In a few weeks i will be headed out to chase elk again. I haven't had much luck in the last few years and am still looking to take my first elk. This year i have put in the work doing research, scouting, talking with folks about elk in general, and getting into shape. I believe this year is my year. I was wondering if you seasoned elk hunters had any tips or advice you would like to share when it comes field care? Any tricks or gear to make the quartering and deboning process easier or quicker? I have game bags, day packs, frame packs, sharp knives, and a general idea of how to get started when i get one down. Any input would be greatly appreciated, thanks guys
Elk Field Care Advice
- Thread starter Hawkeye
- Start date
Lawnboy
Well-known member
Just get it off the ground. Even if you can't get to quartering it until the next morning make sure to split up through the brisket and split the pelvis so the hinds don't want to flop back together. Get a log or rock or something under the front and rear end so that air can move around him over night. You can even split the hide up and down the back and that will really let a lot of the heat out.
Just a few things that come to mind if you're not ready to bone him out or quarter him.
Just a few things that come to mind if you're not ready to bone him out or quarter him.
JohnCushman
Well-known member
Make sure you're prepared for the amount of meat you're going to get off an average sized bull. It can be overwhelming to a new hunter and often they aren't totally prepared with enough cooler space. I suggest deboning everything and leaving the bones in the field...you can't eat them anyway. Look on youtube for the 'gutless method' too. It saves alot of time and gets the meat to cooling quickly.
noharleyyet
Well-known member
A small tarp sure comes in handy for the groundwork skinning and dissecting ....keeping grass and dirt off the meat....and many sharp knives is a timesaver. Like Lawnboy said, get it cool asap. We always take more gamebags than we think we'll need.
Good luck!
Good luck!
Thanks Lawnboy, i would have split him so the hind quarters wouldn't flop back together but i would never have thought to put something underneath him to get him off the ground, i will definitely remember to do that if i need to.
John, that gutless method is pretty cool and looks like a real time saver. I will make sure to bring plenty of coolers.
Thanks for the tips guys, i really appreciate it!
John, that gutless method is pretty cool and looks like a real time saver. I will make sure to bring plenty of coolers.
Thanks for the tips guys, i really appreciate it!
WV Hunter
Active member
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That gutless method is the tits. Drthornton (hunttalk member) did the gutless method on the side of a hill on his 5 x 5 he arrowed last week. It was his first experience with an elk but not with a knife on an animal. He had all 4 quarters boned out, back straps, neck meat and tenderloins off that elk and into Alaskan Game Bags (recommended) in 2 hours. He used a Havalon knife (also recommended) with 5 blades total.
DRAFTSTUD
Well-known member
Gutless method no doubt about it. I am not up to date on where you are hunting, but in Colorado you have to keep one quarter with proof of sex. And antlers don't count! John
arffdog875
New member
My vote is the gutless method, it is the quickest way to get an elk broke down and cooling. Take more game bags then you think you will use, some will tear. Do remember to leave proof of sex on one rear quarter. Hang quarters in the shade until ready to pack to camp, it has been warm here during the day, cool in the mornings and evenings. Good luck!
Gerald Martin
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I think it was Larry D. Jones that said in an article or a video that I saw. " I won't go hunting with a guy that doesn't carry game bags." While said partly in jest he meant he wanted his hunting partner to be confident he could kill something and prepared for when he did.
A fourpack of game bags(lightweight knit variety) is always in my pack, whether its a frame pack or just a daypack. Those game bags double as a butt cushion while glassing and a pillow when napping. You should never have to go back to camp to get game bags.
Getting your meat cool is the biggest priority. In hot weather that usually means getting the hide off the animal and the meat off the bones and into game bags. When I shoot an elk in the evening, I rarely pack the animal out that night, but I never leave until butching is complete. Like Lawnboy suggested, I always try to get the bags off the ground so air can circulate. I rarely hang them, just make a crib out of logs or rocks and set them on it.
My bull this year was the only elk that I didn't recover within a half an hour after the shot. With a less than ideal shot just before dark I made the decision to back off and wait until morning. We found the bull 1/2 hour after daylight and it turns out he had died within minutes of me shooting him. The temperature didn't get below 50 degrees that night and the meat was still warm to the touch. I was very worried about loosing the meat.
