packing out

[Litehiker]

Well, IMHO packing out means wearing blaze orange on yourself AND your packed antlers, meat, backpack, etc.

Some "gentlemen" that have paid thousands of dollars for a hunt will shoot first and glass later. Hopefully blaze orange would set off a light bulb in their fevered brain before it sends a "PULL" message to the trigger finger. lightbulb

 

[tony m]

Forgive my ignorance but what does imho mean?Actually I didn't bring this up as a safety issue, but as a poor method of packing a elk head /cape, The mighty hunter would have a the impossible task of negotiating the tangle he would encounter on route out...at least where I live.

 

[Wyodog]

Forgive my ignorance but what does imho mean?Actually I didn't bring this up as a safety issue, but as a poor method of packing a elk head /cape, The mighty hunter would have a the impossible task of negotiating the tangle he would encounter on route out...at least where I live.

I agree Tony. Not only that but it will work against you have antler that high above you. The weight of the antlers will feel heavier because they are further away from your pack when loaded that way. For me compact as possible and low center of gravity is a better way to go.

 

[tony m]

Yup, except if you are really good at walking backwards, bending over thru brush, pretty much how bull does when he tips back his antlers.Maybe we need a training video here.Cheers

 

[Timber338]

In my humble opinion (imho - had to throw the internet lingo in there for you Tony), packing a BIG set of elk antlers out of the mountains is every hunters dream. Last time I did it was in 2012, and I still remember every painful step... the caped out hide was still attached to the head since I did not have the right knives to separate them. Carried the hide/head a couple miles back to my camp after I shot it, all through bushes and forests so thick I got stuck several times. Packed out all the meat over the next couple of days and my last trip was with the head and hide. So far this is the biggest bull I've killed and packed out. There's definitely bigger elk in the woods, but I'm very happy with it. The boone and crockett score came out to 322, and that includes several inches of busted tines. So before the rut we figured he was right at 330 inches.

After about the first few hundred yards of the final pack out, the cords slipped and the head rotated out of position. Ended up not being a huge deal, it still balanced OK and actually I was able to rotate/move the head/antlers a little easier over big rocks and around trees and stuff. Anyways, what a great memory it is. Nothing better than packing a big bull out of the mountains. We'll see if I can have another chance again this year... I'll be hunting for a bull with an over the counter either sex archery tag.

Here's a few pics. Hope you all have a great day.

 

[tony m]

Imho...I like it.Here we don't wear orange, I am unfamiliar with this type of clothing.Nice bull, it is a great memory for those who have taken an elk out a long way in pieces.We pack the horns down and the leg quarters up, strip the backstrap and tenderloin and bone out the rest.Imho it is a pretty efficient way to get the animal out.Some pack the antlers with tines forward on a packhorse, this to will cause trouble..imho

 

[Wyodog]

Congrats on your bull. Those pics bring up some bitter sweet memories for me and I hope to make a few memories just like em.