Solo Pack Out Question

[rclouse79]

I did a couple miles with no trail and a lot of side hilling in five trips. That made me really rethink some of the places I have gone by myself. If it is cold outside and you are in no hurry, you could take your time over two or three days. If it is warm outside, I think 6.5 miles one way would set the average guy up for a miserable experience with a high chance of meat loss and injury.

 

[SleepyJones]

I've found the biggest factor in the quality of meat you'll get from an animal isn't the age, gender or what it's been feeding on, but how fast the meat gets recovered and cooled. Pack an animal 100 miles if you want, but time is not on your side after the kill shot.

 

[Poser]

Got this bull solo this past September. He's a mature 6 point for my area. 280 lbs between the meat and caped out head for perspective. Cutting this thing up solo was a 6 hour ordeal...made a lot harder because his butt was sliding into the creek constantly, which made it really difficult when it came to trying to flip him by myself. I know for sure many folks would have taken shortcuts on cutting this one up if they were solo due to the difficulty. I was 3.5-4 miles to the truck one way, downhill to the truck after a 450 ft steep (on all fours for portions) climb out of the hole he died in. It took me 6 hrs to get him all quartered, 22 hrs of moving everything and 8 hours sleeping for a 36 hr turnaround in all. I leap frogged the meat with two different points along my route out based on the terrain. Basically, this allowed me to do each quarter seperate for my steep climb, then combine misc meat with a front quarter to cut a trip for the rest of the packout. I'm a fan of leapfrogging because you have more time walking unloaded which helps you recover and imo keeps your body fresher. Very key to be fast on your turnarounds/reloading your pack though or else you can end up with a lot of lost time.

I made sure to push within my limits so I didn't bonk myself on the moving meat part and after many elk packouts, I've learned it's just best to get good sleep once you get the animal cut up, so I only hiked stuff out until 10pm and picked it back up in the morning of the second day. I was fortunate to have killed at 8 am so I was working with a lot of daylight the first day.

All in all, I've done some solo packouts and I've found it best to not approach it with your head cut off...your real time and your memories are much more enjoyable when you're working within yourself and not grinding all night or trying to go super fast.

Flipping an elk over that is on a steep slope can be an extremely difficult task. I’ve had at least 2 situations where an elk was on a 35+ degree slope and most every attempt to slip it just resulted in it sliding down the hill with possibly no way I could have managed the situation solo as it took 2 of us multiple attempts and 45 minutes.

 

[Gerbdog]

Flipping an elk over that is on a steep slope can be an extremely difficult task. I’ve had at least 2 situations where an elk was on a 35+ degree slope and most every attempt to slip it just resulted in it sliding down the hill with possibly no way I could have managed the situation solo as it took 2 of us multiple attempts and 45 minutes.

Thats been the sticking point for me on the solo elk ive dealt with, and even with a partner as you mentioned - if they die in a bad position its just miserable trying to flip those things around or re-position - actually let me rephrase that - its miserable to reposition or flip them if they die in a great position solo - if they die in a bad position its impossible. I had a bull 2 years ago die with his butt perfectly position in a hole down slope surrounded by deadfall. I ended up getting everything out still but it was absolutely miserable and involved some creative hind quarter removal.

I bring rope and pulleys and just havent been blessed with the proper trees or limbs i guess - still comes down to brute strength - or maybe i just dont understand physics well enough

 

[Poser]

Thats been the sticking point for me on the solo elk ive dealt with, and even with a partner as you mentioned - if they die in a bad position its just miserable trying to flip those things around or re-position - actually let me rephrase that - its miserable to reposition or flip them if they die in a great position solo - if they die in a bad position its impossible. I had a bull 2 years ago die with his butt perfectly position in a hole down slope surrounded by deadfall. I ended up getting everything out still but it was absolutely miserable and involved some creative hind quarter removal.

I bring rope and pulleys and just havent been blessed with the proper trees or limbs i guess - still comes down to brute strength - or maybe i just dont understand physics well enough

Yeah, I've had to use pulley systems as well before just to hold the animal in place as, once 2 legs were removed, it just wanted to roll down the hill. I've had an elk pile up against a downed tree on a steep slope that made for super awkward work and a difficult flip with 2 people. I've had another pile up on its back against a tree on the very same slope. We had to gut it and remove the antlers in order to get it flipped over. These examples were 4-6 hour butchering jobs given the difficultly of the situation. No idea how I would have managed that solo. Come to think of it, I've never once had an elk dead on anything close to flat ground. 30 degrees is probably the flattest conditions I've butchered an elk on and, in the moment, they have all been complex and challenging situations that have taken hours.

 

[Grousehntr]

That would take me 5 trips maybe 6 not gonna lie. Im 41 and work exterior construction, pretty good shape not overweight . Just being honest. I also like to break up the loads into lighter loads and work each part out in stages so as have more time recovering back. I feel like its easier mentally knowing that each trip is a little shorter.

 

[dirtshooter]

Everyone here is fitter than I am lol

I killed my first and only (so far) bull solo in 2024 and packed it out solo and it was super tough. There's a thread I made on here about it. It wasn't 6.5 miles back, maybe 2 miles back but up hill both ways lol (from the truck --> down --> up --> down --> kill bull --> up --> down --> up --> truck) through lots of deadfall. I leap-frogged the meat, left the head until the end. I learned the hard way that you should take the heaviest load first. I did 1 hind each trip, 1 front each trip, 1 loose meat trip and 1 rack trip. Probably could have paired a front and loose meat together and a front and rack together but I never thought of it. I do have a regret that if I were less panicked about temps or had a buddy with me I could have taken more time to be careful and do things a little differently.

 

[farmer14]

Be careful how much meat you actually bone out.

I’ve packed out a lot of elk lately (6 cows and 2 bulls this year alone) and there is nothing that drives me more insane than an unstable load which can happen very easily with boned out elk meat. It turns into an 80lb bowling ball at the bottom of your pack.

Bone in quarters obviously weigh more but the advantage you have is the weight is distributed further up your spine and balances the load more.

I use the Kifaru meat bag which doesn’t look like they sell anymore but it keeps boned out meat in a tubed like shape that rides a little higher up the spine and stabilizes the load better. Look for something like that.

Hiking poles - I don’t go anywhere without them. They will save you when you are fatigued and prolong muscle exertion.

 

[highcountrymuley]

I bone out all quarters. If one is worried about the meat sagging into "bowling ball" lump, you can poke a hole through meat and run a rope through... or tie rope around top knot of game bag - and tie to top of frame pack. I myself have not had a problem with the blob of meat. Don't know if most of your packs would allow this. I use a Slumberjack external frame pack. Very good at hauling a heavy load

 

[Gerbdog]

Yea i find the load of the random neck meat, rib meat, scraps to be the heaviest and hardest to pack out every time - i like that rope idea highcountrymuley.

 

[Blake C]

3 including camp.