I have killed elk from Idaho to southern New Mexico, and in most of the states in between. I had to leave a couple of them in the field overnight, but I was able to field dress both and leave a jacket covering most of the exposed heart/lung area. Both were perfectly fine the next morning and there was no meat lost.

Conditions vary from time to time and place to place, so hard and fast rules don't always apply. What happened with that elk that you harvested in the Gros Ventres may not be what will happen with the one that you shoot in the Gila a month or six weeks later.

Last edited by mudhen; 09/20/18.
Ben

Some days it takes most of the day for me to do practically nothing...