Stop Dragging Deer. Use These Instead

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The last time I dragged a deer out of the woods, I distinctly remember the aching pain for the following two weeks. A .5 mile through brush, over laydowns, and up a slight incline was a backbreaker. After that ordeal, I ordered a deer cart and use it on any deer under a mile from the truck. If I’m going farther than that, I quarter and pack it out.

OL’s executive editor, Natalie Krebs, tested deer carts to see which ones are the best. Here are her top picks.

This deer cart from River’s Edge was everything the other carts in this test weren’t: simple to assemble, lightweight (thanks to its aluminum frame), and low profile, with the most affordable price tag to boot. Wheeling this cart without a deer did not require effort, which cannot be said for the other heavier carts I reviewed; it weighs two thirds of the Hawk Crawler and half the Cabela’s Deluxe cart. The best deer carts should make hauling out your deer easier, not just as miserable in a different way. Sliding this cart into the back of my truck wasn’t difficult either.

Of course, you sacrifice a few features with this design, but those aren’t any great loss for my physical abilities or the way I hunt. The River’s Edge Game Cart frame is smaller than the similarly designed Cabela’s Deluxe Game Cart, but that also makes it easier to transport and maneuver. The size of the frame held a big Missouri doe just fine, although I would recommend bungee cords or small ratchet straps to secure your deer for longer hauls to prevent it from sliding off, particularly on steep terrain. The 300-pound maximum capacity doesn’t deter me, as I’ve never shot a Midwestern whitetail that weighed even close to that. (If you hunt in the North Woods or Saskatchewan and plan to shoot the next 400-pound buck, sure, go with a different cart.) The solid rubber wheels also mean one less failure point of a flat tire in the woods or when you finally need your cart three weeks into the season.

Although you can technically fold the River’s Edge cart for transportation and storage, it requires disassembly of everything but the axle and pins. There are holes in the frame for bolt storage during transport or the off season, but the odds of dropping wing nuts and losing them in the dark or duff are high. Most of the best deer carts are made in China and though this River’s Edge cart probably is too (a customer service representative told me its parent company, Ardisam, has multiple factories “overseas” but couldn’t specify which countries), it is designed and assembled in Wisconsin. If you hunt gnarly terrain, the high ground clearance of the 16-inch wheels may be a nuisance rather than a blessing and cause tipping when wheeled over bigger logs or the steepest inclines. Overall, though, I like the light and fast design of the River’s Edge deer cart best.

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The Hawk Crawler Multi-Use Cart has two key features going for it that other deer carts on the market can’t compete with: It actually folds without disassembly, and the double-axle design is as innovative as it looks. The cart is designed to crawl over logs and other obstacles in the woods without shifting the load, and the sling keeps your deer from slipping—no cords or straps needed .

Despite these innovations, I still struggled with the weight of the Hawk even when it was empty—it felt heavier than the Cabela’s Deluxe Deer Cart because of its design, though both are rated for loads of 500 pounds. The handle was also prone to folding while in use even after tightening the bolts, and could benefit from some DIY bolt reinforcement. Additionally, all four tires require air, and although I don’t see them puncturing easily in the woods (the tubes are heavy-duty), you’ll likely need to keep a pump or air compressor handy to make sure the wheels are topped off when you actually need the cart. Dragging it with under-inflated tires was miserable.

The Hawk shines in thick, uneven terrain, but it was a chore to wheel uphill on hard, even ground, with the cart tipping forward and back over its center of mass. The sling does make this cart more versatile for loads besides deer, including firewood or bait. At $320 MSRP it’s also the most expensive cart in the test, although you can find it for closer to $200 at some retailers. 

The Cabela’s Deluxe Deer Cart is the largest and heaviest deer cart I tested, but that surprisingly didn’t translate to problems with maneuverability. When I told my dad to grab a cart to help me retrieve a buck I shot this fall, he chose the Cabela’s Deluxe because he preferred it to the Hawk. It was a little awkward in the small bed of his Tacoma (like the River’s Edge, you have to disassemble the cart to fold it, so he just hoisted the whole thing in there) but it easily handled while hauling my buck across a weedy field.

When assembling the Cabela’s Deluxe you have the choice of three positions for the center axle support and legs. The front position offers greater leverage (comparable to a dolly), a back position to center a deer’s weight over the wheels (preferable for longer transports), and the center position, which is a balance of both. I found I preferred the center position, but you could always adjust your cart for whichever setting suited your style of hunting. 

Though the Cabela’s Deluxe Game Cart doesn’t feel particularly heavy on level ground with a deer in the cart, it was sometimes impossible to wheel it over larger logs with a deer loaded on it, and I can see it tipping for longer hauls in uneven terrain. Still, it would be a good choice for transporting prairie game over hard-packed ground with few obstacles, and it could handle a heavy load of elk meat in lower country.