Pack'em Out

[mchunter]

Hey guys, this will be my first elk hunt this year in Colorado, unit 23 is where I will be hunting primarily. I will be hunting with 3 of my cousins and friends and was wondering how to pack a bid animal out. Will quatering and putting in game bags get it done with 4 people? Or will this be a pretty tough job for four guys? Were all pretty strong but wanted some input from the pros.

 

[boneaddict]

Once again, I'll quote my Dad. " Take a saltshaker and fork, cause thats the only way you'll get him out."

However, thats a might big eat. There is nothing like packing one quarter at a time, throw in a set of antlers, a cape, and whatever else, and you are set. Who needs a gym membership.

Have you ever heard the joke, where do you shoot a moose???
Next to a forklift.

An elk is just a weeee bit smaller.

 

[BeanMan]

You will want a pack frame with some good motorcycle tie down straps. All you will need then are muscles, lungs, and heart.

Good luck.

BeanMan

 

[Phantom Hunter]

An average bull will have 200 to 250 pounds of boneless meat on the carcass. If you bone him out, you can pack it all out in three or four packloads without killing yourself. If you leave bone in the weight goes up considerable.

Phantom Hunter

 

[Cowboy]

Here are a few options and tips:

Quarters on plastic tobogan and skid them out

Bone out meat and put in pillow cases, lash on frame and pack out

Buy, beg or borrow a steady horse. Skid out or pack out.

Cut in half with hide on and slide em out. Be sure and leave 2 ribs on the back half so your rope dont tear out.

Load in plastic body bag and send em down the slope. (got that idea from Predator, but havent tried it yet).

Avoid shooting elk downhill of truck or sidehill if at all possible. It makes the options way easier.

For every easy elk there is a tough one. My easiest died 20 feet from logging road on the uphill side. Stuck the corner of my tailgate in the slope and skidded her right in. Toughest died with nearly 2 miles of boulder field and deadfall to cross...brutal.

Have fun.





Lash quarters on frame and grunt out (ugghh...my last choice)

 

[Shane]

Bone it out. I killed a bull last year and took a load out with me. I went back in with a friend and we both took a load out. Then I went back in the next day with another friend and finished it with one last trip. The bones are big and unnecessary to pack out.If you bone out a deer you can carry it all on your back unless you get a truly massive bodied buck.
Shane

 

[BlackTimber]

LAST EDITED ON Aug-30-04 AT 09:05PM (MST)[p]Unless you are lucky the only way to pack out an elk is to debone.

I don't know why but everthing I have killed has been in the evening, all but one buck.

So what I have done with my elk is this; skin & 1/4 the animal. Hang the quarters overnight. After I have them hung I split the muscle along the Femur bone so that air can get to the deep areas.

I take the Backstrap and tenderloins with me. I come back early in the morning. Finish boning out the meat and bag. Load the pack and start packing.

around 175 lbs for a cow/spike or young bull and up to about 250 for a mature bull.