skeeter 7MM

Smaller game such as deer rear up. Moose and elk we actually skin/quarter on the ground and then hang the pieces, while removing the backstraps and loins and promptly eating or freezing....yum, yum.

ELKampMaster

Space,

If you can grab your animal by the antlers and drag it off -- I' m sorry, it just barely qualifies as a " big game" animal -- and some elk/moose hunting problems DO arise out of that!

If it is DEER, I' d recommend head down, BUT.....

Since you asked about ELK and MOOSE -- I found some of the responses to your question rather interesting as they must be a lot stronger than I am -- maybe they were thinking about their DEER experience when they answered your question and didn' t really consider that their answer might also require a " magic wand" of some sort to be available to get an entire elk or moose out of the woods and up onto that hanging beam while keeping it in one piece!

A gutted 600 pound elk with the head and hide still on is likely to weigh 400 pounds.[X(]
A gutted 1000 pound moose with the head and hide still on is likely to weigh 650 pounds.[X(]

For most the folks out there that have actually stood over the large carcass of a gutted elk or moose they have taken, I' m doubting very few have ever taken the whole thing back to camp intact and hung it up either heads up or heads down UNLESS:

(1) They used a horse or an ATV to DRAG IT back to the pick up or camp (wuff - wouldn' t want that meat), or....

(2) They shot it ON THE ROAD or at the edge of the water -- flagged down 5 men and a boy and loaded it into a pickup or a boat, or....

(3) They shot it close enough to the road (or camp) that they could WINCH IT to the pickup or camp, or....

(4) They were hunting on non-remote private land and went back and borrowed the rancher' s tractor with front end loader.

(5) There was hard pack snow trails and it was a down hill drag to the road and they " harnessed" up pulled the carcass to the road or camp and then used a MAJOR block and tackle system to lift the carcass upon onto a magnum strength cross beam.

Since most folks DON' T hunt this way.... I' d recommend you " hang" your meat in camp in one of the following ways:

(1) Seperate whole quarters (in game bags).

(2) Deboned meat in (strong) game bags.

(3) Deboned meat straight into a refrigerator/freezer in camp (" power camp" set up; not remote camping).

You didn' t ask for this part, but I' ll throw it in since it fits, since hanging ties into two subjects: aging (curing) of meat and butchering. The arguments rage endlessly on this one, but here' s our take on it. Wild game tends to have very little " marbling" of the fat inside the muscle, hence aging it does not have the same desirable effect as aging well marbled beef does. Therefore, we start butchering our meat in camp (" power camp" set up) as soon as the meat has chilled enough to firm up the meat -- we then vacuum seal the cuts, jerky meat, and burger -- and the sooner it is sharp frozen the better. (If you want gourmet elk then butcher it yourself, no commerical processor can give the meat the TLC that you will.) Then we distribute the meat evenly among the hunters before they leave camp regardless who shot what -- everyone takes their share with them the day we break camp.

Too much meat spoils each year when hunters that are used to thinking in DEER size terms shoot their first elk or moose and only then realize the true size of the task at hand and how poorly prepared they are to handle it - and it overwhelms them. (It is possible that they could have went elk or moose hunting BEFORE - NOT GOT ANYTHING - and thus still not have come to grips the 400 to 650 pound problem).[:@]

P.S. We usually leave the hide in the field with the guts and we usually throw the heads on the wood pile -- I think that accounts for the whole animal.
BigBulls, Skeeter -- I can tell by your reply you' ve actually stood over elk or moose or two.

Never Go Undergunned,
EKM

trapper T

I know I was speaking more on the side of deer as were probably most. On Elk/moose,(the latter I have no experience on) I would quarter it for sure.I shot a spike roosevelt once he went down about 100 yds. from a road,we figured that since it was fairly flat area we would just drag it to the road.Screw that! Two hours on just dragging the animal.Of course as usual he wouldn' t help us much. I told my old man that if I shot an elk that fell in the truck,I' d pull him out just to cut him up next time. You guys thinking,it was just a spike,welll the Roosevelt or Olympic weigh a bit more than the Rockies.Had 400 Ilbs of meat out of that spike.

