Sledding your deer out of a swamp

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Dhurtubise
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Re: Sledding your deer out of a swamp

Unread postby Dhurtubise » Fri Mar 17, 2017 1:40 am

BassBoysLLP wrote:
mainebowhunter wrote:
Hawthorne wrote:
mainebowhunter wrote:Last year in KS...we had no sled. We we found an old salt bag...or whatever it was. Look like it would hold 400-600# of something with handles. You guys have seen them if you worked on a farm. Has black handles at the top and a tie at the bottom to loosen to let the material out.

We cut the top of it out, stuffed the deer inside it. Made awesome way to drag the deer out. Slid easy on the brush. Kept the deer hide from pulling hair out of the cape. Great handles for dragging. Especially for 2 guys. Not sure it would work dragging a deer out of a swamp...lol.

Here in Maine, we use Jet sleds.

Image



depending on how durable the material is , looks like a great idea.


VERY durable. Couple years ago we used them on the water. Best friend is a commercial diver. Had problems on the ocean floor with float hitting on the rocks at low tide. I ran the crane on the barge while they filled this bags with rocks and I hoisted the bags up with the crane and set them on the deck.


Those bags can hold way more than that. Standard weight capacity is around 2200 lbs or 1 metric ton


I ordered one full of gravel a few years ago. They're tough for sure. They're typically used for cubic meter loads here. It's a little more than a cubic yard. Gravel weighs about 1750 kg/m, or 3850 lbs according to a website I found. I think they're strong enough to pull deer out.


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Re: Sledding your deer out of a swamp

Unread postby The Runt » Fri Mar 17, 2017 3:59 am

I use a Jet Sled. It has worked well for me. [url][url=https://postimg.org/image/e0rm54ov9/]Image[/url][/url]
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Re: Sledding your deer out of a swamp

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Fri Mar 17, 2017 4:46 am

The biggest reason we use a jet sled is in years past, we travel to hunt off-shore islands. Which means, pulling a deer across docks, loading in a boat and pulling up boat ramps. And many of the times, unless we use the fishermens wharf, blood really cannot be spilled all over the dock. Keeps everything clean.
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Re: Sledding your deer out of a swamp

Unread postby dan » Fri Mar 17, 2017 5:14 am

You don't want to get swamp water in the chest cavity either... Its full of bacteria.
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Re: Sledding your deer out of a swamp

Unread postby AvidHunter88 » Fri Mar 17, 2017 5:16 am

I've been using the sled from Home Depot that Dewey posted for probably the past five years now. It has worked great and for that price you can't beat it. It seems like it wouldn't last but I've dragged it through plenty of nasty stuff and it's held up fine. The ropes work great for cinching the deer down as you pull on them. A nice trick if you have a buddy that helps you drag is to find a thick stick about 12 to 18 inches wide and wrap the rope around it. It works great as a handle than that each guy can grab a side of and pull if there's room to walk two wide. Throw something over the antlers to they don't get caught in all the grass/cattails and you're good to go.
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Re: Sledding your deer out of a swamp

Unread postby justin84 » Fri Mar 17, 2017 5:29 am

You guys bring the sled in with you or walk out and back in with the sled if you get one?
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Re: Sledding your deer out of a swamp

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Fri Mar 17, 2017 5:38 am

justin84 wrote:You guys bring the sled in with you or walk out and back in with the sled if you get one?


Walk back to truck with bow and gear. Wait for a buddy to show up than go back in.
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Re: Sledding your deer out of a swamp

Unread postby Dewey » Fri Mar 17, 2017 5:42 am

justin84 wrote:You guys bring the sled in with you or walk out and back in with the sled if you get one?

I don't carry any more than I need to for each hunt. Always keep everything in the truck and go back to get it if needed. While there I drop off my hunting gear and get rid of my excess clothing for the hard work ahead. I also have a seperate kill pack with all my other retrieval gear ready to grab and go when I have a deer down.
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Re: Sledding your deer out of a swamp

Unread postby Dewey » Fri Mar 17, 2017 5:47 am

dan wrote:You don't want to get swamp water in the chest cavity either... Its full of bacteria.

