Deer extraction….. options

[devon deer stalker]

Love to see a video of how you use that trolley Richard ?

OK, I will be honest the last thing on my mind is a video when I'm extracting a stag, but next time I will get my mate to video it.
Basically you push as much as you can under the shoulders, drag the deer just a little, then just tip it up, the deer then falls towards your handle, then attach 2 bungy cords, you can see in the photo where the cords are digging in, never had one fall off yet.
Cheers
Richard

 

[ndjfb01]

Hi all,

Last September we took some DIY stalking in Sutherland and having shot two sika stags in three days we were well chuffed…. However extraction was difficult. We were told by the owner ‘not to shoot one down the bottom’ in reference to the mile of so of woodland below the win access track. Whilst for the first day she a half we stayed ‘topside’ it was only when in a high seat 700 yards and at least 100m lower than the main track as shot deer.

The first shot by my friend was a young pricket with a poor head…. Heavy but not impossible with a Napier drag bag…. The second was an eight pointer ( my first deer) that even when graloched was bloody heavy and took two of us to get up to the track…..

Now it’s a nine hour drive, towing a trailer is an inconvenience ( we used my Tourneo long wheel base ‘van’ - seats come out etc)…..

The obvious answer is a quad that’s narrow enough to go in the back (1.3m roughly) but it’s a lot to take up there, I did think of getting a rotavator, one with ‘tractor tyres’ and taking the cultivator off- essentially using it as a ‘walk behind’ tractor with either a quad trailer or just dragging….

Any bright ideas or suggestions? We’re not unfit but we’ve all just turned 50 and flat ground we’ve no problem…… adding a defibrillator to the stalking kit is not part of the plan

My solution ( idea which I got off another member on here) wouldn't work for you I'm thinking at 1.3m wide tracks and such along distance from your shoot. My permissions are a LOT closer than yours and so I was able to prep the tracks and make them wider to accept a UTV. I've spent years sustaining pulled backs/necks and spent a fortune on Chiropractor and pain killers, but now my greatest effort us finding the winch remote

 

[LarryLightFoot]

My solution ( idea which I got off another member on here) wouldn't work for you I'm thinking at 1.3m wide tracks and such along distance from your shoot. My permissions are a LOT closer than yours and so I was able to prep the tracks and make them wider to accept a UTV. I've spent years sustaining pulled backs/necks and spent a fortune on Chiropractor and pain killers, but now my greatest effort us finding the winch remote

No messing about there with that rig, excellent.

 

[sikamalc]

Try a 13 hour drive towing a quad and 4 weeks stalking with clients.
Quad or a sled or don't shoot them in inaccessible places.
Sika are not that heavy, Reds can be a real pain extracting.

 

[Tim.243]

My solution ( idea which I got off another member on here) wouldn't work for you I'm thinking at 1.3m wide tracks and such along distance from your shoot. My permissions are a LOT closer than yours and so I was able to prep the tracks and make them wider to accept a UTV. I've spent years sustaining pulled backs/necks and spent a fortune on Chiropractor and pain killers, but now my greatest effort us finding the winch remote

looks like 40mm key camp tube made good use of.

 

[Pedro]

Good bit of lateral thinking there from a few guys. But however you do it it's hard work. Me? I'm getting to the age where extracting rabbits takes some thinking about...

 

[ndjfb01]

looks like 40mm key camp tube made good use of.

Yes it's all manner of Keyclamp and pulleys but I used the 34mm tube

 

[Tim.243]

Yes it's all manner of Keyclamp and pulleys but I used the 34mm tube

only 6mm out lol

 

[Firefly]

My solution ( idea which I got off another member on here) wouldn't work for you I'm thinking at 1.3m wide tracks and such along distance from your shoot. My permissions are a LOT closer than yours and so I was able to prep the tracks and make them wider to accept a UTV. I've spent years sustaining pulled backs/necks and spent a fortune on Chiropractor and pain killers, but now my greatest effort us finding the winch remote

Looks good that !

 

[tattie]

Hi all,

Last September we took some DIY stalking in Sutherland and having shot two sika stags in three days we were well chuffed…. However extraction was difficult. We were told by the owner ‘not to shoot one down the bottom’ in reference to the mile of so of woodland below the win access track. Whilst for the first day she a half we stayed ‘topside’ it was only when in a high seat 700 yards and at least 100m lower than the main track as shot deer.

