Keeping Meat good During September Archery Elk Hunt

[Geewhiz]

1. You need two 120 qt coolers for elk.

2. The most trips you should have is 4 with a really big bull. My brother and I split his 5x5 bull last year plus camp.

3. Depending on your meat care knowledge, you can kill elk in some hot temps and be ok. I've killed elk when temps were in the low 90s. As long as they are not sitting in the blazing sun and you get the hide off you have a while before stuff gets serious.

You packed half a bull elk plus your camp out in 1 trip? Was the elk so shot to crap you had to leave half of it on the mountain?

 

[S.Clancy]

You packed half a bull elk plus your camp out in 1 trip? Was the elk so shot to crap you had to leave half of it on the mountain?

No, bone in too. If you're gonna be dumb you gotta be tough.

 

[Geewhiz]

No, bone in too. If you're gonna be dumb you gotta be tough.View attachment 684657View attachment 684658

 

[insanelupus]

Meat care starts with recovery, which starts with shot execution, which starts with setup.

A long delay finding the bull in hot weather can put you behind from the start.

Bone in, take 2-150 qt coolers. You might have to bone at the truck if a really large bull, or not.

Bones do hold heat, so do hip sockets. But a big wad of meat balled up in the bottom of the game bag holds heat too.

A few things to consider and plan for.

 

[MountainFeral]

What type of country are you hunting in? If you are hunting at high elevation, that can definitely play to your advantage in allowing you to get way tf out there to harvest an animal as long as you are physically capable of making the trips to pack it out. It just takes a lot of thinking ahead and occasional reality checks to make sure the animal you take down can hang in the woods long enough to get out safely.

Maybe my story from last year can give you a few things to think about (or just scroll down for the TLDR portion)-
I also like to get a long way from other hunters. Last year, that led me to arrow an elk 5 miles from the nearest trailhead and 4 miles off-trail at the top of an alpine basin. But, I took a few things into account before I drew my bow:
1) I knew, given the terrain and elevation (11,400ft), that temperature wouldn't be an issue, and that I could find a shaded north-facing spot to hang meat for as long as I needed.
2) As I hunted my way up the basin, I took note that there were zero bear scats above ~9,000ft of elevation. That doesn't guarantee that a bear won't smell it on the wind and go up there, but I knew the chance would be low. I still hung the meat as high as I could get it, away from the gut pile. I did have some sort of small critter gnaw through the corner of one bag (more on that in a sec), but other than needing to replace the bag, the damage was minimal. (Argali bags, BTW. They're great- super light, keeps bugs out, lets the meat form an excellent pellicle)
3) I also paid attention to time of day- can I shoot an elk, gut and quarter it solo, and get it hung before it's dark? (I had a light & spare battery, but I prefer to use a knife in daylight). Yes... it was a little after noon when I called him in. All systems go.
Even with that foresight, I still ended up not being able to pack the first quarter out the first night- A thunderstorm (thundersnow, yay!) rolled in just after sunset, and, because of how slippery everything was, I had to make the tough decision to hang one bag a mile lower than the others (that's the one that got chewed on). It was basically, "I can risk this one bag of meat, because right now, it's pitch black, the terrain is gnarly AF, and everything is so slippery from the storm that there's a real risk of me breaking a leg and getting a SAR call because it's easier to suffer a catastrophic slip/fall with a pack that weighs nearly 40% of my body weight."
I deboned each quarter as I packed them out (it hung on-bone). I had a backstrap/tenderloin/heart/random cuttings bag (~35 pounds), 4 quarters (shoulders ~45 pounds each, hindquarters ~55 pounds each), and the head. Luckily, I had a friend help me with the hindquarter trip, and my husband was finally off work for the last trip, meaning I got an easy day of just carrying the antlers out while he packed the last shoulder (otherwise I would have packed the antlers and shoulder together). So, it took a total of 4 trips to get him down.

T.L.D.R. advice from someone that's done a really stupid packout-
Your 1.5 mile limit is very reasonable, as you could likely make the trips back to back. It sounds like you're pretty fit as well, so given that and the relative shortness of your trips, you can probably carry more than one bag at a time to cut down on the number of trips you make. (I'm really fit, and pretty strong for my size, but shit, my size is still not very big.) Your "big cooler in the truck" strategy should work great for that. But, if you have some good high country terrain available to offer cold temps, and you're willing to push your physical (and mental FFS) limits, don't be afraid to push that distance out a little as needed... just be smart about it.

 

[Idaboy]

Lots of great advice from others
- hide off
- bone out
- shade and wind, spread the meat out even if not in game bag yet to get this initial cool down
- if less than 60 in the shade and you do above, you have plenty of time to get out
- have a plan, it doesn't matter if it takes 2 trips or 12, if you burn yourself in the first load then you're toast
- wads of packed meat on your back for 3 hrs will not cool down, that's why I debone and spread out to air/breeze cool down
- put a hind quarter in a contractor bag and set in stream, those are your biggest chunks of meat
- if you are in desert, no trees, not getting below 50 at night then you better have a get out same day plan with help to getting to coolers with ice
- my meat that hangs in tree/shade for 24hrs usually looks and fares better than a quarter I get to a cooler in a couple of hrs

 

[Timberline001]

You packed half a bull elk plus your camp out in 1 trip? Was the elk so shot to crap you had to leave half of it on the mountain?

