Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game So you down a big elk or moose in the evening hunt...

Where I hunt elk, it's pretty rare to be able to get your truck to the downed animal. So, I have to field dress, butcher and bag the animal and carry it out in pieces, on my back, using a backpack or packboard.

First you field dress it. Then, while laying on it's side you skin that part that is accessible. But keep the hide intact. That will help you later. Remove the feet at the wrists. Remove the tenderloins and the backstraps and put them in the the premium meat bag.

Remove the hind quarter and put it in a game bag. Remove the shoulder and put that in a bag.

Roll the meat off of the ribs and put that in a different bag along with all the meat that you can get off of the neck. This is the burger bag.

Remember you kept the hide intact. So lay out the hide so you can roll the animal over onto the stretched-out hide.

Repeat everything on this side that you did on the first side.

You should end up with six bags; two hind quarters, two shoulders, the premium meat bag, and the burger bag.

Let's say, for discussion sake, that you're not a taxidermist and you don't trust yourself to remove the cape from the head. The hide should still be intact. Cut the bottom half (ass end) off of the hide. Cut the head off at the neck while leaving the upper half of the hide attached. Roll the hide up and tie it around the antlers with a rope.

Put each load in your backpack and you should be able to carry the animal to the truck in four loads. Each hind quarter is a load and the shoulders are carried out as one load. The head and half of the hide is the fourth load. You carry out the meat bags in your hands while hawling out the quarters.

I've done this on most of the elk that I have shot and a few times I've done it at night using a headlamp. Hopefully you have some extra batteries for you headlamp.

Once you have it butchered and bagged, it's a lot easier to hang the pieces until you return in the morning. A few times the animal dropped where there are no trees to hang it so I've tried to get the pieces off of the ground by laying them on logs or rocks or anything to keep some space between the bags and the ground. In Alaska, we made a lattice of alder poles on which to lay the bags of caribou meat.

This works fine for a big elk and you can do it by yourself. Let's say you are so far away that it's unreasonable to make four long trips. Then you need to get some help from friends to make fewer trips.

If you've got a bull moose down, you will need more help.

KC, simple question: why gut teh animal? Everythign else you explain is gutless method, why take the time/mess to gut them? i haven't done an elk or anything bigger than deer, so honestly asking

If I put one down and am alone, I field dress it first. It is easier to roll it over and any other maneuvers I need to do while butchering it. If I have help, then we do the gutless method. I have never killed a moose but have killed quite a few elk and helped with twice as many more.

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Same answer that I would have given for elk.

But also I've just gotten use to gutting them right away. You never know what can happen.

I have helped with two moose. Both we tried to do gutless but even after removing half of the animal, three of us still couldn't roll them over until we field dressed them. The stomach alone is about the size of a washing machine and that's only a mild exaggeration.

So interestingly enough I was along for the taking of a Bull Moose in Idaho on Sunday.

Bull was dropped at about 7:00 pm. It was pitch dark by ~8:00. Even in the mountains of Idaho there were no suitable trees for hanging. All the trees in the area were either aspens or smaller spruce or pines and any branches high enough would likely not support a moose quarter. I had actually scouted the area early and looked for some trees near the pond we were going to sit on to no avail.

Now fortunately, the pick-up could be driven to the moose. Took me and another individual a bit over 3 hours to get it skinned, quartered, backstraps, tender loins, and neck meet removed and all bagged. id

So I took my folding atv ramps, laid them on edge, slightly spread open to make two "A"s and then used them to make a zig zag support structure across the pick-up bed and laid the meat bags across that support structure. Provided about 11 inches of air flow underneath and then I also had a small folding ladder with me and used that which provided about 8 inches of air flow space.

Night time temps dropped into the low 40s so the meat was just fine overnight.

Noice!!! Glad it turned out well, sounds like a blast.

Congratulations Mike on a great bull moose!

Dick

Thanks for the kind words...

Here is a pic

When we had an elk on the ground, sleep was not an option. The exception was when one of the guys in the bunch made a bad shot...tracking!

I once made a tripod (tipi like frame) out of 2 walking sticks and a shooting stick and paracord to hang mule deer quarters on to get them up off the ground..It was the kind of sticks you could extend to different heights...The quarters werent completely off the ground, but I put rocks under the bottom of them on the ground...i came back super early the next morning to retrieve the meat I left hanging with no issues...It was down in the 40s overnight...You could possibly do the same with elk quarters to leave overnight...Just need a way to get them propped up to get airflow around them...3 walking sticks of the same height would probably work better...

