so I have an idea...........

rclouse79

WKR
Joined
Dec 10, 2019
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Theres 3 quarters plus the loose meat inside this elk hide (4th quarter is on my back). Dragged it 0.5 miles cross country and then 1 mile on a two-track road. All downhill except for a short 70 yard uphill drag to get on the road. There were times I had to get out of the way. I won't hesitate to use this method again.
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That is some mountain man stuff right there, pretty cool idea.
 

rclouse79

WKR
Joined
Dec 10, 2019
Messages
1,911
Theres 3 quarters plus the loose meat inside this elk hide (4th quarter is on my back). Dragged it 0.5 miles cross country and then 1 mile on a two-track road. All downhill except for a short 70 yard uphill drag to get on the road. There were times I had to get out of the way. I won't hesitate to use this method again.
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Did you punch a couple holes through the neck area and run rope to the waist belt of your pack?
 

FatCampzWife

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Mar 31, 2020
Messages
166
Location
The Plains
I used our deadsled on my solo cantalope hunt 2 years ago. Was quite warm out & was a mile or so from road. Which doesn't seem far, until you need to go back to truck to get your kill kit, walk back to your critter, field dress, & then haul everything back alone while convincing your dog pal not too chase 'yotes, snakes, cows, or prairie dogs the whole way back & forth...Anyways, tied it to my waistbelt on my backpack, cued up some tunes, & set out one foot in front of the other. No way I would have gotten it out on my back without giving my self a migraine. And, it's super light & packs in nicely all rolled up. This season I could've packed it out on my back, but 2 years ago I was not in good enough shape to do so...
 

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Did you punch a couple holes through the neck area and run rope to the waist belt of your pack?
As I recall the rope is just tied tightly around the neck. I punched holes along the rest of the hide to stitch it together every 12 inches or so. Then I just tied it to a stick and held that behind my back. I didn't want the load attached to me in case it got going too fast.
 

rclouse79

WKR
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Dec 10, 2019
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As I recall the rope is just tied tightly around the neck. I punched holes along the rest of the hide to stitch it together every 12 inches or so. Then I just tied it to a stick and held that behind my back. I didn't want the load attached to me in case it got going too fast.
I made a sled for ice fishing (they call them smitty sleds) which is a wood frame with downhill skis on the ground and a jet sled on the frame. It is considerably easier to pull on skis than with just the sled. I watched a youtube video before I made the smitty sled where a guy used a heavy scale to measure the force required to pull varying loads at a constant speed in just the sled, and then on skis. I would love to see the data on how much force would be required to move the same load at a constant speed on snow with an elk hide, a rolled up plastic sled, and a jet sled. I bet you could find a comparison between sleds online, but the elk hide would be the tricky part. I would test it myself if I had a fresh elk hide laying around.
 

fishslap

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Jan 8, 2017
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Longmont, CO
I made a sled for ice fishing (they call them smitty sleds) which is a wood frame with downhill skis on the ground and a jet sled on the frame. It is considerably easier to pull on skis than with just the sled. I watched a youtube video before I made the smitty sled where a guy used a heavy scale to measure the force required to pull varying loads at a constant speed in just the sled, and then on skis. I would love to see the data on how much force would be required to move the same load at a constant speed on snow with an elk hide, a rolled up plastic sled, and a jet sled. I bet you could find a comparison between sleds online, but the elk hide would be the tricky part. I would test it myself if I had a fresh elk hide laying around.
Anecdotally, I’ve pulled all four quarters of a cow elk on my dead sled, and I’ve pulled quite a bit of gear in three sizes of jet sled all with the plastic runners (not smitties). Both in several inches of snow (more than a few). My dead sled was actually way easier. It’s slick and doesn’t seem to push snow in the front or have it freeze up on the bottom contours. It really shines going over logs and terrain features due to the flexibility. I keep meaning to build a smitty base for my ice fishing sleds but haven’t got around to it.
 

rclouse79

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Anecdotally, I’ve pulled all four quarters of a cow elk on my dead sled, and I’ve pulled quite a bit of gear in three sizes of jet sled all with the plastic runners (not smitties). Both in several inches of snow (more than a few). My dead sled was actually way easier. It’s slick and doesn’t seem to push snow in the front or have it freeze up on the bottom contours. It really shines going over logs and terrain features due to the flexibility. I keep meaning to build a smitty base for my ice fishing sleds but haven’t got around to it.
These are my smitty sleds. They are awesome for hauling loads on flat ground for ice fishing.
 

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BDRam16

WKR
Joined
Dec 24, 2019
Messages
674
The real problem with these packable sleds is you can't just yeet them down any downhills... solve that problem and you'll make a mint
That sounds like a solution, not a problem. I’m gonna ride that mother ****** down the mountain like the Jamaican bobsled team.
 

TedO

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Dec 2, 2022
Messages
166
Combine the hide method with a Trevois made from what's available around you.
 
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