I carry a little plastic baggie to put the organs in and tie them off still attached to the meat. That keeps the meat clean.
I never carry out the head. Cape out the head and cut off the horns. Do yourself a favor and make sure your bonesaw is sharp. It is hard work on an elk, cut from the front and back, don' t try to saw the horns off from the sides it is much harder that way.
Even if you aren' t going to get the shoulder mount done you can sell the cape to a taxidermist for instore credit or 100 bucks or so.

Those cart are kind of nice, my buddie' s Dad bought one 5 years ago and last year we finally got it out of the plastic. This one was a single whelled job with handle bars front and rear(two man if need be) And it had a brake. once we got the deer on it, there were some tricky spots to get around but nothing like dragging or packing out by foot. I also drug a big 5 point Blacktail out with a regular old wheel barrow once. They do come in handy. Draw back is at least in the Washington State Regs. some places they aren' t allowed. No wheeled object for packing game is legal? So you might read up on your hunting regs to make sure you can use it

It is legal to take the atv off the road in AZ but only to recover a downed animal. It' s usually dry here so no damage by rutting up the forest. This is a helpful thread as most new elk hunters think it' s easy to cut the animal and get it out. Lots of hard work especially to bone it out and carry. Good hunting and good luck on the draw.

DART and Glenn - I' m putting in for Unit 23 this year - I' ll be giving you guys a call