Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Who uses game carts?

In reading discussions here on packing out elk, I noticed no one seems to use game carts. Perhaps the terrain most people hunt makes it impractical, I don't know.
I've never shot an elk(yet)but I did go elk/moose hunting last year. We only packed out one moose,and luckily it fell within a couple hundred yards of a oil lease road. The area's I hunt tend to be crisscrossed with cut lines and old logging roads, so I thought a game cart might be a good idea. I'm thinking of building one out of aluminum and using the wheels off a bmx bike I scavenged. I have a good pack frame, but if I load up the pack frame and then load the game cart, I could take more than twice the amount of meat on one trip.
I'm thinking I can use the brakes off the bike and mount the lever on one handle,to handle any steep downhill sections. Also wondering whether I could use a harness hitched to the cart to do the pulling instead of my arms,and just be able to use myt arms to steady the load. Just some musings,not sure if this is practical or not.
If anyone has experience using carts on elk or other large game,I'd be interested to hear about your experience,and what you would improve or change.

I have a game cart and its very useful for many purposes. Can't use it in all game hauling situations, but often enough. It has its limitations, in heavy downfall obviously. But it can prove helpful even hauling the last few hundred yds after I've gotten game out of difficult spots.

I built one once out of welded square tubular steel with a bicycle wheel on one end and two hand grips on the other. I packed several antelope and two mulie bucks out on it. The one wheel is good on sidehills, but half the weight was in my hands. It would work for an elk quarter.

I now have a two wheel carrier that I bought from Cabela's. The weight is balanced over the wheels. I've used it to pack quite a few antelope, sometimes two at a time. It can be "tippy" on sidehills, and if one wheel goes over a rock or bush. One or two people can operate it.

I've seen a heavy duty one with one wheel under a large wire basket and handles on both ends for two people to hold on to. The one I saw would carry half an elk. The wheel was about the size of a motorcycle wheel.

Years ago I packed a camp into the Bob Marshall Wilderness with my horses. Two guys used one of these heavy duty, one wheel carriers to pack their camp in with. The Forest Service Ranger saw their track on the trail, followed it to them, wrote them a ticket for using a mechanical device in the Wildneress, and made them hire an outfitter to pack their camp and the carrier out on his mules.

These have caught my eye but I've only carried them out in quarters on my back.

http://www.neetkart.com/index.html

I have used one of Cabelas heavy duty 2 wheelers to carry out several deer works great except in mud. If I expect to be in mud or snow I use a sled.

seems like an illegal ticket, a stick and a pivot is a "mechanical device"

I have dignity and won't touch the things.

However, I have heard from many people they work well. It sounds like in the conditions you hunt in they would be a huge help.

It depends on where your hunting in a lot of wilderness areas you can't use any thing with wheels. They are very popular here in the NW a lot of the areas we hunt are not assessable by trucks we have to hike in or bike behind gates. Carts can be a big help once you get them to road system it. We have been tinkering around with brakes because of the hill issues. They work well for us at times. When younger we always used packs as we get older the carts have their place. The dual wheel carts work the best I have friend who hunts solo most of the time the last 3 elk he used his cart by himself to get his elk out. He usually makes 2 trips meat only.

We only use them for antelope hunting

I think they could be a huge help. What brands are better than others? Any features that are worth the cost or any features that don't really help?

We use them whenever we can. Most of us actually use bike carts
but one friend converted a Cabelas cart to a bike cart.

If you are 2-8 miles behind a locked gate they are a life saver.

It is rare that we have to pack more than 1/2 mile to get to a usable skid road. 200 yards is more like it.

I had a single wheel cart made from a motorcyle front tire so it would have brakes. It wasn't that useful a feature and I find most any reasonable game trail in Eastern oregon will fit a game cart.

I have used one twice. I don't think they are as practical for my use as a sled would be. Both times we pulled elk up out of a steep valley and both times it would have been easier to pull a large plastic sled. Both times were bare ground, no snow.

The cart may be worthwhile on the level, but up-hill, I still think the sled would be better. The following pictures show where we pulled the whole elk up a steep mountainside about 1,000 yards with the help of 4 wheelers and "Mule Tape"...

I can't speak to other parts of the country, but if you're using a game cart in Idaho then you're very unlikely to be hunting productive elk habitat.

