Any game cart recommendations?

[FishingWebGuy]

I'm looking to get a game cart this year and wondering what experiences people have had with current models.

If there is one heavy duty enough, I would use the cart for hauling fire wood and other cumbersome/heavy objects around camp.

Is it difficult to get the load on the cart and centered by yourself? I'm kinda thinking a wagon would be better so there isn't any balancing issues.

Are the folding carts problematic? I mean do they want to fold up when you don't want them to?

Are spoked tires an issue with brush and branches? Should I look for solid wheels? We hunt in pretty thick woods.

TIA

[Cheetah]

I borrowed a 2-wheel folding cart from a guy once when I shot a deer about a mile down a logging road. It was tricky to get the deer on it and to keep it balanced while going back to my car. Be sure to have some straps or rope to go with it if you buy one.

In the thick woods and swamps I don't think a cart will work. My dad, brother and I all have a "dead sled". Google it, they have a HSOforum. Cabelas has it on their site too. Basically some heavy duty plastic that rolls up tight. Then you wrap it around the deer like a taco shell, lace it up tight, then drag. It slides really nicely over just about anything.

The only problem I've had with it was last year I shot a deer down in a creek bottom and had to drag by myself up a really steep hill and tall to the ridge above, and the whole time the deer wanted to slide back down the hill because the sled was so slippery on the leaves.

[Archerysniper]

I borrowed a 2-wheel folding cart from a guy once when I shot a deer about a mile down a logging road. It was tricky to get the deer on it and to keep it balanced while going back to my car. Be sure to have some straps or rope to go with it if you buy one.

In the thick woods and swamps I don't think a cart will work. My dad, brother and I all have a "dead sled". Google it, they have a HSOforum. Cabelas has it on their site too. Basically some heavy duty plastic that rolls up tight. Then you wrap it around the deer like a taco shell, lace it up tight, then drag. It slides really nicely over just about anything.

The only problem I've had with it was last year I shot a deer down in a creek bottom and had to drag by myself up a really steep hill and tall to the ridge above, and the whole time the deer wanted to slide back down the hill because the sled was so slippery on the leaves.

+1 for this product works great.

[92python]

I have used a bunch of different game carts for many years and for the most part they work very well. In my experience they are much better than the roll up sleds or otter sleds unless you have snow.

For a store bought cart, look at the Cabelas super heavy duty model. It is a fold up, packs up nicely and is durable. You use bungy cords to keep the deer on the frame. It will go on sale this fall for $100 bucks if history holds true. Dont get any cart with the plastic spokes. Tried that, broke a wheel, ended up dragging the deer out with a towstrap and the cart went back to the store.

During rifle season we hunt far away from the trunk on public land in swamps and use longer 2 man (handles in front and back), single wheel, homemade carts. Those work very well in swamps but you need 2 guys.

[nonteepical]

i thought thats why we recruit the young to deer camp....to do the dragging.

[FishingWebGuy]

Thanks for all the replies. Since I will be moving a lot of firewood and the camp stove with it also so I think I'll start with a cart.

The dead sled look slick but I think I'll just try solid wheels on the cart first.

[Grayfox]

I've used the Cabela's magnum cart for years as well and you can't go wrong with this one.

I've had two deer on it at once and no problem. Balances well and pulls with ease.

Rob

[Random guy]

Leave the cart and get an Otter Sled. I use a magnum Otter sled to drag in stands, drag out bear and even hauled hunters in and out in the sled. Five years of doing this and the sled bottom looks like new yet, even after a few trips down gravel roads.

Normal I pull it with and ATV but have hand drug it several times and it works great. Crossing over downed trees, through mud and even floating it loaded across small streams/rivers is a snap.

[Boar]

Yea I'm getting the runners on the otter soon, totally on with the sled deal. Boar

[fishermatt]

The 2 wheeled carts work Ok as long as you are on a trail. As soon as you have to go over some logs, it becomes a real chore. You have to make sure the deer (or wood or whatever you're hauling) is very securely attached to the cart, or it will slide off. The landowner on our deer land didn't want any ATV's on his property, so we have tried lots of things, and we found that the game cart works Ok as long as there's a trail wide enough for it. For off trail use, I think a dead sled would work better.

[bmc]

When we used to hunt in Iowa, the guys we hunted with had a homemade cart. It was basically a stretcher looking thing w/ 2 dirt bicycle sized tires on the end. I wish I had a picture, but it looked like a 2 wheel dolly, just a little wider.

The area we hunted was so steep that even an ATV was too dangerous to go up and down the hills. We'd strap the deer on TIGHT, 2 guys on the handles, and one guy had a LONG rope that was tied to the cart. The rope man would go up hill, wrap the rope around a tree and head down hill while the 2 cart guys would pull up hill. It worked really slick! It worked equally well going over regular ground too.

Before they made their cart, they would joke and say they'd bring a big frying pan and eat part of the deer before they headed out of the woods. LOL

Brian

[FishingWebGuy]

I do have an otter sled. I think I'll give that a try before I buy anything else. Just never thought of using it I guess.

Thanks for all the ideas

[NaturesRespect]

dont skimp out and get cheap ones... my uncles had some carts that are big enough for you to get into the cart like a hoola hoop and use it that way i was only 14 and was able to haul 2 adult does in one of the karts up giant steep hills in southern MN they work great. last season we skimped out and baught a 50 dallar kart from Gander that fits one deer and it was terrible not being able to get into the kart like a hoolahoop made it dificult plus the one deer size limit was not even enough for our 2 big bucks and we only tried to haul one of them! spend the extra cash and get the bigger karts