Circumstances:
1. Elk hunting with one other hunter.

2. Temperatures will range between 15 degrees in the morning to 40 degrees at mid-day.

3. I anticipate no rain but moderate probability of snow.

4. Not more than two miles from truck, which cannot reach hunting area.

5. Terrain is comparable with Missouri's Ozarks.

6. Physical condition of hunters is below average -- that is, late 50s to early 60s and moderately arthritic.
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What goes into the [collective] packs for both hunters to field dress and reduce elk to move to truck?

Good sharp knives, knife sharpener, perhaps a small folding game saw, game bags, rope.  You could add a bottle of water and some munchies for the energy you will need.

Don't look at it as work.  It's the pay off to a successful hunt!  

Don't carry any bone out!!  You can bone the animal and cool it before you pack it up.  Keep your packs reasonable and make one extra trip.  With our Bison Gear day packs we can convert to a back pack and carry one load out when we go for our BIG packs.  That helps too.

Good luck!!

Mike

Yeah skip the saw and save yourself plenty of work & time.One handy item for elk hunting is a 6'X9' tarp.You can use that to roll the critter onto or tuck it under him or her while skinning.It really helps keep things clean.Now do not gut your critter.Start by skinning one half then roll the beast over and skin the other side.Now you got yourself a not gutted...but skinned out elk on a 6X9 blue tarp.You can remove the front shoulders by removing the bone and all,and then debone it.Then cut down the base of the neck to the rump and along the rib cage.This will give you your two back straps and front shoulders done and ready for packing.When you removed the back straps you have now exposed the hip socket.You can remove the bone at the socket and you will have the hind quarters off the elk and ready for de-boneing.I usely do not remove the hide legs at all,but leave them at the hip socket and cut around and down along the bone.Now you got all the meat off except for the neck meat and between the ribs plus the sir-tender-loin.The neck meat is worth cutting off and packing out,as for between the ribs thats your call.Not alot of meat there...but...and the tenders can be had be takeing a good sharp knife and cut thru 2-3 ribs at the back bone.Then slip you knife into the body cavitey and cut the tenders out........then the work starts.....bowdoc

Like wingnut said don't take any bone with you. I always pack a fishing fillet knife with me, it makes boning out the elk a lot quicker and more efficient. A couple of good meat sacks to put the loose meat into. Some rope so that if you do not get it all the first day you can tie the rest up in a tree to keep it away from predators/scavangers. I can usually get the whole animal out in 5 trips by my self. Big ones will need an extra if you are taking the whole head out. I would not recommend 5 or less for anyone not in pretty good shape and used to packing a heavy load. Make sure you stay very well hydrated and don't work it to hard. There is no elk out there worth a heart attack.

I haven't killed an elk - all of the following is from deer experience and my research for my first elk hunt.

The meat from an elk will weigh about 40% of the elk's live weight. Plan accordingly.

Based on field butchering deer and the terrain - the comments about not carrying bone off the mountain make a lot of sense.

Consider using a gutless approach to field butchering the elk - it should be less work and quicker. I know this is true for deer. Here is a link showing how:  http://home.att.net/~sajackson/guttless1.html

I would also bone it out.I do that with deer actually and only do one side at a time useing the inside of the hide as my clean table.I don't gut them either starting on the belly side skin up beyond half way and work one side.After that side is finished flop the hide back over and flip it.Repeat the process on the 2nd side.

If need be a couple trips shooting the shi? with your bud maybe easier than an over loaded single trip

If you can get the truck reasonably close, two guys can drag half an elk on a big doubled poly tarp if the ground is grassy, bone and all. We did that with my last bull. Carried the head and hide in one trip, and dragged the two halves on the next two trips. We finished the boning and butchering in camp, with good light and tables to work on.

That tanned elk hide is my favorite trophy.

I like the advice from Bowdoc. That's pretty much what we did last year on Whip's bull. The front quarters come off pretty easily and one guy can manage them. The rear quarters are pretty heavy, and if you're on steep ground like we were, can be pretty dangerous for one guy to move. Didn't think about leaving them on and taking the meat right off. Good idea...

