Deer extraction….. options

[Andy seatrout]

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

 

[Greenmist]

Portable capstan winch

 

[308tikka]

Bring a sled. Stow at truck or high seat. Retrieve when deer shot. Having done a fair bit or red extraction on deer I havent shot, you may need two people tonpull over tussocked ground..... a climbing loop or harness around you and not holding the tow will assist greatly !!

 

[sharkbait]

There are some great ideas for extraction that people have shared on here before!

 

[devon deer stalker]

I shot a red stag down the bottom of a steep field this morning, fixed capstan winch to tree, laid out 150 m rope, dragged to top, transferred to my trolley, walked on the level to boggy gateway, transferred to sled, used winch in truck and pulled over bog and up into truck, didn't even break into a sweat.
Cheers
Richard

 

[Wapinschaw]

What about a Muck-Truck? This will fit in your van, is easy to handle etc. I have had one for quite a few years and use it frequently. Although I have not used it for that task, it is a super little machine that is capable of handling any UK deer that you can lift into it.


Muck Truck

 

[MarkD123]

A carp porter would do what you need and packs away small enough to leave lots of room in your ‘van’.
There’s a motorised version (I used to have one and it’s definitely up to the task you describe).

 

[jcampbellsmith]

A friend and I once extracted a large sika stag using a wheelbarrow. One pulled using a rope attached to the front of the barrow, the other pushed.
Regards
JCS

 

[griff]

tracked dumper, or 700 mtrs of rope..

 

[SussexSteve]

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[the_greenman]

Fold up sack barrow (with a smidge of reworking) is a great extraction help

 

[Bugsy]

Or do it the old way , years ago when all we took with us stalking was a rifle - binos and a drag rope , when we shot a beast it was gralloched , head of if a stag , hood up on your jacket and get the deer up onto your shoulders with the help of your mate around the back of your neck and start walking it’s surprising how much distance you can walk .

 

[Heym SR20]

If the meat is going to your or family or friends freezers do as they do elsewhere in the world. Quarter the animal where you shoot it and carry it out in a pack.

And if its reasonably remote, leave the bones in the woods or on the hill. It’s only a matter of a few days before they will be picked clean but all sorts of animals and birds and then disappear into the soil as essential nutrients to support regeneration.

I can’t help feeling something like one of these could also be really useful as could be carried on a rack on the back of a truck. 2X2 Work Bike

 

[Fair Hill]

I know I'm pretty much spoilt for choice but surely there's some Sika closer than a nine hour drive?

 

[Shootgun]

 

[rem284]

For me the nine hour drive would be the biggest drag.

 

[Freeforester]

Could be useful for other off-road tasks, tracked to spread the load weight on the terrain, quiet, but may not see sufficient use to justify the outlay:

 

[Andy seatrout]

I know I'm pretty much spoilt for choice but surely there's some Sika closer than a nine hour drive?

It’s a bit of a holiday event, we’ve fallow closer to home...

 

[Andy seatrout]

To be honest someth

Could be useful for other off-road tasks, tracked to spread the load weight on the terrain, quiet, but may not see sufficient use to justify the outlay:

like this would be useful on my little pheasant shoot. Thanks

 

[Andy seatrout]

Or do it the old way , years ago when all we took with us stalking was a rifle - binos and a drag rope , when we shot a beast it was gralloched , head of if a stag , hood up on your jacket and get the deer up onto your shoulders with the help of your mate around the back of your neck and start walking it’s surprising how much distance you can walk .

That’s what we did, we managed 700m to the track, took maybe 40 mins, but there’s excellent deer forest lower down which is a good 1.5km off the track, something powered would stop it becoming a total chore.....well we used the napier drag sled....