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outtabreath
Guest
Well, I'm back from my hunt in NM unit 52 and I got my first elk! Nothing huge ( a 3x4 raghorn), but I was the only one of my party of four that dropped one. The was my first elk hunt and it was unguided on public land. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone on this site. I read a million posts on this site and learned alot before I left. My main concerns were field dressing and packing the critter out ( which usually means up or down). I learned quite a few handy tricks from this site and was quite prepared for the task at hand. I managed to get the animal dressed, quartered , and hung in about three hours from start to finish. My buddy and I hauled out the head lashed to a pole. It was a very exhausting hike up. Of course I picked the steepest part of the mountain to shoot him. The next morning we awoke to three or four inches of snow. I really didn't want to burn up my friends hunting time, so decided to go start packing myself. The area they wanted to hunt that morning was directly downhill from my elk. I used my GPS to find a spot on the road that was closest to my animal and parked my truck. I hiked up the mountain and began building a travois out of aspen trunks. I figured the snow might just make the task a little easier. After about thirty minutes I had the thing together and began strapping the quarters to the sled. I loaded two at first and then tested it. It seemd fine. I loaded the other two quarters and the hide on. My journey down the mountain began. It worked well, but it was difficult to steer. Several times I had to hike down and clear a bit of a path. When I got closer to the road the slope flattened out a bit and it became increasingly more difficult to pull the sled. Then there were the deadfall sections. That was an utter joy.
I had to stop and fix the sled once. I finally got to a point where the sled just wasn't going to help me anymore. i called my buddies on the radio and begged for help. I really wanted to get it down myself, but enough was enough. They asked how far from the truck. I wasn't really sure, so i pulled out my GPS and got back on the radio. " Boys, I'm 290 feet from the truck!" It took the four of us another fifteen minutes to cover that distance.
Sorry for the long rant, but just wanted to says thanks to all for all the tips ( plus I wanted to tell the story, and my wife is about done with listening to a new elkaholic). Thanks again. Trey
I had to stop and fix the sled once. I finally got to a point where the sled just wasn't going to help me anymore. i called my buddies on the radio and begged for help. I really wanted to get it down myself, but enough was enough. They asked how far from the truck. I wasn't really sure, so i pulled out my GPS and got back on the radio. " Boys, I'm 290 feet from the truck!" It took the four of us another fifteen minutes to cover that distance.
Sorry for the long rant, but just wanted to says thanks to all for all the tips ( plus I wanted to tell the story, and my wife is about done with listening to a new elkaholic). Thanks again. Trey