You are on an unguided hunt and
05-09-2005, 07:28 PM
#11
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: McCall Idaho USA
Posts: 753
RE: You are on an unguided hunt and
I carry a daypack type of pack. It's a combo fannypack daypack. The daypack will fold into the top of the fannypack when not needed. I do not carry a frame with me in the woods, it's too bulky & burdensome for most elk hunting ventures.
In my pack I'm equipped to spend the night if needed. I carry a petzel headlamp for going in, in the dark or coming out. It's also handy if you get your elk down late and need a handsfree light to take care of your animal. I also carry an extra light, a minimag. I carry 4-elk-bags, such as allen or alaskan bags. You can easily carry all 4 and they take up little room, plus they're tough enough for the job. Batteries are compatible with all units.
I carry a folding saw, several methods of getting a fire started no matter what!! A GPS. Two knives and a carbide knife sharpner. I have a leatherman, red flagging tape, a compass, camera, roll of athletic tape-(it's for all first-aid) 50' 1/4" nylon rope. A small type straw water purifier, big clear plastic garbage bag that can be used for a poncho if raining to keeping met off the ground. Plenty of food & water for the whole day. 3 HIGH-ENERGY BARS, taste like crap, but really work!! I leave them in all hunting season if not used. All this weighs about 12 pounds including pack. I do not carry a hoist & have never needed one yet. -- I keep all calls in my pockets or around my neck.
Once I get an elk down the first thing I do is take a couple of pictures. Then the head comes off. (if you're going to mount it then you need to cape it out) I quickly ring the neck with a knife and then saw it off once done. With that done you can usually begin to manuvere the animal much easier if needed. (if it's a bull) I then remove both hind legs with a saw at the joint. I then skin one half of the animal back. I never gut an animal!!
Remove hindquarter first and put into waiting elk bag. Bone out front shoulder & put into 2nd bag, also put in backstrap & tenderloin from that side. In 3rb bag I put in all the ribs rolled up like a carpet along with any misc. neck meat. I turn animal over onto the skinned out part of the elk & repeat the process. I put the other boned out shoulder, backstrap & tenderloin into 2nd bag also. Once done I have an entire elk in 4 very manageable elk bags. I do my best to keep all meat very clean.
I make sure before I leave for help & pack-frames to put meat in the shadiest spot I can & off the ground, if only a few inches. I carry the head & rack out on my shoulders along with my bow. I never carry meat with me, I wait for the Kelty packframes, they work out great!! The whole process takes less than 2hrs if you're alone.
Good Luck//ElkNut1
In my pack I'm equipped to spend the night if needed. I carry a petzel headlamp for going in, in the dark or coming out. It's also handy if you get your elk down late and need a handsfree light to take care of your animal. I also carry an extra light, a minimag. I carry 4-elk-bags, such as allen or alaskan bags. You can easily carry all 4 and they take up little room, plus they're tough enough for the job. Batteries are compatible with all units.
I carry a folding saw, several methods of getting a fire started no matter what!! A GPS. Two knives and a carbide knife sharpner. I have a leatherman, red flagging tape, a compass, camera, roll of athletic tape-(it's for all first-aid) 50' 1/4" nylon rope. A small type straw water purifier, big clear plastic garbage bag that can be used for a poncho if raining to keeping met off the ground. Plenty of food & water for the whole day. 3 HIGH-ENERGY BARS, taste like crap, but really work!! I leave them in all hunting season if not used. All this weighs about 12 pounds including pack. I do not carry a hoist & have never needed one yet. -- I keep all calls in my pockets or around my neck.
Once I get an elk down the first thing I do is take a couple of pictures. Then the head comes off. (if you're going to mount it then you need to cape it out) I quickly ring the neck with a knife and then saw it off once done. With that done you can usually begin to manuvere the animal much easier if needed. (if it's a bull) I then remove both hind legs with a saw at the joint. I then skin one half of the animal back. I never gut an animal!!
Remove hindquarter first and put into waiting elk bag. Bone out front shoulder & put into 2nd bag, also put in backstrap & tenderloin from that side. In 3rb bag I put in all the ribs rolled up like a carpet along with any misc. neck meat. I turn animal over onto the skinned out part of the elk & repeat the process. I put the other boned out shoulder, backstrap & tenderloin into 2nd bag also. Once done I have an entire elk in 4 very manageable elk bags. I do my best to keep all meat very clean.
