Furthest Deer Drag

[Doc]

Just under 1/2 mile.... never again....never again..........

Yeah, sure. I say that every year, but I still wind up with some horrible drags that push a mile or more.

That "grass is greener" saying always lures me into hunting a lot farther away than I should. Strangely enough, the grass usually is greener because that is where I usually get one down.

Doc

[m gardner]

We had a spot we hunted in the Adirondacks of New York and it was 6.8 miles on the map from that beech ridge to the road. I took many off there when I was younger. I had some long drags when I lived in Vermont too. I was glad to move to Colorado where you could quarter them and pack out the quarters. It's alot easier. The states with wilderness areas shouldn't require you leave the animal whole until it's checked at a station or cut up for consumption. It's too hard on old people! I shot a buck in New York when I visited a couple years ago and had to drag it (on snow thank the Lord) nearly two miles.

Mark

Edited December 12, 2008 by m gardner

[fly]

About a mile is the longest. However, the drag out was fairly level and there was a trail. I did not have a cart, I used a rope. It only took me about 2 hours because the deer wasn't real big (about 120lbs).

The hardest drag out was this year. The distance was nearly 3/4 mile (I measured it on my map and came up with 0.7 miles). There were no trails and a mud slide from the previous spring caused several large oaks to fall across the valley I had to drag it out of. In addition there was a large creek with steep banks that snaked through the valley. It took me 6 hours plus a one hour lunch break to get it from where he fell to my truck. No one was around to help, but I was able to use my cart in some areas. I had to take the deer off the cart 3 times to get it down steep creek banks or over large tree falls. The buck weighed 205lbs field dressed.

[Dakota]

For mule deer and pronghorn, maybe a mile and a half. Whitetails, about 600 yards. This year though we bought a game cart, which was nice considering I had to wheel two goats back to the truck from about a half mile.

Dakota

[Mirage]

I drug a doe once about 3/4 mile once all the hair on the side I was dragging her on was gone by the time I was done.I was young and wanted that doe bad! I shot her around 7 am and didnt get to the truck until noon. Thats a lot of dragging let me tell you going up the ridge wa the worst part. I could only drag her about 10 yards at a time. i remebr it was cold and I was down to a t shirt and it qwas soaked from sweating. Now I have a game cart wow what a diff.

[LifeNRA]

From the main road to the top of the mountain, 1.5 miles! I really thought I would never get to my truck! Now I drive of there, so its only about a hundred yards or so.

[sskybnd]

i dont know how many miles it was, i just know it took hours, shot a 9 point at 11:40am and finley got him to my truck at 6:30pm that night, it was long enough of a drag that it took most the hair off both sides, and when i went to get him mounted had to get a new cape for it.

[Guest MIC65Frit]

Some of the places I hunt are miles from the nearest road and dragging a deer many miles is a fact of life. Four years ago I bought a game cart and have changed my hunting strategy so that I try to hunt where I can use the game cart because of a bad back. The longest drag that I can remember started at a little before 9:00 AM and ended at 11:30 PM and covered a distance of approximately 8 miles. The distance was calculated by looking at a TOPO map. That particular buck had a dressed weight of over 240 lbs. and as I recall, the last couple of miles of that drag was mostly a matter of will power. Sure wish I owned a pack horse.

Dude...that's hard core!

[HUNTINGMAN]

About 3/4 of a mile,I killed the deer on the only part of the farm that there were no atv trails,guess thats why he was there.

[fly]

elkoholic, you da man!

[camocop]

approximately 1 mile, give or take

[Rhino]

The farthest and worst was about 500 yards. A old buddy (now deceased) killed one that crossed a major creek going into our neighbors property and died in a narrow, deep ravine. We had to cut through roots growing through the ravine to drag it through there since it was only about 3' to 5' wide. Once into the main creek it took 4 of us lifting the buck up to one another to get it up the steep creek bank. The 500 yards got us to spot where we could finally pull it out of the bottom using an ATV and 200' of rope.

[aksheephuntress]

....longest pack out for a Dall sheep(quartered and boned out sheep my partner harvested- 1/2 sheep, 1/2 of camp in each 95-lb pack)...took 2 1/2 days

....farthest moose pack....8 2 and 1/2 mile loads packing quarters/etc to Johnson Lake to be flown out, then 6-mile hike out,(but empty-whew!) to the road.....