[Truelife]

Sorry, I'm a dummy and screwed up the first one.

 

[toasty]

I could be 5 miles from a vehicle, but if I know I can get within a mile or two of the carcass, I'm good to go. I don't de bone and I don't drag, I will quarter the buck and pack out in 3 trips if I don't have any help. Some of it depends on the size as well. I won't shoot a little spike or 2 point for meat a mile from the road, I'd rather wait for a better opportunity if it is a meat hunt.

 

[dkhntrdstn]

a mile in i will quarter it and pack it out that way.

 

[brendo]

I shot a spike buck about a mile in last year haha quartered him up and took him and all my gear in one trip. It wasn't flat terrain either.

 

[manysteps]

My cousin shot a really nice buck over a mile away from the road in the Crawfords a few years ago... drug the **** thing the whole way back to the road... needless to say, he was POOPED!

 

[bowgy]

Got my truck to within about 1-1/2 miles to this guy. It took 3 of us 3 trips. So that's 9 miles each. Well we didn't drag it we boned and packed it.

 

[longbow]

I'll bone them out even if I'm next to the truck. I can cool off the meat quicker and I can leave all the fat, skin and bones out in the mountains. The only problem with that is not being able to hang your animal and let it age. Aging really does make a difference when it comes to how tender your meat is.
I voted that I'd drag it 100 yards but that's only so I can listen to some country music while I bone it out.

 

[Christine]

Longbow, put the meat in a cooler to age it. I did that with whitetails when it was way too warm to let 'em hang. I use big ice packs in the cooler so the meat doesn't get soaked.

And the farthest I've dragged a deer is a few hundred yards. The good Lord made friends and game carts for anything farther. I once was able to drive right up to a big doe that dropped in a bean field. But for the life of me I could not get her into the bed of the truck. I had to call for help.

 

[utahgolf]

I don't think I'd drag it out at all, no matter how close. I don't want to deal with all the excess stuff at my house. If I am more than a mile I'd bone it out. Less than a mile, quarter it out.

 

[BPturkeys]

It all depends on how thick the brush is. Generally in thick oat, maybe 50 ft. In open country I might venture a shot out there a 100 yards or so, but never out of sight from the road for lord sakes! I've been known to carry 100 yards of rope in the truck in which case there will be no dragin at all. Even back when we was young and had horses, we'd never drag the deers more than a couple hundreds yards to the horses.

 

[Critter]

If you are dragging any animal more than a couple hundred yards you are working way too hard. It is easier to pack it.

 

[Raptorman]

Depends on the animal and the terrain really. I have drug game around a mile or so but was a deer mostly down hill. I mostly quarter and pack though.

 

[stuckduck]

No more than 5 feet........ I'll just put it on the Horse and he can do the work!!!

 

[OldEphraim]

I have had my fill of dragging/packing out animals. Now I let my horses do the dirty work for me.

 

[APD]

If you are dragging any animal more than a couple hundred yards you are working way too hard. It is easier to pack it.

a polyethylene plastic sled makes work easy in the snow. even if you've already de-boned or quartered. it doesn't work too well in the steeps though. that stuff is slicker than snot on a brass doorknob. we use those to transport patients sometimes and they will run you over quick on a slope.

 

[riptheirlips]

Lot depends on your age. Young bucks will drag further, as they get older they get wiser and put it on a horse, ranger, cart. Packed two 6x6 elk 8-9 miles (on horses), much easier than dragging a deer 100 yards.

 

[chia6]

My brother and I shot 2 cow elk in one day about 2 miles from the road. Luckily we got 2 more guys to help us, but it was a lot of back and forth that day. I've never been so tired in my life, but still eating the meat and have the memories so it was worth it.

 

[wyogoob]

Illinois 1978:
I shoot this big whitetail down in a s#it hole. It's Illinois; a road every mile but there's a fence every 100 yards. I'm by myself and getting the buck over the fences is nearly impossible. It's the Midwest for crying out loud. It's against the rules to take a whitetail deer out in pieces. So I tie a rope around each hind leg and drag the big guy thru briars and brush. At each fence crossing I have to drag the beast over to a tree, throw a rope over a limb and "hoist" the whole deer over the fence. It's crazy.

I made it over the last fence and I'm draggin' the animal thru a picked cornfield, 400 yards to go to the road. I'm give out and the big rack is getting hung up on the corn stalks. I just don't know if I'm gonna make it. A guy comes down the road, stops, parks his Subaru, and comes out to help. It's Francis Wachtel, a guy I went to high school with for 5 years.

"Hi Goober, long time no see.....Uh....I couldn't help but notice you're dragging the deer the wrong way. Here, let me help ya" Francis said.

"Really? Draggin' it the wrong way? You may be right. Boy am I glad to see you. Can you give me a hand?" I asked.

"No problem." he replied.

So we turned around, grabbed the rope, and drug the deer back into the woods.

.

 

[redleg]

I drug one about miles. I tied it on a piece of polyethylene to slide it in.

 

[swbuckmaster]

The only problem with that is not being able to hang your animal and let it age. Aging really does make a difference when it comes to how tender your meat is.

Ive aged meat in a cooler a few times. I cut, de bone and remove fat from the meat and hang it in game bags over night so it cools down and dries out some. I then take the game bags off and put the quartered meat in heavy duty black garbage bags. I then put them in a cooler add ice and open the drain plug. The meat will stay pretty good as long as you keep ice on top and it doest get wet. I butcher when I get time. I've had deer meat in coolers in august for up to a week without any problems.