Depends: I used to hunt " Far, Solo, High and Light" quite a bit before busting my right leg in half at the knee 3 years ago. Without help to pack out and being considerable distances from roads, boning out was the only way to get an elk out quickly and completely. If you are reasonably close to a motorized vehicle legal road or are hunting with horses, it is probably optional. There exists a photo montage and instructions for the field butchering of big game (this one uses an elk) wthout even gutting that is somewhere out there. Perhaps someone else on the board has that link. I' ve used the technique at least 4 times, and found that it took 2 kills to become fast and proficient at it.