We boned him out as quickly as possible and deposited the meat bags right into the middle of a nearby stream. By that time it was nearly 10 a.m and over 70 degrees. We took about a two hour break and let the meat get good and cold before loading it onto a gamecart and taking it back to the truck. We have a really good homemade cooler that is amazingly well insulated. We made a crib of sticks to keep the meat out of the bloody water and loaded the cooler. We had three blocks of ice in then and I put four more in later that evening. That was on a Tue. evening. Wednesday noon I pulled all the meat out, drained the blood water off, dried each piece of meat as best I could and rotated it to make sure it was all thoroughly chilled. By Thursday evening the meat was sitting in a butcher's meat locker waiting for me to pick it up. I ended up butchering that bull on the following Monday. Time from the shot to freezing was exactly one week. That's the longest I've ever gone without processing an elk in some of the most demanding conditions. Turns out to be the best tasting elk I've ever shot personally.
A couple of things that I think helped me were as follows. When the bull died he was upside down with his rack wedged under him. That held nearly 3/4ths of his body about six inches off the ground. He was still in his summer coat. The thin hair allows heat to dissipate, unlike their winter coat which traps most body heat. We were close to a stream and put the meat bags right in it. We had a great cooler and plenty of ice. Even though I had to put the meat in the stream to cool it, I tried to get it as dry as possible afterwards.
Good luck on your hunt and with taking care of the meat. If you forget everything else remember this. The most important thing is getting the body heat out and chilling it down.
One other thing. Don't put warm meat in a cooler. Even if you do have ice in there it is the air circulating (convection) that cools. Meat has mass and retains heat for a long time. The cold seeping in through the meat (conduction) takes a lot longer than circulation. I've heard of guys loosing meat that went into a cooler warm even though I've not experienced it myself.
A fourpack of game bags(lightweight knit variety) is always in my pack, whether its a frame pack or just a daypack. Those game bags double as a butt cushion while glassing and a pillow when napping. You should never have to go back to camp to get game bags.
Getting your meat cool is the biggest priority. In hot weather that usually means getting the hide off the animal and the meat off the bones and into game bags. When I shoot an elk in the evening, I rarely pack the animal out that night, but I never leave until butching is complete. Like Lawnboy suggested, I always try to get the bags off the ground so air can circulate. I rarely hang them, just make a crib out of logs or rocks and set them on it.
My bull this year was the only elk that I didn't recover within a half an hour after the shot. With a less than ideal shot just before dark I made the decision to back off and wait until morning. We found the bull 1/2 hour after daylight and it turns out he had died within minutes of me shooting him. The temperature didn't get below 50 degrees that night and the meat was still warm to the touch. I was very worried about loosing the meat.
We boned him out as quickly as possible and deposited the meat bags right into the middle of a nearby stream. By that time it was nearly 10 a.m and over 70 degrees. We took about a two hour break and let the meat get good and cold before loading it onto a gamecart and taking it back to the truck. We have a really good homemade cooler that is amazingly well insulated. We made a crib of sticks to keep the meat out of the bloody water and loaded the cooler. We had three blocks of ice in then and I put four more in later that evening. That was on a Tue. evening. Wednesday noon I pulled all the meat out, drained the blood water off, dried each piece of meat as best I could and rotated it to make sure it was all thoroughly chilled. By Thursday evening the meat was sitting in a butcher's meat locker waiting for me to pick it up. I ended up butchering that bull on the following Monday. Time from the shot to freezing was exactly one week. That's the longest I've ever gone without processing an elk in some of the most demanding conditions. Turns out to be the best tasting elk I've ever shot personally.
A couple of things that I think helped me were as follows. When the bull died he was upside down with his rack wedged under him. That held nearly 3/4ths of his body about six inches off the ground. He was still in his summer coat. The thin hair allows heat to dissipate, unlike their winter coat which traps most body heat. We were close to a stream and put the meat bags right in it. We had a great cooler and plenty of ice. Even though I had to put the meat in the stream to cool it, I tried to get it as dry as possible afterwards.
