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When I was in college back inthe early 1960’s, I hunteddeer on public land deep in

the mountains of my nativePennsylvania. The designated parkinglot providing access to this propertywas 13 miles from the nearest pavedroad. I hunted a hilltop near a ghostlumber town where the only way inwas to walk. I wanted a deer morethan anything else and I never gave athought to how far I had to drag it orhow long it would take me to do so if Iwas successful.

Choosing a stand at the top of ahollow, I waited for a deer to comesneaking up the side. It was about 8a.m. when I saw a spike buck makinghis way up the hillside apparentlyintent on taking shelter in a stand ofthick hemlock trees growing at the topof the hill. I wasted no time findinghim in my riflescope. Putting thecrosshairs of the scope on his shoul-der, I squeezed the trigger and fired.

The buck ran a short distancedown the mountain and folded. As Iwas field dressing the animal, myuncle who was hunting with me,came down the hill after he heard myshot. Knowing I was a long way fromour car, he offered to carry my rifleand heavy outer coat to the car inorder to make the drag easier. It was 8a.m. when I shot that deer and 9 a.m.when I began dragging him back toour car. By 3 p.m. I was still dragging. Ifinally got to our vehicle at 3:30 p.m. Ittook six and one-half hours to get thatdeer out of the woods and that waswithout carrying my rifle or heavyhunting coat. Even though I was in myearly 20’s, the following day, my bodylet me know what I had just put itthrough. The muscles in my arms andlegs were sore but I was young anddidn’t let that little problem botherme.

Today, dragging a deer out of thewoods is likely to be more of a prob-lem for a growing number of usbecause the hunting fraternity is get-ting older so a strained back, sore,muscles or even a heart attack couldbe a real possibility for some hunters.Fortunately, today hunters have achoice as to how they will haul a deerfrom where it was shot, back to campor to their vehicle. These devices

range from simple inexpensive dragropes, to plastic sleds that skim overthe forest floor, to slightly bulkierwheeled deer carts that make movinga deer through the woods as easy asbringing in a load of firewood. In addi-tion, many hunters use ATV’s aroundthe farm or camp and where permit-ted, use these vehicles equipped withthe proper rack or gear basket, to getdeer back to camp.

I don’t know any of my hunting

companions who still drag a deer bypulling on its antlers. Instead, theyrely on either an ATV, a two-wheeledrolling deer cart, a plastic sled, or atthe very least, they carry a commer-cially made deer drag just in case theycan’t get help and need to move adowned deer the old fashioned way,by dragging it.

Every hunting situation is uniqueand the need of every hunter will bedifferent depending on his hunting

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location and the distance he huntsfrom camp or from his vehicle.Fortunately a game cart, plastic sled,or well-designed commercial deerdrag can make the task less arduousespecially for those like myself whohunt alone.

As an experienced bowhunterwho also hunts with a rifle during theappropriate season, I’ve found no onedevice is perfectly suited for moving adeer under every hunting condition

and so, I have several. For example,with no snow on the ground, a deercart is my preferred way for transport-ing a downed deer because a perfectlybalanced cart allows me to transport adeer in minutes rather than hours.With snow on the ground, my choiceis to use a plastic sled to get the animalback to my truck because regardlessof the depth of snow, a plastic sledskims over the snow surface betterthan anything else.

If I’m hunting deep in the woods,far from my truck, I always carry acommercially made deer drag likePete Rickard’s Deluxe Deer Drag,Glen’s Deer Handle, or the DeluxeDeer Drag made by Hunter’sSpecialties. These items are light-weight and can be carried in the backof any hunting jacket. In my opinion,a retail archery shop would be wise tooffer its customers a choice of thesedevices because every hunter needsone. Besides, they have the addedbenefit of being easily carried, readyfor instant use, and economical.

Deer carts with large wheels andsturdy axles that support relativelyheavy payloads are growing in popu-larity because they are lightweight,work well, fold for ease of storage, andare fairly inexpensive. Fortunately, foradditional sales opportunities, thereare a number of well made ones adealer can choose to stock.

Deer CartsAmeristep Corporation located in

Clio, Mississippi offers several modelsof carts that lend themselves to almostany hunting situation. The Grizzly,Model 9800 Deer Cart is perfect forhauling deer or gear into, out of, orover the most rugged terrain and thesolid rubber wheels ride easily overdowned tree trunks, roots or rocks.Customers will like the idea the tireswon’t puncture or lose air becausethey are made of solid rubber. Thehandles are designed so pulling orpushing the cart doesn’t become achore. The Grizzly Model 9800 DeerCart is made of heavy-duty weldedsteel and has a non-reflective mattefinish and load capacity of 300pounds.

Many hunters like traveling lightand look for that feature in theirequipment. Ameristep’s Non-TypicalModel 7800 Deer Cart fits this require-ment perfectly. It weighs only 22pounds because it’s made of light-weight but strong aluminum tubing.Ameristep’s Non-Typical Deer Carthas solid rubber wheels strongenough to support a 300 pound load.The telescoping aluminum framefolds flat for compact storage and issecured by several cargo straps thatkeep things in place and make trans-

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The Carry-All Deer Cart by Big Game Treestands ismade of steel and has large, 20 inch hardened rubberspoke wheels. Three cam-buckle straps securely hold anyload and a waist strap allows for hands free pulling. Thecart weighs 40 pounds and has a weight capacity of 500pounds making it ideal for the largest buck or for han-dling a load of firewood or supplies around camp.

