Great video worth watching before getting an elk (or any animal) on the ground.

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Just skinned an antelope last weekend and the hair on them is insane. Watching the video got me thinking. When you cut down the back then start working down you are starting the the large muscle groups right after your hide cut that creates all that hair. By starting at the belly you cut the hair at the belly where you don't take much meat from then cut around/ inside the legs where again you don't take much meat from.

Yes antelope hair comes out really easy.

To be clear I usually skin out the whole side (or at least a full leg and enough around it so the hide lays back) before cutting into the meat. But yes that tends to limit hair to the surface that has the membrane (whatever it’s called) over the muscle vs on the cut and exposed meat.

 

[cnelk]

Elk love flat ground.

View attachment 962321


Sooooo much easier

View attachment 962322

One of my favorite sayings is…

E.L.F = Elk Like Flat

 

[nphunter]

I have always cut the hide down the back. For guys that have tried both do you tend to get less hair all over cutting the hide down the belly? Just from looking at the difference in hair in those areas I am wondering if cutting down the belly may be better for hair management.

Same here, I might try the chest of low ribs sometime, the back of the neck skin is crazy think. The only thing about cutting the belly is that is what they constantly piss on. The back seems much cleaner, I feel like I can keep the meat very clean coming from the back. I split down the center to and do the front and hind separate one after the other to not have an entire side of the elk exposed to flys and bees at once.

 

[rclouse79]

Thanks for passing this along. I have watched a handful of videos over the years and feel like I have got better with time. I never feel like my jobs are as clean as the “professionals”. This is one of the better videos I have seen. I will plan to watch it again and hope I get a chance to practice it on my son’s elk tag.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

Same. I carry a reverse curved blunt tip blade outdoor edge made (makes?) that lets me quickly cut chin to ass and up each leg. You can just drive it up the leg under the hide, jabbing it forward if the skin is tight and it just cut the hide inside out. With the 2.5oz in my pack imho.

It’s the folding zippro
View attachment 962386

I use the guthook on my KOA Whitetail Hunter. Everybody laughs and asks why I have a guthook til they see me zip the cuts in 30 seconds and start skinning. Then they show up with a knife that has a gut hook the next trip.

 

[wapitibob]

I used to cut down the belly, from my old gutting days. Now we go down the back, split at tail and go down the back of the legs.

 

[HighUintas]

Good video. Despite watching a couple of these every season I think I've done each animal I've killed differently and I can't remember which method I prefer. I'm always doing it by myself so it always sucks and is very slow and dirty.

 

[Jstumbaugh]

We did the gutless method on my bull a couple weeks ago. First elk breakdown and first field breakdown for us. Coming from the east we always gut and take whitetails out whole. We split the hide down the spine and worked each side. Took us 2 hours start to finish taking our time. I felt confident in the process from butchering hundreds of whitetails and raised pigs. The size of the elk is definitely something to overcome. One issue we had was when we were all done and I was going in for the tenders the belly must have started to bloat. We pulled the first tender and then flopped the carcass over to get the second. When this happened the gas/stomach matter that came out of the esophagus was unreal. The esophagus was loose from getting the neck meat off and the head was removed. It belched out the grass/bile/gasses like a firehose..... All in all, I can't wait to do it again. We also placed some logs under him to keep him from rolling and as level as possible.

 

[MuleyFever]

.

The only thing about cutting the belly is that is what they constantly piss on.

Good point

 

[5MilesBack]

How do you watch a video that tells you to "sign in to make sure you're not a bot". What are you signing into?

Here's one of mine solo. Normally I forget to take any pics at all of the animal, and am halfway done before I even think about it. To me, it just makes sense to skin from the back down, especially if you're going to cape it out for a shoulder mount.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

The only thing about cutting the belly is that is what they constantly piss on. The back seems much cleaner, I feel like I can keep the meat very clean coming from the back. I split down the center to and do the front and hind separate one after the other to not have an entire side of the elk exposed to flys and bees at once.

Depending on the season that is definitely a consideration, I don't hunt the rut normally and as I mentioned I'm just speaking about how I break down all animals not just elk. But I would assume if you're dealing with that situation skinning out a side w/o touching the meat and swapping gloves is an option.

Luckily also in later season there isn't too much issue with flies and yellow jackets. I shot a bear in sept this year and man that was frustrating dealing with that and I thought about all the archery hunters having to routinely deal with that annoyance.

