Hanging quarters

[Randle]

Yep Ross our age is showing. Shoulder problems appearing to make it a challenge but elk hunting must go on.
I know 20 years ago things used to be easier now we just change how I do things

 

[5MilesBack]

Until you come back for the next load and discover that you are feeding wild america.

From my experience our scent keeps the animals off of it for at least a day or so, but that's not in griz country. I've never lost any meat to animals or even had it be an issue. It's kind of like leaving an animal overnight before you find it versus breaking it down and leaving it for a day or two. If you have no scent on that animal and it's down, the yotes and sometimes black bears will get on it that night. But our scent does wonders for keeping them off it for some period of time, which has always been enough for me to pack it all out. In some cases it's been 5+ days before I've seen yotes or bears on the carcass even.

 

[jenkinsd]

The old timers (like me) are having a chuckle. No fun intended.

 

[idelkslayer]

It finally happened to me this last year. I typically hang quarters at head height but sometimes I have laid them out on logs or branches overnight. Never had a problem with either method until last fall. I hung my elk quarters about chest high and didn't come back for 2 days. My partner had killed a bull the same day as me and we packed his out first.

We arrived at my meat pole to find one of 5 bags missing. It was the bag with backstraps and tenderloins. Another bag had a perfect 12 inch long tear mark with 5 claws but the meat was untouched. I circled around for 30 minutes trying to find the bag and never found a trace of the game bag.

I don't think I would do anything differently. If a bear wants it, the bear can get to it no matter how high you hang it. Most of the time, I'm back the next day to pack meat, but I have left meat hanging for multiple days before this without issue.

An anecdote I like to share when people talk about hanging meat or food bags in bear country comes from a friend of mine who I baited bears with. He built a metal container out of sheet metal with an timed auger that dispensed food twice per day. He suspended it from a rope 15 feet above the ground between two trees that were 30 feet apart. One day when we checked the bait site we saw claw marks on the side of the container. A bear had climbed 20 feet up a tree and then slid 15 feet down the rope to get to the container suspended 15 feet above the ground. Sure enough, when we checked the trail camera pictures, there was one picture of a bear falling to the ground.

 

[Taudisio]

It finally happened to me this last year. I typically hang quarters at head height but sometimes I have laid them out on logs or branches overnight. Never had a problem with either method until last fall. I hung my elk quarters about chest high and didn't come back for 2 days. My partner had killed a bull the same day as me and we packed his out first.

We arrived at my meat pole to find one of 5 bags missing. It was the bag with backstraps and tenderloins. Another bag had a perfect 12 inch long tear mark with 5 claws but the meat was untouched. I circled around for 30 minutes trying to find the bag and never found a trace of the game bag.

I don't think I would do anything differently. If a bear wants it, the bear can get to it no matter how high you hang it. Most of the time, I'm back the next day to pack meat, but I have left meat hanging for multiple days before this without issue.

An anecdote I like to share when people talk about hanging meat or food bags in bear country comes from a friend of mine who I baited bears with. He built a metal container out of sheet metal with a timed auger that dispensed food twice per day. He suspended it from a rope 15 feet above the ground between two trees that were 30 feet apart. One day when we checked the bait site we saw claw marks on the side of the container. A bear had climbed 20 feet up a tree and then slid 15 feet down the rope to get to the container suspended 15 feet above the ground. Sure enough, when we checked the trail camera pictures, there was one picture of a bear falling to the ground.

This ^^^, hanging with 550 cord, it would be nothing for a bear to find the cord and snap it. If I can get it, a bear can get it. Outside of some bearproof coolers or boxes obviously. My goal is to deter coyotes, vermin, birds, and wolves. And hopefully delay a bear until I get back.

You “old timers” got to go without them moving wolves around, protecting bears. So many things that your generation or your fathers generation (my grandfather) did to thin predators legally or otherwise (SSS) have gone or are going away. I don’t know any trappers that aren’t “retired”. I suppose this part of the conversation should be in a different topic.

My last thought on the subject, I value my meat and work that goes into getting it. I will do what I can to protect it if I’m not going to be around it. The same reason I’m not going to leave my wallet on a bench in a park. 50 years ago it would probably show up on your doorstep.

