One mile deer drag? No problem

Txt from Ed: I think we should take the Land rover

Response rom me: Fec that, I just spent the last hour fitting the roof box to the Rav4 and if we take the Landy ill need an osteopath on standby after 600 miles.

We took the Rav.

We did the drive up 645miles (including a detour to collect Ed from near Guilford) in just over 11 hours arriving at about 4:30.

It was good to be back at Ed's nans place. The view from our lodge lifted my heart.

2017-08-21 06.25.48 by markchase8, on Flickr

We had time to pop over to see Tommy and see how the Austrians were getting on.

Pretty good it seemed:

But I couldn’t help noticing they had only shot Stags?

I thought you said it was Hind seasion? I said

Quick check on line, and sure enough we were a week early for the Hinds ☹ my fault as we were supposed to be up on the 20th and have the 21[SUP]st[/SUP] on the Hinds, but we had to swap the w/ends due to my wife finally getting the go for her minor opp.

Still on the bright side, the Austrians were doing well.

2018 by markchase8, on Flickr

Up at dark o clock and loading the car, we spotted a stag and two hinds on the hill across the road from the lodge. I was about to get my rifle, but the Austrians turned up on the road, stopped got out, had a look, and the Stag promptly buggered off

Ho Hum

2017-08-23 20.53.00 by markchase8, on Flickr

Car loaded, Ed points me at a short 30-40 degree slope covered in mud and suggests this is our track up to the hill???

I put the Rav into diff lock mode and went for it. We got up with surprising ease. The rocky track that followed was OK, but some of the steep hills that followed were pretty challenging, but we made it up to the dam despite my hair dressers car.

I asked Ed if he was impressed with my cars off road ability.He said: “Off road???, then laughed. “That was the road leading up to the offroad bit :D”

Ho Hum

The day was over cast but a good 10c and the scenery as usual, was amazing. Stalking up along side the burn we had already spotted one stag,but he went off into the wood bellowing for a Hind, never to be seen again.Then as we rounded a corner we saw two stags. Ed generously let me have the first shot, so I set my trigger sticks and rested the Blaser waiting for an angle.The bigger of the two was arse on to me and the smaller had spotted us and facing me head on. I had brought my 6.5 55 expecting longer range heart shots, but if I were to get this stag it would have to be a head shot. He was staring straight at me and holding dead still and the cross hairs were steady, so I squeezed imperceptibly on the amazing trigger of the R93 and was rewarded with a hefty thwack as the 140grain bullet hit hard and the stag dropped on the spot.

That was it, my first Red, first deer in Scotland, first with my Blaser, first with a 6.5 55. The euphoria was flooding through me right up till Ed pointed out it was the best part of a mile drag out.

Scotland 2018 by markchase8, on Flickr

Ho Hum

Ed set off back to the car for the Jet sled and I did the gralloch.I did the full job, head off legs off full body cavity. Anything to keep the weight down. We had the sled so I wasn’t worried about contamination.

Then ed returned with a brilliant idea.

“I reckon the sled will float this beasty in the burn?”

Fortunately I had a length of 6mm rope with me, so we rigged it up and set the stag in the Jet Sled and drifted the beasty down river:

Click on the vid below to see us in action.

VID-20181016-WA0004 on Vimeo

That had to be the easiest drag out ever.

Ed did most of the work as he seemed to be enjoying himself.We had a few rocky bits and falls to negotiate, but it all went surprisingly well till Ed took a wrong step and filled his welly boot up with water. I asked if he was OK and he said “All good, quite refreshing actualy” which was good because with the next step he went in arse first and got soaked.

I didn’t enquire as to his condition this time, I just laughed my tits off :D

My Harkila 12” GTX boots had been amazing despite the soggy ground and regularly sinking up past my ankles. I had also had to stand in flowing water crossing the burn a few times, and so far I was dry and comfortable.
We dragged the sled out of the burn by the car and had about10m to cross overland and I managed to sink one leg up to the knee in the bog. My Harkila’s had been great, but Id gone way past their comfort zone and now had aleft boot full of water ☹

“I didn’t expect that” I said. “I did” said Ed with a wry smile.

