Game Carts for Elk?

[rwc101]

Anyone used a game cart that actually works in the kind of places elk live?

 

[TOGIE]

if wasn't having a baby this fall i'd just be on standby to come haul out your elk for ya

 

[mtnkid85]

Ive really wanted to try one of these honey badger carts! Alot of the time Im in wilderness, but outside of that I think it might have a chance of working.

 

[RyGuy]

Tried a few, never worked. A frame pack is the only thing that has consistently moved elk out of the field and into my vehicle.
If you’re stuck on using a game cart, find something that has tall wheels that aren’t attached in the middle. That way you can ride over brush and such

 

[rwc101]

Ive really wanted to try one of these honey badger carts! Alot of the time Im in wilderness, but outside of that I think it might have a chance of working.

I've looked at those before. I might just add a rear rack to my mountain bike and use it as a push cart.

 

[COEngineer]

My FIL made one similar to this. We only ever used it for antelope, but I think you could make it work for elk - make sure the brake works before you go downhill.
https://gametote.com/game-cart-review

 

[madtom]

I have a Muddy "Mule" game cart that has worked well for elk. I put a plywood bottom in it to keep the game bags from bulging through the bottom, and ratchet strap them down. Works great for areas that aren't too rocky - I've taken three quartered elk out with it. If there's snow, a jet sled is way better.

 

[Gerald Martin]

I have hauled a few elk out on game carts. It still sucks. I am back to packing them on my back.

 

[mtnkid85]

Ill also say Ive used a sled quite a bit in late season snow. Moving a sled full of elk makes you feel like what I imagine the Egyptian slaves who perished building the pyramids must have felt like. It is miserable. Works well until you come to any sort of an obstacle.

 

[Flatbrimmer]

Anyone used a game cart that actually works in the kind of places elk live?

I’ve seen lots of pics of old timers taking two longer poles and p-cord a couple horizontal slats over the two- you can make a handle, around your waste or pack the two longer poles carrying the front end up. I don’t really hunt anywhere that I’d wanna run back to the truck to wheel a cart in so idk otherwise! Good luck!

 

[GrantK]

I can't say I've used a game cart much but I've helped haul a lot of people in a wheeled litter on SAR calls, we have endlessly modified the wheel, handles, and brakes to try and improve useability, my opinion is that on a relatively flat, smooth and wide trail almost anything will work and be pretty easy if it's steep, loose or twisty good luck! wheeling a 150Lb patient 2 miles on mountain trails takes 8-10 people usually, and if you aren't pretty worked at the end you were slacking... due to that my opinion on elk is that if the elk isn't laying on a logging road it's going to be easier to put it in a backpack.

 

[Elkoholic]

When you get a load to this type of terrain it's doable (photo: Gerald bull), but it's the 99% of the other time it sucks. As @Gerald Martin mentioned it sucks, and I'm with Gerald on back to backpacking. I still have bad nightmares of another pack out of Gerald getting ran over by a cart that he nor I could stop (not the pack out pictured above), thankfully he wasn't seriously injured. The things can be dangerous as heck too!

 

[COEngineer]

When you get a load to this type of terrain it's doable (photo: Gerald bull), but it's the 99% of the other time it sucks. As @Gerald Martin mentioned it sucks, and I'm with Gerald on back to backpacking. I still have bad nightmares of another pack out of Gerald getting ran over by a cart that he nor I could stop (not the pack out pictured above), thankfully he wasn't seriously injured. The things can be dangerous as heck too!

That looks like the kind of terrain you can drive a vehicle into...or is that 2-track just on this side of a gate we can't see?

 

[ccc23454]

This is only game cart that i have found i liked, usually packs are easiest and fastest method to get it done. I think people often overthink it when it comes to packing elk, hard work solves problems!

 

[Gerald Martin]

That looks like the kind of terrain you can drive a vehicle into...or is that 2-track just on this side of a gate we can't see?

Road closure on a Block Management Area. It was walk in only for hunting.

 

[WYWINCHESTER]

If your going that wide I would suggest 2 or four wheels. I've balanced one on one and in ruff terrain it's interesting?

https://www.amazon.com/Meat-Wagon-Game-Olive-Antelope/dp/B01N4MZORW/ref=dp_fod_2?pd_rd_i=B01N4MZORW&psc=1

 

[Straight Arrow]

This is only game cart that i have found i liked, usually packs are easiest and fastest method to get it done. I think people often overthink it when it comes to packing elk, hard work solves problems!
View attachment 226039

I agree.

 

[COEngineer]

If your going that wide I would suggest 2 or four wheels. I've balanced one on one and in ruff terrain it's interesting?

https://www.amazon.com/Meat-Wagon-Game-Olive-Antelope/dp/B01N4MZORW/ref=dp_fod_2?pd_rd_i=B01N4MZORW&psc=1

Those plastic hubs are garbage - put two elk quarters on one and made it about 50 feet before one of the wheels broke. Also, the HUGE advantage of the single heavy duty wheel (motorcycle style) is that you can use single-track trails and maneuver around obstacles - even in flat country there are sage brush, rocks, etc that you can't avoid with a 2-wheeled cart. The downside is that you need 2 people to move the single-wheel carts, at least anywhere that's not a road.

 

[WYWINCHESTER]

Yep they make real ones

 

[Sask hunter]

Had to add in to the best packing method lol. Still whole in that trailer