even in great physical condition carrying something over 100 lbs on your back for more than a few 100 yds even on a flat sidewalk is gonna be no piece of cake. carrying it uphill or through thick brush or swamp is gonna be pretty much impossible unless you are an incredibly strong, young individual with never ending stamina and I believe that leaves about 99.9 % of us out. if it makes you feel macho to carry it on your back when it's easier to drag or use a cart be my guest. carrying an animal over 100 bs on your back 5.5 mi I can't see how you had enough wind left to sing, may have to throw the BS flag on that one. 5.5 mi? you must have a big S on your chest to do that.
Absolutely no BS involved. A 100 lb deer minus the guts will only weigh about 65-70lbs. (the one in question was probably 135 so we'll give it 90lbs). Walking back to a trailhead over a very well used trail free from undergrowth or fallen trees. I maybe stepped over 3 fallen trees the whole way. Following the trail from the trailhead heads straight up a ridge and follows that ridgeline for several miles. I've been in that area over 20 miles deep on horseback and the trail just stays on the ridge top. From the time I started down the trail until I made it to the truck at the trailhead 5 and a half miles later I descended over 2500 feet and had 3 little hills to climb of less than 100 yards each. Really not that big of a deal at 23 years of age. Not like I'm saying I did it without ever breaking a sweat or anything. I hiked into the basin before daylight that morning and shot the deer within 30 minutes of daylight. Had all day to hike back out with it. I'm not about to say I hiked all the way out without stopping for a break or anything or that I was averaging 7 minute miles.
Just out of curiosity...if 100lbs is too much to pack on a person's back, how is it that you figure we get elk out of the woods when we hunt them? I won't even mention moose. A quarter of a good-sized Roosevelt Elk Bull will weigh over 100lbs. (A big Rosie can weigh over 1000 lbs but a good one will almost always weigh 750+ pounds.) Is everybody superman? Not hardly but we put a quarter on our backs and carry them out. Not like I'm going to leave it there and let it waste. Even if you gotta walk 50 feet and take a break...you'll get there sooner or later. Hell, I took 5 days packing one big 6X6 elk out of a wilderness area by myself...one quarter a day. Sometime it just sucks.
That would be a big difference between hunting in the higher elevations out west and hunting in Florida. It's not uncommon to hike several miles in a day while out hunting...obviously not everybody is hiking 5-10 miles in but there are plenty that do. In Florida my average hike is nowhere near a mile. Completely different way of hunting in completely different terrain. Nobody is going to pack anything 5 miles through a Florida swamp but a well-packed trail through rocky ground downhill the whole way and 5 miles really becomes a whole lot easier.
I don't see how carrying out a deer on your back is a macho thing anyway...that was much easier than walking 11 miles round-trip back to get a pack frame and I sure wasn't going to wheel a game cart that far into the back country, if I would have even had one back then which I didn't. Dragging an animal that far wouldn't work obviously...you'd end up with the head and horns and 5 miles worth of hamburger on the trail behind you. I guess maybe it's just perception. Those of you from down here look at the way we hunt out west and think we're crazy or lying. I look at you guys who sit in a tree all day and know there's something wrong with you...lol. Before coming to Florida I laughed at people who talked about climbing up a tree or sitting in a blind to hunt a deer. Now I'm doing it. Newfound respect for those of you who can make yourself sit in a tree all day. I climb into my treestand, scan the area in view with my binoculars and am ready to move somewhere else in less than 10 seconds. After about 15 minutes I'm frustrated and pissed off that I'm stuck in a tree and it becomes a mental test to sit there. So far the longest I've been able to stand is 4 hours but I usually limit my stand times to 2.5 hours and it still drives me nuts. I admire a guy who can sit in a tree all day and look at the same trail and not lose his mind. I can't do it yet. I'm certainly willing to do it as there's not any other options around here and it sure beats not hunting. Besides, it's a new experience and I'm trying to convince myself that I can learn to like it if I just stick with it. It's easier now than it was the first time and close to becoming enjoyable.
To be honest with you Nacho, I had kinda respected you in your dealing on this forum up to this point. I've just got this problem with people calling me a liar. I just don't take that well. I have no reason to lie to you. I really don't care for it when somebody who has no clue what he's talking about runs his mouth anyway. You made a decision to throw a BS flag and crack smart about a big S on my chest without knowing anything about the situation. Sounds like a punk kid instead of the old, broken-down, mature guy you claim to be.
Look a the military, and the molle packs them boys tote around. 100# aint nothing. I carried one out like that as a backpack in Tosohatchee when I was about 16. My dad wanted to hunt the sawgrass and it was over a 2 mile walk back there to it. Of course I was wrestling and playing football, and could have probably whipped a sasquatches ass at that time in my life
theres a big difference in carrying well distributed wt on a pack designed for it when young strong and trained to do it than dead cumbersome wt. ask someone exp with moving dead bodies like snatcher if he thinks his old team could move a stiff 5,5 mi through heavy brush. not calling anyone a liar or intending to ruffle any feathers. long pm sent to redneck. just saying why would you want to do that to yourself.
I agree with you Nacho, 100%. Its just another option to get an animal out, and certainly not the best but can be done, as I have done it. Ive got a bad ankle and sore lower back and wouldn't even attempt it now at 38 years old
My options in order of ease:
4 wheeler
game cart
safety harness with tree tether as a drag rope
a good ole piece of rope
backpack method
There are things you learn over the years after you have done things a certain way forever. My dad always wanted to drag animals by the head with a piece of rope so "the front legs wouldn't catch everything". I did it that way forever, because thats just the way I learned. Then I decided to start dragging by the back legs with a shorter piece of rope, and realized how much easier it is that way after killing myself for years
