Stinky meat, spoiled?

idelkslayer said:

I think the lesson here that everyone is missing is to never leave behind your knife. If the OP had kept a pocket knife or belt sheath folder on his person he would have been able to skin and quarter the elk when he found it.

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Funny story about that knife. I carry a Gerber Vital for that reason. However, it was bothering me on long hikes in my pocket so I moved it to my bino harness where I kept my had to have essentials. I had lost it a day prior in a different area after I took it off to eat lunch and glass deer. I got hot as the sun warmed things up and decided to take off one layer. I packed everything back away afterwards and decided to bushwhack up to the next ridge. I forgot to put my harness back on before I left. I realized that about a half mile later. Searched the rest of the day and couldn’t find where I had been because the terrian all looked the same. So all told my gps, phone, Fhf harness, drivers license, range finder, and pocket knife was gone. The next day was the day I had reserved on the BMA and was my only chance to kill this bull I had been seeing. We opted to hunt him and then go back to search the next day when we could use someone else gps. Which eventually worked as I did kill the bull and we found the misplaced gear.

So my Elk trip taught me more lessons than I care to admit. Not hunting in the Mountains before and having a 20 year break from my last western trip there was a steep learning curve.

What hunting wife said. I absolutely cringe when I see pictures in magazines with hunters (or people driving around) hanging moose or elk quarters with the hide on. Those big animals have such a thick hide and large muscles that even when boned out you should make an incision on the hind quarter to the bone to help it cool. Sometimes they will sour from the inside out if you don't do that. Any animal should always have the hide taken off asap to cool, but on smaller animals people get away without doing it. I have seen in other threads people taking elk out either whole or in large chunks which can also be a way to spoil meat if not done correctly.