Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Game Cart ???'s

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I need some input on what to look for in buying a Game Cart. I've looked at all the usual suspects on line sites and am not seeing what I remember seeing somewheres in the past.

What's out there that is shown at Gander Mtn, Academy, Cabela's, BPS, Midway, MidSouth & Natchez now falls into two basic profiles... a two wheel office type dolly converted to outdoor use or in a lite foldup version for backpacking, or a two wheel fold out about 16"-20"s wide and 50"-84"s long with usually hard rubber 16" or 20" spoked wheels and max weights capacities of 25/300 lb to 550/600lbs - BPS does have a 30" wide unit though, and at $130 it's looks promising as does the Cabela's $150 unit now on sale at $100 w/ free freight. got some other feature ??'s but the crossbar/ricksha style really interests me.

None of these carts I've looked at have extended handles or frames that you can use "ricksha" style with a push/pull crossbar in front of you like I have seen somewhere in the past. Mebbe I saw somethig in Popular Mechanics or pics of a homemade thingy but at my +66 yr age and general state of grace health wise, I need to be able to use my arms, back, hips and legs to full advantage if I am going to be able to hunt solo in some of the large acreage WMA areas here in Texas that do not permit ORV's for any reason.

Any and all comments and suggestions are appreciated...but I need to buy something by mid or at the latest the end of November to hunt with into the late season of Dec/January or my fav hog season of Feb & March with.
Ron

My dad and I have one of these that we use.



It's better than dragging, but still takes alot of work. The Center of Gravity of the cart loaded is pretty high. This makes it want to tip over real easy when going over uneven terrain. We've used it to pull deer about a mile over rocky terrain and you end up spending alot of energy fighting to keep it upright.

Also,..whatever you have on the cart better be lashed down firm or it will slide off (better than shown in pic). The least little shift and dead weight trys to fall off. We use multiple, almost redundant ratchet straps to make sure everything stays in place.

It's not to bad, definitely better than dragging, but still not a complete cakewalk.

Also,..these things become useless if somebody forgets and leaves the removable structure bars in the truck... , but that's another story...

There are some long-handled wheelbarrow style that could have a crossbar added.

from about halfway down this thread.
http://forums.bowsite.com/TF/bgforums/thread.cfm?threadid=375426&messages=9&forum=2







And lots of ideas here:
http://forums.bowsite.com/tf/bgforums/thread-print.cfm?threadid=367851&forum=5

including these.








Bruce

heres one from huntingplans.com

Tried a friends homemade version of one of those several years ago, and was not impressed; basically you are trying to lift 50% of the weight..it was ok for short distances but a PIA for anything over a few hundred yards...

Far better to get the weight over the axle...

Eventually I helped another friend weld one up using mountain bike wheels...It worked very well on test runs around the fields near his house, but was a miserable failure on our hunting ground as the terrain was simply too rough..

That third picture is the VC method!

A guy who is using the Cabelas's unit rcc'd the "hub cap" brush guards and thought mo' wider would be mo bettah as a way to address the tippy issue. I used to use a concrete w/barrow in one near by river bottom swampy/boggy land but that was a nitemare for tippy and the hogs were never able to neatly fill the bottom of the 'barrow like sand or wet concrete and allus hungover making the staying upright issue even worse.
Thanks All for the comments...looks like a trip the welding shop is in order to make an add on of some sort.
Ron

I use the Cabelas Super Mag hauler. They have discontinued it, but some stores still have stock. The heavy as all get out, metal spoked solid rubber wheels with the stamped hubs suck and handicap the carts they are on.

I ditch that trash and get a set of plastic wheels with aluminum hubs and stainless sealed bearings from Skyway Wheels. They cut the carts weight in about half, roll easier, and are alot stronger.

The cart is built such that you can step inside the handle and pull it rickshaw style with the front bar across your lap should you choose.

The Skyway wheels make it this kind of strong. I've hauled an entire elk, or 2 deer in one shot several times. The cart will handle more weight than I can controll on it.

