Instead of a wyo/bone saw in the field?

I use both. A Gerber bone-wood saw and add a 1 lb Estwing hatchet for elk season. I use it mostly as a skinning tool and to split wood for the little Seek Outside stoves.

I don't find enough use for a hatchet for deer, antelope, etc.

I use a knife, boys I hunt with would laugh their asses off if someone brought out woodworking tools.


How bout a sazall or a chainsaw?

YES




Yes, & Yes

Tools are made to make life easier or do a job quicker.

Why do you give a crap what others think ? Think for yourself.

Jerry

Used a hatchet on my first couple of deer. Now a single knife gets the call to duty.

A small hatchet splits the pelvis on older deer a hell of a lot easier than a knife.

The pelvis on small immature deer is about as soft as butter and is easily spilt with a knife.

I did split the pelvis on my buck w my fixed blade this year but broke a fixed blade Pachmayr on my buck 2 or 3 years ago.

I prefer to use a hatchet for the pelvis and use it some to remove the head when I am done skinning.

Now break a chainsaw or sawzall out of your pack when field dressing and that's when the laughing would start.

I haven't found a need to split a pelvis in the field in years on deer or elk. I do carry a folding saw that uses recip saw blades. It's more for survival than anything, in case I need some firewood to save my tail. I'm certainly not going to pack around a hatchet while chasing elk. My pack's too heavy as it is.

This is Milwaukee's folding saw. There are other good ones, too. I carry a spare 9" wood blade.

It’s so easy to take the rear quarters off with a knife an axe or saw is not needed, ever.

I agree if you are quartering in the field.

Different regions, different techniques.

Knife is all that goes in the field with me. I keep an Estwing axe and a Wyoming saw under the back seat of the pickup. The Wyoming saw is used to cut skull caps, antlers are last to come out, so I grab it after the first load of meat. The axe has never been used, but I like knowing it’s there if needed.

I often split the pelvis and open the rib cage on deer to help them cool a little, it's often pretty warm here even in Dec/Jan. The little bone saw blade on the gerber exhange a blade is quick and easy to use and saves putting a knife to bone. I usually don't carry it in the woods as I don't open those until I get back to the truck....opening the ribcage and pelvis before dragging them out just let's more leaves/trash get in. I usually have a hatchet on the ATV/truck but I don't use it on game.

https://www.gerbergear.com/en-us/shop/cutting-tools/saws/exchange-a-blade-46036

I never use a hatchet on game anymore, and I stopped using them in the 70s when I got a "Sierra Saw".

I use only a knife for removing the sternum on all game up to elk size but I use a saw on moose and buffalo. But I use a saw on the pelvis on everything, down to doe antelope.

I Never punch a bladder with a saw and for most of the deer and antelope I dress out, I use the saw in my Victornox Swiss Army Knife. The larger size folding saw is a lot easier on elk and moose then the 3" long Swiss Army Knife saw, but I have done a few elk with only the Victornox and one moose too. Even on a moose, the small saw gets through the pelvis straps in just a few minutes.

Like many of us, I learned from my dad and he always carried a hatchet to split the pelvis. During the depression, he worked in a meat packing house for a while so I always figured he knew all about how it was done. Over time, I can to realize that dressing a steer on a hook isn't the same thing at all. It's totally different that dressing a deer on the ground in the field.
I just use a sharp knife to cut around the anus then pull it out the hole a ways. I squeeze out all the pellets I can then just let it hang to be pulled back inside later when the guts came out.

I use the saw on my Leatherman for splitting pelvises.

You don't need either. Just completely break them down in the field. All you need is a knife. Saw, or axe are excess baggage.

I just carry my knife in the field and don't split pelvis in the field anymore. Couple of weeks ago when I got home from deer hunting I hung them with a winch and gambrel, skinned them out and broke down the carcasses to butcher able pieces. That 20 volt Dewalt. Sawzall sure cut thru joints damn fast with no hassle. Don't see the need to haul it hunting but was nice in the back yard. Mb

I’ll use a 3” or so saw blade to cut a couple ribs off and make a large enough opening to get the heart out when doing elk gutless. Otherwise I have no need for a saw or hatchet.

