Solo Elk Quartering

[Indian Summer]

I know most people leave the head on til last that I have seen. I feel like doing this solo, it would be beneficial to cut the head off first? Ive never cut the head off first myself. Thoughts on this?

The head/antlers is a handle to use for moving and flipping an elk. I never cut the head off until last. The other reason is that the least if my concerns. Not that it takes too long to separate the head at the atlas joint but I’m all about getting the quarters off and cooling before anything.

 

[35WhelenAI]

Para cord, priceless.

I've done elk solo both ways, and gutless is the way to go based on both methods. Which echos what most are saying here as well.

My first bull tried his best to gore me on a steep side hill well after he was dead... I got very aware, very quick, of the impending injury he could impart. Dug his antlers into the ground and settled him once and for all.

 

[Marble]

I'd just watch a pile of videos, maybe save some to your phone for reference? And youl be fine...try to be efficient...don't burn your self out

Some elk are alot easier to work up than others...so don't worry if your not done in 10 minutes..just keep moving and BE SAFE

This is true gents. Be safe.

After killing and quartering a big 6x6 earlier in the day that was in a really bad spot/ position, I found my dad's bull and killed it on a hill like this above. Another really shitty recovery. Steep and snowy. I was tired, dehydrated, hungry and frustrated. I got careless, slipped and put the brow tine right through my shirts and about 3" into my arm near my arm pit. I was just fine in the end.

We all get excited and in the moment forget to do the little things that matter. If you've never done something like this, or even if you have, take the time to take care of yourself. Eat, drink or even just rest. Enjoy the moment.

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[DawnPatrol]

I’m in awe of how fast some of you can get that job done. Practice makes perfect I guess, and I’ve only done it solo a couple times. But it’s always been a multi-hour proposition and the most physically demanding part of an elk hunt, for me. I don’t use ropes or block/tackle or anything.

I gutted the first couple elk I shot, but have switched to gutless. Gutting just took a bunch of time and made a huge mess, and I hunt late season rifle where getting the heat out isn’t as essential. I can gut a deer in nothing flat, but an elks guts are enormous and I always seem to pop something and make a mess.

OP: most of my problems above are attributable to a lack of talent/experience, but if it’s your first time, they might be relevant to you.

 

[5MilesBack]

I had one go down in the thick steeps one year and he literally straddled a blowdown with his chest and belly laying on it. Since it was so thick and steep I just left him there and skinned him down both sides as I deboned him as I went. You do what you have to do.

 

[JoeDirt]

Ive not had to quarter an elk solo, when i'm hunting alone I do pack some paracord and two carabiners.

My thought is I can hang one carabiner in a tree and feed another strand of paracord through to hang meat with no branch friction.

 

[trophyhill]

Gutless on the ground. Skin em where they fall. The toughest for me was a frontal at 11,500', he went 10 yards and tipped over. Then he rolled down the mountain and got hung up in a spruce on a steep slope. I spent probably a good 45 minutes cutting branches out of the way to get to him. Best part of that was it was all down hill to the truck from there.

 

[SoloWilderness]

Gutless. Make the big cuts to the bones on the quarters to let a little heat out. Bone it out after it's all broken down, away from the carcass, in a nice clean spot, after my hands and knives have been cleaned, and I've had a chance to take a break. Usually just prop meat on every convenient tree branch around to cool while I work, in game bags if flies are concern, otherwise just hang it over the branches. Try to get the head uphill if on a steep slope. Tie it off with paracord so it doesn't slide down the hill or knock you over. Use a Tyvek ground sheet under it to keep clean. Skin the full top side off, including the neck, and take the neck meat off at the same time as the front quarter for each side (also the backstraps and tenderloins). Occasionally will open up the gut bag after the first side is done, if I'm on a nice steep hill and can let it slide out of the way easily using gravity to help (Only if I can't get it flipped over, or am struggling to get the tenderloins out, ie muddy, snowy, hung up in trees, etc.) if I can't get it flipped over solo because of positioning. Leave the head on until the end, the antlers make great handles for positioning. Carry 100' of paracord and a titanium Pack-A-Pull, which is used mostly if I need to slide an animal and need better control of the cord. Set up a tarp overhead for shade if it's hot and sunny, if possible (Carry a little 4'x6' sil tarp for this, packs about the size of a coke can and weighs nothing).

