Packing in vs. out

Does anyone know a good instructional book that shows how to properly bone and field dress big game animals? I have been looking but have not found a definitive guide. I would also like to butcher the animal myself, so if anyone knows any good books on butchering after you pack it out.

thanks
Ryan

Here are some links that might help:

Gutless Elk Method (Bugle's Picture Guide to Quartering an Elk Without Gutting It)

Gutless Antelope Method (HuntingNut » News » The Gutless Field Dressing Method)

Make sure you leave evidence of sex on the animal, and the properly affixed tag!

Good luck!

V/R

Ed
 
I use a similar method to bone out deer without gutting the animal.
The main differance is that I leave the skin on the legs. This keeps the meat clean and you only need a meat bag for the back straps etc.
 
I live in MT and am 57. In the last 10 years my hunting partner and I have been blessed to take 8 bulls. All 8 of these bulls were shot a little over 3 miles from the closest road. We use a combo of one wheeled game carts and backpacks.

My hunting partner and I own two, one wheeled game carts. Both are homemade. One is made of aluminum and one is made of steel piping. I recently purchased a new one from PackWheel. You can google that one. Looks like a great concept with good reviews.

On packs I prefer Mystery Ranch. One of the only pack suppliers who outfit our nations elite military units. They don't mess around with skimpy material. I have personally carried 90 lb packs of boned out elk meat with their Crew Cab pack and a newer version of the pack.

My advice, find a good hunting partner, get in shape, buy the best equipment you can afford then get in the woods. Hunt where people won't go because it's too steep, or too far.

We don't pack out bones. They are roughly 50% of the weight. Our boned out bulls this year weighed 230 and 237. We don't pack hides, we take off the skulls at the last joint on the neck. All of this can be done with a knife.

Good luck.
 
One thing that I think warrants considerable thought is the mental aspect, the common theme that it isn't easy and you likely won't enjoy it while your are grinding it out. It's a labor of love, as has been said before, "it's something that I love to hate".

During our pack outs my buddy and I are all smiles and energy for the first half of the first trip, then the reality of the situation slowly dawns on us, that we have to pack 200+ lbs of meat and 50 lbs of gear anywhere from 2-5 miles overland and through mountainous terrain full of brush and blow downs. The joking, the high spirits & high fives, the talking ..... all subside, you find yourself in split worlds, your feet are slowly churning up the miles, your muscles are toiling through the elevation gain and the obstacles, but the world turns into a less vibrant version of reality. Your mind is elsewhere, thinking of past hunts, odd recollections from years past, anything other than the task at hand. Before you know it, 2 hours has passed and you find yourself suddenly at your tailgate, the first trip is under your belt. With an empty pack, a snack and some water, you head back in for another load making surprising headway. The day or days pass like this, you find that hours pass without any sense of time, marked only by brief states of consciousness when you arrive at A or B. Sometimes you get pried out of lizard brain to the realization that you have a new blister, or that an existing one just burst, or that there's a deer observing your progress, but for the most part you just grind it out, one step at a time.

What I'm trying to illustrate is that it's not very enjoyable DURING the packout. Fortunately our minds are capable of finding ways to distract themselves (marathon runners will tell you the same). BUT, when you set that last load on the tailgate and make that wobbly walk down to the creek to retrieve a mountain-cold beer or soda, knowing that the hardest part is over, that you and your family will reap the rewards of your efforts all year, there's a monumental feeling of satisfaction and gratitude.

It took me 5 years to kill my first bull with a bow. Not because I didn't know how to kill animals or because I wasn't smart enough, but because it took me that long to expand my comfort zone, to go in deep, to hunt where the elk are, knowing that every step away from the truck would be twice as hard with meat on my back. It took me that long, 5 years of packing deer out on my back, to convince myself that I was physically capable of Much More than I ever thought possible. It took me 5 years to learn that being uncomfortable, that getting multiple blisters on each foot, that the feelings of pain ...... are all just temporary, a week after you return you will be wishing you could do it all over again. To learn that the reward far exceeds the effort, that you can always hike another 100 yards, that no bowl is too steep and no bull is too far .... once you get her, knowing that success is always possible.... That's a beautiful place to be.

Read this thread. This is a guy that CAN.

https://www.longrangehunting.com/threads/colorado-wilderness-6x6-bull-elk.210289/
 
As stated before, bone out the meat and pack it. Deer are one or two trips out when solo. Elk... well, they're way hard to get out alone. You may lose some meat due to spoilage trying. You may also ruin your knees in the process. A friend or pack animal is almost a must. Almost nobody in these parts drags a deer unless they're road hunting.
 
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