DIY pulk / game cart?

[slatty]

Wondering if anyone here has made a DIY dry ground pulk. Something to hook to my waist belt and pull in for hunting motor vehicle closed forestry road areas. This would be for hauling out an animal after a multi day hunt. I love my winter pulk which is based on the HPG design, attached with stays to my pack. I've played around with attaching stays to a two wheeled bicycle trailer but I find it doesn't balance well. Thinking of maybe a 4-wheeled garden cart and attaching stays to that. Any previous experience or pictures are welcome!

 

[EdP]

The plastic sleds are so inexpensive I would not consider trying to make something similar.

 

[slatty]

The plastic sleds are so inexpensive I would not consider trying to make something similar.

This thread is about making a wheeled one for summer use, not for using a plastic sled. I have a plastic sled for winter and love it.

 

[EdP]

OK, I had never heard of a "pulk" and when I googled it they were plastic sleds.

I have a deer cart that a friend gave me. Aluminum and light except for the wheels. I will be interested to see if anyone has made their own.

 

[realunlucky]

@Larry Bartlett worked on a ground sled for awhile, if i remember correctly he used a cross pole pulling harness.

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

 

[Wrhyne]

I’ve built a couple for my self and friends. I’ve used otter sleds (hard utility sleds) each time slightly tweaking the haul system aspect.

I primarily hunt on foot in public access (trailheads, long approaches). I’ve drug them over snow, ice, dirt, rocks but obliviously some substrates are more suitable for the pulk sled. I can fit a whole gutted deer in there or a couple elk quarters. I will even use it for overnight ski/ice climbing trips in the BC.

A couple of the main considerations are:
-In deep powder snow conditions the trick is to keep the load light. If you can carry the heavy stuff on your back and put the bulky gear in the sled like sleeping bags, tents, etc it work better.
-load securement is very important. You don’t want to keep having to stop cause your deer head keeps falling out. I built a system on mine that is super simple and easy to attach cord or ski straps to tie stuff down.
-you’ll want to have some way to control lateral slip. Fixed 1/2” PVC pipes with cordage running through them works well. The cordage is what handles the load, the PVCis there for rigidity and stability.

I’ll post more pics later. Hope this helps. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

 

[slatty]

I’ve built a couple for my self and friends. I’ve used otter sleds (hard utility sleds) each time slightly tweaking the haul system aspect.

I primarily hunt on foot in public access (trailheads, long approaches). I’ve drug them over snow, ice, dirt, rocks but obliviously some substrates are more suitable for the pulk sled. I can fit a whole gutted deer in there or a couple elk quarters. I will even use it for overnight ski/ice climbing trips in the BC.

A couple of the main considerations are:
-In deep powder snow conditions the trick is to keep the load light. If you can carry the heavy stuff on your back and put the bulky gear in the sled like sleeping bags, tents, etc it work better.
-load securement is very important. You don’t want to keep having to stop cause your deer head keeps falling out. I built a system on mine that is super simple and easy to attach cord or ski straps to tie stuff down.
-you’ll want to have some way to control lateral slip. Fixed 1/2” PVC pipes with cordage running through them works well. The cordage is what handles the load, the PVCis there for rigidity and stability.

I’ll post more pics later. Hope this helps. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

I like your semi-rigid PVC harness system, as well as your tie down straps. Nice to see how you've built that. Thanks!

 

[slatty]

This is my winter pulk. Pretty simple design.
I basically used these instructions from HPG.

Hill People Gear | Pulk Instructions

How to create a budget winter workhorse.

hillpeoplegear.com

 

[sewbadithurts]

https://imgur.com/a/OMls5gP

Not precisely what you seem to be after but here is my v2.0 meat sled. It's 1/2yd of venom 3.9oz from rbtr, v1 used 1/2yd of HyperD 300 and then a sheet of uhmwe adhesive film from McMaster Carr. This is the .012" my first one used .007" at first but that was way too thin and I ended up sleeping down a layer of .022" after the thinner one tore after getting dragged over the very on smooth concrete. The. 022 is imo overkill.

This is not intended for broken ground and talus but works fine on even Rocky trails.

Haven't messed with perfecting the connection to a pack yet. 10oz with a bunch of cord and regular biner. Pretty close packed size to a nalgene bottle.

Just a side note that wheeled contrivances are not allowed in wilderness areas.

 

[go4thegusto]

The roll-up plastic deer drags are on ebay and elsewhere. I carry one in my truck most of the season.

 

[kit_man_duu]

We use a heavy duty plastic sled, it has held up fine over the years.

 

[EdP]

"Just a side note that wheeled contrivances are not allowed in wilderness areas."

Yes, bicycles and wheeled carts are not allowed, but plastic sleds are perfectly fine. Who can make sense of that???

 

[slatty]

"Just a side note that wheeled contrivances are not allowed in wilderness areas."

Not the case in BC as far as i'm aware. The province did however specify in the latest hunting regs that e-bikes are motorized vehicles and not allowed in non-motorized areas.
I don't understand a rule against wheels, as long as they are human-powered.

 

[Elkhntr08]

Kids got me a Jet Sled last year for Christmas. I used it earlier in the season for a 50 yard drag out of a small doe.
Yesterday I took a cull buck in an area that’s always been a pain to get a animal out. Drug the sled out, loaded the buck and walked him right out the 1/2 mile. Had to cross a knee deep creek and wondered how that was going to work. As you can see, it floats.
If you’re on the fence about getting one, do it. I left the deer in the sled and drug it right up in the truck bed.
Plan on doing some kind of lashing system and possibly a short piece of PVC on the drag rope.
Overall, I’m thrilled with the sled.

 

[Joebe]

2 words. Jet Sled! Look around on youtube there are some great modifications. I did one where I strung heavy paracord around and under the lip with holes drilled through rim. Put solid metal rings so you can lash things down with bungee cords. I use it all the time. never leaves my truck bed in winter. Can use for Ice fishing, hauls anything. When it finally wears through through it out an get another

 

[Vrybusy]

+1 on the Jet Sled! So many mods you can do to fit your needs.

 

[*zap*]

Get a used baby jogging stroller and turn it into a gear/game hauler....do not laugh cause they work better than you may think they do. I drilled a hole in the push handle of mine and put an eyebolt in facing back...tow that sucker behind my mountain bike with the rear facing forward. go via bike as far as possible and then push the stroller thru brush with no troubles and 50+ # of gear on it...

 

[Yoder]

I don't know if this company is still around or not but they make the best game cart I've ever used. You can balance the weight over the axle and no weight at all at the handle. I've never seen one tip over. It almost feels like pulling an empty wagon with a deer on it.

https://bowsite.com/nxt/gamecarrier.html

 

[Johnc427]

Here is one I built for my pedal bike that I’ve also just pulled by hand. Works great on logging roads behind gates. Built out of 1” aluminum tubing, shrimp netting, heim joint and removable tongue so it fits in the back of the pickup better…