Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Can you pack out 1/2 of an elk yourself?

This article appeared today in the Idaho Statesman. This family makes and sells these pack bags that they claim can enable a conditioned person to carry a full 1/2 elk. Maybe they can but I'm not about to try.


For most of his 60 years, Chris Peterson has been hunting elk and, when successful, packing them out on his back in boned-out quarters, sometimes over the course of two days.

“Elk hunters enjoy pain, sadomasochistic I guess,” joked the Middleton resident. “And we hunt steep country.”

But even sadomasochistic elk hunters would like it to be easier to pack meat out.

“I hate making more than one trip up and down that mountain if I don’t have to,” Peterson said.

He thought he had the answer when he bought a portable winch, but that proved to take too much time and effort. He still had to go back to get the winch and gas, and the process was slow. Discouraged and sitting around the campfire in 2000 after a three-day pack trip to haul out two bull elk, Peterson had a game-changing idea.

“I used to help the neighbor deliver newspapers,” he said. “And I was always amazed that on Sundays he would have that pack so loaded that I was surprised he could ride a bike.”

Why not use the same kind of packs to haul out elk meat, he suggested. So he posed the problem to his wife, Adrienne, who — after some measurements to ensure they were big enough to carry an elk quarter — sewed up three newspaper carrier-type bags. She made them out of Cordura fabric and with clips and webbing to hold the load and cinch it up tight to the wearer.

“My husband wanted to make sure they held up well,” Adrienne said.

“We’ve used the same packs for more than 15 years and probably packed out a ton of meat in those bags,” Peterson said.

Other elk hunters took notice of the unique bags, so Peterson’s son — also named Chris — and the rest of the family suggested that since Peterson was retiring, he should sell the bags as a business. That’s when the company Pack Out Bags was born.

“It’s not making us rich, but it’s paying for itself,” Peterson said.

“It’s pretty steady from the middle of the year to the end of the year,” Adrienne said. “The word has gotten out a little bit.”

The bags sell for $89.95 and are available in either camouflage or fluorescent orange material. An additional $6.50 is tacked on for shipping. The bags are cut and sewn in Idaho.

“The hard part is trying to keep the price down,” Peterson said. “Hunting is so expensive anyway. We shopped around to find the lowest-priced materials we could.”

Making the bags out of cotton or a cheaper material didn’t make sense to Peterson.

“If you’re going to put your name on the bag, make it good,” he said. “I don’t want them falling apart the first time you use them.”

The bags are fairly light, said Chris Jr., and when folded up can fit in the palm of your hand. So the bags are easy to throw into a backpack or fanny pack to always be handy. No need to go back to the truck to get a frame backpack or game cart. Plus, the bags can be loaded in the front and the back to help balance the load. The bags can also be thrown in the washing machine after a trip.

Peterson said the easiest way to load the bags is to bone out the elk, put the meat in game bags to keep it clean, and then hang the bags from trees with baling twine or rope that you don’t mind cutting. Then fit the Pack Out Bag around the bags, step underneath the load and cut the strings. Otherwise, it can be hard for one person to lift the loaded Pack Out Bag high enough off the ground to get under it. A video on the Pack Out Bag website demonstrates the technique.

“It’s a chore to get underneath them,” Peterson said. “That’s a big load.”

He admitted, though, that not everyone probably wants to or is physically able to carry out half an elk.

Photos on the Pack Out Bag website show that the bags can also be used for hauling other heavy loads, as well.

Although advertising has been by word of mouth, they’ve sold bags around the Northwest, Florida, Colorado and a few to Canadian buyers. Although the family approached a patent attorney, he told them it wasn’t a unique enough design to qualify.

It’s become a small family business. Chris Jr. stars in the videos on the website that his wife built. Chris’ brother takes care of orders when the rest of the family is gone. Otherwise it’s their mother, Adrienne, who fills the orders.

“Even if we don’t get rich off of it, it’s fun anyway,” Chris Jr. said. “One of th

From left to right, Chris Peterson, Kelly McLean and Christopher Peterson packed out an elk from Idaho’s Sawtooth Zone in 2010 using their homemade Pack Out Bags that the family now sells online.