I make sure before I leave for help & pack-frames to put meat in the shadiest spot I can & off the ground, if only a few inches. I carry the head & rack out on my shoulders along with my bow. I never carry meat with me, I wait for the Kelty packframes, they work out great!! The whole process takes less than 2hrs if you're alone.
Good Luck//ElkNut1
05-09-2005, 08:39 PM
#13
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: McCall Idaho USA
Posts: 753
RE: You are on an unguided hunt and
The tenderloins can be removed after first removing backstrap. I remove quarter & backstrap first usually. Then right at the tail end of the backstrap towards the rear, there'll be a small slot that's next to the spine & ribs. Reach in there and carefully finger it around next to the ribs. With a little persuasion & a bit of careful knifing they can easily be removed from that spot.----------------------------------ElkNut1
05-09-2005, 09:04 PM
#14
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location:
Posts: 40
RE: You are on an unguided hunt and
I am like elknut1 as well and I do the no mess way of quartering an elk. The only difference is that I only use a saw to detach the head. The rest of the quartering can be done with a knife. Why waist the time gutting an animal if you are going to quarter it out.
As far as packs go I do not own a pack frame any more. The Jim Horn signature series packs from Blacks Creek Guide Gear is the best pack on the market in my mind. It is a day pack that you can pack meat with as well. I will never use a pack frame again. This past year we packed out 5 elk using two of those packs. We tested the limit of weight and had no problems. Go to www.Blacks-Creek.com if you want to check them out. I used the Western but I have upgraded to the Alaskan.
Good luck,
elkaholicid
Michael
As far as packs go I do not own a pack frame any more. The Jim Horn signature series packs from Blacks Creek Guide Gear is the best pack on the market in my mind. It is a day pack that you can pack meat with as well. I will never use a pack frame again. This past year we packed out 5 elk using two of those packs. We tested the limit of weight and had no problems. Go to www.Blacks-Creek.com if you want to check them out. I used the Western but I have upgraded to the Alaskan.
Good luck,
elkaholicid
Michael
05-09-2005, 10:00 PM
#15
Typical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location:
Posts: 833
RE: You are on an unguided hunt and
I allso NEVER gut an elk unless I can load him strate to the truck.[Happens very very little]
I do do a few things difrant than some have stated. I debone ALL meat. I allso do not like pack frams.I use pack bag that gos over your head.You have meat on your chest and back.This seems to work real good for me. I can put the bag in a small fanny pack. I all so pack over night items.FIRE STARTER is a very big deal,it can and will save your life in bad times.Game bags and twine are allso a life saver.
I have tryed to hunt with a big pack frame.So far if I take the frame I NEVER have needed it .It is to big and clumsey to KILL with.
If I do not have a game bag. I debone the meat and use the hide to make a sack to pack meat out with.I lace it up just like a boot.This is not the best way but will work in a bind.
WHAT EVER YOU DO!!!!! DO NOT LEAVE THE ELK UNGUTED OR UNQUARTERED AND GO FOR HELP!!!!! Your elk will be wasted.
good luck hunt hard
I do do a few things difrant than some have stated. I debone ALL meat. I allso do not like pack frams.I use pack bag that gos over your head.You have meat on your chest and back.This seems to work real good for me. I can put the bag in a small fanny pack. I all so pack over night items.FIRE STARTER is a very big deal,it can and will save your life in bad times.Game bags and twine are allso a life saver.
I have tryed to hunt with a big pack frame.So far if I take the frame I NEVER have needed it .It is to big and clumsey to KILL with.
If I do not have a game bag. I debone the meat and use the hide to make a sack to pack meat out with.I lace it up just like a boot.This is not the best way but will work in a bind.
WHAT EVER YOU DO!!!!! DO NOT LEAVE THE ELK UNGUTED OR UNQUARTERED AND GO FOR HELP!!!!! Your elk will be wasted.
good luck hunt hard
05-09-2005, 11:47 PM
#17
Fork Horn
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: usa
Posts: 464
RE: You are on an unguided hunt and
personally i cant imagine not haveing a good pack frame on an elk hunt. all ive ever used. i have never tried the jim horn pack though. right now ive got one of those cabelas alaskan backpacks. seems to work alright to me, and i think was about $100
brad
brad
05-10-2005, 06:59 AM
#18
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: McCall Idaho USA
Posts: 753
RE: You are on an unguided hunt and
Manboy---Yes it's in the vicinity you've described. Just remember it's pretty much under the spine but hugging the side of the ribs at that point. Once you squeeze your hand in the small squishy slot you'll feel it immedieately. If you've ever taking the tenderloin out of a gutted animal think back and remember where you cut it out of, it's just under the spine and to the rear of the animal.
