debone elk

[blake_mhoona]

for those that debone elk i've run into 2 schools of thought while watching youtube videos. i'd like everyone's opinion and why one is better than the other.

do you:

A: remove the hind quarters and debone on the ground/cloth by cutting the bone out of the meat. leaving you with a solid chunk of leg sans bone (a la Hushin's youtube video on deboning)

or

B: remove the muscle from the hind quarter while still attached to the animal. leaving you smaller chunks of meat and the bone still attached to the carcass (a la Aron's video on outdoor life on deboning)

if any of you want to post links to helpful videos feel free to.

 

[durangobrad]

That depends on what you have around you to either hang quarters in while you take the meat off the bone or a ground tarp or something to lay them on the ground or possibly snow? If I have a clean working surface I prefer to take it off the animal first (all quarters and meat) and then start the boning process.

 

[BackcountryMT]

Like durangobrad, is depends on my situation. If I have the workable room, a partner also helps, i'll remove the leg from the body and then bone out from that point. If I am by myself I will generally bone out with the leg still attached as it is much easier to wrestle this around when solo.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

I don't debone the legs unless its a long haul but to date when I have I do it off to the side. I want to get all the meat off the animal and away from the hot (sometimes expanding) gut sack. Personally I get a bit worn by the time I've broke down a whole animal and I'd like to get everything done on the carcass first and go from there. I did debone the rears on mine this year, those were the last load out and I waited to do so till be came back in for them. I had cleaned off my knife during the haul load and was fresh versus having been bent over working on an animal for some time already. By that point they had cooled off and were a bit more pleasant to work with (hot meat is a bit more floppy versus cooled off meat).

One consideration on the meat chunks is regulations. Some places require evidence of sex on the "largest" chunk of meat, personally I think getting the rear off with the nut on still and then peeling out the bone leaving the rest of the leg all attached together is a safe bet to meet that requirement.

Just my preferences.

 

[blake_mhoona]

are you removing muscle groups or are you removing the bone?

 

[Beendare]

Its easier to bone out by removing the shoulders, IMO but sometimes I will do it right there.

I like to keep the sheathing of the muscle groups intact....as much as possible anyway.

 

[blake_mhoona]

i ask these questions because there's not near enough videos online for me to feel safe in doing one yet. and i'm sure a lot of is trial and error. but for arkansas you can not cross state lines with bones from any other state so the only option is to debone (and i assume boil the skull??)

 

[TJ]

Here are a couple good videos of how to debone.

down to the bone elk hunting - - Yahoo Video Search Results

HOW TO DEBONE AN ELK HIND QUARTER IN DETAIL - YouTube

 

[blake_mhoona]

Here are a couple good videos of how to debone.

down to the bone elk hunting - - Yahoo Video Search Results

HOW TO DEBONE AN ELK HIND QUARTER IN DETAIL - YouTube

that second one from hushin was the video i meant to reference in A not Eastmans

 

[5MilesBack]

I almost always just debone everything right off the carcass, unless it's an easy haul to the truck.

I've also seen many videos doing the gutless method by starting the skinning job down around the belly. I always slice down the backbone and skin down each side. It's also real easy to save the cape this way as you're already cutting up the back of the neck to the base of the antlers. Here's my bull from this year with the first side skinned down.

 

[Ridge Ghost]

i ask these questions because there's not near enough videos online for me to feel safe in doing one yet. and i'm sure a lot of is trial and error. but for arkansas you can not cross state lines with bones from any other state so the only option is to debone (and i assume boil the skull??)

The nice thing is that you really can't mess it up, as long as you get the meat cooled. If you mess up on a few cuts, it just means that you will end up with a few extra pounds of burger and less of steak. No harm done, and it's all part of the learning process. Watch videos, ask for advice, get as educated as you can, and then don't worry about it too much. It's all part of the learning process.