I’ve packed out 6 bulls and as many cows in one trip with two guys. If it’s mostly down hill/flat and 3-4 miles I’ve never had an issue. It sucks but it’s very doable

 

[Timberline001]

There’s a lot of dramatization with elk. If you’re a decent sized guy you should be able to get out in 3 trips if you debone it and the country isn’t really bad dead fall. Dead fall is the only thing that absolutely wrecks a pack out for me. Just keep in mind what you’ll have to traverse on your way out while you’re hunting

 

[Geewhiz]

I’ve packed out 6 bulls and as many cows in one trip with two guys. If it’s mostly down hill/flat and 3-4 miles I’ve never had an issue. It sucks but it’s very doable

I’ve packed out gobs of elk too and I’m telling you and everybody else reading this that packing out a bull elk and your camp in one trip is borderline impossible for any distance unless you’re not taking as much meat as you should be taking.

Not to call anybody out here but let’s take a minute to break this down.

Let’s say the gear you pack in for a few days in camp plus your weapon is 50 lbs conservatively. A bull elk broken down and boned out is 200 lbs of meat minimum. Then ad in a skinned out head at 20-40 lbs and the possibility of a cape at 50+ lbs.

Your half of a small bull elk would be at the very least 100 lbs and as much as 200+ lbs plus we’ll call it 50 lbs of camp and weapon.


That leaves your pack at a minimum of 150 lbs and as much as 250+ depending on the size of the animal and how much you bring for your camp/weapon. I don’t know a lot of people that can carry a 150 lb backpack through mountainous terrain for much distance.

Evidently you guys are just super hard core.



Here are my numbers for this last year.

Young 6 point.

Weight of meat packed out 208 lbs
Skinned head 20.6 lbs

That’s 228.6 lbs plus a weapon plus day hunt gear for 2 guys plus we’re saying all of your camp gear too in one load.

And that’s a small body young bull. Numbers only go up from there.

 

[Timberline001]

I’ve packed out gobs of elk too and I’m telling you and everybody else reading this that packing out a bull elk and your camp in one trip is borderline impossible for any distance unless you’re not taking as much meat as you should be taking.

Not to call anybody out here but let’s take a minute to break this down.

Let’s say the gear you pack in for a few days in camp plus your weapon is 50 lbs conservatively. A bull elk broken down and boned out is 200 lbs of meat minimum. Then ad in a skinned out head at 20-40 lbs and the possibility of a cape at 50+ lbs.

Your half of a small bull elk would be at the very least 100 lbs and as much as 200+ lbs plus we’ll call it 50 lbs of camp and weapon.


That leaves your pack at a minimum of 150 lbs and as much as 250+ depending on the size of the animal and how much you bring for your camp/weapon. I don’t know a lot of people that can carry a 150 lb backpack through mountainous terrain for much distance.

Evidently you guys are just super hard core.

Your packing way to much stuff if your camp is 50lbs on the way out. That’s insane.

 

[Timberline001]

I’ve packed out gobs of elk too and I’m telling you and everybody else reading this that packing out a bull elk and your camp in one trip is borderline impossible for any distance unless you’re not taking as much meat as you should be taking.

Not to call anybody out here but let’s take a minute to break this down.

Let’s say the gear you pack in for a few days in camp plus your weapon is 50 lbs conservatively. A bull elk broken down and boned out is 200 lbs of meat minimum. Then ad in a skinned out head at 20-40 lbs and the possibility of a cape at 50+ lbs.

Your half of a small bull elk would be at the very least 100 lbs and as much as 200+ lbs plus we’ll call it 50 lbs of camp and weapon.


That leaves your pack at a minimum of 150 lbs and as much as 250+ depending on the size of the animal and how much you bring for your camp/weapon. I don’t know a lot of people that can carry a 150 lb backpack through mountainous terrain for much distance.

Evidently you guys are just super hard core.

I guarantee you I don’t waste any edible meat and I’ve never had over 200lbs of boned meat off of a bull when I weighed it. And the majority of them were roosevelts. Like I said. The weight of elk is overrated. I’ve had some bigger mature bulls that may have broke that but I never weighed those bags of meat.

 

[Geewhiz]

Your packing way to much stuff if your camp is 50lbs on the way out. That’s insane.

That’s a 141 lb load, less than half of that elk because I still had 2 quarters + the head + the cape. Try packing that and all of your camp, regardless of what your tent weighs, 4 miles to your truck.

