I have done alot of back country elk hunting during the bow season, and have killed bulls when by myself. I hunt in the heart of bear country. Keep a clean camp and you will be better off. Many of the posts give awesome information. Here is a trick for keeping the meat in very hot weather. You will here from many people about not putting the meat in the creeks. This can be done if done correctly. I bone out the meat and put it in meat sacks. After putting the meat into meat sacks I will double bag the meat with plastic sacks. After doing this I will squeeze all of the air out. At this point I have several different pools in the cold stream that are in the shade. I will wade out and put the protected meat sacks under the water and put rocks on top. After a couple of days the meat is still cold and refrigerated. This buys me the time that I need to get it all out. When the outer bags are opened the meat is dry and ice cold. I will try at that point to do all of my packing in the cooler part of the day. Also with the meat hidden and protected under the water the predators are less likely to find it on you. I haven't lost a bit of meat yet. Again, all of the information on the posts should be taken into consideration. It can be the hardest hunt that you will ever go on, but it can almost be the most rewarding.