Having said that, I'd very much LIKE to be able to use one.

Dave

What is a bike cart,and why is it better than a game cart? That Neetcart looks,well,neat...but I wonder if it is more practical than the usual side by side config? It looks to me like with lots of weight it would be quite top heavy and you might have trouble not tipping it over.There must be a stand I didn't see that holds it upright for loading,or else how would you accomplish that?
Now I'm startin to think,and that is a dangerous propsition! What about a 4 wheel cart,using biycle wheels? Almost like an oversize grocery cart. Hell, you could probably fit damn near a whole elk into a Costco grocery cart! This would also make it easier to have one pusher and one puller.
I've thought about a regular game cart like Cabela's offers, but modifying it so that you have handle's on either side of you and some sort of yoke or tongue that attaches to a good harness and kidney belt,like a quality pack frame would have. This would take the weight from your arms and transfer it to your hips while still aloowing you to use your arms to balance the load.Hmm, I need to think on this more. This design might work with a sigle wheel design too,allowing for a more manuverable cart without the additional strain on your arms.

My hunting buddy and I split the cost of a game cart some years ago. It has been a lifesaver on some occasions and worthless on others, depending on the terrain and vegetation.

The two elk my son-in-law and I took last year got taken out the old fashioned way - on our backs. The two deer I took the year before came out on the cart.


Edited to add: Of the four antelope my nephews and I took last fall, one was dragged all the way out, one was carted all the way out, and the other two were half dragged and half carted.

I have never used one,but they would not work where I typically hunt elk. Usually there is only a narrow trial. Rocks,logs, blow downs, would make it almost impossible to navigate.I could see some one doing more lifting than pulling.

They would be dandy for pronghorn or eastern Colo plains deer.
However,almost all the ranches I hunt a person can drive to within fairly close proximity of the downed animall as long as you are not drivig on winter wheat, crops or prime pasture land. Common courtesy says you always drive along fence lines ,which usually have a two track along them and you don't drive thru tall CRP lands as the exhaust pipe/catalytic converter can start fires.

As far as I know,all wilderness areas are like national forest.Administered by the federal govt and all use the same set of regulations. Wheeled vehicles of any type,motorized or not, chian saws and the like are all prohibited in wilderness areas.

In addition, all NF have maps showing where motorized vehilces of any sort are permitted or not

I use mine a lot for deer and antelope and one elk. For the elk first we had to get it off the mountain to a level enough spot to use the cart, but then we still had over a mile of creek bed and coulee to get him to the road. In that case the we got it out in 2 trips.

It would have been worthless on the mountain due to the steepness, but it was much easier after that with the game cart. I use the Super Mag Hauler (looks like the one shrapnel has an elk on). It made getting over logs and shallow washes much easier.

Game carts are the best thing that ever happened. I bought a small one several years ago, one that would fit in the small back seat of the 90 ford pickup I had at the time. It has two wheels about a foot apart and they just fit the cow trails that are about everywhere I hunt. I have hauled out a lot of deer and antelope and 3 or 4 elk. 1/2 elk is way too much for it unless it's a real easy haul, 1/4 works just fine. I have better luck pushing mine like a wheel-barrow. Be sure to get puncture-proof tires.

I love my deer carts and use them every time I or a friend kills a deer.

A real lifesaver around here since we cant quarter a deer out.

Heres my most recent deer all tied up....had to roll him about a mile out....woulda been tough dragging him out.

I have a couple of game carts, one a typical model with side-by-side wheels and one a Neet Kart with in-line wheels.

The standard cart works real well on ground where the wheels can be level side-to-side. We have used it on game from pronghorn to moose, but it ain't great on sidehills or if you have to cross dips or logs or any other obstacle.

I've also used some other side-by-side carts, and they all have the same problems.

The Neet Cart can be a little top-heavy with a big load, but with the option of handles both in front and back, and two guys in decent shape running it, it works well. Because of the two in-line wheels it also woks fine on sidehills, and can even go over medium-sized logs or rocks. The hand-brakes really help going downhill, or even uphill if you need a "break" yourself. It's also very well-made, and tough.

The Neet Karts are becoming more popular in my particular part of Montana, partly because they're made in Montana. I bought mine at Capital Sports & Western in Helena, where they also rent them.