I use a cargo hauler on a 2" hitch.

 

Same here when I am driving my Wrangler.....not a big deal. When I am driving my trusty old Toyota pickup, I just get the front half up on the tailgate and then scoot the back end in. At least half the time I have a buddy either with me or within helping distance with a phone call if need be.

 

I bone em where they fall so I just throw the game bags in. If I had a whole deer I'd just hop in the bed and pull it in.

 

If I had a whole deer I'd just hop in the bed and pull it in.

That's my technique. I've pulled bucks that weighed 200lbs into my 4 wheel pickup, and it's no easy task. If you have any back issues, or are prone to a hernia, you'll have one or both when it's in the truck.

This year I chucked my old Apple E press, but I pulled the winch. I'm thinking I'll mount it on something, and cut the chances I'll need a back brace.

 

We cant reach an animal that is on the ground if we are in the bed of the truck Its too tall. Reaching an animal without a handle on it (doe or bear , we don't have pigs here to hunt) cant be reached when they are on the ground and we are in the truck bed even id we were laying on our stomach in the truck trying to reach the animal on the ground. A buck only lets you grab him from one end so even if a solo hunter could reach an antler you would be laying on your stomach with little power in that position to lift.

 

I can, buy tying a rope to its hind legs and hauling it up on the bed of the pickup.

 

I get in back and haul it up.

 

How do you reach it if you are up in the bed and the animal is on the ground?

 

I have a winch deal that plugs into my square hitch. $99.00 and worth it!

 

Pick it up and put it in?

 

A 200 pound (or more) deer or bear or hog? You pick it up alone and don't get covered in blood?

 

Wrong board. Western style hunters are not like tree squatting Midwest hunters. Most guys will cut it in the field and pack it out. Treesquatters will haul it with an ATVS or vehicle. A come-along works to get a big buck in the truck.

 

Wrong board??? If there is a better one, Ive not seen it.

 

Yeah...I'm on the wrong board. Lol. Thought I was on the western board. I'm drinking.

 

I hold the horns/head at waist level. Put one knee up at a time on the tailgate while still holding head/horns. Then come to a standing position and pick up/drag said animal into the bed. My tailgate is rather high and I have no issues.

 

You boys must have some small deer! I just had this problem last gun season with a mature buck. After gutting and dragging it 1.5 miles by myself I was happy to get it back to the pickup by dark, no way was I able to get it up into my full size pickup box after multiple attempts. Maybe if I wasnt completely wore out from dragging it I would have had a chance but not really, it was well over 200lbs. Had to call for help. Thinking about throwing in a come along next time.

 

Does, or other similar sized animals, I grab front legs in one hand, back legs in the other. Pick it up and put it in the back of the truck. . . Bucks, and larger animals, I either hold the back legs to the edge of the tailgate with one hand, while climbing in, then pull it up, or I load it on my quad, and drive into the back of the truck. . .

My truck is a 3/4 ton F250, with an 11" lift on it as well. Not a big deal to pick up a deer, and toss it in. . These are Iowa deer too, they arent that small.

The last thing Im worried about is blood on me because of it.

 

So are you a bodybuilder and driving right up to it? Lol I am 6'2" 190lbs and I couldnt get a mature buck up and in alone. Any mature doe is not a big problem.

 

haha no, Not a bodybuilder. Im 31, and I go to the gym often, but I have just perfected the technique over the years. I have worked for processors, handling dozens of deer a night, and shooting many of my own. Just figured out how to do it with the best technique

 

Easy, I bought a deer sled from dick's (best $60.00 I ever spent) and I put it in the back of a Honda Fit. Lift the front of the sled up on the back of the car and then push it in. Sorry I know it doesn't help but it's funny as hell when I pull up to the butcher to drop my deer off. The deer in my in my avatar made that trip.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5y9GEk1e4k

so easy....I do it with 600 pound elk

 

Or do that.

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Not worried about blood. Pick it up throw it in, or pull it in. Can't reach, tie a rope around it's neck and throw it up in the back so you can start hauling it up. Make sure you tie it's front legs to the top of its head. Otherwise you will fight the hell out of it with the legs in the way. Usually have a couple towels and water if I need to lay them across the seat and wash my hands.

