joemontana

Well i haven,t been on here in a while work has that affect. Anyway here is my queston maybe some one has pictures or can explain. My dilema is we pack out into the Bob Marshall Wilderness every year and evry year have killed elk with our bows but until last year never shot one i felt was large enough to worry about mounting so we just cut anles out of skull and pack them out but we found out this year i shot a nice 6x6 bull score around 340 so i wanted to mount the head problem is i dont want to take the time to cape the hide out we brought the whole head out what a pain trying to get it to stay straight on top pack saddle. Was constantly get off to tie it back on and for a ride of 18 miles that was alot. So if you got an idea on what others do let me know most of the time you shoot your elk then you spend all day trying to get him out i dont have time to sit there and cape a skull out. Thanks

Blackelk

I assume you skinned it all the way to the base of the head and cut the head off. Here's how I do it. I take the cape and wrap it in a figure eight around the head and the antlers so it doesn't get so off balanced. Then cut a small hole in the edge of the cape and tie it to the base of the antler so it won't come undone. The I tie each side of the rack between the second and third point down to each side of the pack tight. Then centering a piece of rope I wrap that around the bottom jaw making at least two wraps so it don't work back and forth causing the hair to rub. Tie each side of that down to the sides of the pack ropes, the tighter and closer to the pack the better. Then if the rack is really large I tie in a pine pole to the base of the antlers at the fifth point. This will keep the rack from getting down too low on the horse and causing problems. You can do all this with 25' of 1/4" rope. And if something goes bad you can always cut the rack away with out letting your pack go. I have at times just used the left over tail of a pack rope to secure a set of antlers. All depends on what you have at the time. If you want the rack to sit higher in the air off the horse start with the lower jaw tie first. Carry orange flagging tape just so no one shoots your horse. I know but could happen.