These elk packing stories remind me of a deer packing episode by a co-worker. He and his buddy both had high school age brothers. The 4 of them were deer hunting when the young guys found a trail with tracks going down into a real hell hole of a canyon. They went down and one got a big deer. It took all 4 of them most of a day to get it out of there.
The young guys had seen other deer in there so the next day they went back down and the other one got a big deer. The older guys were furious. They told the kids that if they were stupid enough to go down there a 2d time, they were stupid enough to pack it out themselves. They went hunting and let the kids enjoy their own stupidity.

This applies to elk, too. Don't hunt where you're not willing to pack it out.

“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
― George Orwell

It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.