RE: .204 for elk....
My mistake, poor choice of words...
Rather than pack in with horses, because they are a pita, in the past, I would gut out an elk, hang it, hike out, drive home, hook up the trailer, bring the horses and ride in to the carcass. The process was extremely time consuming. A friend of mine, who did notdraw,has graciously agreed to be "on call" to trailer the horses to whatever access point is most convenient, thus my "extraction team" is lined up. A few years ago (after I started carrying the MREs) and freed up alot of pack space, I started packing an 18 volt Dewalt Sawzall for gutting purposes. It works REMARKABLY well and is considererably faster than the "conventional" methods. I am hoping I could have the carcass ready to go long before the horses arrive.
By the way, they aren't mine, I loathe the beasts, but it beats days of packing out meat.
I had thought about Sombrero or other stables, but it just doesn't seem that convenient, is pretty darn expensive if you have access to free horses and you still have to wait around for them to be delivered.