Heavy Loads, PCT Style Hangs

[Poser]

You need to hang meat, some of it may need to hang for up to several days. It’s predator country, so you need a predator proof hang.

2 ropes/“PCT” style hang. Merely hanging meat directly off of easily reachable limbs “Christmas tree” style won’t cut it. You need the meat at least 8 feet off the ground and at least several feet from the closest tree or limbs.

You are solo. You have an elk down.

You building a 2:1 or maybe even a 3:1 anchor ratio? You tying a stick into the rope to have something pull on? Or, are you tying a large loop in the cord to yank on? You hoisting all 200+ lbs in a single hang setup, running 2 ropes through a single carabiner, or are you setting up 2 or more independent hangs? How much meat can you hoist up at a time on your own?

In short, you’re solo, you have an elk, you need a bear/lion proof hang, how are you handling the situation?

 

[DenimChicken]

I haven't thought this through nearly well enough, but plans be damned I picked up a couple of the Wiser Precision Pynch Pulleys to be slightly more prepared.

 

[Idaho_Potato]

You are over thinking this. Quarter it up and use some para cord to get it up in the air. Start packing.

 

[Poser]

You are over thinking this. Quarter it up and use some para cord to get it up in the air. Start packing.

I’m not over thinking it. I’ve done this before. If you’re in pretty far with difficult terrain and you have to get meat and camp out, could be 2-3 days of some meat left hanging. I also once lost some meat to a bear because I overloaded a hang between 2 stunted trees close to treeline. The trees ended up bowing pretty good under the weight hung between them and the meat bags sunk to about 4 feet off the ground. A bear swiped open the bottom of a bag and ate about 30 lbs of meat and left me a big pile of gooey turds right there under the meat hang.

I’m asking what other people do to see what other wisdom is out there. “Get it in the air with paracord” is about as nondescript advice as I’ve seen. First of all, paracord sucks. Get you some high test 2mm line that can handle friction. “Get it in the air” what? You throwing it over a single limb? How do you handle Douglas Fur trees? Mature Aspen trees where the lowest limbs are 20 feet up? How are you hoisting a full elk worth of deboned meat up 8 feet off the ground and laterally clear of any other trees where a bear can’t get to it? You ever tried to get a rope over one particular limb 15 feet off the ground in the dark? It ain’t easy.

This is a highly under discussed topic. Getting a PCT style hang up for food can often be a 15-20 minute affair and sometimes produce a great amount of frustration. Doing this with 150-200 lbs of meat is nothing short of construction job site. I’ve gotten a hang up with a partner and needed to get all of the meat hung up overnight. We didn’t build a 2:1 anchors, just hoisted directly off the hang. It took a tremendous amount of effort for two 200 lbs men to hoist that much weight up. I’m not sure I could do that solo without building a 2:1 or getting 2 hangs up.

 

[elkliver]

Quarter animal, pack quarters to a staging point that make sense approximately 1/4 mile away. Hang quarters as best you can just to keep off the ground, take a piss, maybe leave a tshirt. start packing... Not perfect but Gut pile tends to make a better attractant and the quarters tend to be left alone. You might still lose some but i would take the chance. Getting a quarter 8 foot off the ground solo would take some serious planning and effort.

 

[CJohnson]

I have no idea. I've always considered this a problem for a happy version of my future self. That being said, I've always found the stoutest looking tree limb I could reasonably get some 2mm line over and then hoisted whatever I was leaving behind as high as possible. I've left some clothes on the tree. It could be luck, but I've never had any problems. I've also never had to leave anything for longer than 24 hours and I've never hunted in dense griz country.

 

[Bubblehide]

Para cord stretches, so it's not the best product to use. But a simular non-stretch line and a couple rounded carabiners works great.

 

[Idaho_Potato]

I’m not over thinking it. I’ve done this before. If you’re in pretty far with difficult terrain and you have to get meat and camp out, could be 2-3 days of some meat left hanging. I also once lost some meat to a bear because I overloaded a hang between 2 stunted trees close to treeline. The trees ended up bowing pretty good under the weight hung between them and the meat bags sunk to about 4 feet off the ground. A bear swiped open the bottom of a bag and ate about 30 lbs of meat and left me a big pile of gooey turds right there under the meat hang.