I too like a solid pack-frame. Not saying it's the best there is, but mine are very comftorable to use and I've taken out close to 60 elk with such packs. As I mentioned earlier, I would not reccommend carrying in a cumbersome pack on an elk hunt where you're planning on covering tons of country. For me, they're just in the way. Sometimes certain encounters require one to move swiftly into action, when this happens, and it does a lot, I want to be ready to go on the drop of a hat and not worry about wrestling an over-sized pack around. This is what has worked for us. Plus the country we hunt is very rugged with tons of downfall, carrying lite, is a good thing!!--------ElkNut1
I too like a solid pack-frame. Not saying it's the best there is, but mine are very comftorable to use and I've taken out close to 60 elk with such packs. As I mentioned earlier, I would not reccommend carrying in a cumbersome pack on an elk hunt where you're planning on covering tons of country. For me, they're just in the way. Sometimes certain encounters require one to move swiftly into action, when this happens, and it does a lot, I want to be ready to go on the drop of a hat and not worry about wrestling an over-sized pack around. This is what has worked for us. Plus the country we hunt is very rugged with tons of downfall, carrying lite, is a good thing!!--------ElkNut1
05-10-2005, 07:53 AM
#19
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location:
Posts: 6,357
RE: You are on an unguided hunt and
As others have pointed out, in the warm early season weather you posited in your initial post, the number 1 priority is to get the meat cool. Bacteria is present in all animals -- including human beings -- but active immune systems keep them in check. After the animal dies, however, the immune system stops functioning and the bacteria can reproduce rapidly. The higher the temperature, the more rapidly bacteria reproduce.
Large muscles around a big bone are supposed to stay warm longest and be most susceptible to souring due to heat. Don't gut. Take the animal apart from the outside, as it were, as folks have described above. You can lay meat on cool rocks which may help to conduct heat away from the meat, but keep the meat clean. After you have the animal quartered, deboning is an additional step that can help cool the meat quickly. If you are going to pack the meat on your own back, of course, deboning makes even more sense.
Have more than one appropriate knife, because knives break. Have sharp knives. You may wish to take a sharpener. It sounds like there is some disagreement on this, but it seems to me to make sense to have a saw. I guess if you aren't going to saw off the ribs and take the ribs with you, you might be able to live without a saw. A good thing about the afore mentioned Wyoming saw is that it comes with both a meat/bone blade and a wood blade, so the saw can do double duty. This saw also takes down and forms a pretty compact, lightweight package.
I also advise you to get some practice on other meat -- butchering and deboning deer, for example -- if you don't already have this experience. You can also debone leg of lamb, which is something you can do outside of deer season.
Large muscles around a big bone are supposed to stay warm longest and be most susceptible to souring due to heat. Don't gut. Take the animal apart from the outside, as it were, as folks have described above. You can lay meat on cool rocks which may help to conduct heat away from the meat, but keep the meat clean. After you have the animal quartered, deboning is an additional step that can help cool the meat quickly. If you are going to pack the meat on your own back, of course, deboning makes even more sense.
Have more than one appropriate knife, because knives break. Have sharp knives. You may wish to take a sharpener. It sounds like there is some disagreement on this, but it seems to me to make sense to have a saw. I guess if you aren't going to saw off the ribs and take the ribs with you, you might be able to live without a saw. A good thing about the afore mentioned Wyoming saw is that it comes with both a meat/bone blade and a wood blade, so the saw can do double duty. This saw also takes down and forms a pretty compact, lightweight package.
I also advise you to get some practice on other meat -- butchering and deboning deer, for example -- if you don't already have this experience. You can also debone leg of lamb, which is something you can do outside of deer season.
05-10-2005, 08:02 AM
#20
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Lancaster pa
Posts: 3,015
RE: You are on an unguided hunt and
I hear alot of talk about knives, saws and soforth. I found that the best knife for me is the kershaw alaskan. It's not that expensive and the extra large guthook works great on large game. I spoke with a packer in colorado who has been packing out elk for over 30 years and he said it was the best knife he has ever owned as well. Here is a pic and it's not that expensive either, I beleive around 65 bucks although I only paid 45 for mine.
http://www.kershawknives.com/knivesT.../alaskanRO.jpg
http://www.kershawknives.com/knivesT.../alaskanRO.jpg