Deer Drag-A-Matic 2000

[Eric Krewson]

I may have posted this before, if so I apologize.

Getting older and have accumulated way too many injuries from my youthful rough and tumble life, I can no longer drag a deer and would have trouble packing out the parts. Faced with the possibility of giving up hunting. I came up with another solution, I call it tongue and cheek my Deer Drag-A-Matic 2000.

I used a cheap eBay 2000# boat winch, 100ft of 3/4" mule tape, a couple of /3/4" nuts on the drive shaft and a 20V drill driver with two batteries to power it. I made a bracket to keep the winch spool off the tree. I have a strap to fasten it to a tree loosely so it can pull in the direction of the downed deer.

Before deer season I gave it a test, pulling all my lead collection and two cans of diesel up a hill, piece of cake. With the winch loose and a foot or so from the tree it is easy to swing it side to side on a pull to spool the mule tape back on evenly.

I pulled this buck out of a steep hollow with the Drag a couple of weeks ago and a huge doe (no pic, modern kill) out of a similar deep hollow yesterday all on one battery each. The land I hunt is often too steep to get a 4 wheeler into, my winch gets them to a point I can tie them off to the 4 wheeler.

If any of you other decrepit folk out there like me might need a little assistance recovering deer, here is the parts list I copied from one of my posts on another site. With my drill on low speed my contraption pulls a deer at about 1 ft every 3 seconds and will pull at least 150 ft up a steep hill on one battery.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2500LBS-2-GEAR-Hand-Winch-Hand-Crank- Gear-Tool-Fit-Heavy-Duty-ATV-Trailer-Boat/123338190729? hash=item1cb7876f89:g:8XYAAOSw3EpbhaCG

Mule tape, the winch will hold 100 ft easily but you have to spool it on under load because it stretches at first and won't go on right if you spool it on loose. Be sure to spool on the mule tape so drill will tighten the drive nuts instead of loosen them.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3-4-x-100-2500-tensile-polyester-pull- tape-mule-tape-webbing/153299816092? hash=item23b1618e9c:g:zpMAAOSwEW9aVkyA:rk:2f:0

The metal and bolt I bought a Home Depot.The metal was a 1 1/4"X 3/16" piece about 3' long. I cut a piece to form the U to keep the winch spool off the tree. I got it uneven on my first try so I bent another piece and got it right the second time with the holes lining up with the spool shaft. You could do a bunch of variations on attaching the winch to a tree and not need the brackett. I was sure I needed the winch strapped tightly to the but found out that is not the case as it tightens itself to the tree when you start pulling.

The nuts for the crank are metric but have close to american threads. I don't remember the shaft size but a 3/4" head size fits just fine. I put one nut on the 2000 lb winch drive and added a second to have more surface area for the deep well socket to fit on. I had to file the inside of the second nut to get the flats to line up just right on both nuts.

I bought a grade 8 bolt 1/2" longer than the one used as the spool axle. I bought a nut as well so I didn't have to go metric.

I left the 600# drive empty and carry my crank handle and an extra nut in case I end up in a jammed position and need to unlock the winch one way or another.

 

[Juice Jaws]

Very cool. Simple and works, I like that, I am surprise the batt. drills can pull so much.

 

[hawkeye2]

:thumbs up: Really ingenious, wish I had thought of it first. Thank you for sharing that and I can think of a lot more uses than just draging a deer.

 

[Eric Krewson]

I tried a 600# winch with a cable on my first Drag, it just didn't work, not enough gears and the cable would not spool on evenly causing a bird nest every time. The 600# winch only had two gears, the 2000# has 4 so it takes very little force to turn it.

Here is the 600# version;

I am pulling average Alabama deer that weigh 125# at the most, one would have to go up to a 3000# winch to pull the midwest monsters with a simple drill and that may be a stretch. It is all about the gear ratio.

I am pulling out of here, mighty steep, If one had fairly level ground I suspect the Drag would really zip a deer along.

 

[Carbon 6]

Could have used that on more than one occasion.

 

[Eric Krewson]

You could put a snatch block on my 2000# version and probably pull a car.

 

[Patocazador]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2500LBS-2-GEAR-Hand-Winch-Hand-Crank- Gear-Tool-Fit-Heavy-Duty-ATV-Trailer-Boat/123338190729? hash=item1cb7876f89:g:8XYAAOSw3EpbhaCG

The link for the winch doesn't work anymore. I was going to see how expensive it was but got this instead:

"We looked everywhere.
Looks like this page is missing. If you still need help, visit our help pages."