I’m asking what other people do to see what other wisdom is out there. “Get it in the air with paracord” is about as nondescript advice as I’ve seen. First of all, paracord sucks. Get you some high test 2mm line that can handle friction. “Get it in the air” what? You throwing it over a single limb? How do you handle Douglas Fur trees? Mature Aspen trees where the lowest limbs are 20 feet up? How are you hoisting a full elk worth of deboned meat up 8 feet off the ground and laterally clear of any other trees where a bear can’t get to it? You ever tried to get a rope over one particular limb 15 feet off the ground in the dark? It ain’t easy.

This is a highly under discussed topic. Getting a PCT style hang up for food can often be a 15-20 minute affair and sometimes produce a great amount of frustration. Doing this with 150-200 lbs of meat is nothing short of construction job site. I’ve gotten a hang up with a partner and needed to get all of the meat hung up overnight. We didn’t build a 2:1 anchors, just hoisted directly off the hang. It took a tremendous amount of effort for two 200 lbs men to hoist that much weight up. I’m not sure I could do that solo without building a 2:1 or getting 2 hangs up.

You seem to have a severe case of the “what ifs”. I hope you are able to figure out this meat hanging situation one day. Good luck.

 

[doc holiday13]

Para cord stretches, so it's not the best product to use. But a simular non-stretch line and a couple rounded carabiners works great.

Correct

3mm or 4mm accessory climbing cord.. 5mm if you're not concerned about weight

 

[Marble]

You are over thinking this. Quarter it up and use some para cord to get it up in the air. Start packing.

I agree. First, I do have a pulley system where I can hang an elk whole between two trees. But after doing this for a long time, I realized it's much easier to quarter and hang.

Paracord works great. I just need it high enough off of the ground to keep it away from critters and in the shade.

I've hung well over 100 elk in the woods and this method has worked well.

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk

 

[Poser]

Quarter animal, pack quarters to a staging point that make sense approximately 1/4 mile away. Hang quarters as best you can just to keep off the ground, take a piss, maybe leave a tshirt. start packing... Not perfect but Gut pile tends to make a better attractant and the quarters tend to be left alone. You might still lose some but i would take the chance. Getting a quarter 8 foot off the ground solo would take some serious planning and effort.

When I lost meat to a bear before, as described above, I was staged about a quarter mile a way downhill.

 

[Poser]

You seem to have a severe case of the “what ifs”. I hope you are able to figure out this meat hanging situation one day. Good luck.

I like you how describe real world empiricism as “what ifs”

 

[Dos Perros]

I could take a cherry picker in with me, and when it came time I'd still just 'do the best I could' in about 2 minutes time and get moving with the first load. I don't do fancy meat hangs. Good enough and get gone. I'd wager most of the places I've hunted have those skinny shitty pine trees that can't support anything anyway.

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

Can't say it was the "right" decision, but I've just staged the quarters a ways off from guts and hung them just over a branch at chest height to help them cool. Meat spoilage was my bigger concern and I wanted to hurry up and get the front and hind quarter in my pack back to the truck. My bigger concern was staging them to a place I could inspect from a distance.

 

[Poser]

I have no idea. I've always considered this a problem for a happy version of my future self. That being said, I've always found the stoutest looking tree limb I could reasonably get some 2mm line over and then hoisted whatever I was leaving behind as high as possible. I've left some clothes on the tree. It could be luck, but I've never had any problems. I've also never had to leave anything for longer than 24 hours and I've never hunted in dense griz country.

I’ve had multiple pack out where meat needed to hang for 2+ days. If its 5 hours to pack out under weight and 4 hours to get back, that’s 9 9 hours round trip. If you have to do 3 trips, that’s 3 days.

You hit a tipping point on the weight where your hiking slows down quite a bit. I packed 1/2 a bear + my camp out of a spot that is normally a 1 hour hike and it took me 3 hours under that load.

I think just getting the meat off the ground for 24 hours is *probably* good enough most of them time even though I had a bad experience with that. Once you exceed that timeline, your neat needs to be hung up in a way that’s predator proof.

So this is what is odd to me: there seems to be a general lack of admission that hanging meat in a predator proof manner (8 feet off the ground, 4 feet clear of any other trees or large limbs) is a significant chore

 

[Dos Perros]

So this is what is odd to me: there seems to be a general lack of admission that hanging meat in a predator proof manner (8 feet off the ground, 4 feet clear of any other trees or large limbs) is a significant chore

It is a chore, which is why I have never done it. The road to hell really is paved with good intentions.

 

[WCB]

So this is what is odd to me: there seems to be a general lack of admission that hanging meat in a predator proof manner (8 feet off the ground, 4 feet clear of any other trees or large limbs) is a significant chore

No one is saying it is NOT a significant chore. I believe most are just stating that in their experience predator proofing is not a high priority because it hasn't happened with the way they are or have been doing it.

