Meat packing

[Blinginpse]

Killer thread

 

[archer wapiti]

There's some good information here on the weights of quarters of different sized animals for people who've not packed out an elk before.

However, the most important thing here is what can YOU carry? I suppose it's good to have a frame of reference to know what is possible, but ultimately, it's your back, knees, ankles, hips, and your wallet if something goes haywire and you're having to treat an injury.

 

[ElkNut1]

I agree, those young kids can be tough, all depends on how they were brought up! My grandson at 20 is invincible, just ask him! (grin)

justinpicher, all depends on where the elk is taken? Our average packout is 3 hours. This can be 1-1/2 mile to 3-4 miles. So much of the country we hunt is fairly steep & full of downfall. With a loaded pack even 1-1/2 mile is a chore. Carrying a 1/2 elk is not easy, please don't think when we do this it's like a stroll in the park, it literally beats the hell out of me! The rig can't be got to soon enough so I can have an ice cold beer, god that beer taste good after a hard pull! My son & I have packed out close to 20 bulls on one shot. This is one reason we are all day hunters, our packs have little in them so we can load the heck out of them when an elk is down! If it's too far or extremely rugged we will bone them out. Other than that we like the hind quarter with bone in! With 59 elk down between the two of us we get a lot of practice!

I will say if there's a possible mount in store then a 2nd trip is inevitable for us! Thanks!

ElkNut/Paul

 

[Ross]

I won't even guess how many elk quarters I have packed through 37 years of elk hunting. Back in the day when my fathers camp was young we had 10 hunters in camp and one reason I ventured on my own a few decades ago as all I did was pack It was always out of a hell hole straight up so much so you stared at the ground My families crew loggers and army rangers so very familiar with fun of this nature. You grabbed an old military pack board with duct tape around some foam material on the straps and away you wentSo much of this is heart and loving the suck...funny it is the die hard elk hunter keeps coming back to feel this labor of love this activity with test your endurance and aerobic fitness especially when going uphill. The old crew decades ago and the friends I need these days

 

[justinspicher]

I think about falling with that much weight on and really jacking myself up.

 

[skaldugwas]

On training runs the difference between 75lbs and 100 felt like a gaddang quantum leap.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bmart2622]

^^^^^^^ I agree with this,25-40 feels about the same, 50-75 is about the same and once you break 100 its just f$#&ing heavy.

 

[Ucsdryder]

Last weekend I loaded my kifaru with some sand bags and headed to the gym. After an hour or so I was beat. I got off the stair climber and headed for the door. I stopped at the scale to see what my pack weighed. I estimated it around 25lbs. It was 16lbs on the scale...crap!

 

[ElkNut1]

Ha Ha, you don't think guys like Ross & I & I'm sure others haven't ever fallen! (grin) Hell, you find a way to get back up, not saying it's easy! At times it's like being in a UFC fight & it's the 3rd round, you're exhausted, you find a way & it feels damn good when you do!

ElkNut/Paul

 

[5MilesBack]

I think about falling with that much weight on and really jacking myself up.

I've always said......"You haven't lived until a 100lb load on your back gets ahead of you on a downhill haul". That happened to me once, and I've been close many other times over. Just last year, I fell three times carrying out my elk head with the rack and cape all attached, and there was some rocky ground. And every time I was more worried about breaking an antler tip than breaking something on my body.

This is kind of like the old draw weight debate. Many can't draw an 80 or 90lb bow so they think no one can.....or perhaps should. But I agree with Paul, the mental game can overcome most any obstacle. That's why 75-80% drop out of SEAL BUDS training. They don't have the mental aptitude to succeed at all costs.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Its all a balancing act. Elknut included a key piece of info that can factor into one's load decisions (perhaps). 2 guys + 1 elk, they are motivated to "one and done" the elk and I can totally understand that goal and also will punish myself a bit more on a haul if I know I don't have to turn around go right back out there. I'm the guy here saying I prefer to keep meat loads at 50-60lb and that I like my total pack at 75 or less. Last year when leaving the kill site at 11k we started with ~90lb, I was making progress but in smaller increments before needing to stop than I liked and I could feel the toll it was taking (and I knew I needed to come back out) so I chose to drop the 15lb of trim meat to ease up my load. If I didn't already need to come back out there I would have likely chosen to gut it out. Since I did I didn't want muscles fried, joints worn and energy levels tanked. That is the balancing act for my body. Loving the suck is a factor for sure but there is a point where certain weight contributes to added body pain going forward (straining a knee, etc.) that I choose to factor in since I want to keep at it for the remainder of the seasons.

