Solo Pack Out Question

[fatlander]

I was part of packing out a bull about 7 miles once in September. No chance I’d attempt that alone. I had 96 pounds of elk, plus my day hunting gear, binos, and bow. 2800 foot of net gain to get the truck. I’ve run some marathons, done some other difficult pack outs, and that effort absolutely takes the cake. Couldn’t imagine getting to the truck and turning back around for 3 or 4 more trips. Good luck!


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[awcopeland]

@BigLou check out this thread. It can be done.

 

[Alpinedrifter]

I usually do the skull and backstraps/tenderloins in one load, neck meat, etc along with one front quarter, then each subsequent quarter by itself. I would definitely keep camp set up near the kill site for a place to sleep and re-charge while you pack out. And I would have a bedroll or another car camp set-up for when you arrive at the vehicle with a load. You may not feel like hiking all the way back up. Also consider packing out your loads halfway from the kill site to the vehicle and concentrating them there. Then go back one last time for your camp and set up and sleep at your halfway point. In the end it’s all the same distance, but it seems to make the trips more bearable. And absolutely use trekking poles. 4WD will save your joints.

 

[DFloTN]

We were headed into a steep CO unit in 2019 and there was a guy at the trailhead offering to show people where he saw some other bulls in exchange for helping him pack his several miles. We declined but he managed to get 2 guys on board.

We got slammed by a gnarly hail / electrical storm when they would’ve been on the trail. Always made me wonder what a raw deal / nightmare that turned into. Point being I saw him half-begging at that TH and it always reminds me how you can get past your limits if you’re not careful.

 

[roosiebull]

Hey friends, fired up about another elk season and wish you all great luck. I start next tuesday...my first camp will be 6.5 miles deep, solo. Curious about the number of trips you make solo packing out a bull and what combo of loads. At this distance, I think I'm gonna have to make a trip for each of the hind quarters (with straps and tenders), one trip with both front quarters and a last trip with antlers and camp gear. That's 4 total trips. You got a better way? My ruck training is usually with about 70 pounds, but don't think I can make 6.5 miles with a front and hind quarter without killing myself...

Sounds like you have a pretty realistic plan, but don’t be terribly surprised if you decide to make 5 trips. Generally, I try to do it in 4 but don’t have camp to pack. I leave bone in always by choice, so that matters too. I’m also dealing with roosies and don’t know for certain how much more weight is on one vs the same age rocky. I remember a couple really big bulls I have decided to do it in 5, and on the flip side, I’ve got spikes out in 3 trips.

The dilemma being 6.5 miles in is do you keep the pack weight more manageable and do 5 trips (extra 13 miles and a few hours) or try to tough it out and do it in 4 heavy trips?

Have you ever carried elk quarters several miles? Packing a bull that far, 4-5 round trips is going to take a long time, and half of that with a heavy pack. It’s going to be 2 full hard days of packing if you can do it in 4 trips, just know the reality of what you’re getting into, but sounds like a fun hunt

 

[Bobrobheimer]

We were headed into a steep CO unit in 2019 and there was a guy at the trailhead offering to show people where he saw some other bulls in exchange for helping him pack his several miles. We declined but he managed to get 2 guys on board.

We got slammed by a gnarly hail / electrical storm when they would’ve been on the trail. Always made me wonder what a raw deal / nightmare that turned into. Point being I saw him half-begging at that TH and it always reminds me how you can get past your limits if you’re not careful.

In our early years I would probably have taken that trade and enjoyed it. Partly just to experience what packing out an elk is like.

 

[elkliver]

Um... i will chime in with the others.... Why are you planning on 6.5 miles in? as others have said, its not about trying to put you down but being reasonable., You get a good size bull down in a hole with a steep climb and pole patches intermixed, a mile will feel like forever. A lot depends on the size of the bull, but 5 trips is certainly reasonable. In reading a lot of the previous answers, im thinking some folks may not love elk meat as much as i do.