One issue we had was when we were all done and I was going in for the tenders the belly must have started to bloat. We pulled the first tender and then flopped the carcass over to get the second. When this happened the gas/stomach matter that came out of the esophagus was unreal. The esophagus was loose from getting the neck meat off and the head was removed. It belched out the grass/bile/gasses like a firehose.....

If the stomach is bloated you can give the topside (of the stomach, not guts) a quick poke with a knife and it'll vent.

Here's one of mine solo. Normally I forget to take any pics at all of the animal, and am halfway done before I even think about it. To me, it just makes sense to skin from the back down, especially if you're going to cape it out for a shoulder mount.
View attachment 962449

Aside from the mount concerns when I see this my head goes to thinking now you have to shove the leg through that hide or cut it away, and then need to remove the legs which I normally cut from the inside first, are you cutting top side down to detach them? I guess if you don't mind explain to me how you finish skinning and remove the legs from this point (like I'm a naïve child, lol). I am curious.

 

[5MilesBack]

Aside from the mount concerns when I see this my head goes to thinking now you have to shove the leg through that hide or cut it away, and then need to remove the legs which I normally cut from the inside first, are you cutting top side down to detach them? I guess if you don't mind explain to me how you finish skinning and remove the legs from this point (like I'm a naïve child, lol). I am curious.

Yes. You see the ring already around the leg. I'll lift the leg a bit and start cutting up the backside of the shoulder, around the top, and keep cutting until it's loose and then just pull the whole lower leg through the ring.

And quite frankly, if I'm not gonna mount it.......I'll start on the front leg and remove it (and the rear) whole with the skin on, then skin them after I'm done with everything else. That cuts a lot of time for me from the overall job in the field.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Yes. You see the ring already around the leg. I'll lift the leg a bit and start cutting up the backside of the shoulder, around the top, and keep cutting until it's loose and then just pull the whole lower leg through the ring.

And quite frankly, if I'm not gonna mount it.......I'll start on the front leg and remove it (and the rear) whole with the skin on, then skin them after I'm done with everything else. That cuts a lot of time for me from the overall job in the field.

I can see that with the front leg and you noted you normally do the rear leg differently. BUT in the above photo how did you proceed with the rear leg? Cause you aren't the only one I've seen post a photo like that an its not clear to me how the rear is done. I know you can start it from the back, can you just keep going and cut around the socket of the ball joint and curve to the groin? Are you blind to preserving attached evidence of sex from that direction? Not being argumentative, I just don't fully understand how to remove a rear leg (with evidence of sex) working on an animal that is spine up.

 

[LongWayAround]

@Jstumbaugh When I go in for the tenderloins, I slide my knife flat under the back side of the ribs and cut forward/down. It doesn't pop the guts, but gives them more room to pooch out and makes it much easier to access the loins.

 

[HighUintas]

I can see that with the front leg and you noted you normally do the rear leg differently. BUT in the above photo how did you proceed with the rear leg? Cause you aren't the only one I've seen post a photo like that an its not clear to me how the rear is done. I know you can start it from the back, can you just keep going and cut around the socket of the ball joint and curve to the groin? Are you blind to preserving attached evidence of sex from that direction? Not being argumentative, I just don't fully understand how to remove a rear leg (with evidence of sex) working on an animal that is spine up.

Randy what's his name has a good video showing how this is done. I can't remember the name of the video but it's on YouTube and is just a general gutless method video. I did it once and thought it was a bit of a pain.

 

[joehew89]

I pretty much do what he does. I like to knock the hooves off very last though. Gives you a little extra handle/leverage. I like how he started taking the hind quarterns from the spine/top side first. Im going to try that out next time.

 

[huntnful]

I pretty much do what he does. I like to knock the hooves off very last though. Gives you a little extra handle/leverage. I like how he started taking the hind quarterns from the spine/top side first. Im going to try that out next time.

I like to leave the hooves on until the quarters are in the bag also. I also am normally solo, and working the hind quarter from the top all the way to ball socket first, then allows me to come up underneath with it on my shoulder with a lot of leverage and a couple swipes of the knife pops it off and then I got a good hold of it as well.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

I like to leave the hooves on until the quarters are in the bag also. I also am normally solo, and working the hind quarter from the top all the way to ball socket first, then allows me to come up underneath with it on my shoulder with a lot of leverage and a couple swipes of the knife pops it off and then I got a good hold of it as well

Do you have to leave evidence of sex attached?

 

[huntnful]

Do you have to leave evidence of sex attached?

Yeah most places you do. I just leave a little part of the dick attacked to one ham.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Yeah most places you do. I just leave a little part of the dick attacked to one ham.

When you're coming at it from the top you can see well enough with the spine up?