 

[Stumpkiller]

Smart!

My tractor wouldn't run properly this fall when I needed it (bad gas and damp points - now fixed) to get a buck out and I ended up with a little kid's snow sled. But heading that last half-mile uphill did me in. I ended up calling a neighbor with an ATV to come help me get the deer uphill from a creek and into the barn. I had nothing left. First ATV I have ever allowed on my property since we've owned it.

When I was 30ish I sometimes dragged deer over two miles to get back to the pickup on the 3,000 acres I hunted. Whahappan?

I've been looking at deer carts the last few weeks. Sucks to get old.

 

[Eric Krewson]

The link will work if you highlight both of the lines below and hit "go to" on a right mouse click.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2500LBS-2-GEAR-Hand-Winch-Hand-Crank- Gear-Tool-Fit-Heavy-Duty-ATV-Trailer-Boat/123338190729? hash=item1cb7876f89:g:8XYAAOSw3EpbhaCG

 

[Eric Krewson]

I have had several deer carts and currently have a Cabelas Mag Hauler. It is too big and weighs 45# so when you go uphill you have 45 extra pounds to pull besides your deer. I found this monster is only good on clear paths or roads and won't go through the woods worth a hoot.

I had one with pneumatic tires once, that was a disaster, went through a blackberry patch once and all the tires went flat.

My go to hauler now is a fat tire wheelbarrow, it is surprisingly easy to move a deer with it, even up hill.

 

[Skychief]

I had one with pneumatic tires once, that was a disaster, went through a blackberry patch once and all the tires went flat.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Clever idea. I had a similar thought once but it involved a hand crank.
Yes, I know about the getting old bit.
And, like Tenngun said, in the Ozarks everything is uphill----always.
I hunted bear for many years but none ever stepped in front of my rifle to commit suicide. No matter, I hunt alone usually and never did have a plan on what to do with ded bro bar if I did kill him a couple miles downhill from my truck.
BTW, in the U.S. the single biggest cause of fatalities among hunters is cardiac arrest.

 

[Patocazador]

My go to hauler now is a fat tire wheelbarrow, it is surprisingly easy to move a deer with it, even up hill.

Fred Bear used a type of motorized wheelbarrow on his first Alaska trips with his rich buddies. In his "Field Notes" he describes it. He hauled out caribou among other things if my memory hasn't messed up again.

I use a cheap Allen deer drag: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Allen-D...Vgh6GCh3wnAcEEAQYAiABEgLQdvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

It works good on flat land for me for drags up to 1/2 mile. After that far I'm beat. Lucky for me there are few hills in Florida.

 

[azmntman]

I like that Idea alot. Been thinking in my mind about how to use a cordless dremel like tool to slice down a elks spine for a "true" bone in quarter.

Lil story about my last bull, a fat healthy spike. Me and my Hopi hunting buddy separated to circle a hill (mountain for some of ya) and when just back at point to head down the 400 yds steep (cinders, worse than sand) I spotted him eyeballing me and busted a cap on his arse. DRT. So I am just up to him and here come Clay running like a Hopi will do (and he's 65 yrs old) right to me. He says get him cleaned, I'll be right back. I'm thinking he is headed for the thermos and to drop off his rifle. Well its DARK when I get Bufford the Bull gutted and ready to go. Im just about to give up on the buddy and I hear the most hellish sound ever and was sure we really didnt clean out all the griz in AZ. I had no reloads and Clay took my stuff back to camp. I was hiding behind a scrub when I about died laughing, the noise was a 65 yr old Hopi man Huffing UPHILL IN DEEP cinders and dragging a dang furniture dolly! Took us longer to get bull tied on and try not to get run over than would have to drag or quarter him LOL. Kept getting ahead of us and tipping over (thank God for the deer bags, a simple queen sheet sewn to hold an elk half). Anyway yer idea is great and had we been headed UP instead of DOWN I would have drove to HF and got the fixins before dragging him UP on a Furniture dolly (also known as a hand truck). I may just have one on hand this next Fall. Thaks for sharing! As we age we wise up it seems. My 1st bull I was 17 and me an a buddy did drag him UPHILL and under a barb wire fence to load whole in a toyota P.U.. Dang to have that energy again!

 

[SDSmlf]

I use a cheap Allen deer drag: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Allen-Dual-Harness-Deer-Drag-in-Orange-33/300128475?.

