Pack elk out bone in or out?

[ArrowForester]

Is processor preference a factor at all? For the guy who needs to take it to a butcher shop (for whatever reason) is there a preference for bone in vs. bone out? Price? Quality and/or quantity return? Available cut choices? Other?

In my situation I would prefer to cut my own and would like to have bone in to do so. But I likely will take it to a processor due to location and circumstances. In general I think I would prefer bone in but if I ever manage to get lucky I will likely be 7+ miles from the trail head. Bone out would be a savings for the pack job. Oh the dilemma....

 

[Superkodiak38]

Good question, I process my own deer but haven't done an elk. I prefer to leave the bone in even when it's 85-90 degrees, shoulders too and put it all in a cooler but it doesn't take me long to get it in the cooler. I am concerned about "bone sour" on an elk since it takes a while to cool it to the core. I guess it will depend on A. finding an elk that will let me kill it B. How far from the truck C. Temperature I can keep the meat until I get it to the truck... good thing my buddy has done this before !

 

[dreamingbig]

We process are own elk and hang the quarters for about a week in a walk in cooler before starting. Bone in quarters are the best way for this method.


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[2blade]

I am always by myself so I de-bone and typically make 3 trips. Meat goes from the pack to an ice chest to an extra fridge in the garage where it sits for 5 days before I process it myself.

 

[AK Troutbum]

Well, first off, I’ve never killed an elk, but I have packed many moose, caribou, sheep, deer, and goats, and personally, I would rather leave the bone in. I have boned out one sheep, at the kill site, and that pretty much sealed my opinion on packing meat bone in. I find that it’s much easier to deal with and manage, quarters with the bone in. A lot of moose hunts up here require that you bring the meat out on the bone anyway, makes the decision that much easier.


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[CC]

I have weighed quarters and weights posted are spot on. Funny thing is I deboned one of my elk, just to take the kids on a hike in the summer where I shot it and they carried the rear bones back. lol 7 or 8 lbs might not sound like much but X4 thats 32 lbs. If your shooting right next to the road it doesn't matter, but steep and deep, every lb counts. For me not only having the benefit of heat loss, and weight, I can squeeze a front and rear quarter nicely into my Kifaru Argali without the legs sticking way above my head.

 

[Swede]

It depends on how much help I have and how far the pack out is. Age is becoming more of a factor now too. Like missjordan said a large front quarter is a good pack. A hind quarter is work. Throw in a couple of back-straps and it starts to get heavy.

 

[AK Troutbum]

I have weighed quarters and weights posted are spot on. Funny thing is I deboned one of my elk, just to take the kids on a hike in the summer where I shot it and they carried the rear bones back. lol 7 or 8 lbs might not sound like much but X4 thats 32 lbs. If your shooting right next to the road it doesn't matter, but steep and deep, every lb counts. For me not only having the benefit of heat loss, and weight, I can squeeze a front and rear quarter nicely into my Kifaru Argali without the legs sticking way above my head.

You mean like that?

Shit, that’s just an extra 10 or 15 lbs. of character builder, as far as I’m concerned.


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[CC]

Lol....

 

[Owenst7]

Osso buco...

I only bone out if there's a concern of spoilage and weight is an issue. That said, I've yet to ever be on a hunt where hanging the meat in the shade while multiple trips are made is not an option. I'm sure that will be an issue when I get in to archery, but rifle season always hovers around 40°F for me.

If you haven't eaten bone marrow, you owe it to yourself to try it. I keep trying to harvest animals with more bones because that's my favorite cut. I'm also not in to leaving edible meat in the field because I'm in a hurry. I'll walk another 16 miles so I can have a few more dinners, no question.

 

[juan trueno]

I will not bone one out until it’s done hanging 5-7 days. I HATE getting dirt hair and everything else in/on my meat So even if it hangs that long in camp I’m not boning out quarters until I have a table or countertop to work on. Plus even waiting just 1 day to bone out makes a pretty remarkable difference in tenderness.


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[SoTxShooter]

This thread has been a good read. Based on the podcasts I listen to, it seemed to me like the no brainer decision was to bone out the quarters in the field before packing out. But after reading this thread, the consensus almost seems to be the opposite. As an elk hunting noob, I'll take all the advice I can get!

 

[cnelk]

Its all about your 'method' or style. Everyone has a different one and what works best for you

Listening to a podcast only gives you someone else's method.
It may be a good baseline, but when its raining, hot, or dark, you gotta make a decision and make it fast.

