http://elk101.com/gutless-elk-video/
This is a good 2 part video of a couple of guys taking care of a bull using the gutless method. Thought some may want to view this.
Excellent video, that is the best way to handle any game when you are backpacking. Just be aware, you need to make the cuts a little different if you are going to mount the animal.
I was doing a little experiment to see what kind of crossover there was...
That was good information, snag. I've helped to gut, quarter and butcher a couple of elk but that method looks much simpler in the right situation.
That man needed a sharper knife, though.
Very good video,thanks for sharing
That was a really good video for those of us who've never had to pack meat out in quarters before.
Working for a outfitter we do the gutless when ever the animal has to be left overnight, it is by far the best way to do it. Elk are pretty smelly after sitting all night they hold heat so well that even in below freezing temps the risk of meatloss is high.(whatever side they lay on)
Alot of guys go out west with out ever doing it, then end up cutting into the stomach when they go to take the hind quater off(you can actually watch the bloated stomach go down as the gas comes out), having problums with the backstrap etc. This method can be easliy done and it gives great practice to do on a deer or two. Try it before you have to do it with a headlamp in 30 degree weather.
That's alot of good information.
That was great.
Thanks
I like it! I'll be showing all my elk hunting buddies this one, Thanks
very nice, i've done that. good video.
We used this gutless method on my little bull elk in OR and it worked really nice. But these guys really made it look simple, thanks for posting!
We have been using a slight variation of that method to cut up fall caribou (fly in hunts) for many years in Quebec.
Having done hundreds that way, it takes me about 15 minutes if I don't have to cape the animal.
It is the absolute best way to cool the meat the fastest but there is a little more meat loss due to extra trimming if you let the meat form a protective crust.
I agree Christopher. That was the first thing I noticed..."needs a sharper knife!"
I'm a visual type person and I found this to be much better than reading about it or just seeing several pics. This is a method that one guy can do with some rope by themselves. Where I hunt hornets are a problem. So if I can keep the blood and stuff to a minimum it helps.
this needs to be relocated to the "how to" section and saved there
Tried the gutless method this year. Of course it was also the skinless, dragless, meatless method. I like to call it a miss. ;)
Sorry, I couldn't resist. Forgive a newbie.
Excellent video, thanks for posting
I enjoyed that! :thumbsup: Excellant Video! Too bad they weren't carry stick bows though. :archer:
i think he needs to get a sharper knife it would have been 10 times quicker
Thanks for sharing that Snag.
Definitely much cleaner. By the time I typically get done gutting an elk I'm bloody to the elbows.
I'm giving it a try next time.
QuoteOriginally posted by wingnut:
... Saw this done three times on this site by three different guys. All left the neck and the ribs in the field and commented so on the video....
The video in the above link? They certainly do take the neck and rib meat, even talk about it while taking it off, making sure to mention the brisket meat too. They show how to get the tenderloin out. They even make sure to mention that you should keep at it until you have all the meat off the ribs and everyplace else. I think its the "other" video clips that the guys cut corners when going gutless that you are thinking of. This one seemed pretty well done.
Joshua
...all right...no one wants to waste any meat. Just like Steve O says it's a guide line.
very good video thanks
Steve is right, The guy in the video is a stand up guy and the video is edited.
I swear you guys are so hard to please some times and are quick to pass judgement before ever asking any questions. :readit: so we can all cut your video's to pieces.
Tracy
I wouldnt make the cut he did.
We use this method, you can take all the meat. The cut I'd make is along the back, from the tail/rump to the back of the neck (last vertibrea). Works like a champ, and you wont have to change cuts for a shoulder mt if you want one.
You can get all the meat using this method including flank and rib. We typically gut after removing the 4 quarters and backstrap which makes this method much much more convienient on big critters.
wow --- thanks
I use that method also. Except I take it further. Why carry all the bones? I spend more time cutting it up and have a lighter load. I cut off individual muscles so that I don't have to do it when I get home. I process my own meat so I know how to cut it up. I think the knife in the video got dull. I usually carry two knives while elk hunting. A normal knife either has to be sharpened or traded for another before an elk is done. I now use Helle knives. I can easily do the whole elk and it is still sharp.Someone said something about wasps. I have found that the wasps that we have just want something to eat and if you leave them alone they will eat and leave you alone. It was weird the first time I did that. I was caping a large buck and I had about 30 wasps on the head of the deer and about 50 flying around me. I didn't bug them and they didn't bug me. I also carry two headlamps and lots of batteries for after dark processing. Elk are a lot of work to process. Any help in how to do it easier is always appreciated. Gary
Watching that guy hack away with that dull knife was painful.
