As fall wears on, more and more whitetail deer hunters are both getting into the woods, and subsequently, harvesting deer with each passing day.
For many, hunting alone is both a necessity, but also a treasure. Sure, most hunters get their start in the outdoors by tagging along with an established hunter. Be it a father, grandfather, brother, uncle, friend or mother, first time hunters are often accompanying a role model.
After some time though, many hunters transition to solo hunting. Climbing into a tree, alone, and watching the sun rise over a barren stretch of midwestern timber is quite a treat. Moreover, the actual harvest of a deer is an experience that seems even more heightened when it was accomplished alone. There is a sense of fullness that accompanies such a moment.
From early season scouting, to quiet walks into a stand or blind, you can learn a lot about yourself when hunting alone. It is a treat, for those lucky enough to have taken on the endeavor.
And while help is often readily available for tracking and recovering a deer, sometimes it is not. Likewise, many solo hunters cherish the chance to track, dress and drag their deer out of the field on their own. It is the bookend of what is quite a story, to get the critter back to the vehicle alone.
The trouble with the solo retrieve of a deer comes when hunters harvest heavy, mature whitetails. Dragging a large deer out of a heavily timbered stretch of land is no small feat, but some tricks can certainly make the task more manageable.
Big Deer Don't Have To Be So Difficult To Get Back To The Truck After A Successful Hunt
For Mossy Oak's Beka Garris, last fall's pregnancy did not keep her out of the woods. Her husband installed a winch in the back of her pickup truck, and hooked it up to the vehicle's battery. Such made the process of getting the deer into the truck bed quite a bit more manageable.
In my experience, a children's snow sled is a must in the truck, for making the drag out more manageable. Setting any deer on the sled, and a running a heavy duty rope through the sled, and then around horns or hooves, makes the drag plenty easier, and it is a fairly cheap answer to the somewhat complicated question of "how do I get this deer out of here in a timely manner?"
Regardless of your method, making solo recoveries of harvested deer easier is a great investment.