 

[Timberline001]

That’s a 141 lb load, less than half of that elk because I still had 2 quarters + the head + the cape. Try packing that and all of your camp, regardless of what your tent weighs, 4 miles to your truck.

You’re carrying 30+lbs of bone in that picture that I would have removed.

 

[Geewhiz]

You’re carrying 30+lbs of bone in that picture that I would have removed.

I will say if it’s not a huge bodied bull and you’re not bringing a cape and you’re not bringing camp in the same trip and you take the time to remove every bone and you’ve got a dedicated buddy to split an elk plus day gear, it is doable and I’ve done it. But there’s no avoiding the fact that it’s still a hell of a lot of work and to tell someone that’s never experienced it before that it’s not a big deal may be a bit misleading.

 

[Timberline001]

I will say if it’s not a huge bodied bull and you’re not bringing a cape and you’re not bringing camp in the same trip and you take the time to remove every bone and you’ve got a dedicated buddy to split an elk plus day gear, it is doable and I’ve done it. But there’s no avoiding the fact that it’s still a hell of a lot of work and to tell someone that’s never experienced it before that it’s not a big deal may be a bit misleading.

I’m never opposed to burying some gear and coming back for it either. There’s definitely some problem solving invloled and sheer mental toughness. Mostly for me it’s my absolute hate for taking a second trip. I’d rather suffer once and do whatever I can to get out in one trip and be done. I’m sure it’s not as simple as it seems in my mind. That being said I think anyone who’s determined and can problem solve will figure it out.

 

[montanacurt]

Cliff Gray has a great video on this on YouTube. The most important things are:

1) If it is really hot you might need to push your times if you've taken a shot during archery season and are wondering how long to wait, it it dies and spends all night out before getting broken down to cool you might lose meat. If it's hot and you shoot it late in the day suck it up and make sure you get it entirely broken down that night.

2) The most important thing is to get it cooling down fast. If you can get it broken down into quarters and disapate the heat quickly you will have WAY more time than if it spends time with the skin on. Also, if you can break it down quickily in the morning the cold morning air will be a huge benefit.

3) Once it's broken down and ready to hang make SURE that the spot you hang it in won't have any time in the sun during the day. If you are by yourself it will be at least a day getting it out and possibly longer.

4) Temps are way lower down by a creek (don't ever put meat in water to cool it down) so if you can get the quarters away from the carcas and close to a creek in the shade it will be so much better off.

5) Have a plan for what you do when it gets to the truck. Make sure you have enough cooler space to put an enitre animal in and plenty of ice (I use gallon milk jugs frozen so there is no loose moisute in the cooler. One time I took dry ice, but I didn't get an elk on that trip.

6) Have a plan to get help. If you are calling friends make sure you are going to have cell phone service. If it's really hot and you don't have local help you can try to engage an outfitter, but that's not a reliable plan during elk season when those outfitters will have clients of their own and they will get priority.

Be practical. If you are four miiles from a trailhead you will have AT LEAST four trips and probably actually five when you consider that you'll have all your gear, a rack, and the loose meat to take out too. That's four or fiive 8 mile round trips -- are you aready for 32-40 miles of hicking with a heavy pack after a full day hunting and field dressing an animal? Being in great shape may be one of the best plans for keeping meat from spoiling.

 

[Weldor]

Last cow it was 90 degrees, no hanging anything the lows were high 60's. Packed out that night, had to drive to town and get more ice and dry ice. No cold storage available, they were all full due to youth hunts the week before. Broke it down and butchered it at the cabin, got lucky my friend had a empty freezer. We still had 3 more tags to go. It's pretty common down here with Oct hunts, and no cold storage. 4 guys 3/4 mile pack out through Manzinita 01:30 before we got her to the SxS and back to the place. Long days for sure.

 

[GoldenBelt]

Good info. Thanks for sharing all.

 

[farmermail]

Just know: whatever your plan is, it won't work that way. Hunt a mile, no more, from the truck? Your bull will go 2 miles further away before it dies. Stay away from "impossible canyon"? Only bugles will be from there. Carry 100lbs on dry trails? Probably be raining and slicker than you can imagine, now what. And so on. Go hunt, be prepared to sort it out. Elk are big and heavy, is what it is.

 

[roadrunner]

...this will be my first-year hunting elk and I am planning on going out for the archery season this September.

I'm curious how much time I have until the meat spoils?

As an unwritten "rule of thumb", don't dilly-daddle for too long after you find it. Hopefully, you see or hear it go down and don't have to wait the dreaded 2 or 3 hours after a poor hit.

Assuming you don't and depending on the size, a couple of hours. As mentioned, heat deep in the sockets and close to the core will be the first place it will begin to sour; namely the hips, shoulders, and neck.

I've killed a few elk in SE Utah on a mountain where there is little to no change in air temp from 7,500' to 10,000'.

As soon as the elk is down, skin and break apart at the joints and hang on a make shift meat pole or from branches in the shade. It will begin to cool even in 80 deg temps ambient air in the shade.

Pack out early the next day.