bigtim6656

Glad u posted this i morn hunt alone. And bein new to elk huntin was unsure how to get it out. I think ill follow ur idea. Was thinkin it be good bear bait

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I didn't mention it, but I don't gut them first. No reason to make any more work than you have to. The gutpile of an elk can easily weigh 70 or 80 lbs. Easier to leave it in the carcass and work around it.

I'm not saying my method is any better than the method anyone else uses, but it works well for me. I do the same thing for deer as well. I can normally put an entire deer in 2 decent sized coolers with ice.

ronlaughlin

One reason, for me at least, to carry out the hind leg bones, is it keeps the hind quarter in place. The bone makes it easier to tie the quarter onto the pack frame. The bone keeps the meat organized, so that when time comes to cut, and package, one knows where the meat came from, and what it is.

However, for a long long pack, the bone must be left behind.

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I carry 6 game bags with me and a pack frame. A boned hind quarter with evidence of sex attached goes in one bag. So, figure 2 bags for the hinds. Neck meat, rib meat, flank, backstraps, loins, heart and liver go in another. So that makes 3 bags. Unless it is a really big elk, both boned out front legs go in a 4th bag. With 6 bags I can always go lighter per bag or have a spare if one gets torn.

I've never needed a bone to secure a bag to my pack frame. Enough parachute cord and you can secure an ocean liner. I've been in the Navy for 25 years and like any sailor, I can tie a knot that won't slip. Plus, I'm familiar enough with the muscle groups on an elk or a deer to tell the meat from the hinds from the meat on the fronts. But then, that's me.

Mind you, I'm not saying your way doesn't work for you, but personally, I ain't carrying a bone an inch if I can avoid it. Coyotes need to eat too. The bones and what little meat is attached it them are their share.

ronlaughlin

Yes, i agree. One can secure a sack full of meat to a pack frame without bone, and we did it every year for many many. An elk can be cut and wrapped just fine, if the meat was totally boned in the field.

However, for neatness, i prefer to carry out the hind leg bone. All the loose meat from the front, is ground into burger, except for the skeins of loin, which are easily identified, and are made into butterflies. One can easily identify the rumps, if they were boned in the field, and cut/wrap them. Me, i just like the way i do my elk, and for me it is most comfortable.

To me it is very very interesting to return to the site of the kill. Normally, if camped out, i will return to the kill more than once. The bones i leave behind are utilized fully by all them critters that partake. After a bit, the only thing remaining is the undigested stuff in the gut. Once in a while a hoof remains, but often there is no hooves, and i have always wondered why they would be drug off. Once there was wolverine on one of the kill remnants, and that was fun to see. One time, because of ruts in the trail, i was able to slide a whole elk onto the tailgate, and take it to town. After a week at work, i returned to the gut pile, and it wasn't there. There was no visible sign whatsoever, that once there was a gut pile there, not even a stain. Several times, i have returned to a gut pile, and found remnants a month later.

The funnest elk i ever took home, i took whole. To get to it i chained up all 4. Then i looped a tow strap on it, and drug it to a huge old Ponderosa. Then i cut some limbs with my chain saw. Lashed a snatch block to a huge limb, and winched the elk up into the sky. Then dropped the critter into the truck.

Most of my elk need to come out on my back, and i have done a few alone.

Myself, i have no problem if someone wishes to haul their elk out on a plastic sheet, or a sled, or a cart. Sometimes a couple three guys can drag a whole elk downhill to a smartly placed tailgate.

Big Uncle

I have taken somewhere upward of three dozen elk and have not carried a bone since I was a rookie. Most of my hunting was out of spike camps that were backpacked a few miles deep . I debone the elk and cut into chunks that will fit into one gallon zip lock bags. An external frame pack with a large bag (think it was called a "moose bag") gets filled with enough zip locks and the walking starts. The number of trips varies with terrain, animal size, knees, etc., but it has always worked for me. The bags are labeled to make it easier to figure out what was in them when it came time to butcher.

Muley Hunter

I've used the gutless method for about 15 years before it became popular. I hunt alone, and needed to find the fastest, and easiest way to get the meat out. I'm always back in the wilderness areas, so I also bone out all the meat. I don't carry out any bones. It's hard to describe how to use the gutless method with words. I've tried it on other forums, but I was never sure if they really understood what to do.

So, here's a video on how to do it. I do some things that aren't on the video. I don't have a buddy to help like in the video, so I bring lots of rope to hold out the legs. I hunt the timber, so there's always lots of trees to tie the legs to. It makes it much easier. I also bring a couple of tarps that I try to get the elk onto, and another to bone out the quarters after they're cut off the carcass. You also see flies landing on the meat. You don't want that. They lay eggs when they do that. That's also why you need good game bags that the flies can't lay eggs through. I use the Caribou bags. They come with tags that I use to label the meat/bags after deboning. You can use pepper on the meat for the flies, but a citric acid spray is better. Just spray all the meat as soon as you get the hide skinned off, and the flies will stay off the meat. You can also spray the bags.

So, watch this video. It's actually easier than what it looks like. He's using a dull knife, and makes it harder than it has to be.

http://elk101.com/videos/gutless-video/

Champlain Islander

That is the way my hunting partner and I do it. It is easier when you have help but that isn't always available. My knife is usually a bit sharper than the guy on the tape though. We always cut off the legs at the knee with a Wyoming saw.