Deer Cart test at Deer Creek Res.

[TubeDude]

[#0000ff]Thought about heading to Starvation today. But I have been fishing about every other day for the past week and I was gettin' tired. Happens with us old guys. So I took it easy and just went to Deer Creek. Yeah right. I took my new deer cart tube carrier to try it out. T'wern't all that easy. Trust me.

Got the cart loaded and my gear trucked down to the water...at Rainbow Bay. No ramp there so you gotta carry everything about 60 to 75 yards from where you park. Figured it would be a good test for the deer cart. It was.

Had everything set up and got launched right about 8ish. Air temp was a balmy 35 and water temp went from 52 at launch to just over 53 at noon departure. Basically nice and calm but kinda semi cloudy. Wasn't able to get the pics I wanted.

A new crop of Finless Freddies (fresh planters) was popping all over the bay. Saw some fresh tire tracks down to the lake from the private area so I figured it had been recently stocked for fall.

I was on a perch search, but while I cruised around looking for suspicious marks on sonar I dragged a couple of jig and fly setups...the same ones I had used two days before on Huntington. Tigers had liked them at Huntington...seeming to prefer the copper ones. But the rainbows at DC opted mostly for the dark patterns...like the silverback black.

I caught about a dozen or so feisty bowettes...from about 11 to 16 inches. Lost a couple of bigger ones. Fun, but not perch. Wasn't seeing anything that looked like perch or walleyes but changed up to bouncing bait-tipped jigs on the bottom. Silly 'bows followed me down. Got a couple on the bottom in about 50 feet of water.

I was surprised that there were only a few boats on the lake. But...wouldn't cha know it? One was a water skier. At least they stayed some distance away from the old guy in a float tube.

FFs were still hitting the surface like popcorn when I gave up and headed for shore about noonish. A fly flinger could probably have a good time there. I was dreading the trek back uphill with my loaded deer cart. It was bad enough coming down and I am enough of a realist to know about things like gravity...and the ravages of old age.

Howsomever, I did get that metal and rubber contraption loaded up and trudged back up the hill. Had a couple of relaxing deer hunters come down to offer their assistance. Guess they didn't wanna have to explain a dead old geezer on their turf...when they didn't have a tag for me. But, stubborn old cuss that I am I insisted on having all the fun myself. That, and I was almost back up the hill before they made the offer. Kinda like me offering to help the wife with something...after she is almost through.

Bottom line: the cart worked as intended. In fact, it worked a lot better than the power supply...me. I can see it being a good thing for short to medium hauls over level to gently sloping terrain. But up and down a fairly steep hill...with both rocks and sand to deal with...made it something I would rather not do again if I had my druthers.

Couldn't hep myself. Hadda take a couple more pics of Timp before I left.


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[flygoddess]

Great report. I am not ready for a hike like that just yet, even with my ultra light pontoon[]
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[pontoonman]

Thanks TD, I've always wondered how a deer cart would work. Cool setup.

Regarding the difficulty of rolling up hills:
How was the balance point on the cart? It's usually harder to push than to pull uphill for me. Especially if I have to push as well as lift some of the weight due to an uncentered load. If it were possible to somehow move the heavy tube battery/motor area so it sits at the axle area might help, is my guess...

Motor & battery are probably around 70#? Would be nice to lower that to half or less with some other alternatives.

Do you lock the cart somehow?

Hope this helps,

Pon
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[flygoddess]

Well, it took awhile but sounds like it was worth it:
http://www.bigfishtackle.com/forum/gforu...rt;#414607

You bring up a good point though. It is easier to PULL than PUSH. Same is true when adding a motor to a pontoon[]
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]I have had quite a bit of experience in trudging ice sleds up and down hills so I knew that on steep spots it would be better to let the cart pull me when going down. Going up it is easier to pull the cart behind.

The balancing thing is important. I played around with different loading techniques at home before the final test. The pivot is at the wheels so the better you can position most of the weight over the wheels the easier the "rock and roll". The best system seems to be starting with the battery right at the bottom of the empty cart and then strapping the tube down over the battery. Then the motor sits crossways on the tube...again about midpoint.

It takes some balancing and experimentation and I am sure there are a lot of variables in different tube setups. Most do not use batteries. Mine weighs 65 pounds and is the single greatest detriment to having an easy haul. When I took it out for the last 20 yards up the hill it was much easier.

With all the PVC, motor mount, heavy lure boxes, sonar and battery, electric motor and battery...I estimate my loaded cart weight was about 100 pounds. I took the empty cart back up to my vehicle while I fished and then brought down my rods and a couple of other items separate.

A lot of exercise for this old guy today.
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[albinotrout]

I always wondered how one of those would work. I added a wheel to my toon this year, haven't had the time/need/want to try it out just yet. I finally put one on after the long hike down and back up the ramp at Joes Valley about three times[frown].
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