Amen to that BlackLab! We hunted elk the first year with no luck, then the next year got two down at the same time. Knives hadn't been a big deal till then since all the emphasis was on just "getting an elk." Foolishly, all we had were knives that worked fine for deer but weren't really sharpened up like they should've been and we didn't have a saw or a hatchet. That lack of preparation made for one miserable morning at a time we should have been on top of the world! Needless to say some money got spent on elk dressing tools before the next season!

Lil Hunter posted the following "clip" under QUARTERING AN ELK on this board. It shows how to dress an elk WITHOUT gutting it, cutting the sternum or the pelvis. Since we are meat hunters and don't really care about the hide or preserving the cape I can't see any reason WHY NOT to use this method. It looks pretty slick to me! Maybe I'am missing something. Check it out! What do you think?
http://home.att.net/~sajackson/bugle.html