How to Build a Deer Camp Meat Pole

Last year was sort of a record deer hunting year for us.  We killed a total of thirteen deer over the course of the bow and gun seasons.  The ten day November gun season was the most productive adding eight deer to the tally.  The upshot was we literally ran out of places to hang the deer before they could be butchered.  This was an issue of some magnitude inasmuch as deer have to hang for awhile after they've been field-dressed to properly drain.

There were deer hanging from any and every available tree and limb in the yard.  Not only was it sloppy and haphazard - it was a ghastly and ghoulish sight.  Everyone in camp agreed that there had to be a better way to deal with this type of situation and that we had to act before the 2016 season was upon us.

We needed a proper meat pole.

As a consequence, New Guy and I cooked-up an elaborate scheme for constructing a timber contraption from which we could hang deer in a tidy fashion and ostensibly disassemble the dang thing and put it away after the season.  

 click on images to enlarge

The trouble with this brainchild was that it was an over-engineered and complicated solution.  While the concept was sound there had to be an easier way.

In my own mind I figured that perhaps steel brackets contrived for building a backyard playset or jungle gym could be repurposed for construction of a meat pole.  Alas, all of my inquiries at the Big Box building supply stores were met with a shrug or a blank stare like I didn't know what I was talking about.  Then New Guy had a brain fart.

He Googled home built-swing set and voilà!  Problem solved.  

Manufactured steel brackets for constructing a child's backyard swing set available for sale on eBay.  Free shipping too.

All we had to add was five ten-foot-long four-by-four timbers and the hardware to hoist a dead deer. 

We used a belt sander to shave the timbers - allowing the legs to easily slide into and out of the the brackets.

This was followed by pulleys and ropes and dock cleats for tying-off the rope when a deer is hung.

And the entire apparatus disassembles for storage hardly taking-up any big space in the shed.  A huge advantage as this is one less item permanently cluttering the yard.

It looks sturdy enough to support the weight of five deer carcasses so stay tuned for the action this fall when we put it to use.

PS - When we've got some deer hanging on it I'm going to send a picture to the manufacturer and let them know they should also be marketing these brackets to hunters who need an easy-to-assemble meat pole.

Edit to add:

From the 2023 Wisconsin gun opener is this picture.  Total deer hung from our custom-built meat pole is a cumulative count of ninety-one!