Deer cart or Sled

I have a cheap, generic, deer hauler. $60 or so from sportsman's guide, I think it's their store model. It has served valiantly for many years with no failures, and is very effective at getting deer out of the woods. The strapping that comes with it is useless, I use cable pulling tape, paracord would work also. There are infinite tie down points. Easy to get a deer hoisted on and hauled out solo. Goes over large logs easily. Pulls like a furniture moving dolly with bigger wheels.

I use a jet sled in the snow. Works beautifully.

My first deer season I watched 4 different bucks sneak into the swamp behind the lake I grew up on. Told my Dad “after freeze up I am going to build a platform stand in there”. Dad said don’t do it. I have regretted not listening to him for 50 years. Opening day the next year I am set up on that platform stand 200 yards into the swamp. At 7:30 I shot mycfirst buck a 170 lb 6 point with 2 broken off times. Of course he ran another 100 yards deeper into the swamp.I didn’t gut him as I didn’t want to get swamp water on the meat. Long story short at 2 pm I emerged from the swamp with my buck thoroughly soaked from the inside out with a deer that probably now weighed over 200 lbs soaking wet. Never hunted in a swamp since and that will be 51 years this year. Some lessons you just can’t forget. Good hunting.

Random 8 said:

I have a cheap, generic, deer hauler. $60 or so from sportsman's guide, I think it's their store model.

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I have the same one. Works just fine for
me. Yes, the supplied straps are junk.
I just use some rope to tie off with.
I've also used shanks mare, my tractor one
time ( drug the deer up on the shredder deck) and one time a riding lawn mower.
The heaviest deer I shot I couldn't budge
it a foot by myself. I had to quarter it on
the ground like a moose and carry each
piece up the hill.
You do what you have to do

Plastic child's sled works ok over leaf fall in the autumn. I've tried wheels but the diameter is important, smaller than 16" and they just snag on everything. The folding beach carts now come in camo but no, not so much in the field. And, they aren't silent and it takes a lot of work to make them so. I've seen hunters use wheelbarrows, tho they are tippy and difficult with small diameter tires.

One version of recent note is a version with wheels in tandem on a walking beam axle. The obstacle is that wheels of a sufficient diameter are difficult to find - I don't know what happened, but used childrens bikes are nearly impossible to find now. They were common as dirt up to a few years ago and poof, nothing in garage sales or flea markets. Wheels with a decent load capacity aren't cheap.

Im back to a cheap plastic sled.

I forgot to add that I fix a box on my
cart with the heavy rubber bungees
like they use for tarp hold downs on
big truck flatbeds , and it's the ticket
for toting a chainsaw and a can of
gas and bar oil and a roll of wire and
staples, t post clips, pliers, coffee
thermos, etc. In the off season

I use a plastic sled the flat one that rolls up. The only problem I had with it is when I have a good sized deer wrapped up in it I couldn't get it in the back of the truck. But I have figured out how to get it in now. I pull it to the back of my truck within about 20', then I have a piece of plywood the length of the bed of my truck(I got before the price went up) I put it at an angle up to the bed leaning against the tailgate. I pull the deer & the sled up the ramp until the rope on the front of the sled hooks over the front of the plywood, then I climb out of the bed, grab the bottom of the plywood, then lift up, the weight of the deer is balanced on the tailgate so I'm only lifting about 20 lbs. I lift it until it's flat in the bed & push plywood & deer into the bed. It works great. Just be careful someone doesn't steal the plywood out of the bed while you are hunting. LOL

When I hunted in the Adirondacks, we hiked in off of the trail head about 5-6 miles and set up camp. those Adirondack buck get to be pretty big, and me and my buddy both shot big bucks on the same day. We discussed how we were going to get the deer out and thought we would have to make several trips. I remembered a sign i saw at the trail head about mules for rent. Hiked out and contacted the guy about hauling out our deer. He charged us $30 and his mule had no trouble at all hauling the deer out. Best money we ever spent cause the next day a blizzard set in and the area got over 14 inches of snow.

Fyrstyk said:

When I hunted in the Adirondacks, we hiked in off of the trail head about 5-6 miles and set up camp. those Adirondack buck get to be pretty big, and me and my buddy both shot big bucks on the same day. We discussed how we were going to get the deer out and thought we would have to make several trips. I remembered a sign i saw at the trail head about mules for rent. Hiked out and contacted the guy about hauling out our deer. He charged us $30 and his mule had no trouble at all hauling the deer out. Best money we ever spent cause the next day a blizzard set in and the area got over 14 inches of snow.

