After it's down questions...Elk
07-09-2007, 09:34 PM
#11
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location:
Posts: 272
RE: After it's down questions...Elk
Not only that but there are some spots were you better bone in out or your in for one hell of a pack. Unless you like crawling on your knees with a 125-150 quarter on your back. Its all about the terrain your in and the temp on the hillside, I carry a thermostat on my pack. Biggest thing bone hit ruins your meat.
Brett
Brett
07-10-2007, 06:41 AM
#14
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: On an Island in Paradise
Posts: 23,428
RE: After it's down questions...Elk
It took mea little overan hour to gut, skin and quarter mine last year. Mine was a mature cow so I didn't need to take time to deal with the head. I would bone if the distance was excessive. I estimated my quarters were between 75 and100 pounds which wasmanaged with a good pack frame.
07-10-2007, 08:52 AM
#15
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Idaho
Posts: 2,072
RE: After it's down questions...Elk
ORIGINAL: Waterproof
I don't gut an elk if I can help it. I skin it and bone it out on the spot and pack it out boned out. I can walk you through real easy how to do that with an elk if you would like.
Lay Elk on side and cut the hide from the meat out straight up the backbone from the anus to however far up the neck you want the meat. Then cut across the neck towards the brisket down the brisket, across the stomach towards the anus in a straight line. Once you get the hide all cut in half then make a down the back of the rear leg to the knee, cut around the knee. Cut from the spine across the front shoulder down to the front knee and around the front knee. Then skin the hide off the elk leaving it laying on its side, lay the hide out like a blanket, skinside up, hair to groundand start the deboning process. From the rear leg I just cut between the muscle groups to the bone and then roll the whole leg meat off the femur like a giant roast. Lay meat on hide and then do the same with the front leg. Then remove front leg bone by cutting away shoulder blade. Cut off backstrap and any additional cuts of meat you may want from the ribs. Make a small incision near the backbone between the last rib and the back hip to get to tenderloin inside the rib cage if you want that. Roll animal over repeat skinning process and deboning process on that side. When you are done meat is all laid out so it can cool evenly, and you can load up packs as necessary to remove meat.
I don't gut an elk if I can help it. I skin it and bone it out on the spot and pack it out boned out. I can walk you through real easy how to do that with an elk if you would like.
Lay Elk on side and cut the hide from the meat out straight up the backbone from the anus to however far up the neck you want the meat. Then cut across the neck towards the brisket down the brisket, across the stomach towards the anus in a straight line. Once you get the hide all cut in half then make a down the back of the rear leg to the knee, cut around the knee. Cut from the spine across the front shoulder down to the front knee and around the front knee. Then skin the hide off the elk leaving it laying on its side, lay the hide out like a blanket, skinside up, hair to groundand start the deboning process. From the rear leg I just cut between the muscle groups to the bone and then roll the whole leg meat off the femur like a giant roast. Lay meat on hide and then do the same with the front leg. Then remove front leg bone by cutting away shoulder blade. Cut off backstrap and any additional cuts of meat you may want from the ribs. Make a small incision near the backbone between the last rib and the back hip to get to tenderloin inside the rib cage if you want that. Roll animal over repeat skinning process and deboning process on that side. When you are done meat is all laid out so it can cool evenly, and you can load up packs as necessary to remove meat.
We have been known to stray far from camp which is already in the middle of east Jesus. Everyone carries 1-2 game bags and knives in their day pack. When a bull goes down, we take pictures and start boning on the spot without having to make a trip back and forth to camp to get our packs. The meat goes into the sacks and the topof the sack gets tied to a bottom corner of the sack. We can then drape the sack over our body and take off walking. Getting the elk out is a one trip deal with 3 guys. We load the meat on our frames at camp and go the rest of the way.
By boning the elk, It saves me from having to pack anything but a couple of knives and one small saw for the horns only. If I didn't know how to cape the head, I could still pop the head off at the atlas axis joint. It is at the base of the skull and is much like the ball socket on the leg only it goes one direction. Out of the 20+ bulls we have pulled out ofour drainage, not one has spoiled. If the temperature is too hot for the meat to make the trip, we have been known to utilize the creek and bring the meat out in the wee hours of the morning. Thats what I love about elk hunting, there is no watch, no timeclock, you do what you have to, when you have to. There is plenty of time for rest when you get done.
07-10-2007, 08:54 AM
#16
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location:
Posts: 1,572
RE: After it's down questions...Elk
I kill elk for a living and granted most of those are front country kills. I hunt the roughest country Idaho has to offer and in all the packs I've had both horse and foot I've never had an elk go bad just quartering.
