Packing elk out can be easier if the trails are solid -- not muddy or sloppy with mushy snow. Depending on the situation, it can be a good idea to hike out to the kill site and begin packing the elk out in the pre-dawn hours, when the ground is still frozen. Just something to consider. My hunting partner wisely coached us to use this strategy this year. When we got the elk packed back to camp at 9:30 AM the trail was getting muddy and squishy. If we had slept in until we just normally woke up the pack out would have been considerably more difficult as we would have been packing heavy packs on muddy trails.