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. I’d rather be lucky than good any day. But we still strive for good.

A cart can work, but you need at least one other person to help. If hunting solo I'd use a sled, much like a kids plastic snow sled. Where I hunt there is a complete blanket of leaves or pine needles covering the ground that would be just as slick as snow. If you're talking about desert terrain with rocky ground then a sled might not work very well.

I either just tie a rope to the deer and the other end to me and drag it to a place where I can get my truck, or tie it to my 4 wheeler and do the same (carefully and slowly). I also have a US mil Israeli litter that I have used (with a helper) to get hogs out of swampy areas. No reason it wouldn't work with a deer too.

AK Hunter said:

I tried the cart. The wheels got caught on every stick, root, stump, & hole in the woods. I use one of those big plastic sleds now.

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That is my experience as well. The woods that I hunt tend to have blowdowns and other obstacles. The wheels get caught on everything. I have a heavy duty sled now. But I seldom hunt without my son and another big strong guy to do that for me these days. And an ATV where I can use one. I know a guy that uses and mini atv even where not legal.

I shot a big, fat doe about 2 miles from the truck on a deer drive one year. 2 other guys got smaller does on the same drive. Warm weather for gun season, so we went ahead and started dragging them out while everyone else went on. After about 30 mins I asked if either of them wanted to trade deer with me. No takers.

Got too hot for the jacket I had on, so I started carrying it...along with the shotgun. After about another 30 mins and only being halfway, I slid the does rear legs through my jacket sleeves, and drug her the rest of the way on it. No clue if it was easier to drag but it was easier to manage everything else.

d2wing said:

That is my experience as well. The woods that I hunt tend to have blowdowns and other obstacles. The wheels get caught on everything. I have a heavy duty sled now. But I seldom hunt without my son and another big strong guy to do that for me these days. And an ATV where I can use one. I know a guy that uses and mini atv even where not legal.

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I hunt public land & they don't allow any ATV of any kind. But I have talked to another hunter that lives up the road from where I hunt & he said if it's in late evening he will use his ATV to get any deer out that I can't drag out. He says he would rather break the law & pull one out than call 911 to rescue some one that has gotten hurt trying to do it themselves. I can see the sense in that.

one doe I shot a few years ago on a rainy day, I had forgot my deer drag. Normally I can hold the two front feet and drag a deer but every thing was wet. I had a nice woven leather sling and used that to hold the feet worked much better. Used the string I keep in my back tag for a rope sling to keep my hands free.

I killed a nice gilt a few years ago but didn't have a rope, cart, or anything else with me. I used my belt to drag her out but my pants kept falling down after a few steps. It was a nightmare but I finally got her to the truck and she made some really good Italian sausage.

I always make sure I have a drag or rope with me after that fiasco.

I always have rope and twine and a knife
just because. I carry a tightly wrapped
length of shroud line in my pocket every
day
Hunting I'll carry 10-15 feet of rope

I have used both a sled and cart. I recommend both!
If you have snow/ice the sled is great.
The cart works well in most cases including going over logs, which is a pain anytime.

I have not used the one wheel carts, but the less expensive two wheelers work!

WisBorn said:

but the less expensive two wheelers work!

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That’s good to hear. We bought one of those “less expensive” two-wheeled carts at Cabela’s 3 years ago. So far all we’ve used it for is hauling it around in the back of our truck during deer season, advertising to the world that we are deer hunters. Maybe this year…

Pictures or a link?

I'd be trying to find a way to put a motor on that thing lol.

I like my cart.

Like it even grandson is with me to drag it.

I made my cart out of an section of a 20' aluminum extension ladder. A threaded rod for an axle and 20" non-pneumatic tires and a couple of 1" X 1" aluminum tubing. Breaks down and fits in the back of my pickup against the cab. Takes about 10min to assemble. I have hauled about 20 deer from a mile plus back in the woods with it with no problems. Best "do it yourself" project I have ever done for hunting. I anin't getting any younger, but i still love my deer hunting and venison on the grill.

Fyrstyk said:

I anin't getting any younger, but i still love my deer hunting and venison on the grill.

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Me too. Except I substitute "venison on the grill" with my wife's chicken fried venison steak with biscuits and gravy and mashed potatoes.