Anybody actually weight their quarters?

[Kevin Dill]

If you bring block and tackle (I call it a pulley system) be sure your rope is sufficiently stout. It takes a substantial amount of linear pull/poundage to break friction and then move a bulky moose uphill out of water, or pull him out of a bad spot. My 2016 bull came within 6' of rolling into a narrow little gulch about 4' deep and 6' wide. If he had ended up in there I would have worked double-hard to butcher him alone. I doubt I could have pulled him out of there by myself even with dyneema rope and a 4-way set of pulleys.

Harry Callahan: "A man's gotta know his limitations". Dirty Harry must have been a moose hunter, because that is perfect advice. I admit I'm getting more and more about responsible moose killing as I age. Gone is the need to march into Hell and kill the biggest moose I can find...then navigate him out of there regardless of personal suffering, injury or hardship. You can't control an injured moose of course. You can control how far you'll go to kill one and what kind of terrain you'll hunt in...given the limitations of having only your legs and backs for recovery. Moose and water are like peas and carrots...they go together. Still, I don't have a lot of interest in chasing moose in extremely wet settings where it seems like high odds a dead moose will find a watery grave.

I also think a most basic strategy for the guys who must backpack out all their meat (in a tough setting) is to go with more bags of meat weighing less per bag. I usually end up with 10 bags of meat but 12 might be better if the distance is far...intervening terrain is bad...or the packer just has physical issues to consider. Age is a physical issue by the way, lol.

 

[Larry Bartlett]

Kevin...exactly!

 

[Ray]

Now that I am and "old man" and half crippled it seems, Kevin has it right. Small pieces and enough equipment to create a variety of options to move heavy dense objects.

Learn how to set up a "z-drag" system used in the rafting community to get stuck boats off rocks, etc.

Small metal pulley systems from the sail boat or climbing community. Lighter and stronger than what you can get from the hardware store.

dynema ropes, string even, will help out a great deal.

And if your transport system allows for the weight a rope-a-long with 100' of blue steel rope, a ATV recovery snatch block and one or two 1.5"x4' sewn slings. These are always on the boat, ATV or truck as part of the vehicle recovery gear anyway, but will yank a moose just as well and is portable.

 

[Beendare]

I still want to know how it turned out for Larry with the sleds on that hunt....hoping he chimes in on that.

Those mtns were still a long ways off- grin

 

[KJH]

I like to take a kids inflatable raft of tube... the kind that is on clearance in September for ~$4 and you blow up with your mouth. They are great for pulling a bagged quarter if they location you're in makes sense to do so. Cringing to say this, but never had one get punctured... knock on wood. Just walk in calf/knee high water around the lake and you're good. I'm sure it will get popped on day one now.

 

[Beendare]

I like to take a kids inflatable raft of tube... the kind that is on clearance in September for ~$4 and you blow up with your mouth. They are great for pulling a bagged quarter if they location you're in makes sense to do so. Cringing to say this, but never had one get punctured... knock on wood. Just walk in calf/knee high water around the lake and you're good. I'm sure it will get popped on day one now.

Good idea. It would be easy to sew a silnylon cover for that...with a drag rope tie out. I might just do that....

 

[Larry Bartlett]

The whole highlighted hunt is on youtube. Didn't kill anything but time, but saw a lot of animals...caribou and griz mostly.

Legend and PR49 Not the Same - YouTube

Legend Where I Stand - YouTube

other hunts with sleds:

Kork down we go - YouTube

Kork a Bou - YouTube

 

[Beendare]

^^ Good vids Larry

I might just build me a sled...but a foot or more wider so it floats across stuff easier....

 

[Larry Bartlett]

more surface area...more drag friction. I dialed in it to 20" width and 80" length based on what friction i felt with 125-lbs in a sled with wider and narrower (longer and shorter) configs, FYI.

 

[Beendare]

more surface area...more drag friction. I dialed in it to 20" width and 80" length based on what friction i felt with 125-lbs in a sled with wider and narrower (longer and shorter) configs, FYI.

Thx for the info Larry. Call my post above internet jibber jabber theorizing....I have no actual idea of what will work in the field and I appreciate you sharing your testing.

 

[Antlers]

The sled is a HUGE help; I'm just surprised Larry isn't marketing them yet. I've tried a cart, too - sled works better for almost all terrain. Finding a moose to kill is only one part of the equation - finding one that you can retrieve is a key factor in the calculus.

