HunterGatherer
Lil-Rokslider
When you get that late night text message from a friend - “ Bull down, need your help in the morning”…
It never fails - as soon as I finally wash all the blood out of my pack, someone inevitably calls me for a pack out
. I woke up to the text and called my buddies. Sure enough they had a bull down and needed help for “one easy trip out”. Well as luck would have it, the second guy shot a bull on the way in to get the first bull. And of course these “ last day of the season desperation bulls” are always in the nastiest possible places to pack out of 
.
I will say, my buddy made a hell of a shot on this healthy spike at 565 yds, 3 times- all hits. He came tumbling down the steep brushy slope and ended up with a log pinning him to the ground…
It was quite the trick to remove the log and get started on quartering as the log was the only thing keeping the bull from avalanching down the mountain even further. My buddy has promised to send his folks “ the biggest trophy pic you’ve ever seen” but since the bull was lacking in the antler department, he sent them this one
…
So by this time our other buddy has figured out he’s getting no help on his bill and just starts shuttling meat back to the boat and we get the spike broken down. About his time I come up with the great idea of packing the spike out in one trip. I had my K2 frame sans bag so I shuttled loads through the brush up to an open ridge that would be our exit route.
Once we got all the meat up to the ridge, I loaded up the two hinds on my pack and buddy took the two fronts and loose meat and we started the 1500ft descent, knees popping and creaking all the way down
Both of our pack were well over 100#, mine was probably pushing 140. The packs handled the loads as well as can be expected but when you’re packing close to your body weight in meat, it’s gonna hurt, regardless of the pack.
We made it back to the boat just before dark with 8 elk quarters and made several harrowing trips across the river in an inflatable kayak. I was glad to be done for the season but at the same time, already thinking about next year and the chance to do it all over again.
A couple of the 6.5prc ELDX that we recovered. Good terminal performance for being at the edge of the necessary energy for expansion. The flat one hit the shoulder knuckle.
It never fails - as soon as I finally wash all the blood out of my pack, someone inevitably calls me for a pack out
. I woke up to the text and called my buddies. Sure enough they had a bull down and needed help for “one easy trip out”. Well as luck would have it, the second guy shot a bull on the way in to get the first bull. And of course these “ last day of the season desperation bulls” are always in the nastiest possible places to pack out of . I will say, my buddy made a hell of a shot on this healthy spike at 565 yds, 3 times- all hits. He came tumbling down the steep brushy slope and ended up with a log pinning him to the ground…
It was quite the trick to remove the log and get started on quartering as the log was the only thing keeping the bull from avalanching down the mountain even further. My buddy has promised to send his folks “ the biggest trophy pic you’ve ever seen” but since the bull was lacking in the antler department, he sent them this one
…
So by this time our other buddy has figured out he’s getting no help on his bill and just starts shuttling meat back to the boat and we get the spike broken down. About his time I come up with the great idea of packing the spike out in one trip. I had my K2 frame sans bag so I shuttled loads through the brush up to an open ridge that would be our exit route.
Once we got all the meat up to the ridge, I loaded up the two hinds on my pack and buddy took the two fronts and loose meat and we started the 1500ft descent, knees popping and creaking all the way down
Both of our pack were well over 100#, mine was probably pushing 140. The packs handled the loads as well as can be expected but when you’re packing close to your body weight in meat, it’s gonna hurt, regardless of the pack.
We made it back to the boat just before dark with 8 elk quarters and made several harrowing trips across the river in an inflatable kayak. I was glad to be done for the season but at the same time, already thinking about next year and the chance to do it all over again.
A couple of the 6.5prc ELDX that we recovered. Good terminal performance for being at the edge of the necessary energy for expansion. The flat one hit the shoulder knuckle.
