Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Question on dressing, meat packing, hanging, etc.

Some of you may have seen some of my previous posts, maybe not - anyway, I'm planning my first backpack hunting trip to CO in October for elk. One of the things I've been researching is field dressing/deboning/packing/etc. I actually did a gutless debone on the whitetail I killed this year to try it out - worked great! I may do that from now on.

I found alot of other useful info as well, but still have a question or 2.

If I put an animal on the ground in the afternoon for example, I can get it deboned and pack the first load back to camp. Should I debone the whole thing and hang the remaining meat (in sacks) from a tree limb, etc.? Making several trips in the dark does not sound like a great idea depending on terrain. Or maybe debone and get in all in waterproof bags and put 'em in a nearby creek for the night and start packing in the morning?

May sound like stupid questions, but I have no experience in this type situation. I know more details would help give better answers, but not sure exactly how far from camp I'll be hunting, etc.

Thanks!

Those aren't stupid questions, good on ya for preparing in advance. The last thing you want is to be standing there, miles from camp, with a dead elk and your......knife in your hand. Boning it out is the only way to go with yourself as the pack mule.

You won't need to put the meat in a creek overnight to keep it cool, in October it's best to hang it up with good air circulation, with a bag if you want but lots of times I just use the cheap cotton stretch "game bags" to keep it clean.

I hang it overnight before boning, it's easier that way.

I've done what you're describing a few times, I seem to have my best luck in the evenings. What I do is skin/process the animal using the gutless method, one side at a time, starting at the backbone peel the skin off the side. Fillet out the backstrap, separate the shoulder and the ham, and hang those whole in a spruce or fir tree, on the shady side to account for the sun in the morning. I carry some parachute cord for hanging the shoulders/hams, separate the lower leg, and run the cord through a slit between the leg bone and large tendon that goes to the "knee." It's hard to hang a big ham by yourself, so the way I do it is find a big enough branch about head high or a little higher, and break it or cut it to leave a two-foot stub on the tree. Run the parachute cord through the leg, and tie a loop about a foot in diameter in it and lift the ham and slip the loop over the stub of the branch, saves the effort of trying to hold it up and tie a knot at the same time. Assuming you're alone.

Once you have the backstraps and legs separated, you can trim the rest of the carcass for meat, and get the tenderloins. You'll need a bag for that. To get at the TLs I find it easier to cut open the belly at that point and let the guts spill out, that creates some space to slide your hand in, it's easier that way. Plus, scavengers will tend to go for the guts and leave your hanging meat alone.

Lots of times I do this after dark so I don't mess with boning it out, I just pack up the backstraps and TLs and go back to camp.

Come back the next morning after a good rest and a big breakfast (preferably with a pistol) and a couple large garbage bags to lay the pieces on while you bone them, and go to work. If the meat is kept in the shade the day after the kill, you don't have to get it all out in one day, it'll be just fine for another day in October.

I do mine very similar to Smokepole's method.

Don't use anything waterproof. You need it to air dry to prevent bacteria from growing on it. Normally Rocky Mtn nights are plenty cool enough if the meat is just hung. The low humidity lets the temps drop much faster and lower than a humid climate. It's not unusual to hit 70 or 80 in the daytime and frost at night.
Unless there are bears or wolves in the area, I suggest hanging overnight with the long bones in the quarters. That makes them easy to hang plus reduces exposure to bacteria.
They always say to hang meat at least 10' up. Yeah, right. Ever actually tried it? It'll take you longer to get an elk 10' up than it takes to just pack it out in the 1st place.

I bone mine on the spot. I think waiting until it sets up/ cools whatever is more difficult and less desirable. The warm meat on cold hands is a good thing.

Carry game bags. I just cut down the backbone and skin down one side. I use the hide as a clean work surface to bone out that whole side, then flip and do the other side. Takes about an hour on an elk, less on a deer.