Scotch Deer Drag has 2 inch widetough orange nylon webbing and fea-tures a welded steel “D” ring. From the“D” ring, 7 feet of rot-proof nylon ropeconnect the Scotch Deer Drag to theanimal.

The Scotch Deer Drag is availablein a single shoulder, double shoulder,or in a design the company calls a“Deluxe Adjustable Configuration.”This means the Deer Drag comes witha front plastic snap allowing the web-bing to pass over both shoulders like avest. Adjustments can then be madein the webbing to fit the user. Foradditional information contactWoody Holmes, Product Manager(518) 234-2731.

ATV RacksMany hunters hunt private or

leased land so using an ATV for haul-ing gear or deer is more of an optionfor them than it is for hunters whohunt public land where motorizedvehicles may not be permitted. AnATV will get the deer hauling choredone quicker than by any othermeans and can be used to carry hunt-ing equipment and other hunters totheir hunting location. Straight out ofa dealer’s shop an ATV can take ahunter over rough ground, throughmud, water, or just about any placeother vehicles just can’t go. But typi-cally your customer will have to add

after-market accessories in order toeasily carry a deer.

One of the neatest accessories isthe Power Loader made by Great Dayin Tallulah, Louisiana. The arms of thePower Loader can pick up just aboutany load including a big game animal.Fire wood, tool boxes, feed sacks, haybales, building materials, huntingequipment downed deer or elk canmoved by one man using the PowerLoader, provided the ATV has the car-rying capacity.

The Power Loader is powered byeither a factory installed or by an aftermarket winch with at least a 2000pound capacity. At the push of a but-ton, the telescopic lifting arms of thePower Loader retract and curl to moveloads of up to 350 pounds. The PowerLoader is constructed of aluminumand adds only 29 pounds to the over-all weight of the ATV, not counting thewinch.

Great Day also makes a rear-mounted rack called The Hitchn’Haul. With 6 inch side rails andhandy tie-down points, it is built fromaluminum, weighs only 22 poundsand conveniently attaches to any 2inch trailer hitch receiver. Great Dayoffers two versions, one for ATV’s andUTV’s and one for standard automo-biles and trucks. For additional infor-mation on either the Power Loader orthe Hitch n’Haul Contact Paul Meeks

at (866) 649-1918.Hunters who use ATV’s to move

equipment and game around theirproperty will be interested in theaccessory ATV baskets and carts madeby Swisher Mower and Machine inWarrensburg, Missouri. The SwisherATV baskets provide extra room tohaul all the gear needed for hunting,camping, work, or recreation. A 16gauge expanded metal mesh is weld-ed over a heavy 3/4 inch steel frameand is designed to handle the abuse ofjust about any outdoor work or play.Swisher’s ATV Baskets come in threemodels, a Rear Flat Basket, a FrontFlat Basket and a Rear Drop Basket.They install on OEM ATV racks withthe supplied hardware. The racks arepowder coated to provide years of cor-rosion resistant protection.

Swisher also manufactures aFoldable Game/Utility Cart that canbe easily attached to most ATVs,UTVs, or lawn tractors making it per-fect for hauling trophy game from thewoods, carrying heavy bags of feedand seed, or for loading bales of hay.The Game/Utility cart offers a 500pound capacity thanks to a 14 gauge,1 inch steel tubing frame. In use, thiscart’s measurement is 4 feet by 4 feetand when folded, it becomes a com-pact 2 foot by 4 foot size and neatlystands upright for easy storage. Forfurther information from Swisher call(800) 222-8183.

Strong Built not only makes therolling Big Game Carts discussed ear-lier, it also manufactures accessoryracks for hauling game or gear with anATV. The ATV Rear Flat Rack by StrongBuilt is made from 16 gauge, 3/4 inchsquare steel tubing and 14 gaugeexpanded metal mesh. The rack is 41-inches long and 21 inches wide and is6 inches deep with a weather-resistantblack powder coat finish. For furtherinformation call Strong Built at (318)749-3303.

According to Sarah Hudzinski,Marketing Manager for KolpinPowersports of Fox Lake, Wisconsin,the Kolpin Collapsible ATV Rear DropCarrier is made with 1-1/2-inch steeltubing for perimeter support whilethe bolt together design saves moneyby allowing for standard UPS ship-ping. The bottom and sides of the

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Hunter’sSpecialtiesDeluxe Deer Dragis a durable, safe-ty-orange bodyharness withshoulder strapsand a waist beltthat makes drag-ging a deer farmore comfortablethan pulling on arope. Customerswill like the ideathe Deluxe DeerDrag is inexpen-sive enough sothat one can betucked into sever-al hunting jacketsor packs and beon hand whenev-er it is needed.

Glenn’s Deer Handle is a simple yet effec-tive means for moving a game animalfrom remote hunting areas. The unit iscompact and effective because it raisesthe head of the animal off the ground andkeeps the deer under control especiallywhen coming down steep slopes. Userswill like the idea there are no knots to tieor untie when moving game. The 9-inchrubber coated handle is easy on the handsmaking long drags more comfortable.