 

[Macmathews]

I've packed out 8 moose quarters in my lifetime....but the most recent was just about 20 years ago! Both of those trips were remote Canadian deals and I didn't pack them far...one moose was only 50 yds from the river. I'm guessing they were appx 120- 140# [56" bull and a 52" bull both Canadians...but I was much younger and stronger then- grin

Have any of you guys been in a position to actually weight yours?

I just booked a drop hunt in AK...and need to plan accordingly.....

First post..

2016 moose..

Right hind 145
Left hind 150
Right Front 170
Left Front 190
Head & Horns 105
Hide 100

We have lucked out a few times and killed moose by the side of the lake..
float em till the quad can help.
Also quarters this big are hard to handle.. What works well is a pole or stretcher type set-up
But that require's 2 hunters

 

[UtahJimmy]

Thx for the info Larry. Call my post above internet jibber jabber theorizing....I have no actual idea of what will work in the field and I appreciate you sharing your testing.

I know this is a few months late, but you should try Larry's sled but make it bigger...

Your thinking is correct. More surface area does not equal more drag friction. Friction is independent of area. You'd actually be spreading the same mass (read weight) of your belongings over a larger area. This would reduce the pressure between your sled and the ground, making it easier to break the static friction each time the sled stops. Of course you are going to be running into more sticks/brush with a larger profile, but you get the idea. If you make it big enough it may just float over all the brush!

 

[Beendare]

I know this is a few months late, but you should try Larry's sled but make it bigger...

Your thinking is correct. More surface area does not equal more drag friction. Friction is independent of area. You'd actually be spreading the same mass (read weight) of your belongings over a larger area. This would reduce the pressure between your sled and the ground, making it easier to break the static friction each time the sled stops. Of course you are going to be running into more sticks/brush with a larger profile, but you get the idea. If you make it big enough it may just float over all the brush!

^Yeah, in theory.....but its tough to go against something that has actually been tested by someone that knows their stuff.

 

[muddydogs]

UtahJimmy is right, the bigger the area the less weight in any one spot. Eventually you will hit a point of diminishing returns. This has been tested by lots of people that know there stuff.

Ever figured out if your floor is built strong enough for a gun safe or fish tank? Same principle apply s, the bigger the base the more the weight is spread out.

 

[Larry Bartlett]

actually only half true if my experiments are accurate:

"bigger" sleds have more friction than smaller sleds. It's weight and width dependent...example:

a sled that is 40" wide and 60" long will have more drag friction than a sled 20" wide and 80" long.

think of dragging a pencil two ways...shaped like a needle with the point being dragged, or pulling it from the side.

just 2 more cents.

lb

 

[Larry Bartlett]

Mac, your figures seem accurate in total, but i've never seen moose legs heavier in the front than in the hind. Buffalo and moskox yes, but not moose. Just curious, not disputing total weights.

lb

 

[North61]

Hind qtrs on a moose weigh between 95-120 lbs on high 40" to high 50" bulls. Shoulders are 75-90 lbs average. Big 60" and larger the weights can be 10-15% heavier. By Day 5 meat loses 8-12% in total weight due to drying and draining. So, a hind qtr that weighed 110-lbs fresh off the carcass will scale at roughly 100-lbs on day 5.

If you started with 500-lbs of fresh meat, you'll have roughly 50-lbs less total weight on day 5 and beyond. Sounds like a lot, but i've done experiments that repeat the same results.

For a long time I thought my rear quarters on my 50" or less meat bulls (gutless skinned hams with bone in) weighed between 125 and 150 pounds. Especially the one I packed through mud and 8" of water on a pack frame. I nearly pitched in head first with one foot entrapment and wondered what it would be like to drown in said, 8" of water. Since then we have discovered this wonderful thing called the butcher who has things like an accurate scale, and I realize that I was about 20+% optimistic and that Larry's estimates above are right on the money.

I tried a sled once or twice but they seem more of a pain in the butt than a real help.

So now I know my moose quarters are lighter but funny enough they still feel just as heavy! Maybe heavier as I get older... I no longer use the pack frame in mud crossings unless I undo a strap and carry a stout walking stick. I do still keep the quarters on the bone because they last better. Be careful out there.