We covered the deer, I had a coffee and we set off again. Whilst waiting for Ed id seen two more stags and some Hinds up by the “Trees for Life”plantation. On our return we spotted them cresting the hill maybe 800m- 1000maway and a few hundred m higher than us. One of the stags was a magnificent beasty.

A long stalk followed using every possible contour to hide our position. The wind wasn’t ideal, but it was quartering so not to bad and as the group left the ridge they seemed relaxed and not startled.

2017-08-23 20.53.34 by markchase8, on Flickr

We made the left edge of the ridge and could see a large area with no deer. There was a valley to my left with a waterfall and the burn that the dogs had shown a great interest in it. To the right was another hill which wed seen the heard heading off to.

We split up and I went to scope out the valley, and Ed the hill we thought they had gone off in thedirection of..

As I crested the slope before the valley I was struck by two things. A: There were no deer and B: the valley burn and waterfall were just so beautiful. The rusty peat laden water exploded over the boulders in a magnificent show of power and the turgid water at its base settled its self before streaming off below through lush green banks and rocky slopes. I took a moment to take it all in before heading back up to the top of the valley in search of Ed.

Just as I crested the top I could see Ed in the far distance beginning to crouch and some 80odd m to his left, a stag standing. The stag turned and walked a few paces before turning back again to face Ed. I had a perfect view through my Binos as Ed’s 243 nailed it and it dropped on the spot. The sound of the shot echoed over to me a second or so later.

It took me a while to climb up to Ed’s location and when I got there the misty drizzle had turned into something more resembling rain. Edand I were both in long sleeved T shirts but Eds a lot younger than me, so I got my Poncho out of my rucksack and slipped it on. Id been umming and arring about the carry weight of the Seeland poncho but I was now standing still for awhile and suddenly very appreciative of it warmth and rain protection.
I reckoned we were at least two miles from the car over some rough ground. The down hill bit was OK ish but the flat lands were going to bea sod. I was about to suggest I went back for the sled when Ed said, no way we are dragging this one, I’ll phone Tommy.

About 40mins later I was faced with the most incredible sight of Tommy’s 6 wheel drive Can Am Quad coming over the side of the hill, throughthe burn and up our hill??? Tommy looks a bit frail and more than a few years past his prime, but wow can he drive a quad.

Ed suggested I go back on the back of the 6X quad. SOD that I said it looks terrifying. I ignored the implication that I was too old and fat to walk back with him :D He wasnt far wrong and my watch reckoned wed done nearly six miles over rough and hilly ground come the end of the day.

So that was that. Last trip we blanked for three days andthis trip we had one each the morning of day one. It was a good feeling. Thelong walk back to the car was spent discussing fitting four KTM dirt bikewheels to the sled with a small motor and remote control. That plus C02 inflatablesides floats so we can to float them down the burn and let the KTM wheels dealwith the rocky bits. Knowing Ed’s ingenuity and engineering skills I reckonhell have one built for the next trip :D

Scotland 2018 by markchase8, on Flickr
ATB
Chasey


 
Last edited:
Click to expand...
No where close to requiring a double or triple axle trailer! Come on - I can pick up the front (where the engine and gearbox are) of it and carry it sideways with reasonable ease. The Argo comes in at 442kg (according to the manual) and the whole lot combined is significantly under 750kg.

The trailer is arguably (apart from some questionable design decisions and welding) overkill for the weight of the vehicle given the thickness of the box section, said dodgy welds have since been redone. The questionable design decisions are mainly down to the fact that it's usually towed by my Defender not the Shogun and the tow bar is significantly higher up. So larger diameter wheels have been fitted to flatten out the trailer a bit, the mud guards have been completely re-done since that photo as they were not suitable for the long journeys we do with it. The main issue was the lights which coupled with the towball height of the Defender meant they were getting hit quite often so they've been relocated inside the ramps.