Any time we have shot one in a nasty place that close to dark we gut it, skin it and cut the back straps out, then lay the hide on the ground, put poles between the hide and the spine and run rope from the legs outstretched and staked in the ground opening the body cavity. There are times that the head has a rope on it stretched up the hill tied off to a tree or bush to keep it from rolling any further down the hill. Knock on wood in 52 years of killing elk I have not lost any meat yet.

That's what I did. On a big bull moose, skin the neck back too if possible. I didn't and the meat was a little greenish (and still warm) by morning, but still OK... just not as good as it could have been. Live and learn.

With more time before dark, I section it up and get the pieces up off the ground on deadfalls or a log rack, preferably at least 100 yards from the gut pile. Packing it out can wait for the next day.

And you want to come back to it hot chambered......

That's a fo' sho'. The thick hair on the neck is an excellent insulator, probably the best on the body. Even with a deer, you want to skin the neck if you have to leave it overnight.

A large framed, fat tired bike with racks/pannier bags has become quite handy for moving loads around for me. Lots of weight, walk the bike. For flat ground I may build a trailer or just look for one of those little toddler trailers at some point...
I keep a small painters drop sheet to roll animals on to, to protect from dirt. Immediately remove and bag all meat in quality game bags. I carry a couple large garbage bags in case of near by water, load the game bags in garbage bags and submerge. A small tarp is good for creating shade and can be propped up with your hiking poles. Make sure there’s excellent air flow. Use paracord to tie bone-in quarters, standing on end (bone) to your tripod. Bones and racks can be used to elevate meat. Have a good pack, head lamp (always!) with extra batteries and don’t be afraid to work all night. Carry all meat being left behind, well away from the carcass and leave in an open area that can be glassed before walking in. Leave a worn article of clothing tied to your game bags and piss around the area. Lightweight tent stakes could be carried to stake out and spread eagle an animal if you are going to leave it whole (hide removed, legs split away from body), just an idea, I’ve never tried it. Carry a couple coolers In the truck filled with ice and shove inside old worn out sleeping bags to help insulate, throw blankets/tarps, etc. on top as well.

i keep a large cotton sheet at the truck or in camp -it has came in handy a few times as shade or as an extra barrier to flies.

Here you go OP- Anything to get it off the ground and air around it for cooling/crusting after it is gutted/skinned. Use whatever is available as resource.

I have, pre or post kill, constructed hang poles or ground racks, hung it on tree branches, propped up on rocks or against tree trunks. One caribou that I had to leave for several days in hot weather, I dug a hole in a remnant snow bank, lined the bottom with brush branches, put the meat in, covered that with more brush, then garbage bags, then piled snow back on top. Kept perfectly, tho all the snow was off the top by the time I got back. No fly blow either.

A friend's wife killed a 38" ram in 70 degree weather several days before pickup. He hung the meat (well- put it out on rocks) overnight every night, then drowned it in the cool lake inside waterproof bags (garbage) during the days. That worked too.

I gotta say - packing meat after dark in brown bear country puckers me up something fierce. I've done it, but won't unless absolutely necessary, which it seldom is.

I'm kind of surprised that nobody has mentioned this (that I've seen yet at any rate), but after skinning it, open up the quarters and neck. Opening it up to the bone will make a huge difference and almost completely eliminate any chance of bone sour. On the rear quarters just follow the round, and on the fronts come in on the blade. Neck you have to cut meat but coming right down one side of the vertebrae will be enough. Doesn't take much air space to let that big bone cool, a small stick jammed in there will keep it open enough to let heat escape.

Good thought. It never crossed my mind. Should work if necessary. I've never had bone sour tho, and I prefer to keep the meat in as large as possible pieces until I get it home.

if I ever kill a moose in very warm weather, it's a thing to remember. Thanks.

Bad idea IMO&E...

Inviting bacteria into the bone is the last thing I would do.

No way am I hiking 2 or 3 miles back to the truck in the dark for a sheet. What does work in warm weather is a big piece of cheesecloth. It's very light weight to carry. The only catch is you need to use sticks or something to keep it off the meat as flies can lay eggs right through it. The hard part is finding cheesecloth wider than 36".