Tools for quartering elk

I use a hatchet, with a 14" handle

I just quarter with a good knife, I carry a hatchet too.

The knives above are what I use, Knives of Alaska. They are D2 steel, are deal sharp. Will hack through the spine no problem. It has a sharpening steel. The big one is at least 1/4" thick. I also have another sheath that holds just the 2 smaller knives, caper and gut hook skinner. And I have always carried a small calapsable Ez-Lap diamond steel. Years ago I made a small skinner out of some carbon steel and just carried a little mill file with me, a swip on each side and it was nice and sharp, and the little burrs/teeth left on the blade actually helped it cut better and stay usable longer.

I use a replaceable blade knife like the havalon and my Dura-Saw.

Timnterra said:

The gutless method is the only way to go! There is no need for anything other than a good knife and maybe a small tarp to keep the meat off the ground. Here is a quick video describing it. There are several different variations of the method some involve skinning half the elk first to use the hide as a tarp. I'd probably skin the elk in early season when it's warm. Last year I shot mine when it was 0 degrees so I wasn't worried about the meat cooling too slowly.

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Man this guy makes it look so easy. But as a new elk hunter leaving this weekend for 4th rifle, doesn't cutting through all the hide like that put hair all over the meat? I wonder what's easier to wash off, some dirt or hair?

Sorry for bringing up an old thread but it's a good video.

jaeger19 said:

I only make one cut in bone and i actually saw through disc. I use the gerber saw. I use whats called the gutless method of taking apart elk and the only bone cut is the 10th vertebrae to pop the tenderloins out.

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After taking the quarters and back straps I slit the abdomen and let the stomach roll out. This takes the pressure out and then I go in from the last rib to the pelvis from the top and cut the tenders out. The guys sag out of the way.

Colin78 said:

doesn't cutting through all the hide like that put hair all over the meat? I wonder what's easier to wash off, some dirt or hair?

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I like to get under the hide and just slide the knife along rather than slash at it from above like Fred is doing, much less if no hair at all.

Wedgy said:

I like to get under the hide and just slide the knife along rather than slash at it from above like Fred is doing, much less if no hair at all.

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Hair tends to dull the blade too. But since that's a Fred Eichler Outdoor Edge blade, guess none of that matters.

I carry a knives of Alaska fixed saw that I rarely use. I need to figure out how to detach a head without dulling a knife so I can leave the saw at home.

Troutslayer2 said:

I carry a knives of Alaska fixed saw that I rarely use. I need to figure out how to detach a head without dulling a knife so I can leave the saw at home.

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This guy makes it look too easy, probably stretches the joint out a bit by hanging it. I seem to find the joint similar to a U joint with the vertebrae overlapping a bit making a little harder to cut thru without twisting and turning. I believe the joint at the base of the skull is called the atlas joint.

Axes? Saws?

A havalon, an extra blade and 5 game bags will do it all.

Wyoming saw.