It sounds that people aren't aware of the design of an Argocat, despite it being reasonably flawed for what we use it for but it's actually a really clever bit of design work and well suited for what it was intended. There is only a small (but substantial) ladder chassis at the bottom which houses all the wheel bearings, chains between each wheel. There's an 18HP Kohler twin cylinder up front with a CVT transmission driving a 2 speed (+ reverse) gearbox and diff. You turn by manually applying brakes to either side of the diff. The rest of the thing is polypropylene so strong but very light. The majority of Argocats have maintained the purely mechanical transmission because it's much more efficient than hydraulics (which typically lose 20-40% efficiency) meaning you can have a much smaller engine compared to a hydraulic skid steer. They've done this to keep the vehicle weight down which means that typical ground pressure for Argo's are <1psi.

Now the big issues we have with the Argo are:
  1. Ground clearance - it's about 2-4"
  2. Lack of suspension - wheels don't go over obstacles the entire vehicle tilts over it, which means "rocky" terrain is basically a no-go
  3. Flat bottom - they're great on boggy ground, until you break the surface. Then you're stuffed, the flat bottom means suction will probably quadruple (if you're lucky) the effort required to get it out.
Having said that there is very little to touch them for what they were designed for. This particular one spends most of its time on my parents farm in Wales where it's very useful because of the storage in the back and it doesn't tear up the ground, but paths are nice and flat. Up in the Highlands we're still learning how it handles things and adjusting routes to accommodate it.

The best vehicle - by a long long way is Tommy's Can-Am 6x6 but even that isn't the be-all-and-end-all. You can't be inside it (not an issue for Tommy or us but other neighbours take out clients where being inside an enclosed Argo is a godsend on typical Scottish days). The other thing is, like all quads, they are lethal on side-slopes. To the point that when I was up there in October Tommy had fitted duellys to the centre axle on the 6x6 and was waiting for another pair of wheels for the rear axle. So turning it into a 10 wheel quad...

Honestly - Mark's description of our retrieval by hand is ironically one of the simplest ways to get things down from certain areas on the estates. Short of a chopper I can't think of a single vehicle that would cover a retrieval on all areas of the estates. Some areas a Land Rover is the best vehicle (rocky terrain that little else will cope with), others the nimbleness of a 4x4 quad. Most of it's covered by the Can-Am 6x6 but even that gets bogged a few times a year despite having 82hp on tap, other places the Argo is best.

The long and the short of it - it's always an adventure and it's fun coming up with new ways of retrieving the deer. Have yet to resort to my great-great-great uncle's method of cutting it in half and carrying each half on my back. I'm not as fit as I used to be but I can probably get from one side of the estate to the other faster walking than anyone else can on either a quad, 6x6 or Argo. The labs will obliterate my time though - but they're useful for sending on ahead to find the really deep bits of boggy ground! The deer obliterate the dogs covering ground though.
IMG_20151024_145305.webp
 
Good write up, thanks.

It reminded me of when I worked for the FC in the New Forest in the early 90s we used to sometimes float out the fallow carcases when the streams were swollen. As there was lot of public access (even before it was made a National Park) we weren't allowed to use ATV's and all gralloching was done back at the larder.
 
I was more concerned with the wheel bearings and the argo at a 1000 lbs is sitting on a trailer with tiny little wheels that are doing far more revolutions per mile than the tow vehicles wheels. Wheel bearings have to be good in that case.
I wasnt picking schitt at it at all.


I am surprised that hovercrafts arent used in the really boggy places.
I used to get around the tidal flats and mangrove edges in the Gulf in FNQ with a mate. He was a pro Barra fisherman and used it to rob his nets at low tide.
My last three kids had a ball on it,from salt water to land to water and mangrove mud in the gulf is like trying to walk on sloppy porridge.