 

[rayporter]

it is a dead critter. ya cant screw it up. you will develop your own system after you get one, so dont expect to follow exactly how others do it.

i like to leave the bone in and do it on the tail gate or hanging in the trailer. if cool enough i like to leave the hide on as it keeps meat cleaner.

even if you just practice once on a deer it will give you enough confidence to do an elk.

 

[DRP]

for deboning the legs (front and back) I prefer to make a meat pole and hang the legs as I take them off the body, then debone the remaining meat off the body. this gives the legs a chance to start cooling down, then I will debone the legs while they are hanging. after bending over on my hands and knees for an hour it feels good to stand up while deboning the legs.

 

[backcountry_hunter]

for deboning the legs (front and back) I prefer to make a meat pole and hang the legs as I take them off the body, then debone the remaining meat off the body. this gives the legs a chance to start cooling down, then I will debone the legs while they are hanging. after bending over on my hands and knees for an hour it feels good to stand up while deboning the legs.

X's 2...... plus it's amazing how much gravity will help you if you start from the top and work down. I do the same thing.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

are you removing muscle groups or are you removing the bone?

I try to remove the bone and close the exposed meat back up on itself. When I get home that means the outer surface of all the muscle and the inside of that cut are the only areas that were exposed. Loading muscle groups in a game bag is bound to get more hair/dirt/etc. (some is inevitable) on more surfaces.

I almost always just debone everything right off the carcass, unless it's an easy haul to the truck.

I've also seen many videos doing the gutless method by starting the skinning job down around the belly..

I start at the groin and skin out evidence on each quarter and then move on to bulk skinning which ends up being via the belly. What's the process when you work around to groin when coming from the spine side?

 

[Beendare]

I always slice down the backbone and skin down each side.

Me too

 

[LostArra]

obviously there is more than one way to successfully skin an elk

 

[FreeRange]

No reason not to practice on the next deer you get just to get familiar with the process even if it's lying next to the truck. I'll add that what I do with deer and did with the first elk I ever dressed which was this year, is work down the backbone and skin the whole side to expose the whole flank (going to get that flank meat and rib meat anyways right?) and use that as a table to lay the leg across while you debone. If you're by yourself don't try and get it all off the rear in one big chunk. This is all if you don't have any trees nearby to hang the legs, which is above all preferable if available.

I de-boned my first deer with zero knowledge of how to even dress a big game animal and it is surprisingly intuitive. Of course gleaning what info you can from the internet beforehand will help but when you're standing in front of that animal it will become pretty obvious what will work best in that situation and in hindsight you'll have even better insight into how to do it next time.

 

[bowtech3dhunter]

i ask these questions because there's not near enough videos online for me to feel safe in doing one yet. and i'm sure a lot of is trial and error. but for arkansas you can not cross state lines with bones from any other state so the only option is to debone (and i assume boil the skull??)

You will never really feel safe deboning an elk and youtube videos do not do it justice. Walking up on your first elk is going to blow you away. They are huge compared to TV and magazines and the deer that you usually kill. You are going to be overwhelmed, especially by yourself, you just have to take a minute and use your head. It's still just a dead animal, just like all the deer you've killed, it's just way bigger, that's it. I've deboned about a dozen elk now (No, I'm no expert). I always start my first cut along the back and work one side removing one piece of meat at a time and sticking it in my game bags as I go. Once the entire side is deboned I just roll it over and repeat.

 

[doverpack12]

I start either on the back or the groin depending on how the animal fell and working conditions. If I have a choice and can get the body positioned where it's not going to roll and move on me I like to start at the groin and remove the whole hind quarter because I feel its easier getting the hind off by first getting to the socket joint in the hip then it really opens up for you. I like to remove all of the quarters and get them cooling then debone each one while hanging if possible but I also carry Tyvek if I need a ground sheet. This gets all of the meat off the animal as fast as possible instead of messing around deboning when you should be getting meat out in the air cooling.