I have been lucky enough to harvest a few elk. And only 1 I had the option to use our mules to pack out. What I do is bone out the animal on the mountain. I place all the meat into large pillow cases(because they are strong and keep the meat clean) tie them, and then secure them to a pack board of some kind. I have a bull pac and it works awesome. I take everything I absolutely can take. A average size elk can be packed out this way with 5 guys. But more makes the loads a little lighter. this year we actually weighed our packs when we got back to camp, to my amazment they did not weigh what I thought. The heaviest pack I had was a full hind quater bone included, with the hoof cut off at the knee. pack and all it weighed right at 100 lbs.. Which is heavy, put that on your back and you will believe it is more like 150 lbs.. Just to give you a idea. Oh yeah I always carry 1 ratchet strap on each pack as well as each pack has it's own supply of parachute cord, really strong and light! Good luck!