I shot a cow this past season. My first solo elk and my first public land elk. So I satellite texted my wife who was so excited that she texted a bunch of friends and family. At one point I got a blip of cell reception and received a few text messages from friends congratulating me. One buddy asked if I needed help. I said “mm I don’t need the help and I’ll probably have it packed out by the time you get to the trailhead. But it’d be fun to have the company.” This was dumb on several levels since I was a couple miles from the truck and wasn’t done gutting the elk. He dropped everything and drove the couple hours to a trailhead he hadn’t been to before. I met him on the trail (at a fork that’s not on the map no less) with my first load out. He helped me pack out the rest of the elk, then helped me break down camp so I could get home to process the meat. And he had to work the next day. He said he didn’t want any of the meat. Not a big meat eater. Just wanted to enjoy a snowy day in the mountains. He did say he’d come over for a steak. I actually still owe him that steak.
Asking strangers for help hauling meat
- Thread starter mad_angler
- Start date
Tobe_B
WKR
I get asked regularly all year by random dudes if I’ll help pack their elk that they haven’t even killed yet. Having a string of good horses seems to solicit that kind of expected favor. I even had a guy recently try to plan his hunt around me packing him in and I barely know him. That said, I’ve offered and carried meat for all kinds of folks in need when I’m out in the woods. I’m not above lending a hand to someone who’s humping it and working hard at it. But the lazy guys just expecting me to show up can kick rocks.
poboy2214
FNG
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2019
- Messages
- 64
I personally wouldn’t ask unless I had somehow hurt myself I couldn’t do it on my own, but I would help others in certain situations (ie headed back anyway or an older guy by himself). You never know when that stuff will come back around and you’re going to need help.
My brother drew moose tag in Idaho several years ago. Before the hunt I called and made arrangements with an outfitter to come in with horses and pack out the meat if he we killed one. Because we knew we had horses, we hunted some pretty remote and nasty places and ended up killing a bull in one of them. When I called the outfitter to come pack out the bull he told me he was too busy. We were pretty screwed. On the way out we found an ATV trail that would cut our pack out in half, but we didn't have an ATV. I stopped by a camp not far from ours that had a side by side parked at it and offered to pay to use it for a couple hours. The three guys at the camp insisted on coming along and helping. They came in with us and we packed out the entire bull in one trip. We gave them some meat and tried to give them cash, but they wouldn't accept it. I would have never asked for them to help with the packing, but I was definitely grateful for it, and I will certainly pay it forward if I run into someone needing the same type of help.
One of my best hunting friendships and probably best hunting trip ever came from
“Yall Oklahoma boys ever seen a bear up close??? Wanna help us pack it out???”
So yeah I’d help if asked and it was after I finished hunting for the day
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
“Yall Oklahoma boys ever seen a bear up close??? Wanna help us pack it out???”
So yeah I’d help if asked and it was after I finished hunting for the day
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
velvet muley
Lil-Rokslider
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2015
- Messages
- 205
Never asked for help from a stranger and never would for packing. I know my limits and stick to them, I wouldn't expect some random dude to ask me for help either. It is a good life lesson to learn when a first time elk killer realizes what it actually takes.
That being said I have offered my help to someone.
That being said I have offered my help to someone.
Sneaker
FNG
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2024
- Messages
- 85
When I’m sitting at work or home and a buddy texts for help I will go to great lengths to help. But, when I’m on a hunt, I am not willing to normally sacrifice much of my dedicated hunting time to haul out someone else mistake. It can happen in scenarios, but generally you need to have you own crap figured out. I only dedicate x days for the hunt and I want to hunt. If someone’s first time has something down and doesn’t know how to take care of it and bone it out, I’ll certainly jump and show them how to do it, but dedicating a day and all of my energy to do a pack out is usually not on my schedule.
Poser
WKR
This isn't a stranger story, but its a packout story nonetheless. This past October, Southwest Colorado got pummeled by the conversion of 2 tropical storms out of The Pacific. It resulted in an unprecedented, historic amount of rain and quite a bit of destruction, too. There are no weather sites in the specific area we were in, but some qualified estimates had the rain totals at 18-22 inches.
My partner headed in on the Friday the storm started, 6 days before the opener of 1st rifle. He didn't have any issues, but it rained hard the entire time. I came in the next day, though I ran into problems right away. All creeks were absolutely pumping multi thousand CFS: seasonal dry creeks, small spring fed creeks and year around creeks. I spent 45 minutes contemplating a raging creek crossing. I hiked up and down the creek bank, stuck a leg in a few times and noped right out: there was no option where I wasn't going to get swept downstream. To compound the issue, I knew this was 1 of many of similar obstacles I would face including the trail being completely flooded by a larger creek that had swelled its banks considerably. I backed out and went around a different, but much longer way. Thing is, I was packing in with gear for 11-12 days, my partner was going to meet me for the final 3 mile climb to take some load off so I had a pretty heavy pack, easily 70 lbs or more. That sucked.
I came in the long way, which took forever, I even encountered a group of about 40 high school kids from Louisiana + 4-5 adults. They were in their Senior trip, absolutely soaked to the bone, under prepared and stranded with fear due to the creek crossings. They were panicking -kids were crying, adults were freaking out. I built them a fire with my emergency stash and called a rescue which, SAR got to them later that night. Anyway, spent the next 4 days in a tent as it rained continuously.