If it's 80 degrees and you have an all day pack I'd probably bone it out but usually that time of year I'm doing front country stuff so it's not a big deal.
I don't even know any one that bones out unless it's a horrible situation and never heard of them losing meat either. Cept the ribcage which we usually kick.
Not calling anyone a liar or anything. To each his own, just giving my experience which in my opinion is pretty extensive.
If it's 80 degrees and you have an all day pack I'd probably bone it out but usually that time of year I'm doing front country stuff so it's not a big deal.
I don't even know any one that bones out unless it's a horrible situation and never heard of them losing meat either. Cept the ribcage which we usually kick.
Not calling anyone a liar or anything. To each his own, just giving my experience which in my opinion is pretty extensive.
07-10-2007, 09:18 AM
#17
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Missouri
Posts: 1,429
RE: After it's down questions...Elk
Brutal,
With a little practice you can bone the meat on the carcass in less time than you can gut and quarter. You're not cutting steaks on the mountain, you're removing large portions of meat from the bone to be cut into steaks later.Even if meat spoilage wasn't an issue, which I believe it is, and even if the pack is realitively short I prefer to pack as little weight as possible. I see no reason to carry the bones. So unless you can drive a pickup to your elk and hoist it in the back I will bone per the instructions already mentioned. that is provided that the laws allow it. I know that in some states that you must have proof of sex still attached to the carcass.
With a little practice you can bone the meat on the carcass in less time than you can gut and quarter. You're not cutting steaks on the mountain, you're removing large portions of meat from the bone to be cut into steaks later.Even if meat spoilage wasn't an issue, which I believe it is, and even if the pack is realitively short I prefer to pack as little weight as possible. I see no reason to carry the bones. So unless you can drive a pickup to your elk and hoist it in the back I will bone per the instructions already mentioned. that is provided that the laws allow it. I know that in some states that you must have proof of sex still attached to the carcass.
07-10-2007, 09:22 AM
#18
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Missouri
Posts: 1,429
RE: After it's down questions...Elk
ORIGINAL: BrutalAttack
I kill elk for a living
just giving my experience which in my opinion is pretty extensive.
I kill elk for a living
just giving my experience which in my opinion is pretty extensive.
07-10-2007, 09:39 AM
#19
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location:
Posts: 1,572
RE: After it's down questions...Elk
ORIGINAL: ShatoDavis
Brutal,
With a little practice you can bone the meat on the carcass in less time than you can gut and quarter. You're not cutting steaks on the mountain, you're removing large portions of meat from the bone to be cut into steaks later.Even if meat spoilage wasn't an issue, which I believe it is, and even if the pack is realitively short I prefer to pack as little weight as possible. I see no reason to carry the bones. So unless you can drive a pickup to your elk and hoist it in the back I will bone per the instructions already mentioned. that is provided that the laws allow it. I know that in some states that you must have proof of sex still attached to the carcass.
Brutal,
With a little practice you can bone the meat on the carcass in less time than you can gut and quarter. You're not cutting steaks on the mountain, you're removing large portions of meat from the bone to be cut into steaks later.Even if meat spoilage wasn't an issue, which I believe it is, and even if the pack is realitively short I prefer to pack as little weight as possible. I see no reason to carry the bones. So unless you can drive a pickup to your elk and hoist it in the back I will bone per the instructions already mentioned. that is provided that the laws allow it. I know that in some states that you must have proof of sex still attached to the carcass.
I'm all for boning out given a grim situation meat wise. However, if the weather is cool and I can get it out in quarters without killing myself than I'm for doing that. I've packed out my share even in some questionable temps and as long as you don't dally and you get the hide off it it'll usually be just fine.
I like to hang it in quarters because there is less surface area and i like to get a glaze on it ASAP. Since my buddy has a walk in cooler I'd much rather have quarters for processing than a big bag of bloddy meat.
It's a personally preferance and nothing wrong with boning and I'll do it when I have to.
I don't however think you should just automatically bone every time you get an elk down.
if you're having problems with bone sour, it's not a result of quartering, it's a result of not getting it cooled in time, in my opinion.
Whatever gets me to the cooler fastest is what I'm after and from what I've done and seen boning isn't faster for me. If I can get as fast as you guys then maybe it will be better.
07-10-2007, 09:48 AM
#20
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Missouri
Posts: 1,429
RE: After it's down questions...Elk
Like most anything it boils down to personal preference (as you said). I bone and package my own meat so it doesn't bother me to carry out boned meat. It is nice to let meat hang for a day though if the weather permits. If I had access to a meat locker like you my priorities might change as well. Given my circumstances its nice to have the meat boned because if the weather is warm the only way I have to cool the meat is in a refrigerator or cooler and ice.