Have a plan and a backup plan if needed. Going in with the idea of "im pretty sure i can do it" is not a plan. Seriously. Please listen to those of us who have suffered and know

 

[Stache Attack]

2 trips for the elk. Front, hind, and meat bag. Second trip front, hind ,and head. Third trip camp

You’re an animal.

I’ve done this load once boned in. I’m in good shape but 3.4 miles wore me out. Doable and likely dumb enough to do again. Guess it depends how many days you’ve hunted prior. That load was around 115lbs in 16” of snow.

I like the OPs plan and depending on terrain and bone in or bone out 3 is doable depending on camp.

 

[roosiebull]

I have packed out a lot of elk solo, but never that far. I've been able to get a bull out in 3 trips a couple times, but that was boned out smaller bulls. I also had a big bull that was 5 heavy loads boned out. I think to pack a bull out that far solo, you will have to get lucky with the weather to not lose meat. In warm weather, you are not going to be able to get it all packed out before spoilage sets in. Packing 80-100+ lbs 6-1/2 miles one time is hard, but not really a big deal. Making 4 or 5 heavy trips for that distance over the course of several days and not hitting a physical wall will be an enormous task.

The farthest I have packed one solo was 4.1 miles, and most of that was on logging roads, and it was brutal. That day is responsible for me making sure I have a decent amount of calories with me always, because i didn’t that day and I felt like garbage pretty early on, I would prefer to not do that again.

Last year my buck was a little over 6 miles, and I couldn’t imagine having to do 3 more round trips after getting him to my pickup.

I always stay in shape, but packing a whole bull solo over 3 miles is about as much as I care to do, unless it’s close to the river where I can pack it down and get my sled, or mostly roads where I could bring the hawk crawler cart and do it in one load.

I have packed out somewhere in the teens of bulls solo, and it’s hard to appreciate how taxing it is without doing it, even 2 miles with a little elevation or blowdown is rough

 

[trophyhill]

Is that 6.5 miles as the crow flies? If so, you could be looking at 60+ miles overall. Hope you've been doing some triathlons regularly. Good luck!

 

[trophyhill]

6 miles solo ..... so many athletes out there, good for you guy!

I ruck train with 70 lbs 3 x a week also .... having packed elk off of mountain sides numerous times i can tell you it is only about 10% like ruck training. 4 trips for me on an elk, and even at just 1.5 miles from the truck over total crap terrain you'll be in for some hurt

Dont be the guy that leaves meat bags hanging and rotting. Break my heart every time i come across that. Know your limits

I've seen the terrain you've packed off of. Just a mile is brutal. Let alone 6 lol

 

[Elkhuntinfool78]

This thread just keeps going so I guess I'll chime in. Farthest I've packed out a bull was right at 6 miles. That said it actually wasn't bad. Probably 5.5 miles was on a maintained trail with not much elevation gain or loss. Took me 4 loads over 2 days, temperature was good so I didn't have the worry of spoilage.

My worst packouts have been under 2 miles with steep nasty terrain and lots of blow down. I've needed as much as 4 days to get a bull out once in late November.

At the end of the day the OP is the only one who knows his level of fitness and mental fortitude.

Mental fortitude, haven't seen many people post on that but it's the one muscle you can't work out and is equally as important as physical fitness imo. I've seen some super fit guys get halfway through a pack out and crumble as if it's not possible.

I I try not to think about the misery I'm in for and focus on making it to that next tree or rock or whatever spot and then the next one and so on until finally at the truck and done.

 

[TradLife406]

Yeah I've done a couple back outs before... I'd like to know what kind of terrain you're at that you're actually considering 6.5 miles?
I'm in pretty good shape. 3 miles in steep terrain sucks. Especially if there's any cross country bush wacking.

Where we killed we'd be five or six miles from the truck. But we had atv at camp a couple miles away.

If it's flat terrain then maybe 6.5 miles is doable but there's also a time factor. Especially if it's hot. I love sweat hunting. But you have to make sure you're close to the truck and have a way to keep the meat cold in the field and have ice ready to go at the trailhead.

