable !!

Ditto what others are saying about backpacking all the meat out. That's what we've always done in Wyoming on antelope, deer, and elk. I finally got smart and the last two bucks I shot up in northern MI when I was by myself were brought a mile back to my cabin that way. It's much easier and at 66 with a little bit of a bad back it takes me two trips for a deer.

Agree with Flags; if I had to use block and tackle to get a deer out I wouldn't bother. I'd use the gutless method and just pack the meat out.

Don't think I'd go through the trouble of a block and tackle (100ft length B&T = 200, 300, or 400ft+ length of rope to haul around. The drag weight of a deer on a cart isn't enough to need the mechanical advantage of a B&T, all you really need is a single pulley. If you're not using a cart, buck up and buy one. Best $100 a big game hunter can spend.

So when I get some rough terrain, I take 50 or 100ft of rope and a pulley that ride in a small bag on my cart. I anchor my pulley to a tree or spike in the ground half of my rope length away, double back to guide the cart as I pull it up the hill with the rope over the pulley. If the ATV or mini truck can't make it through, then I revert to the cart.

This what I use when I need to haul a moose or deer out of a difficult spot.

HELPER WINCH

Weights about 35 lbs with a 100 feet of cable.

I made a special backpack for easy carrying to where I need it.

With the right set up will pull 3000 to 4000 lbs so no moose or deer is an issue whether on the flat or a dead lift.
Once dragged a moose from the middle of a wet mucky marsh ( 75 feet). Pulled it to shore so dressing it out was not so messy. As well was getting too dark so just winched it up a tall tree 30 feet up . Returned in the morning to complete the haul.
Best money I ever spent.
Has come in handy pulling the truck out of a mud hole and clearing large trees from the trail. No mater what vechicle I am in easy to bring along .

I use a block and tackle out fit I made to hang the bucks on the buck pole. Using the system is ok but to get a deer up a hill just a mar 100 ft. Would take many reattachments of hundreds of feet of rope. I would just break down and buy a back pack frame and cut the deer into chunks I could handle on my back during a climb.

:D Al

I hunt WV every year. You must check either the whole deer or the head and hide. I have not hunted Maryland for a while, but that used to be check the whole field dressed deer. Not worth cutting up a large deer if you have to pack out the head and hide too. Nothing like standing in freezing rain cutting up a deer either. I made a half scale sized come-a-long, just in case. Good enough to get a deer up a drop off or haul one up in a tree. Try pulling a 150# deer up in a tree by yourself with just a rope. Cut it up on the ground? Yeah, standing on an ice covered 15* slope wrestling with a deer on the ground. You waste enough grinder meat cutting up on the spot, let alone covering it with dirt. I would do it if I was desperate, but for some reason when you absolutely have to do something, it is always the worst case conditions.