# Pulling game out of canyons



## stevedcarlson (Apr 19, 2011)

Have you guys used ropes to get your games out of the canyons you have shot them in we have used cable and block an tackle and pulleys and trucks and I was wondering if you can use rope the same way! Let me know what you have used!


----------



## Groganite (Nov 14, 2012)

I once used piecies of my beard lashed together for cordage and two wild bears. I guided the bears out with a pistol I had hidden in my mustache.:V|:


----------



## trclements (Jan 17, 2012)

I have a 200 yard spool of 3/4 inch rope that I take with me hunting. If I can my truck within 600 feet of the animal I am good to go. Last year we had 3 elk down a nasty hill just outside of our camp. They were about 175 yards down. One person took the end of the rope down and tied it on (cows to the head, antlered elk to the legs) and then I hooked the rope to my ball hitch. The person below follows the elk and holds it in place after I make the first pull and then have to back up and shorten the rope. With 4 people we had all 3 elk up that hill and in the back of my truck in about 30 minutes. Some of the best money I ever spent was on that rope.


----------



## KineKilla (Jan 28, 2011)

For us it is a rarity to have the game close enough to a road or trail to be able to use vehicles. I think in all we have loaded 2 deer and 1 elk close to a road. 

All the others were drug out of the forest by hand.-O,-

I bought a game cart last year but didn't get to use it. I even modified an old set of snow skis to attach just in case we are trying to use it in snow...hopefully I can put it to use this year during the spike hunt or get one close enough to be able to utilize the quad.


----------



## yak4fish (Nov 16, 2007)

I have a capstan rope winch and 300 feet of rope I have used in the past. Its about the size and weight of a chain saw just lash it to a tree and winch away. It works well with two guys one by the winch and one guiding the head of the elk over obsticals. It is slow and noisy and if its more than a mile drag the elk can get beat up pretty bad that's why we got away from it. 
Now we use the gut less method and backpacks much faster and keeps the meat cleaner.


----------



## yak4fish (Nov 16, 2007)

Here are a couple of pictures of the winch in action.


----------



## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

I have used rope, mule tape, wire rope, and stranded wire and have come to one conclusion. Get a tarp or a old kids toboggan under the animal or even a plastic tarp. It makes them slide a lot easier and if there is a little snow on the ground or if it is wet you won't believe how fast the animal will come out. Plus it saves the meat from getting beat up.

One other thing that helps a lot and should be used whenever the person with the animal is out of sight is a two way radio.


----------



## outdoorser (Jan 14, 2013)

I'm gonna try doing it like these guys in this picture:mrgreen:
I actually think I might be able to do it, but try doing that to an elk in rough terrain.


----------



## wshiwsfshn (May 9, 2008)

outdoorser said:


> I'm gonna try doing it like these guys in this picture:mrgreen:
> I actually think I might be able to do it, but try doing that to an elk in rough terrain.


Try doing this here nd dozens of Utard "hunters" will shoot em right off of you!


----------



## outdoorser (Jan 14, 2013)

wshiwsfshn said:


> Try doing this here nd dozens of Utard "hunters" will shoot em right off of you!


Yeah i agree. The only way I'd do this is if its during archery only seasons and in open terrain where I can see everything. OR i could wrap the deer in a blaze orange coat or tarp:grin: still would probably get shot tho


----------



## Lonetree (Dec 4, 2010)

For years, my grandfather and father tried game carts, ropes, winches, sleds, etc. Save yourself some time and effort, get a good packboard, or backpack and knife, and learn how to cut up game. The gutless method works awesome. 

We would pass up a lot of big bucks when I was a kid, because they were "too far in". My grandfather would always say, "better bring your frying pan". Years later, my response was, "I don't need a frying pan, I have a knife". Seriously, cut them up. I used the gutless method on a deer, that was only 1/2 mile from a trail head, down hill. We had drug them from near the same place in the past. There is no comparison, cutting them up is way easier.