 

[5MilesBack]

I have no hard fast rules on what weight I'm willing to pack. It mostly is determined on the fly as to distance, total weight to be hauled, whether I have a good place to hang it, what my knees feel like, and overall physical state.

Five years ago I shot my bull just under 5 miles from the truck. So the question at that point is........is it worth carrying an extra 30-40 pounds for two loads, to save having to do an extra 10 mile trip? Only you can answer that question. But I usually know my answer.

 

[Beendare]

I think about falling with that much weight on and really jacking myself up.

Beentheredonethat. Its a real consideration.

80# pack on a training session in the mtns...rolled on a rock and came down on my left ankle....snapped like a dried branch...shattered it in 3 places. It was not fun getting off that mtn before dark.

My buddy broke the plastic part in his repaired ankle while helping me pack a mulie out of the Nevada mtns....he still reminds me regularly about that shale slide "Short cut"

 

[cnelk]

Another option is just have a bunch of friends and help pack 2 elk out in one trip

 

[Blinginpse]

Another option is just have a bunch of friends and help pack 2 elk out in one trip

Man that looks like lot of fun there. You cannot beat a good hunt with friend/friends and sharing a kill like that.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Another option is just have a bunch of friends and help pack 2 elk out in one trip

They are handy.

Any reason the lower legs are on still?

 

[elkyinzer]

I can handle about 75 pounds, after that forget it. Even then uphill is brutal.

One thing I will point out, because I skimmed the thread but saw some weight citations, is the front quarter weight depends entirely how you cut it. When I cut off a front quarter, I include half the brisket, most of the neck meat, a bit of the front part of backstrap, and some rib meat all in one connected cut. My front quarters actually end up about as heavy as my hinds.

 

[cnelk]

Any reason the lower legs are on still?

Yeah... I didnt cut them off



Really, the pack was so short and the morning was warm, we just got the meat outta the woods and back to camp and I cut them off there.
They make great chews for the dog

 

[justinspicher]

I get the mental part and the ability part and even the needs to get off the mountain part.

I'm not saying it can't be done or shouldn't be done. I've never had to pack an elk out further than a half mile to the truck so I have no experience beyond that. Usually the packouts were across clear cuts so it was easier to make multiple, lighter trips.

Kudos to those that do it, I'll have to wait and see what it's like to carry an elk out further than I have in the past.

 

[woodmoose]

not an elk but this thread made me think of my moose hunt in vermont a few years ago,,,,,99% of the moose killed (bs statistic) are either dragged out by draft horse or dropped where truck accessible,,,,can't drive a motorized vehicle off the road in those woods up there,,,,they even use draft horses for dragging logs to the road when logging,,,,,,,

I had talked with a couple of folks who do pulling before the season,,,,,,shot my moose and was "only" 3/4 of a mile down the hill from the logging road,,,,,called and called,,,,no answewr from the horse folks,,,,,,

so I cut him up and brought him out,,,,,,at the check station folks looked into the bed,,,seen the cut up moose parts and said "not to bad if you have plenty of friends",,,,,,,,,

I pointed to my freighter pack and said "that's my friend",,,,,,,,,they looked at me,,shook their head, and walked off - I reckong they either thought I was full of crap or crazy as crap,,,,,,,,,still trying to figure that out,,,,,,

took all day but carried that beast,,,8 trips (in VT the only thing that could stay in the woods was legs below the knee, the hide, and the head,,,,every thing else had to come out, bones and all),,,,,,