BJ

I should clarify a couple things. Here in Idaho where I live and hunt, the country is steep, heavily timbered, (where not burned) brushy with tons and tons of downfall.
Making it very tough to get critters such as horses and mules around in it.
Secondly, I stay away from nearly all trails, what few there are, trails are people magnets, most are not kept up, it would take you days to clear one just to go a short distance. Once you get an elk down it would take more time to cut trail than to haul it out on ones back if you were to use horses. I' m not complaining, I like it this way, it keeps most folks away, most aren' t willing to work to hard. This is why EKMs way works best for us. In the country you hunt it may be steep and rough, but it sounds like you have good access, that' s great, I' d use horses too under those circumstances. There' s room for both methods, depends on the country you hunt, and availability to stock. Have a great day! elknut1