Packing out a whitetail on Public Land

Public land hunting can be intimidating for a variety of reasons–from hunting pressure, lower number of deer, large tracts of land that can be difficult to scout, the list goes on. A lot of public land is only available via foot travel, which can create issues in itself. Mainly, long walks to the stand also mean what feels like a longer drag out when you’re successful. So how do you go about packing out a whitetail on public land, especially when you’re a mile or even further back? While a number of options are available to aid in your drag, one of the easiest lies with the HAWK Crawler Multi-Use Cart. 

How it Works

The Crawler brings an amazing level of strength, stability, and versatility to the deer cart world. With dual rotating axels and four all-terrain tires, the Crawler makes any obstacle in your path nothing but a bump along the way. Often times, old logging roads further than a half a mile in on public land are littered with downed trees, overgrown brush, and other terrain that can make a drag out extremely difficult. The Crawler’s construction results in the ultimate balance and weight management, preventing shifting and tipping allowing you to cross creeks, downed trees, and other obstacles with ease. Once you’ve gotten your trophy safely out, the Crawler folds up compactly, making transportation and storage a breeze. 

The Deer Crawler Put To Use

Imagine this. You’re hunting a big piece of public land an hour from the house on a Sunday night. You have to work early in the morning, but the weather is perfect for a sit in the stand. It’s roughly a mile hike back into your spot. You’ve got numerous hills you have to hike over, and it’s what you’d consider a heck of a walk back to where you know the mature bucks are most likely to appear in daylight.  

After getting back to your stand, you get all setup. The thought goes through your head that if you do take down a buck, it’s going to be a long night– you’re an hour from the house, and it takes a solid twenty to thirty minutes to hike out of your stand. Dragging a buck out of here would be next to impossible, even if your good hunting buddy is able to make it out to help you. But, you remember that your Crawler from Hawk is in the back of your truck, because you keep it in there most of the fall for instances like this. That eases your mind just a bit. The night goes by and right at sunset, a mature eight pointer makes a mistake and gets out of his bed just a little early that night. He comes by you at twenty yards and you’re able to make a perfect shot. Now, with thirty minutes left before dark, you’ve got some decisions to make on how to execute this recovery.  

You call your hunting buddy and tell him the news. He’s able to come help you track and recover the buck, so that makes you feel better about how the night is going to go. You decide to wait the thirty minutes to dark, and then go check the point of impact. At dark, you go over to your arrow and it looks great. You decide to mark the spot and then walk out to your vehicle. By then, an hour will have passed, and your buddy should be arriving to your location.

Now comes the easy part. Your buddy shows up, the two of you grab the cart, and the two of you head back in. You go back to the point of impact, track the buck, and find him. Instead trying to map out the easiest drag back to the vehicle, you load him up on the Crawler and head out. Within an hour, you’re back to the car with your buck and it couldn’t have gone smoother. You’ll get home in time for a good night’s sleep and make it to work in the morning just fine. At the end of the day, the Crawler not only saved you time, but it saved your back and legs too! 

Conclusion 

Moral of the story, public land hunting hosts an array of challenges and often leads to long drag outs once you land that perfect shot. It can be a real pain to have to drag a deer through thick brush, across a creek, or up and down uneven terrain. The Crawler makes these worries a thing of the past, and lets you enjoy the hunt, without having to consider the downside of taking down a buck on your hit list way back in on public land.