To Bone out or Not to is the question

[NYSHUNTER]

More then once I found myself solo with an animal down and wondering should I try the bone out method. So the questions I have are:

1. Does it really save time on the pack out?
2. How much longer is the process of boning out the meat?
3. Does anyone have experience with the bone out method ?

 

[Browninglover1]

Have you done the quartering method before and are now looking to go to the bone out method?

 

[RockyMtnMT]

Most of my meat tends to get backpacked out. With deer I will often carry the bone. If I were solo and wanted to get it out in one trip, I would bone it. With elk they almost always get boned out. Bones are heavy.

When we bone out we try to take the meat off in muscle groups and in as big of pieces as possible. I will generally leave neck and rib meat. Getting the meat off the bone also helps in getting the body heat out more quickly.

Steve

 

[NYSHUNTER]

I use the quartering method. I'm wondering if it cuts out a trip or two on the pack out if I use the bone out method

 

[Pdvdh]

More then once I found myself solo with an animal down and wondering should I try the bone out method. So the questions I have are:

1. Does it really save time on the pack out? Takes more time working on the animal. Saves time on the pack out because the pack is lighter.
2. How much longer is the process of boning out the meat? Approximately 20%
3. Does anyone have experience with the bone out method? Too much to account for.

My decision to bone out an animal, versus leaving leg bones on quarters is based on 1) length and difficulty of packing trip to get the animal back to vehicle transport, and 2) the size and weight of the animal (as in, how many pack trips will be required to get the entire loads packed out).

Boning versus quarters has much more to do with physical level of energy expended in getting the meat back to vehicle transport than time saved or lost. It's almost mandatory on a moose if the distance packed is very long and arduous. On a dall sheep, even in more mountainous terrain, there are times I'll pack the leg bones out because the animal is more deer-sized than moose-sized.

An additional consideration is the meat is less susceptible to spoilage if the surface area/lb of meat is minimized. So leaving the meat on the leg bones exposes less surface area of the meat to bacteria than cutting the meat up into a bunch of smaller pieces in the field. Therefore, my preferential tendency is always biased toward packing the meat out on the leg bones, if I can hoof it out with the additional weight. But distance traveled and difficulty of travel will sometimes mean that boning out the meat is, all things considered, the better and more sensible option. No animal is worth injuring myself on the pack out. No matter how impressive the "trophy", and no matter how valued the meat.

 

[Timber338]

I'll echo just about exactly what Phorwath said. It's all about getting out as much clean meat as possible. I always leave the meat on the bone unless it's just too far and saving the weight becomes the more logical option.

 

[NYSHUNTER]

Great input guys...all things consider I'm big on safety and not letting the meat spoil. Maybe this year I may try taking out the bones.

 

[J E Custom]

You also need to check the state laws while transporting the meat to its final destination,

Some states allow quartering only until it reaches processing. you can remove fore legs but proof of sex must remain attached.

If you are by yourself, packing an Elk size animal out will take several trips even if you totally bone it out.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Timber338]

You could also experiment with it. Quarter 1/2 your animal and leave the meat on the bone. And then debone the other half. That Would be a great comparison for how much work is involved with deboning, how much weight/time/effort you save packing out, and then how much meat you lose during butchering afterwards.

It's also good to get a feel for your personal ability to carry weight over distance. That is also going to change depending on the weather, the terrain and your fitness level. Once I get an animal down I begin to figure out exactly how many trips I am going to take with what quarters and come up with a game plan, all before I pack a single load.

 

[Barrelnut]

I carry:
* a 6x6 foot piece of clear plastic rolled up in my pack.
* A game bag. The game bag is for a quarter elk bag and the material is about the thickness of a bed sheet and is light and compact. My partner carries one also.
* Long bladed fillet knife
* Several pairs of rubber gloves.

This stuff is all light and when we have an elk down we can debone a couple quarters and back straps and take them out right then and return for the rest.

Use the plastic to lay the skinned quarter on while removing the bone. Put the meat in the games bags and off you go.

As J E Custom said, you need to know the laws of proof of sex.

 

[IdahoCTD]

I've only taken 2 bull elk out, of my own, on the bone. The other 18 or so have been boned out. Now cows are a different story. The vast majority of them have been left on the bone due to the proximity of the vehicle. We have been hunting early the last few years for cows so they get boned out just so they get cooled down enough. 85 to 95 degree weather isn't good for anything left on the bone unless you have a meat hanging cooler awful close. I don't age elk anymore so I don't worry about it going bad. It gets cut up within a day or two of being shot. BTW it's pretty easy to leave evidence of sex on one of the hind quarters even if you bone it out. I do it to every animal I bone out. You either leave part of the penis sheath for a bull or the udder for a female (I guess that's what it's called on a elk too).

It takes about 1 to 1 1/2 hours for me to walk up to a elk, bone and bag the meat, and start packing it by myself. If you've packed a few large deer or elk out very many times you won't want the weight of the bones on your back if you have to go up hill at all or more than about a mile with it.

 

[North Idaho Hunter]

Great posts, I cannot add a whole lot to what most have already said, however, I will say, I prefer to keep all of the meat in one piece. You can darn neart keep everything together on both front and rear quarters.

In doing so, it makes them easier to strap to my pack frame. I have done a few elk where I pulled them by muscle group and it was just too tedious and time consuming, and they moved around a lot in the game bags. keeping as much of the meat together as possible makes it much easier to tie them tight to the pack.

 

[IdahoCTD]

My wife and dad are elk hunting in about 10 days so, if I remember to do it, I'll take some pictures as we butcher them. Typically we are hustling to get the meat cooled as fast as possible due to the temps and I'm doing 90% of the butchering so pictures are usually the last thing on my mind. With pictures you'd be able to see how I take all the meat off of each quarter in one piece. I usually take the lower leg muscle off separately just because it's quicker to do so IMO.

 

[gusd]

I prefer to leave the bone in if at all possible.
Here are some of my reasons
1.I find it easier to tie it securely to my pack frame and get the weight higher on my back, nothing worse than when climbing over logs or on a steep grade with loose footing having 50#s of meat shift in your pack and almost take you out.

2.I also find boning produces more surface area of meat and I get much more spoilage and waste when butchering.Also it is much easier to butcher with bone in.

3. Also even with plastic or a tarp to work on it is still hard to have a clean work area and boning means more exposed meat that gets dirty.