Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Rethinking my Elk Hunting plans

Llamas for me. When I turned 60, I could see that my days of backpacking elk quarters were limited. After some buying and selling, I now have 5 very good geldings. Last year, I got my elk 2 miles in and 1400' up from the truck. 1 easy trip with the boys and Br'er elk was in the truck and on the way home.
That said, llamas are sort of specialized pack animals. They aren't for everyone. Goats are cheaper, easier to find, and work better for many people. They just can't haul as much weight so you need more of them. With the llamas, 3 can handle a cow elk, 4 for a bull.

Some years ago, I shot a smallish bull about a mile up a trail then way up on a side hill. There was about 6" of snow to make it easy to skid the quarters down to the trail. I took the antlers out and got my pack out of the truck. The plan was to skid the quarters down in 2 trips, bone them out at the bottom, then pack them out the mile 1 at a time. While I was putting the antlers in the truck and getting my pack, a couple guys stopped by to look at it. They had cow tags and were interested in where I got it. I took 1 of them up the trail with me and pointed out where we'd seen some cows.
When I got back down to the trail with the last 2 quarters, the other guy was waiting for me with 2 horses. He asked if he could 'borrow' my elk. The horses were 2 colts that had never packed and he saw it as a good opportunity to try them out. I thought extensively about it for 2 seconds and said 'ok'. He held the horses while I loaded the panniers and we waltzed them right out without a snort or a buck. Piece of cake.