Game carts
- Thread starter Ratz
- Start date
cohunter14
Administrator
- Jul 10, 2017
- 5,278
I haven't ever used one, but I've seen them and know some folks who have tried them. Honestly, I think you are far better off investing in a solid pack that hauls meat comfortably than using a game cart. The carts sound great until you run across any blowdowns, get into thick stuff, or have to go uphill. The one place I think they would come in handy is if you were covering miles on a trail of some sort, but other than that I think they would become more of an issue than a solution.
If you think about it, with a good pack on your back, you can haul out a load right away. With a cart, you have to go get it first, bring it back, load it up, then push it out. That's two trips right there, which even solo could have packed out a big portion of an elk if you had a good pack.
Just my opinion!
If you think about it, with a good pack on your back, you can haul out a load right away. With a cart, you have to go get it first, bring it back, load it up, then push it out. That's two trips right there, which even solo could have packed out a big portion of an elk if you had a good pack.
Just my opinion!
We have both a one wheeled cart and a two wheeled cart. The one thing I would make sure with any cart is that it has brakes. Fighting to hold it back on downhills is almost worse that pushing it uphill. Almost. The two wheeled cart is great behind locked gates where you are on a road. Ours can haul something like 350 pounds. We have packed out several elk in one trip on it with my Dad and I each carrying a front quarter on our backs.
The one wheeled cart is also great but cant hold as much weight. You can pack out a smaller elk in one trip with quarters on your back but most of the time we make two trips with it with all the meat on it and nothing on our backs.
Cohunter14 is right about it being a pain off trail. We use pack frames to get the meat to the trail and then the cart on the way out. Ours has a handle that folds out in front so one guy can push while another pulls. Or you can fold it back and use it solo.
Here's a couple pics of our carts. Both these elk came out in one trip. It's nice having someone else to carry bows to free up your hands.
The one wheeled cart is also great but cant hold as much weight. You can pack out a smaller elk in one trip with quarters on your back but most of the time we make two trips with it with all the meat on it and nothing on our backs.
Cohunter14 is right about it being a pain off trail. We use pack frames to get the meat to the trail and then the cart on the way out. Ours has a handle that folds out in front so one guy can push while another pulls. Or you can fold it back and use it solo.
Here's a couple pics of our carts. Both these elk came out in one trip. It's nice having someone else to carry bows to free up your hands.
I have a two wheeled game cart, I often keep it in the truck when doing morning/evening hunts in timber land. I've hauled an entire cow elk out in one trip alone, uphill 1.5 miles on a closed logging road. Still a lot of work but way way faster and easier than backpacking when it works out.
nclonghunter
New member
- Dec 28, 2012
- 681
In agreement with Cohunter...wouldn't want to drag or pack one during the hunt, so next option is to go get it and bring it back to the meat. It would be great under the right conditions. We used a two wheel once by pulling it across a big sage field to the base of the mountain. Got an elk down, butchered and carried it on our backs to the cart. Loaded most onto the cart and pulled it back. That one time is the only situation in several elk taken that it has really helped. A good backpack is a better option.
I've noticed a lot of people saying they don't want to have to go back and get the cart.
We usually push one of ours in most of the way to where we are hunting and leave it somewhere so we don't have to go all the way back out to get it. With it empty or with all of my gear on it and no gear on me I find it pretty easy to push in so I have it if I need it.
It is a bit noisy so you could spook game pushing it in but so far I've been lucky enough to never do that and we've been using the carts for over 20 years now. At least not spook elk. I know I've spooked a few deer that may have then spooked elk without me knowing it. I am extremely familiar with the areas I hunt so we leave the cart before we get to areas where we expect elk to be.
I rarely have to hike more than a half mile to go back for the cart. It might not work like that for others but the areas I hunt most are timber company properties and they are covered in roads I can get around on.
We usually push one of ours in most of the way to where we are hunting and leave it somewhere so we don't have to go all the way back out to get it. With it empty or with all of my gear on it and no gear on me I find it pretty easy to push in so I have it if I need it.
It is a bit noisy so you could spook game pushing it in but so far I've been lucky enough to never do that and we've been using the carts for over 20 years now. At least not spook elk. I know I've spooked a few deer that may have then spooked elk without me knowing it. I am extremely familiar with the areas I hunt so we leave the cart before we get to areas where we expect elk to be.
I rarely have to hike more than a half mile to go back for the cart. It might not work like that for others but the areas I hunt most are timber company properties and they are covered in roads I can get around on.