I’m curious as to why guys split the pelvis? I don’t even bother with the whole cutting around the butthole bit anymore. To my way of thinking the butthole is inside the pelvis and not contacting anything I eat, plus I probably don’t leave 2” of it in there when dressing a deer so it isn’t holding much heat. If it’s cold enough to hang an animal it isn’t going to matter for the day I’ll hang him before quartering and if it’s too warm to hang one he’s getting quartered and in the icebox ASAP so it definitely doesn’t matter. I could be wrong but the last couple dozen deer, elk, caribou, moose, and pigs I’ve done make me think I’m not.

Of course I’m always ready to learn and all ears.

A serious response. We all don't do things the same way. Some circumstances necessitate different applications.

I don't have to dress deer out in the field and I don't have to pack meat out of the field.
I used 3 Wheelers for retrieval for several years then I didn't even need a wheeler. Now I 'only' use a 4 wheeler to haul or drag a deer to my truck.

Splitting the pelvis ?

Regardless of fully gutting or gutless it's simpler for me to bring the Ham inside and butcher.
When possible, I much prefer fully gutting - RINSING - and leave hanging with hide ON. Temp dictates if/when I can do that.
Then I remove the usual parts and process.

'Sometimes' I give a whole deer to elder friends who don't hunt much and they butcher & process. When I do that I gut and rinse thoroughly and THEY take the deer and process how they want. So I don't split the pelvis.

MOST of the time our Wx is too warm to leave hanging, aka higher than 50* for too many hours.
Then I do gutless and split the pelvis and put hams , shoulders, T L & backstrap on ICE.

Kid, I 'm not being smart or sarcastic at all.

Some have the idea that 'their' way is the only OR best way.
No one is inferior because they do things in a different way. Conversely no one is 'better' or smarter because they do it
'their' way.

I learned of 'gutless' only after joining the 'fire' in 2010. I tried it and I like it better WHEN I'm not hanging meat.
Seems to me that gutless would be the preferred way for those who pack meat out of the field. In that case IMO it's
the hunters choice whether to debone or split the pelvis and pack.

I hope that I have answered your ?? in a way that makes sense to you. I re read this several Xs and "I" understand it.
LOL


Jerry

Well said. Too many posters think the way they do it is the ONLY way, or the only RIGHT way. Hell I'm about to stop carrying anything and just use sharp rocks at the kill site.

There have been times ive used one. Honestly i mostly use a cheap Fiskers $25 hatchet for pounding tarp stakes, maybe a nail or two, and processing down wood. I keep it knife like sharp though if i need to use it in lieu of a blade for food prep or who knows what.

Ive had the Wyoming saw but i prefer the Bacho Laplander bushcraft saw as its teeth are medium aggressive and it will serve on wood or bone if called upon. Its better in this respect than the Silky brand pocket saws because the blade is more durable and will not snap if in a bind, but it is not as efficient as the Silky brand in wood cutting. But overall its more durable and has a less hard blade for toughness. To clean up is easy. Just cut a little bit of wood and it self cleans that blade of debris before washing.

I think that the guys with really spendy hunting knives are nuts and those custom skinning knives are a fad and not necessary. Those folding pocket scalpel blades are good for taking off hides and fairly cheap and have replaceable blades. Most guys cant sharpen a knife worth a damn anyway and dont know what their doing so replacable blade make sense for some.

Personally my breakdown kit is an Swiss Army knife in the pocket and my fixed blade is a thin Mora Kansbol or a $11 Outdoor Edge fieldskin fixed blade and an small "fine" diamond stone. My stuff is thin and light so im able to cut and saw fast and efficiently. Also my stuff is affordable and cheap

Mora Kansbol $40
Outdoor Edge $11
Bacho Laplander $20-25
Fiskars hatchet $25

It depends where and what I am hunting. Deer are quite different than moose. Wilderness is quite different than the back 40. Ideally, I prefer to handle my game meat mostly the same way a butcher would. Hang a carcass, bone in, in a proper cooler for ageing. But can't always do that. With that in mind, sometimes I pack out the whole animal and do the entire processing job back in camp. Works great if you have a tractor w/ frontend loader or ATV and wagon or snowmobile and toboggan. Other situations require other approaches. I like to filed dress and split the pelvis and sternum in the field on most of my animals. Usually don't need to do the bone splitting, it's just what I prefer. I use a small folding saw for that. But I quit using an axe for most bone splitting years ago. I have quite a few scars on my fingers and knuckles from packing out chunks of moose that were carved up with an axe. The axe method results in way too many sharp bone shards eager to shred your skin and gear. I like to have a Gerber switch-blade saw in my pack whenever I'm in wilderness areas. Bone saw for carcasses, wood saw is handy for ... wood. If I'm backpacking or canoe hunting, I just carry a knife. And some meat bags. I break down elk or moose into 8 pieces for packing out in cloth bags, bone in, on a pack frame. In a very special few circumstance I debone in the field. I will always have an axe and a saw in the canoe or snowmobile or truck. And a pack frame. I never split a carcass lengthwise down the backbone. That seems like unnecessary and unproductive work for animals that I'll process myself.