I agree. If in deep water I wait till dry land to gut them out. Another added benefit is they seem to float better in deep water with the guts still in.
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Re: Sledding your deer out of a swamp

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Fri Mar 17, 2017 6:11 am

Dewey wrote:
dan wrote:You don't want to get swamp water in the chest cavity either... Its full of bacteria.

I agree. If in deep water I wait till dry land to gut them out. Another added benefit is they seem to float better in deep water with the guts still in.


Here, one of the way we preserve the deer for a few days is to gut them, tie them off and soak them in the ocean.
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Re: Sledding your deer out of a swamp

Unread postby moog5050 » Fri Mar 17, 2017 6:26 am

Those FIBC bags seem like a really good option
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Re: Sledding your deer out of a swamp

Unread postby Dewey » Fri Mar 17, 2017 7:07 am

Those bags would be a great option for getting bear out. They would fit nicely in there and would really protect the hide.
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Re: Sledding your deer out of a swamp

Unread postby AvidHunter88 » Sat Mar 18, 2017 8:55 am

mainebowhunter wrote:
justin84 wrote:You guys bring the sled in with you or walk out and back in with the sled if you get one?


Walk back to truck with bow and gear. Wait for a buddy to show up than go back in.



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Re: Sledding your deer out of a swamp

Unread postby Steve Heiting » Thu Mar 30, 2017 3:12 am

I've used just about everything to get a deer out. I have a sled similar to the one for which Dewey provided the link, called the Deer Sleigh'r. On snow or ice, there's nothing better, and it's not bad on grass. The key is to lace it around the deer as tightly as possible. If it's loose, the deer will shift and you'll struggle.

Sport sleds (Otter, etc.) are great to keep the deer out of the water, but they usually have a big, square front end that bumps into everything.

A friend's son works in a recycling plant where they occasionally get in jet ski bottoms, which are made of pretty durable plastic. The son has drilled a couple holes in the front and attached a rope, and a couple holes on the sides to strap down the deer. He says it works great, especially since the rounded nose slides around anything. The closest commercial product I could find to that is this: http://www.homedepot.com/p/65-in-Deer-D ... lsrc=aw.ds

If you hunt an area with hunter walking trails, deer carts are great. Just drag the deer to the nearest trail, go back to the truck for the cart, strap it on and go. They're iffy when going cross country ... and if you try using them in steep, hilly country, they're an accident waiting to happen. :o

Of course, the all-time best is an ATV, but their use isn't allowed everywhere.

Another idea, but not for swamps: another friend took a roto-tiller and reconfigured it so it moved in reverse and turned a set of wheels, rather than the tiller. They just hook the deer up and walk along with it because the machine pulls the deer right out.
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Re: Sledding your deer out of a swamp

Unread postby UofLbowhunter » Thu Mar 30, 2017 2:19 pm

Steve Heiting wrote:I've used just about everything to get a deer out. I have a sled similar to the one for which Dewey provided the link, called the Deer Sleigh'r. On snow or ice, there's nothing better, and it's not bad on grass. The key is to lace it around the deer as tightly as possible. If it's loose, the deer will shift and you'll struggle.

Sport sleds (Otter, etc.) are great to keep the deer out of the water, but they usually have a big, square front end that bumps into everything.

A friend's son works in a recycling plant where they occasionally get in jet ski bottoms, which are made of pretty durable plastic. The son has drilled a couple holes in the front and attached a rope, and a couple holes on the sides to strap down the deer. He says it works great, especially since the rounded nose slides around anything. The closest commercial product I could find to that is this: http://www.homedepot.com/p/65-in-Deer-D ... lsrc=aw.ds

If you hunt an area with hunter walking trails, deer carts are great. Just drag the deer to the nearest trail, go back to the truck for the cart, strap it on and go. They're iffy when going cross country ... and if you try using them in steep, hilly country, they're an accident waiting to happen. :o

Of course, the all-time best is an ATV, but their use isn't allowed everywhere.

Another idea, but not for swamps: another friend took a roto-tiller and reconfigured it so it moved in reverse and turned a set of wheels, rather than the tiller. They just hook the deer up and walk along with it because the machine pulls the deer right out.







This tiller machine sounds like some serious redneck engineering :lol:
Bucks,ducks, turkeys,and bass!


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