The first shot by my friend was a young pricket with a poor head…. Heavy but not impossible with a Napier drag bag…. The second was an eight pointer ( my first deer) that even when graloched was bloody heavy and took two of us to get up to the track…..

Now it’s a nine hour drive, towing a trailer is an inconvenience ( we used my Tourneo long wheel base ‘van’ - seats come out etc)…..

The obvious answer is a quad that’s narrow enough to go in the back (1.3m roughly) but it’s a lot to take up there, I did think of getting a rotavator, one with ‘tractor tyres’ and taking the cultivator off- essentially using it as a ‘walk behind’ tractor with either a quad trailer or just dragging….

Any bright ideas or suggestions? We’re not unfit but we’ve all just turned 50 and flat ground we’ve no problem…… adding a defibrillator to the stalking kit is not part of the plan

Capstan Winch every time.

I've seen muck trucks used on relatively even ground and a tracked garron used on vid from the states and Scandinavia all fine but both have their limitations.
With the muck truck you are behind it and I wouldn't fancy being behind it on steepish ground as they have a relatively high centre of gravity. The Garrons or tracked barrows with the tipper body removed and flat bed attached are more versatile, but again on hilly ground you would be behind them with the controls at a difficult height. A bit like Ape hanger handlebars on a bike!

The Capstan can be stropped to a tree, winch beast up to where you are, go up higher with winch if you need to, a bit higher and then do the same, clearfells usually have forwarder tracks all about them and if they are not too bad you can still winch beasts up them as well.
The capstan can be stored in the vehicle and can pull you out if you get stuck also. A very versatile tool, they are not the fastest but then again bursting your gut dragging or carrying beasts up a hill or steep ground is not fast either.
A quad is a boon as well but the steeper the ground the more dangerous they become. Make a bracket to attach the capstan to the quad and they are even handier.

All in all it is about working out what you want and need, thinking logically and making your life easier. Too often folk just get carried away dropping beasts in areas they will have a hell of a time getting them out of. I also realise that sometimes you will have no option but to do that, but a little bit of logic applied makes the world of difference.

Cheers

 

[SaOsborne]

So the ground I have for Reds is all forestry in various states of fell/ bog/ ditches/ gullys, Brash piles/reed beds and bramble. I went the first year and I found a lot of hefted animals doing a lot of damage but soon realised I was not prepared, so the animals stayed where they were, not great as I just driven 150 miles! I knew there was no way I was extracting anything from here without some assistance.

So I set about getting the right gear, by far the best investment ever was a capstan winch, 100m of decent Marlon twin braid rope, a sled, a UTV and paitence.

I took the nice stag only lat week, 3/4mile from the pickup, 400 yds from nearest access with UTV, I thought long and hard on taking him, knowing what was to come. So off I went got the winch, sled, rope etc, pulled it out to the compartment edge, pushed my way up with UTV, through bramble, reed and bog, then slid sled up a brash pile and into back of UTV, I was lucky picked up a spiker stag and young hind half way back, so winched them out over brash piles, through ditches and over 8ft high bramble, what a pia, 4 hrs later they were back at the gate! This is as good as this stalking gets, I have a newly felled patch now of aroung 10Ha to work, I did ask when they built the brash piles they left "gateways" this time, though they will soon be 6ft under bramble, The joys of stalking, nearly 53 now and feeling every trip like this!

The Hind in the tray was an easy extract, the ground was too wet for the UTV, so in the tray it went and I towed it out by hand.

 

[Cris]

What kind of capstone winch are people using? I need a solution for large Fallow bucks on some of my ground and this looks a possibility.

 

[Sealgair nam fiadh]

Come on people, if you have problems with deer extraction in rough terrain, just use one of these

 

[Gandy]

What kind of capstone winch are people using? I need a solution for large Fallow bucks on some of my ground and this looks a possibility.

I’d like to know the same the ones I looked at were eye wateringly expensive.

 

[Paul 600]

PCW 5000

 

[dlz90]

What kind of capstone winch are people using? I need a solution for large Fallow bucks on some of my ground and this looks a possibility.

PCW3000

Pros very light 9.5kg very powerful for size reasonably quiet and very economical, I also use it for timber extraction and it never ceases to amaze me how much it will pull even without snatch block, you can use unlimited amount of rope very easy to store and transport.

Cons not many but you can't stop the drum when started its all go, though if you release pressure on the rope load will stop but drum itself still rotates, it's not particularly fast the video I posted above was on half throttle so it'll go faster but not a lot.

