Dumb Newbie Question

[StreamAddict]

I am trying out bowhunting for the 1st time this year.. (1st time hunting period)

Will be going out 1st couple of times with a buddy who hunts alot.

What to do if I get a deer while hunting alone??? What I mean is, what do you guys do to get the animal to you vehicle and haul it away. These animals can get huge!!

Again. I know you guys are probably laughing but I am a Newcomer. Just asking question. (Only dumb question is the one not asked right?)

I am probably thinking big too, getting ahead of myself. May be out quite a few times before I get my 1st deer (hope it's a buck!)

Thanks guys.

[explodingvarmints]

first off you need to make sure you only shoot the deer that are facing the direction of your vehicle; therefor, they will keep the distance you have to drag there heavy @%*#@ :lol: . in a perfect world they would all drop on the road or trial you are coming from. well in a nut shell:

step #1 after you find um gut the animal oops i mean put your tag on it then gut it.
#2 make sure you have some type of rope or a strap to tie around the head or antlers (make it long enough to wrap around the head, and long enough to pull the animal and not have it keep hitting your legs or tripping you.)
#3 if your by yourself drag only a short distance at a time, otherwise you just may hurt yourself.... note: always easier with a friend and even easier with a friend that has a 4-wheeler. :evil:

[wolfgang510]

I've dragged 3/5 deer out all alone and have not had too much trouble. I'm only 5'10" 170lbs. Haven't shot a 200lber either though. Just make sure you know how to gut one, have a good light for tracking in the dark and get someone to help you if you can. If your real worried about it go buy a cart made for deer and then its really no problem. I've been thinking of getting one of those mat type systems that are really compact since my last deer took about 2 hours to finally get out of the woods. I'm not sure how much easier it will make it. If you shoot a doe take your safety harness with you and tie around deer to drag.

[Big_Jim]

I am trying out bowhunting for the 1st time this year.. (1st time hunting period)

Will be going out 1st couple of times with a buddy who hunts alot.

What to do if I get a deer while hunting alone??? What I mean is, what do you guys do to get the animal to you vehicle and haul it away. These animals can get huge!!

Again. I know you guys are probably laughing but I am a Newcomer. Just asking question. (Only dumb question is the one not asked right?)

I am probably thinking big too, getting ahead of myself. May be out quite a few times before I get my 1st deer (hope it's a buck!)

Thanks guys.


Not a dumb question at all. If you get a deer while you are by yourself the best thing to do is to do nothing for a few minutes. Watch where the deer goes and try and visually mark the location you last saw it. Go to where the deer was standing and look for signs of the hit. Be patient and follow the blood trail slowly. Assuming that all goes well and you find your deer and know how to dress it, you will need to get it back to the truck. I would Highly suggest that you pick up a deer drag harness, the kind that goes around your body and has a rope to attach to the deer. My wife bought me one a few years ago and I never go into the woods without it. Take your time and take a lot of rest breaks. All of the hard work is part of the fun.

[outfishin_]

Well I would start by tagging the deer after you locate it. Then I would field dress the deer. Then I would rope up the front legs to the horns or head. (if it is a wall hanger I would not do that). I would make a handle from a stick...then tie it to the horn or head and start dragging....I hope you have help....It can be a lot of work. All so I hope you have help locating the deer....Tracking can be real tough for a beginner...so be extremely careful when tracking not to mess up the blood trail just in case you must return with help....

I hope this helps .....

Good luck on your first deer.......I know I'll never forget mine....

[wecker20]

If you've never field dressed a deer, it may be more than you can handle, maybe not. I got a buddie into bow hunting 5 yrs ago and I told him, his first deer he has to dress. Well, he got one, but started cutting and couldn't handle the smell. That and it was taking him forever, I just did it for him but made him watch everything. It helps to have watched a few and get instructions. It's important to not cut this and that and to get everything out. Takes about 5min once you've done a few. It's nice to have a buddie who will show you how, and help get it out.

[Banditto]

Normally if the shot was good the smell is sweet and pleasant. If the stomach or intestines were cut in any way there will be a bad odor.

I shot a doe last year that was so big we had to get a horse to drag it out. It took 2 of us 20 minutes to drag it to where we could do that as she went into a reed swamp. Man was she heavy. After that I told myself I will always take the smaller doe... easier to get out.

[FIJI]

(First deer) + (Adrenaline rush) = No Problem dragging 'em out ! :lol:

It's all the ones AFTER the first one that get HARD :evil:

My first bow kill was a good sized 6 pt. I dragged the bugger half way outta the woods by myself before I calmed down and remembered that my buddy had a quad.