 

[rayporter]

in 84 we each killed a bull and gutted it and skinned it. in 85 we each killed and gutted it.
come 86 we looked at each other and says there has to be a better way and oh. by the way dont kill the second until the first is at the truck.

now i cut off the legs and hang them with the hide on them. they will start to cool right away. later i can peel the hide off and put bags on them. sometimes i will do that at the truck if packing on horses. you can peel the hide up the back to get the rest of the meat off easy.

even when i am with some one the animal will be mostly cut up solo before they even know i have one down.

 

[AaronMColeman]

Contractors clean up bags are your friend. Get the thick ones and carry two in your pack. They weigh nothing and make a really nice clean work space. I've packed out one cow solo. Packing out a bull solo would be a monster depending on the distance but it would not stop me from shooting a nice one with a killer packout

The bag can also double as a way to keep your pack cleaner. I've put filled game bags in the contractors bag for packout to keep my pack cleanish. Not something I would do if it were warmer though.

 

[bigbuck6x9]

Quarter up, hang up quarters in a tree and hike in and out lol. Or call for help!


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[Rc_benson]

Quarter, hang, hike! Or call a buddy lol.

 

[Elk97]

If it's down on a steep hillside (and not hung up too bad in trees, etc) check out what's below you. We've slid them down to flat spots, old roads. If on snow be careful not to get below them, they can gain speed fast!

 

[Michael Dow]

Manhandling can be done. It can be useful to have 550 paracord to be able to tie onto trees or stumps to help get the elk positioned how you would like.

 

[Breeves1]

Thanks everyone for your advice, I appreciate it. And good luck in the elk woods this fall.

 

[KNOPHISH]

Anyone back in the old days cut quarters by splitting spine with hatchets? Those were real front quarters front legs with ribs. I have had a few sketchy steep recovery’s where you just cut off a piece at a time. For years now using gutless is so fast, clean and easy. Unless you can get one out whole near a road. Heh heh

 

[C.F.]

Anyone back in the old days cut quarters by splitting spine with hatchets? Those were real front quarters front legs with ribs. I have had a few sketchy steep recovery’s where you just cut off a piece at a time. For years now using gutless is so fast, clean and easy. Unless you can get one out whole near a road. Heh heh

That is how we do it when moose hunting in Quebec, but it’s only possible when it’s easy access with some mode of transportation and a few bodies as the weight is huge. I believe we cut the moose in half at the 2nd and 3rd rib from the rear end. Also need huge game bags for these

 

[intunegp]

Does it count as solo if there were two people and two bulls? Last year my dad and I both shot a bull within about 30-40 minutes of each other in the same nasty ravine...deep and steep on both sides, and up and over to the road/truck on both sides. He shot first, told me it was a lone bull and he didn't see it or any movement anywhere after the shot, so I was sneaking in to try and get eyes on the hopefully dead bull. I was about 200 yards away from where his bull was supposed to be, and on the phone with him when I saw a bull non-chalantly leaving the area, so I dropped the phone in the dirt and shot said bull. It ran back in the direction it came from and dropped. I met up with dad and we hiked down and found two dead 5x5s within about 50 yards of each other. I thought I was putting his down and shot a different elk that he never knew was there.

I did gutless on my bull while he gutted his because he wasn't comfortable trying gutless without supervision. By the time he had the guts out of his and the cavity spread with some limbs I was about ready to start packing. We carried out one then went back for the other. He shot his bull right around 8am...it was after 9pm by the time we had the last load to the truck. This wasn't the first time we had killed two elk at the same time, but the previous time we were fortunate enough that they were both small cows, and once gutted we were able to load whole elk into the bed of the truck after about a 50 yard drag. Both times we've said we're not killing two elk at the same time ever again.

 

[TradLife406]

Don't quarter it. Gutless method. No sense in packing bones out.


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[UZJ100]

Appreciate all of the advice in this thread!