Most of the important points have been touched upon here.

1) The last elk I shot wasn't what I'd call that big, body-wise, yet each of the four quarters weighed between 80-100 lbs once I put them on a scale. Cape and antlers weren't so much weight as the issue, but an annoying problem they had hanging up in brush on the way out. 2 miles one-way to camp, but not the farthest I've had to carry one.

2) Can't always count on your ATV or game cart, especially if you're hunting wilderness areas. USFS is closing more and more ATV access that used to be open too, thanks to very careless ATV riders (one thing to pack something out on one, altogether another to "off-road hunt" on one as I've seen on numerous occasions lately). Find yourself a good external frame pack, preferably with a shelf like the one Cabela's used to sell (I think they still do). Good old "engineer tape" or flagging is very handy to mark your trail out, just pull it down on your last trip out.

3) Check your local regulations. Some states still allow you to leave the ribs, spine, and hip. Others do not allow any "waste" at all. Nearly all require some evidence of sex on the carcass itself.

4) Someone here mentioned not worrying about such stuff, worry more about killing one. That's what I did wrong on my first successful elk hunt: I worried more about killing one than getting it out - and spent what rank as probably near-close to the three most miserable days of my life getting him out. Since then, I'm more conscious of where I am when I spot an elk, and of where camp is (topo maps beat GPS every day of the week). There ARE some areas where I just won't go anymore to shoot an elk, simply because I don't want to attempt to pack one out. Horses are great - if youhave horses or have extra cash to hire someone to do the hard work.

We often say that shooting an elk is only 1% of the challenge of elk hunting. If it were easy, EVERYONE would be doing it.