Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Helping pack out a stranger's elk

My last bull was shot just before dark on our last day. There were 4 of us and the 4th guy hunted close to camp because of bad blisters on his feet. that left 3 of us hunting together when I shot it. We sent one guy to get the pack frames and get rid of bows and daypacks. We had finished up quartering when I look and 4 headlights are coming. Hmmm. We had some friends in the same campground and 2 of them had volunteered to come and sure enough, the guy with the bad blisters was there too. That tells you something about a guys character when he volunteers to be the 6th guy and has some nasty blisters.

I wouldn't expect help from anyone and would expect a hunter has a plan on how to get it out. But that night I surely was grateful for the help I received as I was completely exhausted and my feet were in bad shape too. Our group will all help until the work is done. And you can darn well bet that should our friends need help, I will be the first to volunteer.

I generally hunt alone or with my wife. I don't expect help from anyone and would never ask unless I was injured between the time I got the animal down and when it came time to pack out.

However, I would help anyone who asked or looked like they needed it.

On one occasion my wife and I were having lunch on a Sunday afternoon in a tiny little wide spot in the road cafe. An older gentleman came in looking for a mechanic. He said he had a moose down 4 miles in, not too far off a 4 wheeler trail and his wheeler was broke. He had his bike on a trailer. Everyone assured him he'd not find a mechanic on Sunday. I offered to take my ATV in and get his moose. I even assured him I didn't want any meat. I just didn't want to see him lose his moose to spoilage(it was still warm out) or bears because his wheeler was down. It was early enough I could have had the bull out before sundown.

He flat refused. Said he could never accept that kind of charity. I said okay and we headed to our favorite spot.

I looked hard for a game warden to report it. No one in that situation would turn down help unless they had a sub legal bull down. I never did find a warden but I'm as certain as can be he had an illegal moose down and didn't want anyone finding out.

Not done anyone else's elk, but did put in half a day to engineer a moose recovery in Wyoming. Ended up loading it whole into his pickup.

Me and my buddy have helped more than a few fellow hunters haul out animals and fed more than a few too.....we've always kept our camp open to folks bc we've hunted alone far too many times and we both remember what that was like.

I've helped pack one strangers elk. Took a couple hours out of my limited hunting time but I was happy he got his bull and happy to help him get it out of the woods. Turned out he was a real nice fella. We loaded it whole into the back of his wifes Kia SUV!

If I'm ever in the position I could use a little help with an animal, I would hope a fellow hunter would lend a hand, but I certainly don't expect it.

A lot of people start a task with little or no thought as to how they are going to finish it. While I have helped people out under many different circumstances, there are limits.

Some years back my hunting buddy and I were turkey hunting in the mountains. As we headed home at dusk we stopped to see if a guy walking the road needed help. He said he was headed back to his truck. Because it was getting cold and dark and all he had was a short sleeve shirt, his shotgun and some shells, we offered to give him a lift. Turns out he was five miles from his truck and headed the wrong direction. He had no map, compass, water, flashlight, cell phone or any idea where he was and was fortunate my hunting buddy and I recognized the landmarks he described. We turned around and took the guy back to his truck.

Another time my hunting buddy and I were bone tired and sitting down to a hot dinner when someone knocked on my trailer door. Turns out to wo guys from California had knocked down a bull, then drove their truck 300 yards off the road down a slope with a 120 foot vertical drop where they promptly got stuck in a swampy area. All they wanted was for us to skip supper and tow their truck out - never mind that this was in a travel restricted area where driving that far off the road was illegal or that my truck would likely have gotten stuck as well. Instead we took the two guys and their dog to Craig and dropped them off at a bar.

Yet another time my wife and kids were fishing on Eleven Mile Reservoir west of Colorado Springs. Strong winds came up and the waves started getting high enough we decided to get off the lake while the getting was good. As we headed back to the docks we rescued a single woman and her young teenage daughter. They had been fishing close to shore in a blow-up raft designed more for a swimming pool than a lake. The winds started pushing them across the lake, a trip I'm not sure they would have survived. They had already lost their paddles and the waves were higher than the sides of the raft, which was pretty well swamped when we rescued them. The woman was trying to paddle with a shoe but the other shoes had been lost overboard. We got them to safety and I read the mother the riot act. Sharp hooks and small plastic inflatable rafts don't go well together and they didn't even have life vests. While I applaud the mother for trying to do something with her daughter, such poor planning could easily have killed both of them.

