Are you struggling to lift your shot deer? James Schneider reviews the Apex Auto Lift by Napier.
Deer management often requires long walking distances far from one’s vehicle. While the stalk is filled with lovely solitude and peace, when a large beast is grassed a goodly distance away from vehicle or a second pair of hands to assist, the challenge quickly changes. Concentration on managing movement, scent and sound shifts to focus on best practice for safely and hygienically performing a suspended gralloch with no support.
(Left: James in action with the Apex Auto Lift)
Several winters ago, I experienced a debilitating back strain while trying to wrestle a large fallow carcass into the back of a truck. After two weeks of painful recovery, I began to search for kit that would enable the safest way to manage large carcases as a solo practitioner. Past forays into equipment have included any number of cumbersome pulley systems, excessive rope and hooks that are inconvenient to carry and often fall short of assisting best practice in the fieldwhile avoiding personal injury.
Enter the Napier Apex Auto Lift, which I have found to be one of the most effective pieces of kit I’ve had the pleasure of owning in recent times. At 1.34 Kg, the device is small and lightweight and able to lift the largest of fallow or sika up to 200Kg.
This cleverly designed ratchet system and accompanying two-piece gambrel fits easily into my small backpack and I pair it with an S hook that allows me to cleanly raise and gralloch off the forest floor where ever I may find a suitable branch. Several effortless pulls on the handle later and the carcass is suspended and handled with no fuss or stress.
Once back at the vehicle, the risk of injury while transferring a carcass to sanitised tray is eliminated as thelift conveniently works with the Apex Auto Click gralloching system. The carcass is quickly raised to a height where it can be safely manoeuvred into theback of the vehicle for transport and lowered via managed descent using the large Grab Ring when releasing. Job done and the 2.5 metre belt self-retracts back into a nice compact size!
Priced at around £50, the Apex AutoLift enables an easier, safer field gralloching process and peace of mind for the solo deer manager. I am pleased to include it in my must-have outing equipment and look forward to seeing what Napier will come up with next!
James Schneider is a regular contributer to 'County Deer Stalking - Online Magazine'.
To read more from James follow this link to a previous article in which he looks at the motivation behind urban deer control: mrs-mcdermott-s-roses