Btw did you let the Lab lick you ha ha.

cack hover.webp
 
Last edited:
Cracking...a very enjoyable read.
Well done Chasey / ed. poore ,
may there be many more like it.

Thanks for sharing Buck.
 
@johngryphon fair point but the trailer uses standard Indepension (I think?) suspension units (those little boxes with four rubber bits shoved in the corners) and those are used on all manner of trailers (much heavier ones too). Mum's got a little trailer farm animal trailer with smaller wheels that we've had for about 15 years and that's never been serviced and been absolutely fine. The only issue I've had with it has been a blow out on the motorway moving some workshop stuff from Surrey to Wales. In hindsight however that trailer was almost certainly overloaded (although didn't look like it).

I'd like a trailer like that to have a Land Rover sized wheel for off-road clearance and reduce the number of spares but the Argo is towed both by Dad's Shogun and the Land Rover so whilst running similar sized tyres (31 and 32 respectively) we couldn't share wheels. I've genuinely never had to use a spare on my Land Rover (BFG KM2s) in the 210k miles of hard on-road and off-road use it's got. However putting bigger tyres on that means the ramps would need reworking to get the Argo on (even the change up of a few inches in rolling diameter has caused it issues). That combined with a different suspension setup means that the trailer would probably end up in braked territory and as it's used so infrequently it's much more beneficial not having to service the brakes each time it's used.

So it's more than fit for purpose at the moment. After all despite only having it 2 years or so it's racked up 6 return journeys to the Highlands so about 5-6k in total and no sign of issue regarding wheels.
 
or so it's racked up 6 return journeys to the Highlands so about 5-6k in total and no sign of issue regarding wheels.

Thats good ,now check the bearings and grease them ha ha
 
johngryphon said:
I was more concerned with the wheel bearings and the argo at a 1000 lbs is sitting on a trailer with tiny little wheels that are doing far more revolutions per mile than the tow vehicles wheels. Wheel bearings have to be good in that case.
I wasnt picking schitt at it at all.


I am surprised that hovercrafts arent used in the really boggy places.
I used to get around the tidal flats and mangrove edges in the Gulf in FNQ with a mate. He was a pro Barra fisherman and used it to rob his nets at low tide.
My last three kids had a ball on it,from salt water to land to water and mangrove mud in the gulf is like trying to walk on sloppy porridge.

Btw did you let the Lab lick you ha ha.

View attachment 145924
Click to expand...

Now that bloke couldn't be any more Aussie if he wore a cork-bedecked hat! :p Is that you, John?
 
johngryphon said:
I was more concerned with the wheel bearings and the argo at a 1000 lbs is sitting on a trailer with tiny little wheels that are doing far more revolutions per mile than the tow vehicles wheels. Wheel bearings have to be good in that case.
I wasnt picking schitt at it at all.


I am surprised that hovercrafts arent used in the really boggy places.
I used to get around the tidal flats and mangrove edges in the Gulf in FNQ with a mate. He was a pro Barra fisherman and used it to rob his nets at low tide.
My last three kids had a ball on it,from salt water to land to water and mangrove mud in the gulf is like trying to walk on sloppy porridge.

Btw did you let the Lab lick you ha ha.

View attachment 145924
Click to expand...


Dad with ear defenders. Kids - deaf? but distracted anyway hanging onto Dad so they don't get sucked through the mesh to the fan! :lol:
 
Chasey said:
Txt from Ed: I think we should take the Land rover

Response rom me: Fec that, I just spent the last hour fitting the roof box to the Rav4 and if we take the Landy ill need an osteopath on standby after 600 miles.

We took the Rav.

We did the drive up 645miles (including a detour to collect Ed from near Guilford) in just over 11 hours arriving at about 4:30.

