How to load a deer in Kentucky

[Skipper]

Some of our Kentucky deer come a might large. If you happen to kill one great ole bigun, and you are lucky enough to find Roscoe, here's what happens:









Sorry I've been off all weekend. Saturday was opening day of the Bull hunt in Kentucky and I headed up to Begley to help out the RMEF guys and KDFWR people with the hunt and to get some pictures of the elk as they came in. I got there about the time the 3rd elk call came in and went with the biologists to get some pictures of the elk. It turned out that it was one of my buddies who'd managed to get a tag. He had a big 5x5 down and I stayed behind after the biologists left for the 4th call to help Steve load up his elk.

It aint nothing no where near like dragging a deer!!! It's more like dragging a dead horse with a gate strapped to it's head.

We managed to get it out to a flat on a bench and were honestly in a quandry trying to figure out how to get it up to the top of the mountain where the trucks were, then we scouted the bench and found a road. While trying to figure out how to get on the road, we found Roscoe wandering around the mine in his F750 with handy dandy crane on the back.

Anyhoo, we got him loaded up. The hind end of it is withing a foot and a half of the front of my bed and the head, well, you see where it's at. That is one **** big deer. Once we strapped it in, the antlers were within a few inches of touching both sides of my truck bed.

On the way back to Corbin, you talk about the looks on people's faces when you blow past them running 80 + with an elk laying on the tailgate. I looked up in my rearview once and a woman was taking a picture of the elk at 75 mph. We pulled in a store right at the edge of Corbin where Steve's guide had met him that morning and left his truck, we just about got mobbed. No less than 20 people stopped to look over the animal. I'm telling Steve, we gotta get to the processor, come on, we gotta go, it's hot out here, come on My buddy was one excited feller.

Another buddy of mine's brother killed Sunday. His would have been a new state record at 360 but one about 370 came off the Starfire WMA.

It is AWESOME.

Skipper

[fatboy84]

Dang Skip.....That is big for sure.....But how did your truck manage to carry that thing?

Better not let the Ford people see those pics

[pointer1]

thats cool Skip....wish we had 'em here!

[Bowbender]

Very cool, wonder how long it will take for them to move in to IL...

[Skipper]

Originally Posted by fatboy84

Dang Skip.....That is big for sure.....But how did your truck manage to carry that thing?

Better not let the Ford people see those pics

That's the 95 model truck, no way in heck would I get that newer truck into such a sichiation. Dang truck quit up there, and you'd just have to leave it. Ain't no wrecker getting back in that country.

Skipper

[Skipper]

Originally Posted by Bowbender

Very cool, wonder how long it will take for them to move in to IL...

You'd have to get them from out west somewhere. We are doing our best in Kentucky to keep them East of I-75. The reintroduction agreement will only allow a population of 8000 animals and none East of the interstate.

Skipper

[BuckyT]

That is Awsome!!!!

Still feels funny to me thinking about how that elk came out of Kentucky!!!

Great Pics Skip!!

BuckyT

[Bigtimber]

Very cool pictures

[Sandman619]

Neat pics Skip!

[Kansashunter]

Isn't that sort of like baiting? Cheating?

Thats cool Skip As I get older I might to borrow that thing.

[Skipper]

Originally Posted by Kansashunter

Isn't that sort of like baiting? Cheating?

Thats cool Skip As I get older I might to borrow that thing.

After the 6 of us tried to drag that thing and managed about 6 feet on 3 heave ho's, I didn't care if it was cheating or not.

I was thinking about figuring some loading system for next year. Dragging an elk ain't nothing like dragging a deer.

Skipper

[VAPOR 300]

That is A great deer hauler . And a great looking elk . Is that a bowhunt kill or rifle ?

[broadhead]

Thanks for sharing that experience Skip! Great Kentucky Elk!

[Pinwheel5]

Hey Skip, Matt here.

Just to let everyone know how much help Skip was to the hunters at the hunt. He went well out of his way to help drag and get the elk out of the woods with his vehicle "Old butt buster". Skip, you might want to look into some new shocks as my tailbone is still sore. Anyway, the RMEF and KDFWR owe a debt to Skip, Parker and his son and others like him that were so much help to make the week so far a success. Skip even went out of his way as to make sure the elk for Steve was properly processed. Then he took the head to the taxidermy shop to be mounted so that Steve was able to visit his folks in Wisconsin.

You done did good Skip!

[Skipper]

Aw shucks Matt. I'd do it again. It was as much fun for me as it was Steve and the other guys who were hunting.

BTW: Matt is an elk caller extrodinare. He called Steve's bull in Saturday then went with Eric Sunday and called in his 7x7. He said it's a lot like Turkey hunting. Steve shot his bull at 30 yards and Eric shot his at 17 yards.

People that haven't been up on the WMA's in Eastern Kentucky have no idea of the enormity of this elk restoration project and what's going on for the betterment of all wildlife. It's not the RMEF that owes me, it's the sportsmen of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and other surrounding states that owe the RMEF and it's people for putting this deal together. That's why I'm religious about dropping my sponsorship money each year.

The Kentucky elk restoration started as a piece of the Appalachian Initiative which intends to restore elk in Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains as well. In the beginning, Kentucky obtained permission for a few thousand acres of strip mine land in the mountains. With David Ledford's work and the RMEF's leadership, that amount of land has grown in 8 years to somewhere in the neighborhood of 200,000 acres, and it continues to grow. The RMEF was successful in getting tax breaks for the coal and timber companies to sign their land up for use as wildlife management areas. The hunt Steve was on was in the Begley Lumber WMA. It's 50,000 acres of reclaimed mountains. Eric was on the neighboring Ataya which takes in another 50,000 or so acres. In Perry County, Breathitt, and Knott, there's Starfire, Laurel Fork, Beech Fork, Robinson Forest and others that make up close to another 100,000 acres. You can drive 20 miles on Starfire and not get off it, the same goes for Begley and Ataya.

On these WMA's there are deer, quail, grouse, ducks, geese, bear, and who knows what else. The possibilities are endless. The RMEF has partnered with DU, the NWTF, QU and Pheasants Forever in the Kentucky Wildlife Coalition Partners to work together to manage these lands for wildlife. If you've never been on a strip job, the score is basically this, they remove all the top soil, dig past the clay through 100' of rock, take the coal and then pile the dirt and rocks back up. What's left is a land that looks like it's been raped. They are required to seed it as part of the reclamation, but traditionally it's been KY 31 Fescue and Seresa. The Fescue is toxic to any ruminant including deer and elk and the seresa has no redeeming qualities. About the only thing they do is hold the dirt down against the rocks. This year, the RMEF it's KWCP partners managed to help fund a 1400 acre reclamation that went back in Warm and Cool season grasses and wildlife beneficial trees and shrubs. Wetlands were built as well as ponds that attract waterfowl. If we can do this on an anual basis, the possibilities are endless. Aditionally, these long term leases of the coal and timber land prevent development of the property into shopping malls, subdivisions, and industrial parks that threaten the future viablity of all wildlife.

The pig headed idiots that want to bitch and gripe about the RMEF, The Elk Program, and Men like David Ledford, Tom Baker, Allan Gailor, Doug Hensley, and Taylor Orr who have been there since this project began can as far as I'm concerned stick their heads back in the sand. This is all about Conservation and providing for wildlife.

Skipper