Ive seen a professional butcher who does lots of whitetail claim its best to hang the meat with hide on because it stops the crust from forming on the exteeior of the meat and you dont need to trim as much in loss cutting that crust off. Also i remember hearing that getting water on the meat spoils it or ruins it. Butchers wash them down with as much water hose as necessary to get it clean but then its hung and falls off and isnt allow to stand.

On deer i get all the steaks i can and then can all the rest of the deer. Boy that makes good stew and tacos/burittos.

No i dont use an hatchet on them but the thin blade cheap knives i use with the bushcraftbsaw make short work of anything.

I use neither, and don't know why anyone would.

I carry a Gränsfors Bruk hatchet for taking skull plates off and getting wood together for a warming fire. Breaking branches only works so well, and if they're wet (when a fire is most useful) it is really frustrating to break branches for firewood. The hatchet makes things much easier. Other than the skull plate and banging the handle on elk ivories, I don't use the hatchet for breaking the critter down at all. Just a knife.

The hatchet is extra weight, but less weight than packing a full skull and brains out of the back country. I used to carry a saw for the skull plate, but the hatchet works better for what I need.

Maybe use a small dynamite 🧨 charge??

Blow it apart


I guess it’s how you are taught to butcher an animal. I was taught to use a knife. It looks easier with saws I admit.

I don’t use a hatchet on critters very much, but I am a axe/hatchet slut... text coming

Hanging with the hide on has some advantages but a little whitetail is a lot different than an elk. Even if you can get an unskinned elk back to a cooler, there's the problem of getting it cold enough soon enough. An elk's hide is a fantastic insulator in addition to all that muscle mass.

For about 15 years exclusively. I don’t do gutless and I do love a long handled hatchet

I have a round nosed tomahawk made from a carpenters hatchet. It is great for skinning. I some times use it to pound a knife through the rib cage. It is easier to go through the sternum this way, if I use a knife only usually I end up cutting just the ribs. The neck is cleaner if I disjoint it. In camp I will use either a sawzall or loppers.

I have butchered stuff a hundred different ways watching and learning from many different people.

I have used all kinds of saws including sawsalls and real butcher saws. If I am way back in the back country with out my pack mules or saddle horse...I use the saw in my Leatherman to split the pelvis and ribcage.

If I am near my Jeep, ATV, packmules, or saddle horse...I use a hatchet. I grew up with an old woodsman grandad to whom an axe was just an extension of his hands. An axe or hatchet is quicker and handier and faster clean up for me.

There are many ways to skin a cat and most get the job done. But, as my oldest uncle used to say: “there are more ways to kill a cat than choking it do death on butter.”

Have been thinking about a new saw. That's the one I want to try.

I don't break the pelvis until they are hanging and skinned.
Simple leave the butt alone and pull the guts out.
Grab the colon cut it off outside the deer, now strip the pellets out from as far
In as you feel necessary. Tie a knot in what's left.


Or, bone it in the woods.

There are a lot of ways to take a deer apart. Whatever works well for you is the right way.

Like someone else mentioned, hunting big critters like elk and moose way back in the wilderness is a lot different than shooting a whitetail deer on the flat back 40.

For 20 some years I used my horses to pack a camp back in various Montana wildernesses hunting elk and moose. During that time my horses packed out over 20 elk and 3 moose.

I carry a folding Sanvik saw in my hunting fanny pack, and it is great for splitting a brisket or pelvis but the backbone of a elk or moose is just too big for that little tool. A hatchet or axe, which I have in camp anyway, makes short work of splitting a backbone.

Over the years I've also been fortunate to bring a few elk out whole, or at least cut cross-ways in half where I could drag them out. Then when I get these elk home I've used a sawzall or a chainsaw to quickly and easily split the backbone.

One time a buddy and I went on a day hunt for elk. We met in town where because my truck had a slide in camper on it, I left it in a grocery store parking lot and we went hunting in his truck. We both shot 5x5 bulls that we cut in half side-ways to drag out and could load into the back of his truck.

