Leaving elk quarters overnight

[Southforkguy]

I gotta wonder if you could keep a fox off it like this. I have them buggers come in and walk around my tent looking for scraps all while I saw logs inside. Pretty bold little shits

 

[Hucker]

Friggin’ meat bees....

I have lost more meat to those stupid things than anything else in AZ.

Always skin and bag the meat before leaving. A couple of years ago, they ate thru my BOMB bags and ate 1/2 +/- of a back strap. Since then, I always make sure they come out first, with a HQ. Front shoulders and neck are last load(s).

Friggin’ meat bees...

 

[Phaseolus]

Just a FYI from an entomologist, those aren't bees, they are wasps.

 

[Firehole Hunter]

Me and my buddy got two elk within 10 minutes of one another sitting next to each other. So after deboning them and hanging them overnight, the next day we leap-frogged the meat what we couldn't take out the first night. My partner shot a really big cow and my huge 5x4 meant we had a lot of meat. So we took out the backstraps and sweet meat the first night and the rest the next day. I forgot that I went back after the antlers the third day. But my point is if I was worried about animals getting my meat that first night, I wasn't because we had trees nearby that we hung it in. But if we were concerned, we just would have leap-frogged all the meat that evening and the next morning until the job was done. Can get sleep after the meat is on ice. Now obviously that approach has meat strung all over the mountain in various caches. We did that the next day and were within a 1000 yards of all of the meat at all times except for the aforementioned backstraps and sweet meat that were already on ice. Everyone always talks multiple trips, why not just one trip? Just curious. I mean if a herd of carnivores had came by they could have got everything, but absent that probably would't have issues as we are so close to all of the meat with deadly weapons.

 

[LaGriz]

Experience with leaving meat over night,

Killed a 6X5 bull in late afternoon on an early season Idaho trip. Fully guided and on horseback we gutted the bull and rolled the innards down a hill. Managed to elevate the whole carcass off the grown on a grate of dried blowdown limbs. To facilitate cooling, the pelvis was opened up (ball & socket joints) and a stick was utilized to keep the ribs spread. We topped off the carcass with spruce bows to discourage any birds. The kill was at 8,000 ft. in elevation and the low temps were near 30 degrees. We returned in the AM with a pack string finding the kill as we left it. Started to skin and break the bull down for transport to camp. The meat hung on a meat pool in a deeply shaded nook over a cold little creek for 3 days. On day 4 we assisted the packer loading up the massive whole quarters and his pack string hauled it out. Yielded 332 total pounds of the finest meat that did not include the neck.

Fast forward 6 years and I made a Muzzleloader kill in Colorado in a DIY unit. I fallowed the same formula on this solo hunt. In hind sight, I should have removed the wind pipe as it insulates the meat that it touches. The kill took place at 1:30 PM and it was warm that day. The flies found us before I finished my work, once again covering the carcass with spruce bows to limit the birds. overnight low was around 37. Returned the next morning with a mule and a ranch guy to help. Skinning, quartering, loading, and recovery went well. This was a last day kill and I iced the quarters down whole for travel. Paid a butcher in Austin, Texas to process it with little time to age the meat as I needed to get back to work. This elk was not nearly as good table fair as the Idaho bull. Had some spoilage and the processor had to deal with some flyblow in places.

On thee other occasions we used game bags and right away bagged up the meat. I have been packing 5 or 6 lite game bags (and cordage) ever since. IMHO 4 is not enough. I also have the super large canvas bags in the truck near by. Too big to pack, I will choose to use them if practical. Might have to return to the vehicle or camp for a pack frame or to re-position the vehicle for recovery. Do not forget to bring some refreshments/snacks back to whoever was left to work on the meat.

LaGriz

 

[Hoot]

The bull I killed this year (CO) had all 4 qtrs ripped out of the tree by a bear, got them back, but after trimming I lost about half the meat I'd guess. Loose meat back was untouched, at least...

Killed the bull, quartered, packed all 4 quarters down the mountain to a creek bottom that was legal to drive a 4 wheeler in off trail. Hiked back to camp to get some sleep before taking the wheeler in to get the meat in the morning. Left the quarters about midnight, back to camp at 3, up about 7 to get back in there, and the bear had done its work. I didn't hang the quarters terribly high, but 5-6 foot up.

This was an area that doesn't have a lot of bears, so I was not even thinking about it, Next time I will leave clothing for sure....

 

[Tsal]

We are always super careful with meat in the backcountry, but then some things change. This year, we hiked 3/4 of the elk out in dark, directly to our trucks and ditched the rough camp that was a few miles in. We headed into town for a warm shower, hot meal, and a proper bed after 5 days out. Meat stayed in coolers in the back of our truck and after a few beers we quickly lost track of things and were feeling pretty good about our day. In the morning bear(s) had made it into a cooler, pulled out a quarter and ate and drug it all along the gravel parking lot. It also took a very nice heart as a final snack. Everything else was untouched. We felt pretty stupid. Lesson learned.