Now what. For those of us that have to take the whole deer out in one piece. You now have a 150#... ahem... I mean... 225# buck laying at the end of your truck and no partner to help.
How do YOU get it in the truck ?
ChuckC
Chuck,
I would suggest you try a Glen's Deer Handle. I mostly hunt alone and the deer handle makes it much easier to load deer and hogs onto your truck or atv.
Good luck.
Been there done that with a tall F-350 Ford 4X4. Tie a rope around the neck, then pull the deers head up over the tailgate & tie off the rope to the cargo hooks in the front of the truck bed.
Then heave up the back end of the deer & roll it in, not as easy as it sounds with a big deer but it works.
Not sure right now but I hope to have that very problem very soon. I think that I would just take the quarters off real quick and that would make the task of getting it in the truck much easier.
I ran into this situation two years ago. I had just killed my biggest buck ever...great 8pt. Field dressed 185...but I ran off from the house and forgot my knife. I was by myself and with no knife to gut him I had to figure out a way to load him in the truck guts and all. And to make matters worse I had drove my 4x4 Dodge dually that morning, and the tailgate is around 4ft high on it when its let down.
Well I had parked in the holler and killed him midways up the ridge. So I had a downhill drag, thank the Lord. I got him drug down close to the truck and started to weigh my options on how to get the ol' boy into the truck.
There was a bluff on the road bank that was just perfectly tailgate high that I noticed. It couldn't have worked out better. I backed the truck up to that bluff and just drug him right in.
That was a lucky morning in every way possible. I'd have to say I was blessed that morning.
RLA, that is one way. I carry rope to do just that if needed.
I also carry (in the truck)a couple straps, and have even used two strap-on tree steps, to make a band around the deer's body (chest and near the rear quarters. Now I have handles !
Of course, a thinking man would have a 2' wide piece of 3/4" plywood to lay like a ramp up to his pick up bed, then use a come along or similar to winch it up.
Of course, some of the deer I have killed were picked up with one hand, so that makes it easy. They sure made some fine eating though !
ChuckC
Use pulleys to hoist it so that it is hanging from a large limb. Then back the truck up and lower it down into the bed.
It helps to be young,...though my back might not cooperate these days. I agree with the comments above about tying off the head and then lifting the other half. These guys made for a long night.
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Carry a piece of narrow plywood. Use it like a medical backboard / stretcher. Tie/ strap deer on it and the lift one end up to tailgate. Walk around and pick up the other end and slide it in the truck. Very easy for any size or age person.
Hey TxAg, I can think of worse ways to spend a night :) and Grayling Ghost, I like that idea...can't believe I never thought of it (used to be an EMT and am now RN in ER) DOH! :dunno:
Grab and Growl!!
Pick it up and put it in the truck. Jeesh! LOL
If there is a ditch to back into, or small hill to back up to, you can walk the deer right in.
If you have any kind of cargo anchors, you can figure out how to use a come along/hand winch, and plywood for a ramp to winch it in.
Grayling Ghost has a really good method.
I hope you all have this problem.
I have had several that I had help getting into my truck but none getting him out....I usally like to wash the inside cavity out just a bit to get any debri before taking to get it cut up and getting out it isn't the problem it's getting back in my 2500 Dodge...I have a few hoof marks trying to toss them back in myself..
That small piece of plywood would of done the trick and I'll remember to try that next time Lord willing... :rolleyes:
You have what you need right in front of you.
Lift the tailgate out of its brackets and use it as a ramp.
Have done it many times.
I have two Jet sleds in my truck full of equipment. Makes it easy to pull them out to get to stuff that would normally be way in the back. I put the stuff from one into other areas and load my animal in the sled. I can then use that to slide them in off a little rise in the ground. I have load spots picked out just about everywhere I hunt. The sled is handy to drag them out on leaves, grass and snow. I have been known to get them to an area I can access with the truck, tractor, or whatever is handy and then toss the sled rope over the hitch ball and pull the sled to the load area as long as I don't have to go over pavement or gravel. You can add a piece of plywood for a ramp if needed, and I do that, but most times I can find a load spot.
If I am hunting an area with no convenient load area, I often take my hitch hall platform. It is a lot easier to get them on that.
I have also done the rope on the neck thing to pull them up and then lift the back end on the tail gate. That works fairly well. I think it is easier most time to pull up the back side and lift on the head if they have a rack.
My favorite way was to just pick them up and toss them in. Those days are gone now.
That's a great idea grayling! Last time I had that problem he was only 140lbs dressed and I just hefted him up. I never kill a big enough doe to have a problem lol.
The plywood/stretcher idea is a good one. I have a jeep Cherokee and use one of those racks that slide into your Reese hitch and it works great. Might not be a bad idea for some of you pickup drivers since it's much lower to the ground and you don't get any blood in the bed that you have to wash out. It'll hold a load too, I've had 3 deer strapped to it that a buddy and myself killed and we used ratchet straps to tie them down and we were fine. It was probably too much of a load, but we had no other choice.