We got back to town about midnight, and the front half of my bull with the antlers still on wouldn't fit through the door of my camper. So there I was at midnight in the parking lot of the local grocery store, cutting the head off my elk with the double blade axe that I keep in my camper.

I use a small game saw my son gave me a few years ago. I used to use a hatchet but the truth is my aim was never very good with that thing.

I carry an estwing hatchet and a wyoming saw in a bag in the truck. Used the hatchet to cut a couple of buck heads off last weekend. Used the saw to cut the skull off. Used a knife to clean and cut up the deer.
I used to hunt with a guy that hung drywall for a living. He cleaned his deer with his drywall hatchet.never saw him use a knife at all. He used his hatchet like a knife and was proficient with it. He had it very sharp too.

Bacho Laplander - good. Can get you past a downed 6" dia. tree on the roadway if you aren't carrying other tools.

REDUX — Needs Repeating.




Some have the idea that 'their' way is the only OR best way.
No one is inferior because they do things in a different way. Conversely no one is 'better' or smarter because they do it
'their' way.

—————————————

Well said. Too many posters think the way they do it is the ONLY way, or the only RIGHT way. Hell I'm about to stop carrying anything and just use sharp rocks at the kill site.

a few weeks back our crew shot 4 bulls, my buddy's sawzall made quick work of splitting and quartering them .

I've used a battery sawzall a number of times on game in camp and at home but I sure don't pack it around with me.

I don't split the pelvis right away either. Have been carrying a small hatchet to open rib cage on deer for easier cleaning and faster meat cooling. Hatchet is easier than trying to work my knife up through the ribs.

those work great. for field butchering game. When its too cold for skinless or not enough time. Im not talking about splitting the pelvis. Quarter out, saw off lower legs, saw through neck, remove skull, cut ribs.... And lighter than my WY saw. Carry a spare blade

3 mule deer. 1 wt and two antelope this year.

I've used 'em. Have a couple - unused now for years. There are lighter and better tools like some above examples for splitting briskets and pelvic bones. And heavier and better tools, like axes for cutting firewood, clearing trails, or pounding tent stakes. OK- I'll give the hatchet the tent stakes. And maybe splitting fine kindling off a larger piece - but a light cruisers axe with a flat back does even better. Next to pounding tent stakes, the next best use I have found a hatchet barely adequate for is splitting moose pelvic, and that's pretty messy, leaving splinters and jagged edges. Anything smaller than a moose you are better off with something else (as you are with the moose anyway).

Like most compromises, a hatchet falls somewhat short at all it's tasks, especially if neatness- for want of a better term- is a factor. A hatchet can be quicker for removing lower leg bones and skull plates than most everything else, I will admit. Pretty fast for detatching rib bones from spine on large animals also, if you don't mind jagged ends. BTDT. Don't anymore.

If you work at it long enough it might even cut down a spindly cherry tree. I cannot tell a lie.

Well, yes I can, just not this time. .

Lower leg bones are knife-detatched at the joints. If you know how to do it, it's about as quick and much neater than sawing through them. For the rest, a saw is the way to go, tho not as quick as chopping.

Depending on the chore, a "game saw", a light axe, or a machete almost always beats a hatchet, and are pretty much of equivalent or lighter weight to carry.

IMO, of course. YMMV..

If carried in a vehicle and used from same, hell, carry all three and use as applicable. It's not as if weight or space is a factor. That's what I do with my boat trips to the remote cabin. (Also a chain saw.). If hunting, a knife and a saw covers it all. You can skip the saw even if using the "gutless" method, but I wouldn't. Too handy for some other tasks, like meat hanging or cooling in the field.

A dumchit story here....

A partner once accidently shot 2 caribou with one shot (we both had permits, so that was covered. Sort of.... ). 11 miles from the road. We had to bury one in a remnant, hard pack snowbank until we could come back and back pack it out a couple days later.. Willow branches and clean garbage bags over the meat, then covered with the snow we removed completed the job.

Beating a hole through the snow 2' or so to ground level with sharp shards of rock had torn our hands up something fierce.

As we were policing up for the pack out, I picked up my Knapp saw and ran it into the snow to clean it. The light bulb went off.

Holding it up, I called, "Hey, Parker!

"JFC! I have one too!"