When we got back to the buck with the machine (and the adrenaline rush had worn off !) it was all the two of us could do to load it. To this day he thinks I must have had help dragging that as far as I did. :tdo12:

[Trophy Specialist]

If you're a rookie and will be going it alone, I'd suggest doing a search in Google looking for a good article with step by step dirrections on how to field dress a deer. Print out the article and put it in your pocket or faney pack so you will have it with you when you get your first deer and just follow the dirrections. Assuming you will be hunting from a treestand, you will have a safty harness with you. The harness doubles as a deer drag. I use my Seat-O-the-Pants to drag deer all the time and it works great. Make sure you have a peice of wire or cord to attach the tag to the deer. The DNR went back to peel-and-stick licenses this year, but it's still better to use wire to attach the tag, especially with a doe. I'd also suggest looking for articles on what you should do after you shoot a deer and study up.

[thenuge15]

FIJI,
Your telling me you don't get excited after the first one? Man I'm stoked about every deer I ever shoot. I was always told to stop hunting when you don't get excited.

[FIJI]

I STILL get excited....or I wouldnt be out there hunting.

But nothing beats the rush of that first one.

(plus...a few more grey hairs, broken spine and back surgery now mean I don't drag nuttin' !) :evil:

[252Life]

I got a buddie into bow hunting 5 yrs ago and I told him, his first deer he has to dress. Well, he got one, but started cutting and couldn't handle the smell.
We had a rookie up a gun camp last year. He watched us gut 3 on opening day. He just sat there impassively, observing and, it looked to us, learning. The next day he was in a blind with one of the guys when a beautiful 8 walked out and presented broad side at about 65 yards. Would have been the biggest deer from camp last year, hands down. His "guide" who already had filled tags kept hoarsly whispering/screaming.."shoot it!....shoooooooot it!" He couldn't close the deal and hopefully that buck will be there this year.

When pressed/razzed/harassed/teased later on, he finally confessed that he knew he would have to gut any deer he killed, and after watching us do the three earlier, he knew he couldn't stomach it.:lol:

My answer to the VERY GOOD question....get some help. If you don't see the deer fall dead, then wait in your stand for at least 30 minutes. Mark the place you shot it with some orange ribbon then mark the blood trail to the last place you saw it. Then turn around and go get some help. This will give the deer a chance to stop running. If you set off after it right away, you could chase it a LONG way, and risk never fining it. Wait a couple of hours, go get some help and of course don't forget your camera on the recovery! Good luck!

[Pinefarm]

Also make very sure to mark where a hit deer ran. Some newbie's get so excited that they shoot and then there's the adrenaline blur. Make sure you watch exacty where the deer ran. If it went between two tree's, for example, make an exact note of that. Watch the deer as far as you can see it and use visual markers. Also, if with a bow, don't go after it right away. Even if you know it's a double lung hit, go back to camp or the house and give it an hour. The best would be then to call someone who knows what they're doing, if possible, and help you with tracking.

[ArrowFlinger]

Try to get your buddy to go with you each time. At a miniumn ask him if he will help you track it down and dress it out. You need to watch a video or someone do one. Then have someone there the first time you try.

My first one I did was one that another buddy had shot. This would be the first one either of us did. We had disagrements on how to proceed base on what we had observed watching others. Well it was his deer so so he had final say. He punctured the stomach, but lucky for me I was so stuffed up, I couldn't smell it until we were about 3/4 done, when I foolishly blew my nose.

The next one I did my brother in law was there and I got about half way through when he jumped in and said, ok do this here and that there and it will be faster. He made me struggle first, so the next time I would remember what he showed me.

[victor mi pro bowhunter]

Tag it' gut it 'start draging it' it may take a hour or two 5 yards at a time or so but you will get it there sooner or later

[1wildchild]

I got this tip from a 60 year old woman who is only about 5'2. She keeps one of those plastic toboggans in her truck. She says she rolls the deer onto the toboggan and it is much easier to drag out. She also said she can hoist one end up onto the tail gate, then lift the back end up and slide the whole thing into the truck bed all by herself. She has done this many many times. I haven't tried it yet but is made sense to me. I hope I get a chance to try it out next saturday ;)

[Trophy Specialist]

I recomended in a previous post to read an article on field dressing and have it with you: Well, I just read an article on field dressing deer in the October issue of Outdoor Life that I would not recomend practicing at all. The author, Jim Jumbo, is usaually one of the best in the business, but he advises the readers to slit the throat on deer and also to cut the belly opening all the way up to the neck. As a taxidermist, that article nearly sent me into a rage. Never slit the throat on a deer. Never cut the rib cage open eithor. Both of these practices allow all sorts of dirt into the meat and can ruin (or add greatly to the cost) of a head mount. During early season hunts, I often use a game bag to cover up the cavity. If you make all sorts of unnecessary cuts, bugs can enter the carcase and lay eggs. He also recomends removing the scent glands on a deer as the first step in the feild dressing process. Do not do that eithor. All you'll end up doing is getting tarsal gland stink on your hands and then you'll spread it around. You don't eat the meat around the scent glands anyway, so why mess with them?