Thread: Moving or Hoisting Big Game Animals in the Bush or at Home

I've always been active and persistent, but I've never been particularly athletic, sporty or inclined to carry a whole pig or deer for more than a short distance. If the distance back to the homestead or car is too far for carrying what I catch, I will drag it if the conditions are favourable, or I'll cut it up and leave the skin and most of the bones behind.

I have skinned and dis-assembled big animals on the ground, but it can be hard to keep things clean in muddy conditions. And when the terrain is steep things can become difficult. So if there is a half-suitable tree nearby I will often try to hang the animal up to help keep it clean and/or prevent it from rolling down the hill.

Lifting a big animal high enough to work on isn't always easy. By having a couple of ropes and physically lifting the carcass as best I can while tightening one rope at at time I have sometimes managed to get an animal hanging up. Truckie hitch rope arrangements do offer some mechanical advantage and can be a help, although there is a lot of friction where the rope pulls through an eye when the animal is heavy.

A couple of pulley blocks fitted with suitable rope are ideal. But good pulleys can be hard to come by and they cost a bit. Plus they add weight and bulk to my load.

I've found that simple stainless steel hooks can be used like pulleys. There is a lot more friction involved because there are no wheels and bearings, but I've found that they really do help.

Here is my hook lifting system under the veranda roof of our garden shed. The pig was light enough to lift with just a simple purchase. The deer has an extra couple of 'turns' on the hooks. In both cases the lower hook is hooked under the pelvis/aitch bone.



The pig below was a big one, and it had been wallowing in mud. The hillside was relatively steep, so it was good to hoist it into a tree to keep it as clean as possible. I still managed to get some mud on the exposed meat, but the situation would probably have been a lot worse if I'd been working on the ground. This is just a simple lifting purchase with a theoretical lifting advantage of 2:1 if I've understood the theory correctly.


The hooks were made from 8mm diameter 304 grade stainless round bar, bent cold while held in a strong vice. The rope is soft nylon braid.