...here's a pic. Photobucket is having problems today and I can't get it to upload from my computer. It's not a jpg so I can't link it here. http://www.idahostatesman.com/outdoors/hunting/xrz2z/picture44078751/ALTERNATES/FREE_960/IO%20packs

I can and have, but I used a backpack. Not sure I'd care for that method of having all the weight on my shoulders.

My hunting buddy and I knocked three elk down one day (one bull, two cows), three miles from the truck. Including the head, which came out the first day with the straps and filets, it took us three additional days to get the boned-out meat back to the truck and then to camp.

Pretty close to half an elk a day for each of us, three days straight plus what we got out the first day. Pack frames for both of us.

Won't ever do that again and couldn't if I wanted to...

Interesting ........I like the ability to stick the bag in my daypack.

These guys didn't invent the front/back pack. It's been around forever. They just modified it and went commercial with it.
I've never tried one. A pack with a good waist belt will put the all the weight on your legs, though, with no extra strain on the spine.

I don't know if I can; but, I don't. Three trips for me.

I like the load-balancing aspect of it. Reminds me of the yoke for carrying water. It is not a bad idea but I'm not seeing it to be dramatically better than a traditional heavy pack.

A well made full size pack would distribute some weight onto the hips and allow adjustments for shifting the load to take best advantage of the porters core strength. I'm a little concerned about this much load all on the bearers shoulders.

In the photo I see 3 very strong looking guys with a small bull, It looks to be very similar to the manpower required to carry by other carry methods.

One thing I really like is how high the loads are being carried. In certain situations that could really be a nice for moving through certain types of cover.

I'd probably buy one. It might be years before I use it but every carry is different and someday I'll probably encounter a situation where this is ideal.

At my age today I'm not under the illusion I can pack out an Elk period

That looks painful. I wonder how you get into it if you are by yourself.

You didn't read the article. They'll hang it from a tree by small ropes then load it. They get under it and cut the ropes to drop it to their shoulders. In my case, it would hit the ground with my knees crumpled, too.

5 trips last time I packed one out, deboned.

These are pretty similar and about 1/2 the price:

http://waynecarlton.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=16

I'll stick with Kifaru.

Given 225-250 lbs of meat alone, I will say no.

With antlers, I think I could get a bull elk out in three or four loads. Lots of variables there though.

I useta could.

My brother shot a spike, he took a ham, my dad took a ham, I took both front shoulders and neck.




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Yes, I can pack half an elk out.

In two trips.

Not worth ruining my knees trying to pack that much. If doing it myself it's a few trips. If I got my mule its two

I did it sorta on the November 1st.
Was with a friend and she shot a cow, it went to the bottom of a coulee in the Missouri breaks. To follow the drainage out would have been a 2 mile plus walk. To go straight back out was 500 ft semi vertical. I know it was 500 ft because the spool of rope we threw over the edge almost reached the carcass. I quartered and pulled the backstraps while one guy carried out the front shoulder. When he returned I loaded a front and a hind in my packpack and using the rope pulled myself upwards. Upon return I was not thrilled to find the last hind quarter waiting for me. So I loaded my gun, binoculars, and the last ham, I climbed it again. I could not have done it a third time, and my friends declined to go back for the ivories.

No matter how you do it, the fun stops when you pull the trigger. Sometimes the work afterwards just sucks a lot more than others.

Every time I look at a downed elk I realize how much work is ahead of me. This year my 6x5 was just under 600 yards to the truck with only a 50' rise. I got it all out in one trip with my cart and went to my knees in exhaustion after getting it to the top of the rise. My buddy helped some but only the last 80 yards across the flats. (He is pretty limited as to what he can do physically due to his diabetes and resultant problems.)

A couple cows popped up on the skyline as I was quartering the bull. I waited and watched, rifle just out of reach. Had they come my way off the skyline I'd have probably filled my cow tag. After getting the bull out I was very thankful they went the other way.

On a rag bull or average cow, I can normally get both fronts, the backstop and T-loins out in one trip. That's roughly 1/2 an elk. I'll usually bring my rifle and gear out with one hind quarter on a second trip. The other hind quarter and antlers and/or trim usually come out on a third trip. So while I normally can get "half" an elk out in one trip, the full elk normally at least 3.

A mature bull takes me 4, sometimes 5 trips.

In regards to those packs, I have often thought it would be nice to balance the load with equal weight on the front. Those packs don't look comfy but the idea is sound.