Good luck on your hunt and with taking care of the meat. If you forget everything else remember this. The most important thing is getting the body heat out and chilling it down.
One other thing. Don't put warm meat in a cooler. Even if you do have ice in there it is the air circulating (convection) that cools. Meat has mass and retains heat for a long time. The cold seeping in through the meat (conduction) takes a lot longer than circulation. I've heard of guys loosing meat that went into a cooler warm even though I've not experienced it myself.
Thanks for the advice guys. My plan is to hunt with my day pack as usual with my knives and game bags and the like. When i get one down i was going to get it taken care of and off the ground and take a load back to camp (the Badlands rep told me my pack can hold all my gear and 45 to 50 pounds of meat) and return with my frame pack to start taking out some larger loads until all the meat is back to camp.
Gerald Martin
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Sounds like a sound plan to me!
Have any of you guys ever used part of a drop cloth while deboning to keep dirt off the meat? Then once you were done, you could just throw it away.
Also, John mentioned cooler space. How many coolers do you need? Are 3, 100 quart coolers enough for an average sized elk?
Also, John mentioned cooler space. How many coolers do you need? Are 3, 100 quart coolers enough for an average sized elk?
WapitiBob
Well-known member
I killed my bull Thursday morning. Hung the bags in the shade at camp for the rest of the day then put the bags in 2, 120qt coolers with ice. The quarters will stay in the coolers till I separate the muscles in a cpl days and burger the whole shebang.
Cary game bags, always, then hang the filled bags and you'll be fine.
Cary game bags, always, then hang the filled bags and you'll be fine.
barry kennedy
New member
Buy the havalon knife, it is a must have. I also carry a small meet hook, that i see the guys at the meet packing plant use. I use kifaru, game bags. Use the gut less method and hang quarters from tree. Temperatures should be cold enough at nigt to keep meet, just keep it in the shade during the day. Now the work begins, start hauling it out.
huntfishcamp
New member
I had the same questions last year, my first elk hunt and I shot my first elk, a 4x5 bull last year during rifle season at 3pm, the two of us deboned it and had the meat hanging in game bags by about 630p. We were cutting like crazy trying to beat nighfall and the only regret I had was trying to get the loins out i stabbed myself, too much of a hurry, you have to reach in under the last rib bone and 'feel-cut' your way when you do gutless, so be carefull. I was all jazzed up on adrenaline so that contributed Im sure. We also wrapped the game bags in parachord before hoisting them to support them, i didnt trust the material alone to support the 50lbs or so per bag of meat. We wished we had our heavy packs with when he went down, but after deboning an elk for 3 hrs, doing a heavy load, at night, when your exhausted, didn't seem like a great idea anyways, plus, the meat was cool in the AM when we got back there, and no bears messed with anything, thankfully.
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Think it is elk101.com that has a great video on the gutless method. Last year i used that method... and wow! Whatever the heck i did in the past does not hold a grain of salt to that method.
Game bags always carried sure as heck help to get that meat cooled down.
I always have para cord and a couple carabeaners that i use as pulleys, hoist high in shaded area... helps air flow to cool the meat down and keep out of reach of wolves, lions, yotes n bears. I've tired of using. General knives and gone to the havalon razor type replacable blades.
Game bags always carried sure as heck help to get that meat cooled down.
I always have para cord and a couple carabeaners that i use as pulleys, hoist high in shaded area... helps air flow to cool the meat down and keep out of reach of wolves, lions, yotes n bears. I've tired of using. General knives and gone to the havalon razor type replacable blades.
Elkmagnet
Well-known member
+1 more for the gutless method I always use the animals hide as a tarp as I skin off 1 side I lay the skin out as my tarp when finished I roll the animal on to it skin the other side and repeat
I haven't see the video for the gutless method but will never again gut anything if I can help it. Not sure what the video shows for the tenderloins but I make two perpendicular cuts to the spine above and below and cut any short ribs still attached and pull that section away and trim the tenders off it. I haven't tried the havalon yet but have a smith's pocket sharpener that I used no less than 20 times resharpening while quartering, caping, and skinning, my bull this year.
