Taking inventing to new heights

Staff

Published Saturday, November 30, 2002

John Tasker has been deer hunting for years. He's also had a bad back.

"I'd tried hoists, but I found they weren't very user friendly," Tasker said.

So Tasker, of Maple Island, invented his own hoist, which he calls The Ultimate Game Hoist.

"It's easy to use," Tasker said, adding it simply straps to a tree. There is a cable, pulley and crank for hoisting the animal in the air.

"A person never has to leave the ground," he said. "There's no risk of injury."

What's more, he said, even a wheelchair-bound person could use the hoist.

"It's that simple to use. You don't have to have much strength to use it," Tasker said. "I designed it with everybody in mind."

The Ultimate Game Hoist is also handy for camping. "In bear country, it's good for hanging the cooler out of bears' reach," he said.

Around home, it's good for lifting lawnmowers up for cleaning and blade maintenance.

"There are lots of other uses," he said, adding the hoist itself weighs about 11 pounds.

Tasker has applied for a patent for The Ultimate Game Hoist.

While he has come up with other inventions over the years, Tasker said he's never applied for patents or tried to market the idea before someone else has. This time, he jumped on it.

He said he worked on the idea for about two years. He's been testing it since last December, sending it with friends and acquaintances who go on hunting trips all over the world.

"I've sent it quite a few places - even Africa and New Zealand," he said, adding they've hoisted antelope and elk with it. "It's hoisted elk weighing between 800 and 900 pounds. It's even hoisted a buffalo."

The Ultimate Game Hoist is being manufactured at Lou-Rich in Albert Lea. It's laser-cut out of flat steel, and retails for $79.

Currently, Milan Hart of Hart Brothers Weaponry is taking orders for the hoist on Tasker's behalf. Orders placed now will be filled by Christmas, he said.

Tasker also plans to attend the Archery Merchants' Association trade show in Indianapolis in January and the Shot Show in Orlando in February. His goal is to market it all over the world.

When he's not inventing, Tasker works at Cabela's in Owatonna.

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