Some videos online that show you how to do it.good luck

I proceed almost to a T with what smoke pole said. I also think it is easier to de-bone the meat if you have it hanging, but if you are by yourself it will be much easier to bone it out and get it hanging. Either way, get the meat off the animal and in the air so it can cool. Also pay attention to what rock chuck posted. Smoke pole I agree with a good rest and big breakfest to start the day off of hauling meat, but really what little critters are you greenies worried about to be packing in heat! Just kidding with you don't judge all of Wyoming based on a few!

Wrong thread, sorry.

I'm posting because I do mine a tad different. Following smokepoles excellent explanation up to the point where I use a plastic bag to line my pack for carrying out the meat and am I carry out a full pack load which is more than the backstraps and tenderloins. In addition, I remove the tenderloins without gutting the animal. It isn't simple but makes for a cleaning site.

I have lost the majority of one deer left overnight to coyotes. The damn things ignored the gut pile (prior to learning to remove tenderloins from outside) and destroyed both hind quarters.

I was pretty proud of myself when the two of us were able to host elk quarter up nearly 5 feet. We wrapped them with a space blanket to keep off the birds.

I like everyone I've ever met in person from Wyoming!!

Black bears, there are a few where we hunt and a buddy has seen one on a gutpile. You're right, probably don't need to pack heat for a black bear but I have an S&W Mountain Light .357 and it's a good excuse to bring it along!!!

Plus, I leave my rifle in camp when I go back to get meat and I always like to have "a little something" with me in the backcountry, if only for the two-leggers.

Haven't seen mention of what to do with your trophy cape. Of course you're counting on a 360+ bull and will want a shoulder mount.

I've got away with stretching a cord between two fir trees and hanging the wet cape in the shade, skin side out with twigs inside to hold apart the hide and promote airflow. After two days the hide was noticably lighter and tanned out just fine.

One of us always carries a rifle back to the kill site, no need for more than one but we have come upon coyotes, never any bears but we're in Idaho and not near Yellowstone.

I lay the cape over a juniper bush so it can get air to cool in the shade. Then roll it up with 550 cord and hang it if I'm leaving it or take it to camp or truck. We hunt early rifle and the temps are always below zero at night.

Pretty much like Smoke said. I do put the boned meat into Sea to Summit dry bags and then either put them in a cooler with ice (open them up good) back at the truck or submerge the bags in a creek. This cools the meat very well, yet doesn't allow water into the bag.

We have been doing sheep & elk this way for a long time.

With the numbers of griz and wolves, we have even done a fair bit of headlamp boning so as to not leave the meat overnight. Two guys can usually pack a boned elk in one trip.

Good point! Actually, I would most likely do a European mount . . . unless it was 360+ (extremely unlikely, but I'll take all the tips I can get on this as well).

Best I've EVER done is three guys. We attempted a two guy carry with a big cow and I unloaded half after climbing only a couple hundred yards. There is no way I can carry a 100+ pound pack for any distance over rough terrain. I've never been called big being 5' 8' and 150#.

Up! Your supposed to go down. ;-)

Sturdy, bugproof, cloth bags, for breathing.
I hang as is what I can't carry, bone each batch each hike. If you dump a whole bunch of boneless meat together in a bag, it makes for quite a thick (slow-cooling) mass.

We do much the same with moose....gutless boning....packed into doubled polishing cloth bags [NAPA Auto Parts] and labeled {loin,neck etc].....we pack it away from the carcass and suspend it off the ground in shintangle until the next day when we finish packing the 15 40 pounders plus cape and rack.....we have had the gut pile hit by grizzly several times at night but seldom the meat.....luck?

For two guys to pack an elk in one trip, it does result in some pretty heavy packs. Last year with a 5 pt bull I shot my pack weighed 125 lbs and Levis 135 lbs. We had 3+ miles and 3000' of verticle (mostly downhill :))

What pack? A Longhunter?

Levi was using a G2 Longhunter in hauler mode and I was using a Granite Gear Stratus Flatbed. I was so impressed with the slim profile of the Long Hunter that I got one this winter.

I've heard nothing but good things about the Longhunter

I use an old Dana Designs K2 thats is an incredible meat hauler. Its only about 4,500cuin but who needs to carry more than 120# of meat in one load anyway?