It was good to be back at Ed's nans place. The view from our lodge lifted my heart.

2017-08-21 06.25.48 by markchase8, on Flickr

We had time to pop over to see Tommy and see how the Austrians were getting on.

Pretty good it seemed:

But I couldn’t help noticing they had only shot Stags?

I thought you said it was Hind seasion? I said

Quick check on line, and sure enough we were a week early for the Hinds ☹ my fault as we were supposed to be up on the 20th and have the 21[SUP]st[/SUP] on the Hinds, but we had to swap the w/ends due to my wife finally getting the go for her minor opp.

Still on the bright side, the Austrians were doing well.

2018 by markchase8, on Flickr

Up at dark o clock and loading the car, we spotted a stag and two hinds on the hill across the road from the lodge. I was about to get my rifle, but the Austrians turned up on the road, stopped got out, had a look, and the Stag promptly buggered off

Ho Hum

2017-08-23 20.53.00 by markchase8, on Flickr

Car loaded, Ed points me at a short 30-40 degree slope covered in mud and suggests this is our track up to the hill???

I put the Rav into diff lock mode and went for it. We got up with surprising ease. The rocky track that followed was OK, but some of the steep hills that followed were pretty challenging, but we made it up to the dam despite my hair dressers car.

I asked Ed if he was impressed with my cars off road ability.He said: “Off road???, then laughed. “That was the road leading up to the offroad bit :D”

Ho Hum

The day was over cast but a good 10c and the scenery as usual, was amazing. Stalking up along side the burn we had already spotted one stag,but he went off into the wood bellowing for a Hind, never to be seen again.Then as we rounded a corner we saw two stags. Ed generously let me have the first shot, so I set my trigger sticks and rested the Blaser waiting for an angle.The bigger of the two was arse on to me and the smaller had spotted us and facing me head on. I had brought my 6.5 55 expecting longer range heart shots, but if I were to get this stag it would have to be a head shot. He was staring straight at me and holding dead still and the cross hairs were steady, so I squeezed imperceptibly on the amazing trigger of the R93 and was rewarded with a hefty thwack as the 140grain bullet hit hard and the stag dropped on the spot.

That was it, my first Red, first deer in Scotland, first with my Blaser, first with a 6.5 55. The euphoria was flooding through me right up till Ed pointed out it was the best part of a mile drag out.

Scotland 2018 by markchase8, on Flickr

Ho Hum

Ed set off back to the car for the Jet sled and I did the gralloch.I did the full job, head off legs off full body cavity. Anything to keep the weight down. We had the sled so I wasn’t worried about contamination.

Then ed returned with a brilliant idea.

“I reckon the sled will float this beasty in the burn?”

Fortunately I had a length of 6mm rope with me, so we rigged it up and set the stag in the Jet Sled and drifted the beasty down river:

Click on the vid below to see us in action.

VID-20181016-WA0004 on Vimeo

That had to be the easiest drag out ever.

Ed did most of the work as he seemed to be enjoying himself.We had a few rocky bits and falls to negotiate, but it all went surprisingly well till Ed took a wrong step and filled his welly boot up with water. I asked if he was OK and he said “All good, quite refreshing actualy” which was good because with the next step he went in arse first and got soaked.

I didn’t enquire as to his condition this time, I just laughed my tits off :D

My Harkila 12” GTX boots had been amazing despite the soggy ground and regularly sinking up past my ankles. I had also had to stand in flowing water crossing the burn a few times, and so far I was dry and comfortable.
We dragged the sled out of the burn by the car and had about10m to cross overland and I managed to sink one leg up to the knee in the bog. My Harkila’s had been great, but Id gone way past their comfort zone and now had aleft boot full of water ☹

“I didn’t expect that” I said. “I did” said Ed with a wry smile.

We covered the deer, I had a coffee and we set off again. Whilst waiting for Ed id seen two more stags and some Hinds up by the “Trees for Life”plantation. On our return we spotted them cresting the hill maybe 800m- 1000maway and a few hundred m higher than us. One of the stags was a magnificent beasty.

