Prepping elk for overnight in cold weather

[Pony Soldier]

I know there are a lot of opinions on this but here are some ideas. When I say cold, I mean freezing and likely snow on the ground.

I hunt with horses but there are places you may have to saw your way into or you can only get one elk out tonight. To start with the guts have to come out. Then you need to get the elk a couple hundred yards away from the gut pile. I get the lower legs off and then skin the legs up to the heavier meat. When they freeze solid it is hard to skin. I put the skin back over the legs to protect them.

I there is enough snow available, I shovel what I can to fill the chest cavity. I get a stick to prop the cavity open but then cover the carcass with fir boughs to limit raven access. Cut small trees to cover the butt and the neck. I have lost a rump roast in the 20 minutes it took me to ride to the house and get my truck.

Then I pee on the trees surrounding the carcass and leave some clothing to flap in the wind. Those tricks have worked for a lot of elk.

They will still work for small bulls and cows up to about 15-20 degrees. Big bulls have such mass you need to get those front quarters split to get them to cool otherwise the meat will start to sour on the bone.

On thirty degree nights you had better get them quartered and/or boned out. Early in my career I killed a calf, cut some poles and pulled it up on the poles for the night. The next morning it had soured where the meat was on the poles.

Last year the neighbor killed a raghorn with his bow but didn't get to it till the next morning. He gutted it then and had me load it into his truck with my tractor. He had a 4 hr trip to get to his house. He said that by the time he got there the elk had soured and was thrown away.

Rain on meat can accelerate spoiling. I saw a couple guys put their quarters in garbage bags for the pack out. The meat soured on that one.

 

[wapitibob]

When we got my Elk packed back to the truck we put the bagged quarters into large garbage bags, set them in the truck bed with the bags open and drove to town. No issues, then when we got to town, they came out of the plastic, which was then filled with motel ice, and used to cover the quarters in the coolers.

 

[HunterGatherer]

I never leave a whole animal overnight. I always quarter them using the gutless method and most importantly- Get the hide off ! Any portion of the animal touching the ground with the hide on will spoil in a matter of hours, even in relatively cool temperatures. If you have to leave the quarters overnight, pee around the kill site and leave some of your clothing (with your scent on it) to deter scavengers. I’ve only ever lost meat to birds ( small amount) even in country that’s filthy with bears, lions and wolves. Not saying it’s fool proof, maybe I’ve been lucky but I do everything I can

 

[HunterGatherer]

I guess I should have mentioned in very cold weather I try to keep the quarters from freezing by hanging them or building a pallet of branches to get them up off the ground but I keep them in fairly close proximity to each other but not touching. Then I’ll try to wrap them as a group with a tarp or something to hold in just a little bit of heat but with a vent hole at the top to release excess heat and allow the quarters to cool without freezing them

 

[ThorM465]

Stupid question, what's the problem with letting it freeze once quartered?

 

[Jon Boy]

In late season when there is snow on the ground and night time temps are well below freezing I quarter with the hide on and pack them out that way. I only bring two game bags for loose meat. Skin the quarters once they are back to the house and have perfectly clean meat. If I’m going to hang them for a while I will wrap them with cling wrap to not lose any meat due to crust and it also makes the butchering process much faster. Meat quality is excellent.