And I bet that podcast is the last thing you're thinking about when you got a 600lb+ animal dead at your feet.

But I wouldnt know, never listened to one

 

[muddydogs]

Is processor preference a factor at all? For the guy who needs to take it to a butcher shop (for whatever reason) is there a preference for bone in vs. bone out? Price? Quality and/or quantity return? Available cut choices? Other?

In my situation I would prefer to cut my own and would like to have bone in to do so. But I likely will take it to a processor due to location and circumstances. In general I think I would prefer bone in but if I ever manage to get lucky I will likely be 7+ miles from the trail head. Bone out would be a savings for the pack job. Oh the dilemma....

Around my area when the butcher shops get busy during hunting season they will not take boned out meat as they don't have the room for the meat unless they can hang it. A buddy shot a nice bull last season and due to life wanted to drop it off a a butcher to get it processed, after having 4 somewhat local butcher shops all turn him away because it was boned he called me asking for help processing the bull. I would have never thought a butcher wouldn't take a boned animal but then again I haven't taken an animal to a butcher in 30 years.

 

[Topo_trekker]

Maybe if it was a mess. The way I do it by removing the bone on one side, the entire quarter is still intact and hangable. The other parts the butcher just leaves in my game bags and hangs. I feel boned out you can also carry a heavier load safer, more balanced. I fit both front and hind quarters plus gear in my backpack.


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[Wapiti406]

Yes, the meat can get a little more dirt and hair on it when you bone out in the field. I carry a $1 Walmart emergency plastic poncho that I use as a tarp of sorts. After cutting the quarters off the elk or deer I lay out the poncho and I work on that surface and the meat stays pretty clean, then goes straight to a game bag. I could see leaving the hind quarters bone in to get better cuts of meat and make it easier to hang and age (if temps will allow). I really don’t think it would be worth it to leave the bone in on the shoulders. Too much of a bone to meat ratio. As stated above the shoulders are getting ground into burger anyways. I’m usually by myself and I don’t eat the bones. If I can save 20-30 lbs (that will be discarded anyway) over three trips that’s pretty big. To each their own, but if I’m packing an elk out I’m leaving the bones.

 

[Gumbo]

I leave bone in for the same reasons stated. A few extra pounds is worth the benefits in my book. As for cooler size which someone asked about, I run a yeti 110 filled with solid blocks of ice and have an empty 150 (guessing on size, it's BIG) coleman. When I shoot an elk I split the ice and meat between the coolers. There isn't enough room for all of the meat, but most of it will fit. And the yeti will hold the ice for well over a week even in hot temperatures.

 

[5MilesBack]

Yes, the meat can get a little more dirt and hair on it when you bone out in the field.

I have always found the opposite. I'm usually solo and it's pretty easy to debone and place each piece of meat directly into a game bag. No chance of getting any dirt on it, and it's already skinned so it's about as clean as it gets. For whatever reason, quarters always seem to be covered in hair and/or dirt when I process them. The boned out meat gets a quick look over on the table and then cut and wrapped, or ground.

But whether I bone out or not depends on the distance and the timing. This last year my daughter shot her bull right before last light. The first side we deboned. The second side we deboned everything except for the rear ham, just because we felt like getting done and out of there.

 

[406]

We like bone in for:

1. Meat has a chance to go through rigormortis correctly with muscles stretched

2. Cleaner meat and less waste when processing

3. Easier to hang and cool

Sure you have a weight penalty but I will sacrifice for better food on the table!


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From what I have learned over the last few years is that #1 is correct.

I think it was the hunt Backcountry Podcast (?) that had a chef/butcher on and the entire show was about how we care for our meat in the field. The takeaway was leave on bone for at least 24 hours to let the meat go through the entire process of rigor. The meat will stay in the phase it's in when you debone, so if it's constricted when you make your cuts it stays that way..... Tough and gamey.


It kinda changed my thought process, because before that I was always in the mindset of "get boned and get it out asap" and now I try to have my mind set on if I'm going to debone to get it out I'm going to be camping for an additional day while the quarters hang.

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[bmart2622]

For me it depends on distance. If I am further than 3ish miles in I will debone everything. If I am less than 3 miles I will leave the rears bone in and debone all the rest. I have 2 150qt coolers and can fit an elk and about 8 or 9 frozen milk jugs in each cooler. I dont buy into the aging meat thing, I process as soon as I get home.