Shoot
Gut
Drag to the truck or hike to truck for game cart
Take back to camp
Hang
Skin
Split sternum with hatchet
Split pelvis with hatchet
Bag during the day, off at night
Go home
Process, Foodsaver, and freeze




P

I use a tomahawk a friend made for me.

I've used a hatchet to gut elk and deer several times and never touched the knife. A knife doesn't quite have the heft to split the rib cage on an elk but the hatchet does so quickly. It wasn't so easy as to make me want to do it sans blade every time, but I wouldn't balk if that's all I had. The only thing I use a saw for in the field is cutting the skull plate to pack out the antlers. All three go in the pack although if we're only after deer the hatchet could stay home. I never split the pelvis even on deer we take out whole. Rarely cut the butthole out either in the past 80 or so big game animals we've taken and never had an issue of any kind aside from people telling me it will ruin the meat even though it won't.
I will say that If I butchering a bison or elk back at the shop then a sawzall is handy to halve or quarter out for clients in a hurry. Other wise I prefer to take them apart at the joints at home or in the field if leaving bone in.

I find that they are only effective at very short range, and that a bow or rifle is much more practical. Seriously I chopped them up for years and got tired of the bone flakes, and the backspray into my face at times. Then I discovered the Wyoming Saw and never went back.

I use a hatchet more for skinning than the bone work, although I will split the sternum with either a hatchet or use it to pound a machete or utility knife through the sternum. If I pull the hide off it gets to my hands quickly, but if I hammer it off with the hatchet no wear and tear on the hands. For the same reason I will use a meat hook to pull the hide off. A saw or loppers is used to split the pelvis on older or larger game back at camp.

This is why the Granfors Bruks hunters hatchet has rounded edges to use for skinning.

In desperation I have used 2 single bits to split a backbone. Accomplished the task simply enough, but it had the appropriate appearance when I was finished. Much better with a 24" bone/hand saw.

Why would you need 2? It's no big deal to chop an elk in half lengthwise, right up the middle of the spine, with just a single hatchet....

Why does one chop an elk in half lengthwise? I’m genuinely curious. I did have some friends in Alaska who cut moose up like a giant rabbit with saddle pieces having 1/3 of each backstrap still connected to the spine. Only folks I ever saw do it that way and it got deboned when they got it home.

You chop them lengthwise to make it easy to pack them out on stock saddles. They pack easier in rough country or long distances, than chopped crossways.....

Lower center of gravity, less easy to hang up in brush/trees and harder to buck off the load than crossways, too.

Now stocksaddles or packsaddles with panniers are different story, but it is still easier and WAY faster to chop lengthways and then crossways if you bring them out in bone-in/skin-on, in full quarters.

Here is a bull halved length-ways on a pair of saddle horses.

We led the ponies out to the trailer and grabbed a packsaddle when we got back. The other bull we halved crossways and put the hinds on the stock saddle. The front quarters and 2 heads came out on the packsaddle....

Interesting. I never gave a thought to making them fit on a horse. Thanks

Huntsman22:



One puts the blade of the first axe/hatchet against a single vertebra, and strikes the flat with a second. Sort of like using the first as a wedge. One successively works his way down the spine with typically one pop needed to split each joint. Given the bone is essentially wedged or shattered, there can be lots of stray fragments, so be careful going in with hands or fingers. Usually a bit neater than swinging away with a single axe, given ones general failure to precisely nail the intended target each time. One gets the job done, two is a bit neater, but a saw is better yet.

TheKid:


When one gets into country that even a mule can't negotiate, he may end up packing quarters on a back pack frame. In those cases, I first split lengthwise, then split front and rear leaving two ribs attached to each rear quarter. Thus torn apart, each quarter is near the same weight, and makes balancing loads on ones steeds a bit easier.

Also, if one has snow, and can drag half of an elk, it's easier to drag a long half than an attached pair of shoulders or hams.

One also has the option of boning or doing the gutless method. If I tag out early, but will still be with my party for another 8 or 10 days, I do quarters. Don't think much of those that sign on for a season of hunting and groceries and then leave the day they bag their game. If I'm going home tonight or maybe tomorrow morning, I may just bone everything at the kill site. Boning, however, exposes a lot of surface area, and one will lose a lot of meat to trim if it has to hang in camp for a week or more before final workup.

With deer, I can back pack a half, splitting them into front and rear halves by again cutting across between the second and third ribs counting from the back end. Usually have my pack frame along in rugged country, so I don't have to make an empty 5-mile trip back and out to get the first load in.

to balance front to rear quarters, a big ol' slab-sided bull needs 4 ribs on the hinds....