 

[Read1t48]

I am usually solo and can’t pack out all at once. So I take all quarters away from the carcass. I pop the stomach so the smell goes to the carcass... my thought is that animals prefer the guts and organs over muscle meat.
I then store the bags in different spots. One in a tree, one on a rock, one on a stump, etc... all different locations but headed toward the vehicle. I pee around all the storage sites and leave clothing if I can.
I try to return at first light with 10mm and pack board. It’s worked so far.

Am I wrong to pop the guts and inevitably speed up the attraction to the general area?

 

[S-3 ranch]

This ^^^, hanging with 550 cord, it would be nothing for a bear to find the cord and snap it. If I can get it, a bear can get it. Outside of some bearproof coolers or boxes obviously. My goal is to deter coyotes, vermin, birds, and wolves. And hopefully delay a bear until I get back.

You “old timers” got to go without them moving wolves around, protecting bears. So many things that your generation or your fathers generation (my grandfather) did to thin predators legally or otherwise (SSS) have gone or are going away. I don’t know any trappers that aren’t “retired”. I suppose this part of the conversation should be in a different topic.

My last thought on the subject, I value my meat and work that goes into getting it. I will do what I can to protect it if I’m not going to be around it. The same reason I’m not going to leave my wallet on a bench in a park. 50 years ago it would probably show up on your doorstep.

Yeah any blood or meat smell and bear or critters will chew through 550 cord in a couple of bites
I had hogs eat some turkeys I had hanging
and have had a bear climb up into my truck bed before
just do the best you can

 

[Taudisio]

I am usually solo and can’t pack out all at once. So I take all quarters away from the carcass. I pop the stomach so the smell goes to the carcass... my thought is that animals prefer the guts and organs over muscle meat.
I then store the bags in different spots. One in a tree, one on a rock, one on a stump, etc... all different locations but headed toward the vehicle. I pee around all the storage sites and leave clothing if I can.
I try to return at first light with 10mm and pack board. It’s worked so far.

Am I wrong to pop the guts and inevitably speed up the attraction to the general area?

I usually pop it to get at the tenderloins anyway

 

[DaleW]

We hang the meat in a tree or just set the quarters up in the branches at least a couple hundred yards from the gut pile. Then piss all around the tree and leave our base layer shirts in the tree with the meat. Scavengers will likely just go for the carcass and never even know the quarters are there because of the overwhelming amount of scent the gut pile will put off. Taking steps to keep the meat away from coyotes is a must, but as others have said there's not much you can do to keep a big bear from getting it.

 

[jenkinsd]

Yeah any blood or meat smell and bear or critters will chew through 550 cord in a couple of bites
I had hogs eat some turkeys I had hanging
and have had a bear climb up into my truck bed before
just do the best you can

I like the Muir quote

 

[Pony Soldier]

Another point I had forgotten- as my partner of many years pointed out 1) if its during the hot time of the year, you should get your meat into the creek bottom for the lowest temperatures. 2) wherever you hang your quarters it should be a place you can observe from a safe distance rather than walk in on a critter defending his kill.

I'm sure many of you have read the stories about "dinner bell bears". We have had a few instances where the bears are conditioned to come to the shots for the free meal. I haven't had that problem -- yet. But we do anticipate the potential because it has happened and don't wish to participate.

 

[Michael Rankin]

I typically just make a meat pole really quick. Then I can pick right where I want everything to get the most shade. We try to get the bottom of the bags about shoulder head height.

For elk it usually a day and a half or more till it’s packed out. If my buddy or I still have a tag after one bull gets killed, we pack one load out per day, and keep hunting mornings/evenings if temperatures/conditions make that appropriate.

In 20 something years of lots of animals hanging between me and whoever I’m hunting with, I have had some meat get taken one time. I think a black bear was able to reach up, grab the bag, pull down, and broke the meat pole in half. It got a couple meat bags.

 

[trevvamos]

Until you come back for the next load and discover that you are feeding wild america.

Exactly why I keep my meat and gut pile a couple hundred yards apart.