 

I lean the tall end of the cart on the back of the tailgate, and then lift the rear section up....then the cart slides right on......

 

This is how I do it now that I have a cart, too. A half sheet of plywood works as well. My truck is a F250 that sits pretty high in the back. When I dragged deer, I would lift the head up and tie the drag rope off to the bed so it can't fall back out, then lift up the rear half into the bed. I'm not worried about getting blood on my clothes. At that point they are already sweaty, bloody, and will get washed.

 

Yeah I just lift them up, but I understand not everybody has the muscles to do that for one reason or the other (same reason I am sure I couldn't do it with an elk or something). In that case, I would just start quartering him out.

 

I'd call my wife and then watch her load it.

 

This your "wife"? :wink:

 

I usually haul them out whole and ungutted. Gutting makes a mess. Usually I hang them at the truck and skin, quarter and pull back straps and cut meat off them there and then drop the rib cage with the guts and hide onto the cart and then wheel it off 50-100 yards.

I could load one solo into my flatbed truck by sliding it up the game cart. One technique is to lift get the front edge of the cart on the lip of the truck bed. The walk back and lift the other end up and slide it in. Easy enough and you only lift about 1/2 the animal weight. I rarely load them whole when they are ungutted. The reason being is I likely shot the deer on my last night and need to head home on a 3-4 hour drive. I want them to cool down so I open them up. One deer I did this was gutted but the live weight was estimated about 240 so doesn't need to be a small deer.

Isnt easy but if you gave me a rope to run through head rack, I bet I could slide a cow elk in the back solo. Tie a rope to the head or foot. Loop it through the rack, and pull the animal up will pulling on the rope. Tug to gain more. Might only gain a few inches at a time but it works. The only scenario I can see being tuff to load is a lifted truck with a topper.

The real solution is a game hoist. Just google receiver hitch game hoist. Problem solved. Its what I do with most of my deer but I have done all of the above methods. You can buy one for $100ish but it's possibly not good longterm solution unless you buy a better quality one. I need on with a bumper dump attachment.

Took these pictures several years back. Dragged it whole/ungutted on the cart over 1/2 mile through. Its a homemade hoist I made over maybe 2 hours or so. Probably have $25-$30 in hardware (hitch/game hanger pully system). I need to add a boat winch though. Pulling a 250 lb deer up ungutted is still a pain even with mechanical advantage.

Interesting side note about the deer shown. Shot hit at about 11 yards or so from 16 feet. Rage 2.3" cut and took off the top edge of the heart with both valves. He made it close to 100 yards before dropping. Here's the kicker though... there was basically zero blood shot in the meat. the heart couldn't pump or pull blood so is was clean as can be. Never seen that on any animal ever. That shoulder should have had lots of blood shot and same the far exit spot. Nope. Nice and pink.

Those hitch cargo haulers are pretty slick too.

 

I gut it where it dies, the more blood i get on me the Merrier....I've lifted 200 lb deer and threw it in the truck before, in my younger years...Now Elk would be a different story, you have to cut those in pieces, or bone them out...

 

Come along, sled or an atv winch and a 12v battery.

 

Simple. Keep an 8 or 10 foot 2x12 in the bed of the truck. Just rest it on the gate and slide em up. Way easier than trying to lift them on.

 

I do the same. Makes it super easy

 

Tie a rope around the antlers and get it the bed. Pull as far as you can and tie it off to the hooks in the bedside. Jump down and throw the back half on the tailgate. Works for me.

 

This. Also, I unhinge the tailgate supports and let it lay as far down as possible. It gives me a slope to pull over. Run a rope from horns to the corner bed tie downs, get them as high as possible and tie it off. Run a rope around the hocks and do the same. You can then work it into the back one side at a time.

 

https://youtu.be/0-_PWRr7i8I

 

Impressive. I like it.

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I've got into this predicament before. Even with a smaller deer its still a chore to me, but with a huge mature Kansas buck, its near impossible fore me. I've seen the hoists and have a friend that actually built one, but to this point, my best tool for this is my cell phone.