Conclusion it's a great little winch and perfect for carcass retrieval and will probably last a lifetime.

D

 

[AGR]

Once had a stunning red stag in my Cross Hairs, i opened my other eye as i held the rifle on the sticks, viewed the hill he needed extracting up to get back to the road, back on went the safety catch and i saluted him an wished him well. It was His day not Mine.
Jimmy

I passed up a big sika stag on the edge of a deep sink hole once. It was right alongside a public footpath and I couldn't face the drag or the arguments!

 

[Bugsy]

So the ground I have for Reds is all forestry in various states of fell/ bog/ ditches/ gullys, Brash piles/reed beds and bramble. I went the first year and I found a lot of hefted animals doing a lot of damage but soon realised I was not prepared, so the animals stayed where they were, not great as I just driven 150 miles! I knew there was no way I was extracting anything from here without some assistance.

So I set about getting the right gear, by far the best investment ever was a capstan winch, 100m of decent Marlon twin braid rope, a sled, a UTV and paitence.

I took the nice stag only lat week, 3/4mile from the pickup, 400 yds from nearest access with UTV, I thought long and hard on taking him, knowing what was to come. So off I went got the winch, sled, rope etc, pulled it out to the compartment edge, pushed my way up with UTV, through bramble, reed and bog, then slid sled up a brash pile and into back of UTV, I was lucky picked up a spiker stag and young hind half way back, so winched them out over brash piles, through ditches and over 8ft high bramble, what a pia, 4 hrs later they were back at the gate! This is as good as this stalking gets, I have a newly felled patch now of aroung 10Ha to work, I did ask when they built the brash piles they left "gateways" this time, though they will soon be 6ft under bramble, The joys of stalking, nearly 53 now and feeling every trip like this!

The Hind in the tray was an easy extract, the ground was too wet for the UTV, so in the tray it went and I towed it out by hand.

Nearly all our bits are like this so that’s how you need the proper gear shooting them is the easy bit . I once met 2 Danes at the side of a single track road outside Dunoon as I was going to pick up bearings from the local ferry and I only stopped because they looked lost , after nods had been exchanged ( silent hello’s) they tried to explain how they had shot a big stag in the clearfell and after 3 hrs dragging were nowhere and could I help them as the wood owner wasn’t answering his phone I wonder why . You need the gear .

 

[browser5031]

Here in the States, I use a sled for game shot in the snow, and a cart like the one posted above for dry ground. I also own the capstun I attached a photo of made by Simpson. It attaches to chainsaws if you have one, so you can buy it without the motor. It has been a lifesaver in a few canyons with thick timber .

 

[Andy seatrout]

Capstan Winch every time.

I've seen muck trucks used on relatively even ground and a tracked garron used on vid from the states and Scandinavia all fine but both have their limitations.
With the muck truck you are behind it and I wouldn't fancy being behind it on steepish ground as they have a relatively high centre of gravity. The Garrons or tracked barrows with the tipper body removed and flat bed attached are more versatile, but again on hilly ground you would be behind them with the controls at a difficult height. A bit like Ape hanger handlebars on a bike!

The Capstan can be stropped to a tree, winch beast up to where you are, go up higher with winch if you need to, a bit higher and then do the same, clearfells usually have forwarder tracks all about them and if they are not too bad you can still winch beasts up them as well.
The capstan can be stored in the vehicle and can pull you out if you get stuck also. A very versatile tool, they are not the fastest but then again bursting your gut dragging or carrying beasts up a hill or steep ground is not fast either.
A quad is a boon as well but the steeper the ground the more dangerous they become. Make a bracket to attach the capstan to the quad and they are even handier.

All in all it is about working out what you want and need, thinking logically and making your life easier. Too often folk just get carried away dropping beasts in areas they will have a hell of a time getting them out of. I also realise that sometimes you will have no option but to do that, but a little bit of logic applied makes the world of difference.

Cheers

Yes that sounds sensible- there are plenty of rides- decent and wide, but steep …… the most productive ground was lower down below the track, but whilst two blokes could drag an eight point sika stag up to the road it wasn’t much fun….

We weren’t in the business of shooting anything where we could extract it, and something like a capstan winch offers portability and any decent length of rope ( we can drag it on the flat bits)…… the winches I looked at before were drum winches with 40ft max of rope…..

I don’t fancy towing a quad or UTV at circa 50mph all that way for just three days….. it’s far enough at 70mph…..

Thanks!