Tough recovery pic.

Bushleague · #1 11-20-2020, 10:05 AM

Buddy sent me a great picture he snapped while helping me recover a 200+ lb buck a couple weeks back. Four and a half hours in, me taking a break halfway out of the second last ravine... yes I really should have quartered him, big thanks for the help.

IMG_5692 (2) by , on Flickr

Stinky Buffalo · #2 11-20-2020, 10:47 AM

Oh wow, that picture really puts it in perspective. Well done!

I probably would had had a mild coronary half way in.

58thecat · #3 11-20-2020, 10:53 AM

you are a sucker for punishment's.....was there too...did the same...then the light went on...gutless method...even to the point of deboning if required...I remember hauling a beauty well fed whitey out of a very steep ravine once...if I let go of the antlers he slid down...200 yard grind...oh well slept very well that night.

Savage Bacon · #4 11-20-2020, 10:55 AM

It looks like you're debating on thinking up a plan to build a fire and deer sized rotisserie.

Bushleague · #5 11-20-2020, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Savage Bacon

It looks like you're debating on thinking up a plan to build a fire and deer sized rotisserie.

Lol, I was actually thinking... "If this deer was any smaller, I'd be kicking my own ass pretty hard right now!"

hunterngather · #6 11-20-2020, 11:02 AM

Yikes, good work.

Ive given a few animals in that situation the "hunger games salute" and let them on thier way.

Bushleague · #7 11-20-2020, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hunterngather

Yikes, good work.

Ive given a few animals in that situation the "hunger games salute" and let them on thier way.

I've never regretted a tough recovery, and this one was no exception. I have always maintained however, that getting a deer out of a stupid spot is solely the responsibility of the idiot who pulls the trigger. Felt pretty foolish needing to get someone else involved in my mess.

Stinky Buffalo · #8 11-20-2020, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bushleague

Felt pretty foolish needing to get someone else involved in my mess.

Meh, at least now you truly know who your friends are.

kilgoretrout · #9 11-22-2020, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bushleague

I've never regretted a tough recovery, and this one was no exception. I have always maintained however, that getting a deer out of a stupid spot is solely the responsibility of the idiot who pulls the trigger. Felt pretty foolish needing to get someone else involved in my mess.

I'm sure had he been a forker you would have passed ....... nice bush buck and recovery

BloodHound70 · #10 11-20-2020, 11:14 AM

Geez I lived that very same story back in Sept with my elk.
Dropped him in a low valley with huge banks. Was quite the ordeal getting him up, but would not have changed a single second and would do it again in a heartbeat. It those times with your buddies that make the best memories.
What we do sometimes to fill our tags.....LOL

Awesome times in the woods boys and girls.

BH

CNP · #11 11-20-2020, 11:32 AM

What is pulling the two ends of the yoke?

ghostguy6 · #12 11-20-2020, 11:56 AM

Exactly why I have 4 small pulleys and a few carabiners in my hunting pack.

Bushleague · #13 11-20-2020, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CNP

What is pulling the two ends of the yoke?

One end is tied off to a tree, the other end is being pulled by the guy who took the picture.

As for a couple other comments, I generally haul my deer out whole because I carry an extremely minimal amount of gear... no pack, no rope. Helps keep a guy mobile and quiet in the thick stuff.

I do keep a 5' Pelican sled in the truck though, and if a recovery is bad enough to make a trip back to the truck worth it, than I go get the toboggan. If you look carefully you can see that sled way down in the bottom of the creek, its no good for coming up a steep incline it slides backwards too easy.

In the future I will keep a packframe and some gamebags in the truck as well. I generally start out each morning with no real idea where the sign may take me throughout the day... so I guess it pays to be prepared for anything. That said, I firmly believe that a certain level of un-preparedness is good luck... fools the hunting gods into thinking they are smiting you rather than doing you a favor if they send a good buck you're way.

Stinky Coyote · #14 11-20-2020, 11:37 AM

https://www.trailspace.com/gear/l.l....carryall-pack/

https://www.havalon.com/

https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/glad-bl.../6000039455643

makes for a flat little thing you just throw in the truck, four or 5 bags tucked into the internal pocket of the backboard, get a sharp knife on one of the straps...that's it, field gutless method, hide on if you're in a hurry to keep on hunting to fill more tags or buddies, you'd have had him out of there in no time, 4 quarters, backstraps, t-loins, couple neck slabs, the head for euro...and away you go, couple quick trips up and down and you're all done, no heart attack, and faster than you think it would be

KegRiver · #15 11-20-2020, 11:56 AM

Damn!

You certainly earned that one.

If I were the Minister of Environment I would award you with a life time free hunting license for that effort.

urban rednek · #16 11-20-2020, 11:56 AM

Great photo! You can feel the burn just looking at it.
A 6' wooden toboggan makes the recovery drag a lot easier, and it doesn't sound like a plastic sled getting dragged through the scrub behind you on the way in. A short tree saver strap and a light duty snatch block can make the hill climbs easier too.

obsessed1 · #17 11-20-2020, 11:59 AM

I agree gutless and pack out is easiest. I have a diy manual rigger winch that has allowed me to pull/ skid weights exceeding 700lbs that is reasonable weight to pack in. Any length of rope works. Effort to pack the thing in would be more than pulling the critter out.