Yep, totally agree. Always wanna be prepared out there. Also a good idea to have a sat phone (like Garmin inreach) of some kind if ya get stranded. We bought one a few years ago and it definitely gives ya peace of mind when you're in the middle of nowhere.
Butler creek is what we use exclusively. Super comfortable (neoprene type material). We've only had them for a couple seasons but they seem to be holding up to the abuse.
I bought my son a mossberg patriot 308 when he was 12. Great caliber for pretty much all game but the gun itself was super inconsistent. We did kill a bear and a cow elk with it no problem.
We've always done the gutless method on elk and mostly on deer unless our truck is nearby. Then we'll gut it and drag it out. No need to ever gut an elk unless you wanna keep the liver or something.
We always have our elk/deer burger ground at a butcher nearby and he adds 10% beef fat. Only around $1.50 lb. Not worth the cost in my opinion to buy the grinder and dealing with incorporating the fat in.