Minerva Creek - Makers of Specialty Game Hoisting Systems

I'm 60. I've been doing something outdoors and something related to hunting, for as long as I can remember. One of my earliest childhood memories is shooting a BeeBee gun (lever action cocking, no hammer), at an old building site with my brother, dad, friend of my dad's. The "friend" upon seeing me shoot and not hit much, said "Hey, why don't you try shooting left-handed?" Which I did and immediately could hit everything. I'm right-handed in everything else, except shooting. The hunting experiences with family, cousins, neighbors, friends, nephews, nieces and especially my children, are priceless. My father, grandfather and my aunt were all outdoors people. From coon hunting with black and tan dogs, to pheasant hunting with dogs, to fox, coyote, deer and trapping with my brother Blake, childhood was being outdoors and that often meant hunting or trapping. 

Beginning in my teenage years, as deer hunting became a viable game quarry in lowa, we focused more and more on it. My grandfather and father would line up permission of where to hunt, and myself along with family members and friends would get together annually to hunt deer. The land was open ground with small patches of timber. The hunting style was deer drives, several a day, with shotguns loaded with slugs. Deer drives have now largely changed to deer stands, open or enclosed, with bows, straight walled rifles and muzzleloaders becoming prevalent. 

Upon harvesting a deer "finishing the hunt" meant finding a place to string-up or hang up the field dressed deer carcass. If you have ever done this, it's no easy task, usually requires 2 or more people and you are sure to be happy when it is over. I used to dread it, especially with more than one deer. Open rafters/headers, trees, tractor and loader, all forms of locations were used, to accomplish the finish of the hunt for the day. A fellow hunter, Jimmie Ruckman, (The inventor of Minerva Creek Game Hoists) one year, offered a solution to the "finish the hunt" problem. "Why don't I make you a game hoist, like I made at my dad's location and have used for years". Of course we said, yes! But my brother Blake wanted it to be portable. So hence it was. It allowed for the hoisting of 4/5 deer, and they could be hoisted directly from the back of a pickup/atv, however they had been transported from the field. They could be inspected, rinsed if needed, allowed to age, caped if necessary for a trophy buck, skinned, butchered, carcass reloaded in pickup/atv for disposal. A job we all used to dread became simple, cleaner, much safer, fun and even gave a great sense of satisfaction in that you had completed the job. You had properly secured your harvest and were all set up for the processing steps. 

I can't imagine going back to what we used to do. I'm not getting younger, and I'd like to enjoy my time outdoors and not worry about my back and muscles being exceptionally exerted at 8 o'clock at night when it's 10 degrees out! In this task it's a great comfort to know, I won't! 

The name of the company is derived from an area we have traversed, coon hunted, pheasant hunted, fox hunted, deer hunted, duck hunted, fished, trapped, played and developed habit our entire lives. 

The Game Hoists have years of field testing and hundreds of game animals hung up for processing on them. The skinning hook is an improvement, as are other small improvements, but by and large these are the same original versions as the original. It turned out they were "good from the git go"! 

Check them out and see if like us, they might make your life in handling game and non-game animals easier/safer/faster. 

I hope you see/get a big buck/bull/ram/tom, this year! 

Brett Rhodes 

Minerva Creek 

Co-Owner