6.5 miles has me wondering how many elk you're walking by.


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[TradLife406]

Hey friends, fired up about another elk season and wish you all great luck. I start next tuesday...my first camp will be 6.5 miles deep, solo. Curious about the number of trips you make solo packing out a bull and what combo of loads. At this distance, I think I'm gonna have to make a trip for each of the hind quarters (with straps and tenders), one trip with both front quarters and a last trip with antlers and camp gear. That's 4 total trips. You got a better way? My ruck training is usually with about 70 pounds, but don't think I can make 6.5 miles with a front and hind quarter without killing myself...

I reread this. You've never shot an elk before have you?

I don't want to come off like a jerk but if it's your first time chasing elk the odds of killing are slim. Most times it takes even resident hunters a couple seasons to kill.

Elk are huge. One game bag of boned out meat is about 45-50lb. Which is a lot when it's on your back. Then add elevation, dead fall etc. also usually your legs are smoked from several days of hunting. Man I'm in pretty good shape. I can squat 500 and deadlift the same. 100 lb in a pack sucks. I've done it a couple times for deer. But then it makes sense for one trip.

Have you even been in this area before? Been backpacking before? Again just trying to help you out, not being a jerk.

I just see a lot of Midwesties with these big dreams of being Cam Hanes and going 10 miles in. But when they get to elevation and see how much bigger things look than they did on On X they crap their pants. Shoot I do the same sometimes!!! Like ah that's an easy hike. Then your feet hit the trail and you're hating life.

First trip I'd plan on truck camping. Backpacking sucks. Especially if you've got limited experience doing it.

Truck camping is the way to do it. Then bounce around to different spots. Go a couple miles in each day. That way if you run into pressure you can bail and go to a different spot close by.

You backpack into an area you're pretty committed. Then if you go a couple days without killing you'll waste another day relocating.


Good luck brother

 

[TheGDog]

I've not done it...yet. But... for this one place that's 7mi all downhill to get in there, I've been cosidering it.

You also could elect to leap-frog with more than one load on a time.

Carry a load some amount of way along the trail, put it down within visual sight of the other load, go back and get the 2nd load... carry it along past the first load.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat.


And the only reason I'd consider it for this one place is that on the way out you can connect back up with a road, so not negotiating crazy trail obstacles.

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

In my experience, 1.5-2 miles is a hell of a lot of work solo. Figure on 3-4 hours just to cut up the bull if it dies on any sort of side slope, and that number can go up if it dies in a real hell hole.

You're racing a clock on meat spoilage that I just don't think you're going to win with four trips at the 6 mile mark.

 

[tkhuntsman]

Ive packed a lot of elk and I can say 3 trips is going to beat you down at that distance. Might be doable over mild terrain and under 2 miles, expect 4 and they will all be heavy. A bull elk plus camp is going to be damn close to 100 lbs per trip realistically. Yeah your going to be doing close to 25+ miles under that weight in the mountains. Take your time be smart pick a good route and don't hurt yourself. It's not a competition and it's an impressive achievement to just get him and yourself out even if you do it in 10 trips.

 

[kcm2]

Patrick Smith, founder of Kifaru, has packed out a lot of animals in his life. His rule, 2-4 miles for a solo hunter is about the max. Uphill is a lot harder than you think it is. Some of the numbers I see here for pack out are insane.

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

Just wanted to add one more thought... if you have the excess time to make the packout work, there ARE some meat spoilage hacks out there. Citric acid powder is one of them. Also, If you can get the meat relatively cool and dry a sleeping bag will keep it much cooler than ambient temps while cached duringn the day.

 

[Alpinedrifter]

One more thing- in further efforts to protect your joints while bearing a load, don’t bend down low (knees over toes) when trying to get under a log, etc. This is how I tore my meniscus. Remove your load and figure out a safer way to get around the obstacle.