RE: Gutting Cow elk!
I watched that link from bowjackson. It's very disapointing to see that much meat left in the field and would be a sure ticket in Alaska.
However, I do my moose and caribou in a very similar way. I split the back down from the base of the skull to the tail. I immediately skin down far enough on each side to get the back staps off. I start the front quarter in the same way as the link. I then take my saw and carefully separate the ribs at the bottom right at the little "hinge" part down there. I use a saw at very shallow angle to do this and they pop right apart. I then move to the spine and remove the entire rib section by sawing the ribs from the spine. I then work to remove the rear quarter by fileting the meat securing it to the ball and socket...at this point I also make sure one of the nuts is attached to the skin left on the hind quarter. Now you essentially have a half of your animal on the ground with the guts laying on top of it. At this point, if it's a moose, I remove the head by sawing it off right behind the skull and sawing it off ahead of the shoulders. This removes significant weight for the next step. I then roll the critter over. A daunting task for a moose, but can be done. Now you have the other half to do the same thing to. I just spin the carcass 90* and let the guts lay on the ground outside the half I am working on. Getting to the tenderloins is a piece of cake when you remove the ribs and allow the guts to roll out of the way. With this method there is little, if any, usable meat left behind.