I don't prioritize predator proofing because the dozens upon dozens of times I've left meat in the woods including in pretty heavy grizz country I have never had an issue with meat hung chest or head high or even laying across logs. Why would I waste time and energy doing something where the risk to reward is so low.

However, if you have a system that works well in the conditions you mention feel free to share and educate.

 

[87TT]

The last two elk I killed were in open country where the tallest thing around was some choke cherry patches. Was lucky to find some shade under a tall sage bush. I carry and have used paracord. It's hard to pull stuff up but I used a branch to "push" the quarters up about 7-8 foot from the ground and as far out on a limb as I could.

 

[Poser]

No one is saying it is NOT a significant chore. I believe most are just stating that in their experience predator proofing is not a high priority because it hasn't happened with the way they are or have been doing it.

I don't prioritize predator proofing because the dozens upon dozens of times I've left meat in the woods including in pretty heavy grizz country I have never had an issue with meat hung chest or head high or even laying across logs. Why would I waste time and energy doing something where the risk to reward is so low.

However, if you have a system that works well in the conditions you mention feel free to share and educate.

I carry a few 50 foot sections of dyneema cord and wire gate carabiners. I’ll use this same cord for hanging my food. With a lot of practice, I’ve found a dedicated rock throwing bag to be useful because I’ve trashed tent stake bags and similar by using them. You often need a pretty heavy rock to get a cord 15-20 feet up over a limb.

When I get animal down in the evening, I’ll usually look for a place to get a hang up first because getting one up in the dark can often be incredibly frustrating. If you are looking to get your cargo at least 8 feet off the ground, then you’ll usually have no choice but to initiate the cross section of the hang at about 15 feet or more. Once you get some stretch in the system and flex of the trees and, depending on the distance between your 2 trees and how long your meat bags are, that’s just the reality: you’ll loose about half of your vertical.

So, you have a basic PCT style hang up with 2 ropes, one providing lateral adjustment and one providing vertical adjustment. You have some choices here: you can hang all of your meat on one cord. You can run 2 or more separate pieces of cord through the vertical carabiner, or you can hang multiple carabiners on the vertical cord and have individual pieces of cord through their own dedicated carabiner. This may depend on your cord and how much friction it can handle.

If you have 2 guys, you may be able to hoist it all on once piece of cord, but you’re not going to be able to hand over hand that kind of weight. Find yourself a (very) strong stick about 8-12 inches and tie it into the cord so you have something to pull on. Due to the mechanical physics of the situation, getting the meat off the ground will be the most difficult. The higher your get the meat, the easier this task will become.

If you are unable to hoist the meat off of the ground, you’ll need a 2nd anchor point to add leverage. Tie a carabiner to a nearby tree and run the rope through it and then stand opposing to that anchor. Your cord will be in a “Z” shape between the 2 carabiners (anchors). Start hoisting. If you are still unable to get the load moving you have 2 choices: add a 3rd anchor or split the load up. If you add a 3rd anchor, you can double the rope through these 2 anchors and build a 5:1 ratio. A 5:1 should reduce a 200 lbs load to 40 lbs of actual pulling. A reasonably strong individual should be able to pull this load but this assumes you have enough carabiners and enough cord. Also, pulling 40lbs of deadweight off the ground with cord is still “hard” pulling.

You could use pulleys (those Wiser pulleys posted above look slick) instead of carabiners and you will experience less friction, however a pulley won’t pass a knot if you have to tie 2 pieces of cord together. (It’s also a bitch to pass a knot through a carabiner under load but it will work).

Now you are under load and hoisting the meat up. Get that rope around a tree once your meat reaches height and the friction of the tree will greatly reduce the load. Tie it off, but tie it off in a way that you can unload the weight to untie the knot. This may require some engineering.

I don’t know if that is the “best” way, but that’s what I have adopted over the years. I use to be a serious rock climber BITD and did some big walls like El Capitan, and we hauled our gear using various ratios vs. our Bodyweight. If you can get your meat up on a PCT style hang, you’ll have no concerns about something getting into it.

There a number of scenarios where this would make sense: have another tag? Leave it hanging and keep hunting. Waiting for horses which may take 2-3 days? Your meat is safe. 3 loads and 3 days of hiking? Your meat is safe. Piece of mind? Your meat is safe.

Now, I’m curious if there are some other hacks out there to improve efficiency in such a system.