Grayling Ghost has it right. Using that method, you don't ever have to lift the whole weight. If no board, then tying off the head is the way to go.
I use a deer cart often when I am alone. I built a ramp from plywood that goes from the tailgate to the ground. Wheeling up the ramp with the cart makes it easy.
I always had a camper shell on my truck, which always made it more difficult since I cannot stand up or walk backwards to pull the deer into the bed. Last year I was loading a nice 10 pt. and it took a LOOOONG time and a lot of sweat to get him loaded. I really wanted somebody to drive by and stop to help, but it never happened. Finally got him loaded. I then remembered what I purchased the "Hitch Haul" sitting in my shop for!
A man's gotta be tough to get old!!! LOL.
I guess you can have a heavy rope, a ring or pulley in the back end of your truck bed (near the cab) and a piece of plywood as a ramp. Tie the rope to a stump or tree or parking lot post, thru the pulley and back to the deer. Then drive away till the deer is in the bed.
Sounds like it would work anyway.
ChuckC
I always thought a peice of canvas with tie offs attached to my back lower tie downs and a pulley attached to my tool box d rings would be the ticket when I get a little older. In theory I could lay the deer on the canvas and the rope and pulley would flip it up into the bed. Maybe 2 pulleys. One for a rope on each end of the canvas.
or just drive the lil tractor with the loader right to the deer. (wishing here). I want to kill a deer that is too big for my loader !
ChuckC
Two years ago I had to leave one in the woods and go get help.
It was a great problem to have...lol
God bless,Mudd
Mudd, I hope you have that same problem again this year ! But don't forget the camera !
ChuckC
I had the same issues a few years ago. Since my brother runied his shoulder I hunt alone.
I ended up making a fold down davit to pick up the harvest after I broke off an antler trying to get it in my truck alone.
Bribe one of your buddies to do it for you. Tell him you will tell his wife about the new bow he just bought or something along those lines.
along the same lines, a friend told me a story a long time ago about shooting a huge buck. When he found it, the Game Warden was right there, asking to see licenses.
He said he patted his pockets a few times and then shrugged and smiled.
The Game Warden gave him a speech, told him he would have to cite him, and asked him to grab a side of the antlers to help drag the evidence to the parking area.
They drug the deer for over an hour and when they finally got to the parking area, the good ol boy reached into his shirt pocket, pulled out his license, tagged the deer and thanked the warden for his help.
Always a way if you are thinking.
ChuckC
QuoteOriginally posted by ChuckC:
along the same lines, a friend told me a story a long time ago about shooting a huge buck. When he found it, the Game Warden was right there, asking to see licenses.
He said he patted his pockets a few times and then shrugged and smiled.
The Game Warden gave him a speech, told him he would have to cite him, and asked him to grab a side of the antlers to help drag the evidence to the parking area.
They drug the deer for over an hour and when they finally got to the parking area, the good ol boy reached into his shirt pocket, pulled out his license, tagged the deer and thanked the warden for his help.
Always a way if you are thinking.
ChuckC
ROTF, Now thats funny !!
:biglaugh: :biglaugh:
That is great
:biglaugh: :biglaugh:
You can bolt a boat, trailer hand winch to a 2X4. Cut the 2X4 so that it locks in the pickup truck load lock slots. Now, use a flat piece of plywood as a ramp from the tailgate to the ground and winch the buck into the bed.
OR
Quarter the deer, then load (If it is legal to do so in your state).
Good joke, Hightechredneck.
place a 2" pvc tube as roller under plywood on tailgate lift other end and roll in
I've used a short section of old ladder- tailgate to ground,pull deer on ladder,pickup end of ladder & slide in.
I have been using a game cart for 10 years +. I can get a deer/elk out of the woods alone with out hurting myself, much.
I have a plywood ramp I us to pull the deer up into the truck using rope and pullies or a
come-along.
Joe
PS. also I have a 'cam strap' that I will wrap around the deers waist so I have a handle on the deer to work with.. that really helps!
QuoteOriginally posted by RLA:
Been there done that with a tall F-350 Ford 4X4. Tie a rope around the neck, then pull the deers head up over the tailgate & tie off the rope to the cargo hooks in the front of the truck bed.
Then heave up the back end of the deer & roll it in, not as easy as it sounds with a big deer but it works.
I've done it the same way, ironically I also have an F-350.
A "come a long" will go a long way. I can load a whole elk by myself into a truck.
I take my tail gate off and use it as a ramp and drag em up it
I go get my son. After all, if I wanted to do all the heavy lifting, I would have had all girl children. Or I could just go crank up the tractor and roll him unto the front end lift.
Not necessarily the easiest thing, but tie a rope around the deers neck near a tree with a someone stout branch. Throw the rope over and take up the slack. Grab the deer under the front arms and lift, taking the slack out as you go. ( you will get bloody) Do this until the deer is verticle and tie the rope off at the base of the tree. Then back the truck up with the tailgate down and the deer will be in the bed and you just need to untie the rope at the base of the tree. Not necessarily the best solution, but it will work. Don't bother trying this with a whole elk, lol.