Roger on the packing. I don’t like to bone anything aside from backstraps, have packed elk and other critters out of some serious hellholes over the years places like you say that a mule couldn’t go. I quarter everything and gutless 90 percent of the time. I just had never seen anyone split one before quartering.

Unless you got there with a repelling rope...there is no place you can go that a mule can’t...provided you have the right mule.

I carry a tomahawk.

I grew up hunting mule deer and elk off of horses with oack mules, and was always told this.
I've seen a few die in places I sure didn't feel comfortable getting my stock into though...and I don't even care much about their welfare.

Deadfall hell holes come to mind, as does some of the Selway. How in the hell elk can live in some of those areas is beyond me.

This past fall a pard broke down a bull gutless with a hatchet. Once quartered backstraps, flank meat, neck meat removed, then gutted and tenderloins removed, rib meat removed, all with a hatchet. Just wondering how many others do the same. Thanks for the reply's . Especially from those whom use them.

You just hit the nail on the head. The elk got there. Mules are pretty much elk like in their ability to negotiate terrain.

but pretty much NOT like elk in the downfalls.....

Every guide in the north.

There are some good folding saws out there -- look at Coleman.

I grew up babysitting cattle on our summer permit between 9500 and 11500 ft in altitude and pushed cowponies into places I would not do to a horse or myself today. Indeed, part of our old permit is now designated wilderness. Until I was a teenager my dad and his hunting pards used packstrings to get to elk country--I thought that was the only way to hunt elk until my mid-teens. Growing up and while guiding I've packed plenty of elk and deer out with horses and pack mules, and have been in on a couple lama packouts too.

This year I killed both my bulls in fir-spruce-quakie super dense forest. But beginning 20 yeas ago the sub-alpine fir beetle has come through and killed 80%+ of the sub-alpine firs, and resulted in lots of deadfall. As the forest was opened up to sunlight it resulted in an explosion of new growth (which is why the elk are in there). The forest is as thick as ever, but now there's all that deadfall. Trying to get horses, or mules, or lamas through there would be a waste of time. A horse or mule would be too wide with panniers to fit through the trees, a lama isn't tall enough to step over all the deadfall. Guaranteed wrecks galore. With two chainsaws, an extra chain, 5 ga of gas and a ga of bar oil, I'm sure a couple guys could cut their way in over the course of a day or two........

Instead, I grabbed my backpack and carried the elk out. It's been 10+ years since I had to carry an elk out on my back, and at 64 I was wondering how I was going to do, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I feared.......

Learned from an outfitter clear back in the sixties how to split an elk from stem to stern right down the spine using a fairly large camp axe, separate the front from the rear behind the ribs. Then chronic wasting disease came along and made it undesirable to split the spine, so went to the gutless method. But I think the meat toughens when done that way.

I reckon each to their own experience. Killed and been in on recovery of quite few elk in places like the Weminuche and South San Juan. It don’t get much rougher than the Weminuche. My mules went to every carcass and bought every one back to camp. I had to walk and lead’em to a few. They almost always amazed me at where they could go and come out with an elk. Once they were loaded in real steep or bad terrain...l would just pull their halters off and catch with them grazing by my saddle horse/mule.

Having a horse and pack train jump over deadfall constantly for a mile or two continuously slamming into each other as they land, twisting around in the tiny spots they can stick their feet in the deadfall jungles is something I just won't do anymore. Your loads get shook all to hell and your critters blow up almost continuously. I don't know anything about the Weminuche but it seems everyone thinks that nobody else's elk grounds are any rougher than their favorite area. I've extensively hunted the Selway, Frank Church, Bob Marshall and the Wind Rivers and I'll confidently say stock can't get into some areas that elk are, and doubly so if it is on slopes, though admittedly there's few.

I'll pack meat out on my back until I am to an area I feel more comfortable getting my stock. I've killed a couple stock animals over the years due to broken legs in the back country. It's not the funnest thing in the world.

Like I said I reckon each to their own. For the record though, I have never taken a pack-string into get an elk in bad dead-fall. If you know the country, there is almost always a way to ride reasonably close and then walk and lead a mule at a time to butcher site. Put the hindquarters and some boned meat on one mule...lead it back to better ground. Lead in another one...get the fores, some boned, the cape and head...lead it back to the others. Then string up and head for camp.