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Post by Russ Koon on Mar 16, 2020 21:54:00 GMT -5
gregr, I'd say you are spot on on that distance estimate. Best I could measure it was exactly two miles from the parking lot gate to the pond just past the cemetery. My brother and I hunted back there together a few times, and I did that hike by myself several other times, back before my stroke ten years ago, when I was 65. The last few times we went in by canoe and camped down by the creek. Much better!
The camp and canoe are always at the bottom of the hill, so the drag is downhill to the water and you can paddle to wherever you need to in order to load it up, and then either back to camp to hang it in late season, or out to the truck for the trip home.
We did drag one out all the way from very near the creek to the parking lot one year before we began canoeing in but it was late season ML hunt and there was a couple inches of snow on the ground. That little doe followed us almost as easily as if she was still on her feet and on a leash! We took turns dragging using a long drag strap, but either of us could have easily done it alone.
I killed one on a park hunt at McCormick's Creek one year and it was a decent sized doe and there was no snow. It was the last day of the two-weekend park hunt and I was the last hunter left in the woods that day, and that drag was almost the same distance. I was really bushed by the time I got that girl to the truck! Bought my first deer cart before the following season.
I still like that area down by Monroe when I have the time to stay a few nights in there. There aren't as many deer per square mile back in the deep woods, but the experience is richer, with the solitude and the quiet. Deer camp with some buds is fun, but I really prefer just a quiet camp with one good friend or my brother.
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Post by genesis273 on Mar 17, 2020 5:14:15 GMT -5
I absolutely love walking outdoors. Not so much down the street and back but, in the woods. I currently have to walk up to 3/4 of a mile to some of my stands. I'd definitely walk further if I needed to. The routes I take to check trail cams and back lead me on over 2 mile treks. Often times I get distracted by the "squirrel" and walk even further.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2020 7:24:12 GMT -5
The funniest part I pull from this thread is how many of us might just fit the description I've heard of the slob hunter that doesn't go deep into the woods but just sits within view of the road and kills good deer they haven't earned. You know that deer before the edges of fields and woods. Find most deer 150 yards in the woods to 150 yards out in the field.
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Post by jman46151 on Mar 17, 2020 11:22:21 GMT -5
One spot I hunt it's about 3/4 mile back into the woods and has a decent uphill on the way out. I was smart and bought a cart before I hunted back there. Another spot is about the same distance but it is only 100 yards off of a smooth path. Last year in HNF while scouting for turkeys I found a stand a little over a mile in. Unless that guy had access through private it would be a heck of a haul out. The easiest way I found was up and around one hill, down and back up crossing two creeks, then following the second creek downhill about 1/10 mile to his stand.
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Post by jman46151 on Mar 17, 2020 11:23:38 GMT -5
I should also mention that I found the biggest deadhead I've ever found about 75 yards from that stand.
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Post by esshup on Mar 18, 2020 0:31:13 GMT -5
I have learned that a tractor with a FEL is a great thing. I'll bet Deadeer will agree!! LOL
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Post by bigbuckd on Apr 8, 2020 13:15:04 GMT -5
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Post by INhuntin on May 1, 2020 12:04:47 GMT -5
Walking to the stand I would only go about 300yds for deer hunting. At 65 I can't drag a deer out any more than that & at that it had better be something small. The last 150 lb deer almost killed me. If they would allow us to use an ATV (on public land)only to remove a downed deer I could go anywhere. I'm good walking I just can't drag it out.
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Post by sakorifle on May 1, 2020 19:10:37 GMT -5
Walking to the stand I would only go about 300yds for deer hunting. At 65 I can't drag a deer out any more than that & at that it had better be something small. The last 150 lb deer almost killed me. If they would allow us to use an ATV (on public land)only to remove a downed deer I could go anywhere. I'm good walking I just can't drag it out. That's why I asked for a portable winch and 300 yds of rope if I knock a family of three down then that winch seems as beautiful as miss world. If I carry on stalking once I retire i would buy the winch before anything else. Once finished with it I imagine one would get a lot of one's money back selling it on. Brilliant piece of kit. Regards Billy.
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Post by SFC (R) B on May 1, 2020 21:59:17 GMT -5
My deer hunting in Indiana has all been on private and all of them were within 100m of where I could get some kind of vehicle to. Out here in the west, different story. I have one particular honey hole here in CO that has produced 2 elk, a muley fork horn and a bear for me. That spot is just under 2 miles from camp. It is in a wilderness area so no vehilces (thank goodness)and the elevation goes like this....9600' at camp, 10000' at the ridge top, between 88-9000' down in the valley where all 4 fell. The 2 elk (bull and cow) I shot within 30 seconds of each other. My hunting buddy and I made 4 trips apiece (he carried the cow, I carried the bull) with quarters and assorted bits on our backs that day. Shot about 0830, finished around 1500. Went to bed early, and slept late with a full meat pole I also keep an ice fishing sled and use it when possible. Farthest drag with it has been an entire cow elk (hunting buddy's dad's elk) a mile....good part was that it was downhill with a couple of inches of snow. It wasn't bad at all. When possible, quartering and hauling is so much better/easier than hauling all of the excess weight of a carcass.
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2020 11:19:46 GMT -5
Right now maybe 200 yards if easy walk. My left knee has been bothering me. My fault though kneeling on it so much the last 3 weeks.
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Post by squirrelhunter on May 17, 2020 11:00:25 GMT -5
A quarter of a mile is hard on me,definitely a half mile is my limit,this COPD is really putting a hurt on me.
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Post by freedomhunter on May 17, 2020 15:27:02 GMT -5
I just picked up 80 acres where a half mile hike might be the ticket. Probably going to get the girlfriend a lightweight climber and let her eat. Her comment the other day "I can't wait for deer season" lol just shake my head. That is the fever. We always have friends near with side by sides to help retrieve a deer so the sky is the limit!
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Post by Ahawkeye on May 17, 2020 20:29:14 GMT -5
One of my favorite places is 1.5 miles from the truck. Anytime there’s an east wind I’m hard pressed not to be there. Most days I’ll be there unless dad wants to hunt another piece of property, but most times he tells me to go for it.
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Post by Ahawkeye on May 17, 2020 20:29:36 GMT -5
Gotta quit double posting! It’s getting annoying, sorry.
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Post by welder on May 18, 2020 14:39:14 GMT -5
I will be 48 next month. Right now, there is NO LIMIT to the distance I will walk when deer hunting, but, I become much more selective in what I will shoot.
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2020 15:50:35 GMT -5
I will be 48 next month. Right now, there is NO LIMIT to the distance I will walk when deer hunting, but, I become much more selective in what I will shoot. Welder, I was with you until a month ago. I'll be 59 on the 22nd next month and around Easter I did something to my left knee. It's been swollen ever since. Maybe by fall it will be better. Who knows. I do still push my body very hard like a 30 yr. old. This summer is my last super hard working summer. I should have most of my big projects finished. Finish inside of barn, Redo the front landscaping retaining wall, install fence, and build a masonry brick (20 ft x 1.5 feet high)wall for flowers. That's enough.
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Post by nfalls116 on May 19, 2020 7:15:27 GMT -5
Longest drag I ever did was half mile. Through two creeks and one hollow.
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Post by oldhoyt on May 19, 2020 8:06:01 GMT -5
I hunt a place where I walk nearly a mile to my stand. In a straight line, the stand is about a half mile from the parking spot but I take the long way around using trails to be quiet and to keep my scent from going the wrong way. Usually the deer are recovered not more than 300 yards from a road (where I can't park), so I drag the deer close to the road, then walk to my vehicle and return for the deer.
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