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Dragging a deer out of a ravine

Smawgunner

Smawgunner

Junior Member
223
61
Athens
I set up a new tree stand a few weeks ago and will be getting in it this weekend. It's in a sweet spot with a nice funnel, but the big downside to the placement is a large gully nearby. Trying to prepare for the worst, I'm racking my brain thinking how I'm going to pull a large deer out if he decides to take the path of least resistance and drop dead down there. I can get my Ranger there and pull him out, but where should I connect...around his rear legs, hip, neck? Thoughts on this?
 
xbowguy

xbowguy

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
29,687
234
Licking Co. Ohio
If you use the ranger and a long rope to pull him out of a ravine, I would hook it around his rack. The Rope needs to go up and over a tree branch at the edge of the Ravine before it goes down in the ravine. This will help keep him from digging into the hillside. I would probably try and get somebody to walk along with him on the way out.
 
loose_is_fast

loose_is_fast

Junior Member
618
108
McClure
Screenshot_20181112-172529_Chrome.jpg
 
Sgt Fury

Sgt Fury

Sgt. Spellchecker
24,097
184
Southern NJ/Vinton county Ohio
When I got my deer this year, he ran downhill and died at the bottom of a ravine. We used a chainsaw to get my quad and my buddies John Deere gator down there. My buddy jumped on the back of the bed in his gator and used his chainsaw to cut a 2-3” deep channel into the tree about shoulder high (shoulder high while he was standing on the gator) he then ran the cable from his winch from the front of the gator, through the gash in the tree and over to the deer at the back of his gator. When he reeled in the winch, it lifted the deer high enough that we could lower it into the back of the gator. Worked out really well. I also carry a small block and tackle and 50’ of rope in my quad Incase a deer gets to a spot that I can’t get my quad to. You may want to get a deer sled if you’re going to drag it any distance so that you won’t ruin the hide. The corn in the pic is from the back of his gator and fell out when we raised the bed....the pile is about 100 yards from where he ended up. He never came into the pile, but paused behind it when a doe that was on the pile ran away as he approached. Hope this helps.
DA93DEAF-2F6A-4734-B14A-516276681DC0.jpeg
 
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C

Cogz

Cogz
1,360
70
TX
Field dress right away. Definitely dont drag against the fur and I’ve pulled them out using rope on the rack long as it isnt late season. Be aware of colored rope and rope burn, maybe wrap some cloth or tshirt around the antlers first.
 
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Creamer

Creamer

Active Member
1,589
81
Athens
This is the trade-off I fight with the small property I have been hunting for four years. I have a great stand location that acts like a pinch point between two fields. What makes it even more of a pinch is the steep ravine where the bench I hunt drops over sharply to a creek. Counting the doe I shot a few weeks ago, I have shot 5 deer (all does, I'm a meat hunter now) in that spot. Of those 5, 4 have made their death sprint straight freakin' down the ravine. No ATV, no tractor. Me+dead weight vs. hill. It's not a long drag, distance wise, but it's straight up the whole way. I've found no easier way to do it than the old "shortest distance" route, straight up. I guess it's their last act of revenge, I stick them with an arrow and they stick me with a hellacious drag job.
 
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