----------



## Springville Shooter (Oct 15, 2010)

I also prefer the cut up and pack out method. But I have found that mule tape works great too if the situation is right. You can literally wind thousands of feet of it on my capstan winch. With a rating upward of 2500 lbs it will really pull.----SS


----------



## Mr.CheddarNut (Jan 16, 2013)

Isnt that what a mule or horse is for-8/-Seriously though dragging is exhausting pretty much all the time. cut em up


----------



## Lonetree (Dec 4, 2010)

Springville Shooter said:


> I also prefer the cut up and pack out method. But I have found that mule tape works great too if the situation is right. You can literally wind thousands of feet of it on my capstan winch. With a rating upward of 2500 lbs it will really pull.----SS


Is mule tape the flat webbing you use for pulling wires through conduit? That stuff is pretty amazing.


----------



## USMARINEhuntinfool (Sep 15, 2007)

And that good sir is why I hunt off horses.


----------



## KineKilla (Jan 28, 2011)

Anyone have personal experience running into a conservation officer while removing game? Are they at all understanding if you drive off of established roads to get game out? I haven't had to deal with this, so I was just wondering.

I'd hate to bust my hump all day just to find out I could have drove in and used my machinery without major legal issues. I also would hate to be working my arse off pulling an animal out and also be constantly looking over my shoulder for the Po-Po.

Thread Jacked....sorry, as you were.:sorry:


----------



## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

If you drive off the exsisting roads in National Forest you are libel to get a ticket. BLM on the other hand has areas where you can drive anywhere. It all depends on where you are at and the restrictions.


----------



## Springville Shooter (Oct 15, 2010)

Lonetree said:


> Is mule tape the flat webbing you use for pulling wires through conduit? That stuff is pretty amazing.


That's the stuff. In my profession, I often have the opportunity to pick up huge lengths of used stuff after large scale fiber optic cable pulls. I never let them throw it away. Good for hunting, camping, and boy scouts love playing with the stuff.----SS


----------



## Lonetree (Dec 4, 2010)

KineKilla said:


> Anyone have personal experience running into a conservation officer while removing game? Are they at all understanding if you drive off of established roads to get game out? I haven't had to deal with this, so I was just wondering.
> 
> I'd hate to bust my hump all day just to find out I could have drove in and used my machinery without major legal issues. I also would hate to be working my arse off pulling an animal out and also be constantly looking over my shoulder for the Po-Po.
> 
> Thread Jacked....sorry, as you were.:sorry:


Like Critter said, depends on where you are. You need to know the law where you are at. As a kid we used to drive considerable distances off road to retrieve game, when conditions allowed. It was low impact when done right, and back then there were few people where we hunted(It is one hell of a hike now). The problem that arises now, is that someone sees your tracks, so they follow them, and the next guy does the same thing. before too long, you have a road to nowhere, and then a few more, and before too long, they are everywhere.


----------



## Lonetree (Dec 4, 2010)

Springville Shooter said:


> That's the stuff. In my profession, I often have the opportunity to pick up huge lengths of used stuff after large scale fiber optic cable pulls. I never let them throw it away. Good for hunting, camping, and boy scouts love playing with the stuff.----SS


I have lots of the stuff, but never heard it called mule tape. Very low stretch, unlike a lot of rope.


----------



## Kingfisher (Jul 25, 2008)

we used to use the synthetic rope used to pull cables in conduit, had nearly 1000 feet of the stuff. amazingly strong. we hooked up a little 3 point buck to it in the bottom of the canyon one time, using radios to call to the truck. worked well for about 20 yards until the truck went down the other side and we lost radio contact, he kept going, we were all shouting stop, the buck hooked onto a small aspen tree, about 4 inches in diameter... the rope kept tightening, we all scattered fearing the recoil when it broke, the tree kept bending over further and further until it became more or less a spring plane and launched that buck 8 feet in the air and all the pent up energy kept him going like he was still alive bouncing up the hill, the driver kept on going oblivious to all that was happening and we were all laughing so hard and running trying to keep up and couldnt, it was ripping sage out of the ground, bumping and bouncing. we pulled a lot of deer out with that, then we tried and elk on steep uphill, broke it so many times, cut the elk in half, then in quarters. that said, glad its a memory. we now do the boneless method if its down the hill or a long ways in. so much easier. that is what age and experience will do to you. figure out the easiest way to getrdone.


----------



## stevedcarlson (Apr 19, 2011)

Thanks guys you have given me a lot of good ideas the mule tape will probably be the way I go this year!:mrgreen:


----------



## Springville Shooter (Oct 15, 2010)

Codale and Graybar both carry it if you cant find any used.---SS


----------