We couldn't access our desired area by out usual route due to raging creeks, so we took a different route in the dark on opening morning. It usually takes us 4-4.5 hours, but it easily took us 7-8 going a different way. We weren't even hunting until almost noon on opening day. Killed a bull that evening at 12,100 feet and ended up bivying out in puffies on a freezing night above 11k, doing jumping jacks and hill sprints to stay warm. Came back down to camp the next day with heavy loads, almost half an elk. It was a stupid hard slog and we got cliffed out multiple times. Probably took 10 hours or more to cover 1.5 miles. Just soul-crushingly frustrating progress. We were so beat up that we stayed in camp for 2 more days to recover. My fiance was heading in the long way to help out, but Justin Spicher also had reached out to see how were doing. So, he and a buddy of his also took the long way, which was pretty impacted by the rain and flooding -about a 13 mile hike with a good portion of it being though running water down the trail.
And then we had 5 people to pack out a 1/2 an elk. Which, had we known we were going to have 5 people, we would have left most of the meat hanging up high. Anyway, with 5 people and not able to take our usual route rock hoping up the creek, this turned into the lightest, hardest pack out of all time. 4 of us had like 20-30 lbs of meat each, tops. My fiance only packed out a single antler (I had the other one) -no meat at all because we didn't have the game bags to divy up the load anymore. It took us 5-6 hours each way and it SUCKED. Our alternate route up sucked so bad we tried to take a different way back which ended up sucking even worse.
Anyway, got the meat down to camp, waited a couple of more days and the more direct path out opened up again as the waters receded. So, alls well that ends well, but, dang, that was BRUTE.
My partner headed in on the Friday the storm started, 6 days before the opener of 1st rifle. He didn't have any issues, but it rained hard the entire time. I came in the next day, though I ran into problems right away. All creeks were absolutely pumping multi thousand CFS: seasonal dry creeks, small spring fed creeks and year around creeks. I spent 45 minutes contemplating a raging creek crossing. I hiked up and down the creek bank, stuck a leg in a few times and noped right out: there was no option where I wasn't going to get swept downstream. To compound the issue, I knew this was 1 of many of similar obstacles I would face including the trail being completely flooded by a larger creek that had swelled its banks considerably. I backed out and went around a different, but much longer way. Thing is, I was packing in with gear for 11-12 days, my partner was going to meet me for the final 3 mile climb to take some load off so I had a pretty heavy pack, easily 70 lbs or more. That sucked.
I came in the long way, which took forever, I even encountered a group of about 40 high school kids from Louisiana + 4-5 adults. They were in their Senior trip, absolutely soaked to the bone, under prepared and stranded with fear due to the creek crossings. They were panicking -kids were crying, adults were freaking out. I built them a fire with my emergency stash and called a rescue which, SAR got to them later that night. Anyway, spent the next 4 days in a tent as it rained continuously.
We couldn't access our desired area by out usual route due to raging creeks, so we took a different route in the dark on opening morning. It usually takes us 4-4.5 hours, but it easily took us 7-8 going a different way. We weren't even hunting until almost noon on opening day. Killed a bull that evening at 12,100 feet and ended up bivying out in puffies on a freezing night above 11k, doing jumping jacks and hill sprints to stay warm. Came back down to camp the next day with heavy loads, almost half an elk. It was a stupid hard slog and we got cliffed out multiple times. Probably took 10 hours or more to cover 1.5 miles. Just soul-crushingly frustrating progress. We were so beat up that we stayed in camp for 2 more days to recover. My fiance was heading in the long way to help out, but Justin Spicher also had reached out to see how were doing. So, he and a buddy of his also took the long way, which was pretty impacted by the rain and flooding -about a 13 mile hike with a good portion of it being though running water down the trail.
And then we had 5 people to pack out a 1/2 an elk. Which, had we known we were going to have 5 people, we would have left most of the meat hanging up high. Anyway, with 5 people and not able to take our usual route rock hoping up the creek, this turned into the lightest, hardest pack out of all time. 4 of us had like 20-30 lbs of meat each, tops. My fiance only packed out a single antler (I had the other one) -no meat at all because we didn't have the game bags to divy up the load anymore. It took us 5-6 hours each way and it SUCKED. Our alternate route up sucked so bad we tried to take a different way back which ended up sucking even worse.
Anyway, got the meat down to camp, waited a couple of more days and the more direct path out opened up again as the waters receded. So, alls well that ends well, but, dang, that was BRUTE.
I was that guy. Shot a cow last light, last day. Finished field dressing it at 930 pm. I didn't know it at the time, but I was 6 months out from a spinal fusion of S1-L1. Was eating hydrocodene like M&M's. Asked two guys to help me, and it took three of us 6 hours, uphill one way. Gave them each a hindquarter and a front shoulder. It hit 70 degrees that day, and I would have lost the animal otherwise.
WI in the west
WKR
Theres zero chance id ever ask someone to help me without some serious injury. Fortunately for me for i killed my first bull about 3 miles in with around 1700 feet of gain on the way out with meat. It went fine cause it was cool out, single didgets at night but it put into perspective how far i can go and get one out. The 10 miles back early season solo fantasy quickly went away after that.
As for helping someone, id honestly probably avoid any conversation with someone if possible and just walk the other way and keep hunting as long as they seemed ok. In the event i had prior interaction with them like the guys camped by us last season id definatly help cause they were two cool old dudes that were very good neighbors to us.
As for helping someone, id honestly probably avoid any conversation with someone if possible and just walk the other way and keep hunting as long as they seemed ok. In the event i had prior interaction with them like the guys camped by us last season id definatly help cause they were two cool old dudes that were very good neighbors to us.