The closest thing I've seen to being easy to use is a common heavy duty wheelbarrow. My partner and I have hauled as much as 3/4 of an elk out in 1 trip with one. But, don't even consider it going uphill. That would be murder. A wheelbarrow centers the weight over the wheel but it's a little too high. It definitely helps to tie a couple rope loops to the handles to give you something to hold it back going downhill.

I've used a couple variations of this one posted above. They're back breakers at best because all the weight is in front of the wheel. If the load was more centered over the wheel, it would be far easier to lift, but then you get into a balance problem. I've never seen a single wheel cart that's even close to being easy to use, even with 2 men handling it.

The bicycle idea looks like a nightmare. But better than dragin

Keep the weight as low as possible.
Maybe add some kinda backpack frame to take the load off you arms?

This one has always worked well for me.

Huge chunks of forest service land are being closed to off roading with ATV's. Most of places where I hunt elk are closed to them except on roads. Even if they were legal, most of it's too steep and rocky to use one anyway.
Here's my solution:

If one is using them in gentle topography, they are a usefull tool. In rugged terrain they are OK for straight up or straight down. Any side hilling at all in the mountains, and they are a total waste of time.

A buddy broke his side by side 2-wheeler down and packed it about 1.5 miles uphill to bring down a buck. A very expensive cart, on the Idaho side of Hells Canyon. Don't know if it's still there are not, but he didn't make 50 yards before he abondoned the effort. Took me 2 trips with my pack frame to bring the deer out.

Great in Deerwhacker's terrain above, but a waste of time to take it here.

I've got the fold up kind just to make it easier to haul around. Only need it for deer sized critters, and it works well. Having one with rails on the side would be useful.

As well as hauling it to the truck, it makes a nice ramp for getting the bigger deer up into the truck.. A very useful feature since I usually hunt by myself.

[quote=bcp]There are some long-handled wheelbarrow style that could have a crossbar added.




I also made one of these quite a few years ago.

It was OK for carrying antelope, especially if I had to side hill, and through the sagebrush, but like Pete E posted, you are supporting 1/2 half the weight, and it's a real pain in snow.

After hauling several deer and antelope out on my "single wheel travois" I bought one of the dual wheel models from Cabela's. Again, like has been posted, you need to center the weight over the axle, and securely tie on the load. I've used it for a few deer and a lot of antelope, including several times hauling two antelope at a time on it.


The biggest disadvantage of this carrier is it's tendency to tip over in rough terrain.

I don't care what you're carrying the deer on. Seeing a nice buck and a Savage 99 just simply rings the gong of Deer Hunting!

Dan

I'm beginning to wonder if a deer cart might not be better if it was "short and wide" as opposed to "long and narrow" as they tend to be now..

I'm thinking of a similar lay out to the small horse carts you can get:



If the load area was say 56" wide (between the wheels) and 24" deep front to back, it would make for a design that resisted tipping very well...It would be more difficult to manoever through tight spots, but not by much...

There you go! Get the deer to pull it!~

Dan

On Dasher, on Dancer, on prancer, on Vixen!
Mrs. Claus is home waitin on dinner!

Many years ago I hauled a 254# buck 2 1/2 miles out of the Maine woods using a home made hauler with a single bicycle wheel. About 1/2 mi. from where I shot that buck we had to cross a creek. Two 12' planks balanced on a stone pier, the creek was up and the boards were slicker than snot. About 1/2 way across as we struggled to get the wheel over the lap of the boards at mid creek the plan went to hell. The top heavy nature of the cart treated the whole mess, cart and both of us to frosty dunking.
Had to wrestle everything out of mid creek which was complicated by the fact that the bicycle wheel axle was now broken. The next two miles took the rest of the day, had to leave everything in the woods overnight and return in the morning. Modern carts are probably better suited to the task than the ancient antique I used back then. Most of the deer I've harvested since then have come out of the woods on an ATV.