MinnFinn

The fellows I' ve hunted Elk with hang them rear feet up and skin them soon after to get them cooled down as soon as possible. I' ve always hung my deer head up. I believe it very important to open the chest cavity up and hold it open with a stick to allow the body to cool properly. The chest unopened with the hide on can keep a lot of heat that can affect the meat. I think it' s even more true with bigger game like Elk or Moose.

MinnFinn

AceHand

On occasion we DO get our big game out whole. Use a 2-man snow sled to get' em to the road. Hopefully its downhill. Put the truck in the ditch backed up to the hill to get' em in or wait for help to drive by. First ones to come by are always glad to help load' em. At camp I throw the tow rope over a stout limb and use the truck to haul' em up in the tree to tie off. I like the rear end up. I use a hatchet to carefully split the backbone and open up the hump on the back to cool, using a stick to spread the chest cavity. I leave the hide on. $25 will let me hang' em in the locker down the mountain for 5 days if it' s too warm out. Haulin it home I keep it in the pickup box out of sight (cept for mayby 1 hoof sometimes). That way the anti' s don' t have to look at it, and any hunters that do look see a beautiful, whole, field dressed elk(on one occasion, two of us filled like this and I got to haul' em both).

Power

Since Washington is Spike Elk only (without the luck of a special drawing) we usually just hang them like deer, head-down;

http://www.powerandfury.net/j02elk.html

Of course this was my first one and only about 100 yards below the road so we HAD to get it out whole. Generally if we have to move it very far we' ll either get the card and 4 strong men and women (most of our wives hunt with us) or we' ll just skin and quarter it on the ground, packing out the quarters and head. Wa. State law dictates either the head or genetails must remain attached to the animal so make sure to check with local laws before cutting up the animal in the field.

DK2000

Quite often here in Maine we are able to get our moose out whole. At our camps we have enough equipment to move a moose up to 1/4 mile, more if we are allowed to use ATV' s.

Moose we tend to hang head up as it is easier to tie it off once we get it up on the game pole. Deer we tend to hang head down as we think it looks better. I believe as long as you get the animal opened up and allow it to cool either way is fine. I have never had a bad piece of game meat as long as the animal was cared for properly from the time of the kill.

Dave

rookelkhunter

I' m a little confused.

I was thinking the same things as Elkamp, in that, how in the heck would you get them out whole? And better yet, why?

I just started elk hunting two years ago, and have only been lucky enough to haul one elk off the mountain. But as far as I could tell, why wouldn' t you want to do it right there? Why not get the hide off, let it cool, quarter and bebone it...let it cool...then pack it up and haul it down to hang?

I don' t remember how long that took us, but I don' t think it was over an hour and a half or so between the two of us. It was so easy, and it would seem to be the method of choice rather than organizing a convoy of ATV' s or a small town to come and help you with your animal.

Obviously by my name I am a TOTAL rookie at this stuff, I just know how easy it was to take care of it right on the spot, and I couldn' t see doing it any other way.

Just my two cents.

Chad

*how do you guys feel about letting the meat sit and cool/rinse in a stream after reaching camp?

Power

In the mountains where I hunt it' s pretty much sage-brush and dirt everywhere. Since it' s such a dirty environment we just gut the Elk right away then try to get it out whole if we can to keep it clean. If we quarter it things get much more dirty than if we get it out whole.

Jorgy

With elk, I have had the great pleasure of using both methods of getting elk back to camp. My first elk was shot upslope from a road opening morning and camp (and horses) were only a mile or so down the road, so horses dragged my elk right into the back my pickup. That was the only elk to ever make it back to camp in one piece. All other elk have been quartered (deboned mostly) and hauled back to camp on horse or my aching back. I cut my own meat so it has to be done anyway, and why carry more than you have to.

But to get to the original question, I hang deer, antelope head up, I' ve always thought it was easier to skin and split for cutting up. Elk normaly hang in quarters (game bagged)