I still like to gut them, thats the quickest way to cool that carcass down.
QuoteOriginally posted by Corn Stalker:
Tried the gutless method this year. Of course it was also the skinless, dragless, meatless method. I like to call it a miss. ;)
Sorry, I couldn't resist. Forgive a newbie.
:thumbsup:
:biglaugh: :biglaugh: :biglaugh: :biglaugh: :biglaugh:
I agree with you sage brush two + knives or high quality blades,bone out and lots of light. Now the wasp things ok long as they have something to eat. I use to cut meat 6 days a week in college those SOB's will hunt you do no matter how many showers you have. Or as my friends boy said the other day "I though saabs were good cars?"
Sage,
That question is a valid one for sure.
First in some places atleast in AK, bone in is required.
Second the more cuts you make the more places bacteria can end up, considering it's not in an easy to keep dry place to begin with. I have dont it and am still up in the air if I'd do it again. Depends on the hunt really. Float moose hunt, no way! Dont have a lot of time and a long pack to meet a pickup...definatly! So I guess for me it has more to do with time (how long till the end of hunt), how far, and moisture and heat. warmer weather can create bone sour....where the center of the meat never cools before it spoils.
Liked the video as a guide. Pretty good how to video that gives a person an idea what the basics should be. I don't fault them for not showing the process in its complete form as this video was obviously meant to be a guide. I highly doubt that they left anything legally defined as edible. I think some folks need to cut these boys a break.
All that's missing from the thread now is a picture of a fine wild hog breakfast--biscuits and gravy with some nice thick boar patties on the side. MMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmm...mmm
Sorry guys, that was supposed to go in Guru's Floriday hog hunting thread, I don't know what happened!
Great video! Thanks for posting it. I haven't had a chance to try it yet on an elk (skinless, boneless, gutless method also! ;) ), but am more confident in doing so after seeing this video. Looks to be an efficient and clean method.
I'm with you, Justin. Looks to me like the way that fella was feeling for meat along the neck makes me think he would do the same on the rest of the carcass. They did not show the carcass at the end, but he did talk about making sure to get the rib meat. Let's not be too critical here, fellas. I for one appreciate these men putting themselves out there to show the rest of us who have never done it before how to properly perform this procedure.
Matt
I watched some Samburu warrior friends in Kenya butcher a goat using a very similar method. Of course, the elk guys left out the part where you pierce the heart with a long machete and drink the blood as it gushes out, and then eat the kidney raw. It is a delicacy you know...
Steve. I had that breakfast this morning. Seriously. Jalapinio n cheese AND Italian garlic. Both from Marty's and th St Judes hunt last year.
Couldn't make up my mind what flavor, so I had both. ....yum!!!
Anyone else bone out the quarters before the trip out?
Joshua
Its a good video; just remember in some states; like Idaho; if the rib meat is left; you can lose your license to hunt.
( in Idaho and all states in the 'interstate compact')
I would not want to be the taxidermist with this method- if you want to mount it; then go from the cut up the back of the front leg; all the way over the top of the elk; the more skin the better for the mount...
Really - the gutless method is not necessary if you don't gut them like a whitetail.
If you start at the neck end of the chest cavity; and cut around the sternum; when you get to the stomach- you have a good chance of any errors with it. As apposed to starting where the rib cage ends and the belly begins.
I have been real glad to get the guts out of the way first; when bears move in and are pulling the guts off; I for one am glad they are settling for it.
This 'gutless method' is a good method; but do continue to take off all meat; and the rib meat.
If you take a 100 feet of parachute cord with you - you can tie back the legs while working on the elk alone. And too; you can use the cord to lift the quarters. You want the meat off the ground over your head; where the bears have less a chance at it.
When your hunting alone; you will want the meat off the ground; so it will cool. Lifting it can be a chore... if you tie a branch onto the cord you can easier pull with it.
Those rear quarters each will weigh a good 70 pounds- if your not used to that- walking down or up a mountain will be a challenge; and taking two quarters- well that is for the around 30 year old group.
Getting that meat all out is normally more of a challenge than getting the elk itself.....
The meat is worth it though.
and yes jhg the bones weigh a lot; but sometimes they give you an advantage in carrying. If you don't have a pack frame; you can toss a quarter over your shoulder; and hold onto the leg bone to balance it while on the trip out to your pack frame.