Three years ago I struggled with a bad hip to pack my elk out alone. While doing so I met a family that had been hunting the same area for years and were dragging an elk out whole on a EMT sled. They didn't offer me any help and none was expected or requested. Last year they were there again and had another elk down. My hunting partner and I had just gotten my elk back to the truck when we noticed they couldn't get their elk into the back of their truck. We could have left them to quarter it up as we had done but instead lent a hand.

As far as I'm concerned, the often heard phrase "Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency [or obligation] on my part" remains as true as ever.

Not an elk but helped a solo hunter drag a deer out of a deep ravine in central SD one time. It was warm out and he didn't have a pack. We were only about a half mile from the truck but it was steep. It seemed the right thing to do at the time and I didn't regret the time spent doing it.

There are some really great stories here. I have offered to help people a couple times and have been turned down. I have been helped and offered help several times, also.

One time was after my boy got a huge cow elk down in NM. We had a hell of a pack out ahead of us and then a guy showed up that had access through private land below us. We had a short pack out with which he helped. The guy was kind of a mountain man/guide and had several kids. I gave him a bunch of meat and he was thankful for it.

I guess the thing that amazes me, is the lack of preparation by hunters. People go elk hunting (or even deer) with no packs, sleds etc. to get the meat out. I have packed every one of my elk on my back and would not even consider not being well-prepared for an elk hunt. There is never a reason that I can see for taking an elk (or deer) out whole, unless it is real close to a road.

I shot my deer Friday, not far at all from my truck, just a little draw to navigate down. I had just finished gutting it and preparing to roll onto my sled, when 2 young pheasant hunters showed up and offered to get it to my truck. I gratefully accepted, as my old legs were plum wore out from walking those hills and draws since daybreak. Yes I coulda done it, but figured the Lord provides the kindness of strangers, when you need it. I appreciated their kindness.

This weekend I had one of the most creepy encounters of my life involving one of those offers to help.

I was dragging out a deer Saturday night.
I had my LED headlamp on low power, it was a very dark night. From a good distance away I could see reflections of a truck parked next to mine. No lights.
This is remote prairie. The only reason this guy has for being there is if he is Fish and Game. Nobody else has reason to be parked at a strangers truck way out here in the dark.

I get within about 20 yards and he blasts me with his high beams. I drop my drag rope and walk up to my tailgate.

Conversation goes something like -

"Didja getcha one?"

I tell him the high beams on his truck work real good.

He says if I got something down he's available to help drag it out. Then he tells me his buddy got one across the creek tonight.

I tell him the only shots I heard were my own.

I don't put down my pack or rifle. Instead I walk a short distance back to where I had dropped my drag rope and pick it up again.

He follows me and without asking grabs a portion of the loop on my drag rope.

I tell him I've been dragging this deer for over an hour tonight. I'll take it across the finish line myself.

He bugs out pretty quick after that without saying much, if anything.




Something was very wrong about that encounter. I think my guardian angel was looking out for me that night.

Yes, that situation was creepy. The angel was on your shoulder.

Yet another good reason to carry a sidearm. I never leave home without it.

Something really wrong w/ that dude. Somebody was watching over you on that one.

I've helped pack a few out for others...both on my back and on my horses. I've stopped on the road quite a bit and helped old timers lift a critter into the back of their rig. I normally have no issue doing it.

I don't think it is greedy at all to not do so if one choses, for a variety of reasons and none of them are laziness. An elk can easily take a couple days to get out if you're doing things right. If a guy shoots an elk, it is his responsibility to get it out or have help back in town/camp. He shouldn't be hunting if he doesn't have the ability to do it himself.

I don't mind helping others, but if my hunting time is running short or if for whatever reason I don't have the time, I will NOT apologize for walking right on past.

And you Shouldn't feel like you need to apologize either.

Awesome Story thank you for sharing and condolences on your father.

I think you are right.

All these elk stories. I am jelly.

This, my thoughts precisely.

It has been my experience that if you do the right thing, even if it is an inconvenience at the time, you get rewarded later. Trust me on this one. It has happened too many times in my life to be pure coincidence.!

shootaswede:

Yep, that is the approach I try to follow too.

John the Swede (not to be shot please