A long stalk followed using every possible contour to hide our position. The wind wasn’t ideal, but it was quartering so not to bad and as the group left the ridge they seemed relaxed and not startled.

2017-08-23 20.53.34 by markchase8, on Flickr

We made the left edge of the ridge and could see a large area with no deer. There was a valley to my left with a waterfall and the burn that the dogs had shown a great interest in it. To the right was another hill which wed seen the heard heading off to.

We split up and I went to scope out the valley, and Ed the hill we thought they had gone off in thedirection of..

As I crested the slope before the valley I was struck by two things. A: There were no deer and B: the valley burn and waterfall were just so beautiful. The rusty peat laden water exploded over the boulders in a magnificent show of power and the turgid water at its base settled its self before streaming off below through lush green banks and rocky slopes. I took a moment to take it all in before heading back up to the top of the valley in search of Ed.

Just as I crested the top I could see Ed in the far distance beginning to crouch and some 80odd m to his left, a stag standing. The stag turned and walked a few paces before turning back again to face Ed. I had a perfect view through my Binos as Ed’s 243 nailed it and it dropped on the spot. The sound of the shot echoed over to me a second or so later.

It took me a while to climb up to Ed’s location and when I got there the misty drizzle had turned into something more resembling rain. Edand I were both in long sleeved T shirts but Eds a lot younger than me, so I got my Poncho out of my rucksack and slipped it on. Id been umming and arring about the carry weight of the Seeland poncho but I was now standing still for awhile and suddenly very appreciative of it warmth and rain protection.
I reckoned we were at least two miles from the car over some rough ground. The down hill bit was OK ish but the flat lands were going to bea sod. I was about to suggest I went back for the sled when Ed said, no way we are dragging this one, I’ll phone Tommy.

About 40mins later I was faced with the most incredible sight of Tommy’s 6 wheel drive Can Am Quad coming over the side of the hill, throughthe burn and up our hill??? Tommy looks a bit frail and more than a few years past his prime, but wow can he drive a quad.

Ed suggested I go back on the back of the 6X quad. SOD that I said it looks terrifying. I ignored the implication that I was too old and fat to walk back with him :D He wasnt far wrong and my watch reckoned wed done nearly six miles over rough and hilly ground come the end of the day.

So that was that. Last trip we blanked for three days andthis trip we had one each the morning of day one. It was a good feeling. Thelong walk back to the car was spent discussing fitting four KTM dirt bikewheels to the sled with a small motor and remote control. That plus C02 inflatablesides floats so we can to float them down the burn and let the KTM wheels dealwith the rocky bits. Knowing Ed’s ingenuity and engineering skills I reckonhell have one built for the next trip :D

Scotland 2018 by markchase8, on Flickr
ATB
Chasey
Click to expand...
Not sure how this great post got derailed. Imho,if there was ever an argument for the op to get reinstated you need look no further..
 
Really good read, I enjoyed that.
Unfortunatly I understand the OP is no longer with us on here, and to me that sounds like a loss for the forum if this was the sort of contribution that he made.

I’ve never been a fan of small wheels on trailers, but I can see why you wouldn’t want to change them, I heard those Argos are really light.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

  • Article Article
End of season 3 day cull
Replies
18
Views
889
Mike1979
M
  • Article Article
No fox but supper is sorted
Replies
8
Views
541
Smelly Yeti
Smelly Yeti
  • Article Article
6.5CM + 129gr interlock story
Replies
18
Views
655
Keith Edmunds
Keith Edmunds
  • Article Article
My first Sika
Replies
14
Views
866
Sika98k
Sika98k
  • Article Article
First successful outing with Zulus on my 6.5CM
Replies
12
Views
535
Dave5463
D
Our passion is your passion... stalk with us!
Back
Top