If it was downhill to the truck, and snow on the ground, there's no way you'd get me to put an elk on my back. I'd drag one every chance I got. With a friend in steep terrain, I've dragged out 6 or 7. If the terrain is flat enough to use a game cart, I'd bone as others have described and use a game cart. There's no EASY way, just some less painful.

As a guy whose had 3 back surgeries and whose knees aren't the greatest, I'd recommend trying to keep heavy loads off you back in mountainous country, where a slip can wreck you for life.

Of course, only IMHO.

Dean

Dean's post reminded me- once my guide and his "cowboy" helper rode a couple of spike bulls down the mountainside like sleds, down a steep open meadow and hanging on to the horns. Cheap thrills!

To offer a dissenting view, if just 2 miles from a road, skin and quarter with just a knife, most knives should be able to do this without sharpening.  Bone out the front shoulders but leave bone in the hind quarters, much easier to rope onto a pack frame and hang in camp to get a rind on it in cool temps. 2 guys could carry out an elk in 2-3 trips at the most. You would just need a knife, some paracord, game bags, water.  A hiking staff is mighty handy once you have elk on your back.

If the hunters are not in good shape, and even if they are in good shape, my advice is they rent a couple of horses and let them do the work.  Like mentioned above, it isn't worth a heart attack, or your partner missing his valuable hunting time.  Where I live in Montana you can rent horses (4) and a wrangler to retrieve an elk for $300-400, depending on how far the elk is from the trailhead.  They will trailer the horses to the trailhead, you lead them to your elk, the wrangler guts and quarters the elk, if you haven't done it yet (which I don't recommend), loads it on the packs horses, and then you and him ride to the trailhead.  Meanwhile, your partner who hasn't got an elk gets to make good use of his limited hunting time and hunt elk instead spending a day or two working his butt off packing out your elk.

I like Walt's idea the best.  Now I might just have to ship "Hoot" my Belgium/Quarter horse to Montana next fall     Doc

I've always packed them, but as I get older, Walt's recommendation looks more and more appealing.  I do it similar to what bowdoc does, except I do one side at a time.  I.e., I skin one side and take off the front and rear legs, then the loins and neck meat.  Then roll the beast over and do the same on the other side.  Depending on the length of the pack, I will bone the front and rear quarters before packing out, or, if the pack isn't too far, leave them in tact and bone them back at camp.  I cut and package my own meat at camp and take it to the nearest cold storage.  60 isn't that old.  You can do it.  Good luck.

Only hunt uphill.

I carried two pieces of bone out for five miles. One bone had 7 points and the other bone had 8 points.  Antlers and cape was some of the hardest work.Hope you invested in a good packframe. I did right when I got home from that trip.  I'll be ready for the next one.

Dave,
Depending on how steep the hill is, my old, creaking, popping, knees feel better when going up hill then when carrying a load down the hill.

Don't get me wrong, I have packed my share of game out from the back country, on my back, even though my horses were only an hour and half drive away.  But, that was in my younger days and my body is now paying the price and breaking down from carrying those heavy loads.

Lot of good advise here. With the temps your anticipating there's no rush other than keeping critters off your meat.If horses are an option I'd go with them. We use a two wheeled game cart to pack out if the terrain allows it and horses aren't an option.(Wilderness areas don't allow wheeled vehicles) Two guys can haul more weight with the cart than on their back. Don't take anything you can't eat or don't want to mount.

Doc if your thinking on shipping "Hoot" out next year you ought to strap a couple of those deer you shoot this fall on him to see how he takes to it. Not sure if your ready for the Rodeo yet  

If you can't pack the meat out with a friend to help.You may have to look for a smaller critter to hunt...I ai'nt going to Montana to rent a horse and there sure ai'nt no horse rental within several hundred miles of where we hunt and very limited access to them four wheeler deals.As mentioned above there really is no easy way to move a 450-1,000 pound critter.bowdoc