Had one of those drags in my pack just in case. First time I tried to use it the metal ring opened up (guess the deer was too big) and came out of the harness. Worked a piece of cord into the harness where the metal ring came out of (quite the PIA to thread it through) and have used it numerous times since. Fits over both of your shoulders when pulling solo, or allows two people to each grab a shoulder strap and pull. Handy.

 

[Eric Krewson]

I hand cranked my 4 wheeler up a hill with my drag, it was easy to turn the crank but moving the load was a very slow laborious affair. The drill turns up a lot more RPM to speed things up.

 

[renegadehunter]

I like that Idea alot. Been thinking in my mind about how to use a cordless dremel like tool to slice down a elks spine for a "true" bone in quarter.

I bring a cordless sawsall to archery camp with a fine tooth metal cutting blade. It makes short work of quartering an elk, including cutting down the center of the spine.

 

[Dr5x]

YOUR STORY OF MOVING YOUT BULL REMINDED ME OF A POST I RECEIVED FROM AN OLDCOLORADO GUIDE WHO SAID HE WAS DELIGHTED WHEN THE MAXIE BALLS CAME OUT BUT CHANGED HIS MIND WHEN HE CAME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT WHILE ROUND BALL WILL RATTLE AROUND DESTRUCTIVELY INSIDE THE DEER OR ELK, THE MAXIE BALL WOULD GO THROUGH AND THROUGHM EXPENDING A LOT OF ITS ENERY IN THE FREAT BEYOND ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE THE DEER,\HE SAID THE ROUND BALL TENDED TO DROP THE NANIMAL IN ITS TRACKS, THE MAXIE BALL WOULD ALLOW THE DEER TO RUN SOME DISTNCE BEFORE FALLING.
HE SAID THEY WOULD BOTH KILL BUT THE MAXIE BALL VICTIM WOULD ALWAYS SEEM TO RUN DOWN A HILL IN A DIRECTION AEAY FROM HIS TRUCK.

I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS TRUE BUT ALL HE DID WAS GUIDE HUNTERS INTO THE WILDERNESS.

DUTCHSCHOULTZ

I like that Idea alot. Been thinking in my mind about how to use a cordless dremel like tool to slice down a elks spine for a "true" bone in quarter.

Lil story about my last bull, a fat healthy spike. Me and my Hopi hunting buddy separated to circle a hill (mountain for some of ya) and when just back at point to head down the 400 yds steep (cinders, worse than sand) I spotted him eyeballing me and busted a cap on his arse. DRT. So I am just up to him and here come Clay running like a Hopi will do (and he's 65 yrs old) right to me. He says get him cleaned, I'll be right back. I'm thinking he is headed for the thermos and to drop off his rifle. Well its DARK when I get Bufford the Bull gutted and ready to go. Im just about to give up on the buddy and I hear the most hellish sound ever and was sure we really didnt clean out all the griz in AZ. I had no reloads and Clay took my stuff back to camp. I was hiding behind a scrub when I about died laughing, the noise was a 65 yr old Hopi man Huffing UPHILL IN DEEP cinders and dragging a dang furniture dolly! Took us longer to get bull tied on and try not to get run over than would have to drag or quarter him LOL. Kept getting ahead of us and tipping over (thank God for the deer bags, a simple queen sheet sewn to hold an elk half). Anyway yer idea is great and had we been headed UP instead of DOWN I would have drove to HF and got the fixins before dragging him UP on a Furniture dolly (also known as a hand truck). I may just have one on hand this next Fall. Thaks for sharing! As we age we wise up it seems. My 1st bull I was 17 and me an a buddy did drag him UPHILL and under a barb wire fence to load whole in a toyota P.U.. Dang to have that energy again!

 

[azmntman]

Well 99.9% of the time he is correct. 4 years ago my son shot a small mulie spike with a .54 conical right thru the heart. Said deer was in my sights when he shot. My buddy and I walked back to the truck and there was his deer. RIGHT behind the bumper. Here comes the boy running for all he's worth...."where he go?", we pointed, opened the tail gate and loaded up. Joke in camp now is the Boy must shoot the deer in such a manner it will take it's final leap and land in the bed

All my other game ran away, though not but 1-2 out of site so that dont count

 

[Einsiedler]

Nice critter hauler!!!

Dutch’s story reminds me of folks who ask me where’s the best place to shoot an elk. I always tell em next to the road!