SaOsborne
Well-Known Member
I have an opportunity to cull red deer on some really rough Spruce forestry. A number of animals need to be culled.
The issue I have is extraction. I have held off for a year gathering kit to ensure I can do the stalking justice. I have a petrol capstan winch and deer sled. I can get access to a Polaris ranger (150mile drag!), but the ground is so unforgiving it was hard work last time, just getting in and I was really fearfull of getting stuck. It is very wet clay, the track one side is a bog, sunk to belly plate in ranger. the other side was never made good after Euro Forestry stripped it, now a mire of brash lines, reed grass swamp, ditches 2-4ft deep, reed grass tall enough you can only see the head of a Red calf, bramble and all interseeded with new saplings. The last time I took the machine in the grass hid all the pitfalls and within 300yds I was grounded on a stump, 1/2 an hour of sweat later I moved on to the next hidden stump!
The grounds are long and thin, bounded by a river on one side, with only 1 access point at one end, and over a Km to the end where I see most deer. I was lucky this weekend to take 1 red calf Hind, which I carried in my awsome Monarch sika sack (genuinely a good sack), all the way out, she weighted in at 30Kg with head n feet. I then had a 2nd calf and 3 yr(ish) hind. the second calf was around 32kg with head n feet and the hind around 60kg, so not big. It took 2 of us to recover in the deer tray in the dark, getting out at around 20:30, having shot at 17:20 ish. Hard work was an understatment, god knows if we have even a young stag, the winch will pull it but over a Km with a max pull of 100m per setup this is a long haul. Ideas on how to make this a more realistic event please!
At this point I think a mule is the way to go, just a shame they don't fit in the pickup!
The wood is 150 miles each way, so I can't nip home for a spanner etc if I break something.
What do you guys do to save dying of heart failure?
The issue I have is extraction. I have held off for a year gathering kit to ensure I can do the stalking justice. I have a petrol capstan winch and deer sled. I can get access to a Polaris ranger (150mile drag!), but the ground is so unforgiving it was hard work last time, just getting in and I was really fearfull of getting stuck. It is very wet clay, the track one side is a bog, sunk to belly plate in ranger. the other side was never made good after Euro Forestry stripped it, now a mire of brash lines, reed grass swamp, ditches 2-4ft deep, reed grass tall enough you can only see the head of a Red calf, bramble and all interseeded with new saplings. The last time I took the machine in the grass hid all the pitfalls and within 300yds I was grounded on a stump, 1/2 an hour of sweat later I moved on to the next hidden stump!
The grounds are long and thin, bounded by a river on one side, with only 1 access point at one end, and over a Km to the end where I see most deer. I was lucky this weekend to take 1 red calf Hind, which I carried in my awsome Monarch sika sack (genuinely a good sack), all the way out, she weighted in at 30Kg with head n feet. I then had a 2nd calf and 3 yr(ish) hind. the second calf was around 32kg with head n feet and the hind around 60kg, so not big. It took 2 of us to recover in the deer tray in the dark, getting out at around 20:30, having shot at 17:20 ish. Hard work was an understatment, god knows if we have even a young stag, the winch will pull it but over a Km with a max pull of 100m per setup this is a long haul. Ideas on how to make this a more realistic event please!
At this point I think a mule is the way to go, just a shame they don't fit in the pickup!
The wood is 150 miles each way, so I can't nip home for a spanner etc if I break something.
What do you guys do to save dying of heart failure?