Pack-out photos.

[TheGrayRider]

Full moon. Nevada mule deer. 10/15/24.

 

[rl509]

A buddies pack out. First time doing it in the dark, in steep country.

 

[Sitkaspruce]

What a great bunch of photos showing the true nature of the hunt!

Just went through this post and found interesting on how many pack their heads/antlers up or down. Is this a personal choice or does the terrain dictate your options?

I have always pack them antlers/head down, even in the thick stuff.

My buddy just getting back to the lake after a 8 hour pack.



Mine on the pack after the same pack down. We shot two rams in the same drainage. And using Camp Trails packs!



Cheers

SS

 

[Pbettin21]

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Solo trip off the mountain. Always hard to get good solo shots
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Nice!! Any idea how heavy a mule deer pack out with gear is? One trip? Thanks

 

[Hnthrdr]

Nice!! Any idea how heavy a mule deer pack out with gear is? One trip? Thanks

That would depend on the size of a deer and your gear haha it varies wildly, last mature buck I shot was 103lbs + 10 lbs of skull and bone+ 18lbs of gear ( I day hunting so pretty light) this is bone in. I have also killed deer that were like 65lbs of meat hanging… but a big buck will be around a 100 plus or minus, plus or minus the rack. I one tripped the meat about a mile to staging point on my last buck and then made a few trips to the jeep. I’m over killing myself getting an animal out

 

[Pbettin21]

That would depend on the size of a deer and your gear haha it varies wildly, last mature buck I shot was 103lbs + 10 lbs of skull and bone+ 18lbs of gear ( I day hunting so pretty light) this is bone in. I have also killed deer that were like 65lbs of meat hanging… but a big buck will be around a 100 plus or minus, plus or minus the rack. I one tripped the meat about a mile to staging point on my last buck and then made a few trips to the jeep. I’m over killing myself getting an animal out

Trying to get geared, and planned up for a high country hunt. Would like to plan for one trip back if successful, definitely would be boning out, not sure how plausible that is if it was multiple miles out. Thank you for the reply.

 

[Hnthrdr]

With a full backpack plus a mature buck, 1 trip would be brutal solo, if you had a partner, not a big deal I would recommend a couple trips/ leap frogging the meat

 

[mtwarden]

The last mule deer buck I packed out I did in two trips. The length of the pack out impacted my decision, it was 6 miles to my truck.

My backpack with camping gear was ~ 35 lbs, I added about 25 lbs of meat (boned out) and 8-10 lbs of head. Hung the rest of the boned meat in a tree (50-ish lbs). Drove home, returned the next morning with a very light pack and packed out the remaining meat (12 miles total).

I really (really) didn’t want to walk an additional 12 miles (half of it with 60-ish lbs). But if the same scenario plays out again, I’d do it the same way.

If the distance was cut in half, I still think I’d do it the same way—120-ish lbs is no fun regardless of the distance.

 

[HuntandFly]

New Mexico 2024

 

[Hnthrdr]

The last mule deer buck I packed out I did in two trips. The length of the pack out impacted my decision, it was 6 miles to my truck.

My backpack with camping gear was ~ 35 lbs, I added about 25 lbs of meat (boned out) and 8-10 lbs of head. Hung the rest of the boned meat in a tree (50-ish lbs). Drove home, returned the next morning with a very light pack and packed out the remaining meat (12 miles total).

I really (really) didn’t want to walk an additional 12 miles (half of it with 60-ish lbs). But if the same scenario plays out again, I’d do it the same way.

If the distance was cut in half, I still think I’d do it the same way—120-ish lbs is no fun regardless of the distance.

I’m no medical doctor, I’ve carried heavy packs in the military and hunting, but I have this theory that after about 60-70 lbs your risk of injury goes up exponentially…

 

[mtwarden]

I’m no medical doctor, I’ve carried heavy packs in the military and hunting, but I have this theory that after about 60-70 lbs your risk of injury goes up exponentially…

I feel the same way; especially when going through rough country, which is you usually where you end up.

 

[Pbettin21]

Two trips seems like the way to go. I always am very concerned about getting the meat chilled as quickly as I can. That being said I know boned out and hanging lasts longer then I expect it to.

 

[Elk97]

Son's first elk

 

[Sigfour]

AZ bull

 

[Geewhiz]

AZ bull

Too bad you couldn’t find a big one

 

[High Climber]

This load sucked… It was heavy, wasnt super stable and was putting a lot of pressure on my lower back. I should have put the tines down but is was steep in spots I was worried about hanging up

 

[bkjastrebsky]

Not your typical pack out

 

[strousek]

Nice!! Any idea how heavy a mule deer pack out with gear is? One trip? Thanks

Like others have said your pack weight depends upon your specific gear. I have worked pretty hard the last several years to get my pack to an absolute minimum. I shot this deer 11 miles in the wilderness area. Pack weight going in including everything I needed for a 6 day hunt, rifle and spotting scope for right at 25 pounds. I shot that deer opening morning and spent all day, not only deboning, but also cleaning up every single piece of meat. I cut off all the fat and silver skin on that buck so that the only meat I was bring out was ready to package and put in the freezer. I decided to take this all out in one trip and when I got home my pack weighed 82 pounds. Since I was able to get rid of most my food weight I would say this was roughly 60 lbs. of meat, cape and skull. The entire pack out was downhill on a trail however this was absolutely brutal.

If you have not had the pleasurer of packing out an animal in western terrain I would highly suggest you get some experience before attempting a solo camp and animal pack out.

 

[Caseknife]

 

[longrangelead]

a little bear and a big bear. both were only a couple hundred yards so we did it in one trip.