The gutless method. Why aren't you doing it if you have to pack out?

[roadrunner]

I'm curious how many of you guys gut an elk if you're solo hunting a long way from your vehicle.

Depends on weather, light, ease of handling, etc.

 

[5MilesBack]

And if they die like this, there is no way one guy alone is gutting. I’ve had more than one bull die like this and the only way they were coming apart was one quarter at a time until I could finally get it rolled over. I consider myself fairly strong and fit, but rolling an elk around by myself is not on my to do list unless it’s absolutely necessary.

For reference, this bull took me over 2.5 hours to work up. It’s about a 40 degree slope of decomposed granite. Nothing to tie anything off to. It was a nightmare.
View attachment 738086

I had one like that, except half of him was under the blowdown with his legs up.

Gutless is really quick and fairly easy, but if I'm keeping the cape and having the animal mounted then the process becomes a bigger pain and more time consuming regardless whether you're gutting or not. If I'm not mounting, it's real quick to take the rear ham (with evidence of sex) and front shoulder off first, hide on. For me, it's much easier to skin them once they're off the animal. Then split the hide down the back and pull the back strap, take any meat you want off or between the ribs and neck, then flip it over and do the same on the other side. When I'm all done, I'll puncture the belly with a knife and then it's easy to push everything out of the way to pull the tenders.

The only time I'll gut an animal generally is during a later season in the cold when I shoot one just before dark. I'll split them and prop the cavity open and come back in the morning to break them down. During archery I'll work into the night until I'm done and everything is hanging.

 

[Ucsdryder]

I had one like that, except half of him was under the blowdown with his legs up.

Gutless is really quick and fairly easy, but if I'm keeping the cape and having the animal mounted then the process becomes a bigger pain and more time consuming regardless whether you're gutting or not. If I'm not mounting, it's real quick to take the rear ham (with evidence of sex) and front shoulder off first, hide on. For me, it's much easier to skin them once they're off the animal. Then split the hide down the back and pull the back strap, take any meat you want off or between the ribs and neck, then flip it over and do the same on the other side. When I'm all done, I'll puncture the belly with a knife and then it's easy to push everything out of the way to pull the tenders.

The only time I'll gut an animal generally is during a later season in the cold when I shoot one just before dark. I'll split them and prop the cavity open and come back in the morning to break them down. During archery I'll work into the night until I'm done and everything is hanging.

Nothing better than hanging a bull that you finish processing around 11pm at night in September. That breeze starts blowing and if you hang them in the shade (so the morning sun doesn’t hit the quarters) without a bag, the next morning they’re ice cold with a layer of crust that does a great job of protecting them.

 

[LongWayAround]

@HighUintas @Marshfly

Gutless, bone-in, two ribs removed for heart access. I cut through the cartilaginous joint portion and bend the ribs back to break them out of the way.

I agree that getting the tenderloins out takes some massaging, but it's not difficult.

 

[Marshfly]

@HighUintas @Marshfly

Gutless, bone-in, two ribs removed for heart access. I cut through the cartilaginous joint portion and bend the ribs back to break them out of the way.

I agree that getting the tenderloins out takes some massaging, but it's not difficult.

Thank you for the visual.

 

[5MilesBack]

Nothing better than hanging a bull that you finish processing around 11pm at night in September.

And no flies or yellow jackets to get in the way either.

Last year my daughter shot her cow moose after 7pm the middle of September. After the pics and jubilation, I told her and my wife "it's gonna be raining soon and we don't need to cape anything.....try to keep up with me". We were done and had it all bagged and hauled to the truck by 9pm. It literally started pouring at 9:01.

 

[HingleMcCringleberry]

No reason to wrassle giblets for me...

 

[Don Fischer]

And if they die like this, there is no way one guy alone is gutting. I’ve had more than one bull die like this and the only way they were coming apart was one quarter at a time until I could finally get it rolled over. I consider myself fairly strong and fit, but rolling an elk around by myself is not on my to do list unless it’s absolutely necessary.

For reference, this bull took me over 2.5 hours to work up. It’s about a 40 degree slope of decomposed granite. Nothing to tie anything off to. It was a nightmare.
View attachment 738086

I've only done gutless one time. Cow elk fell on a side hill about like this deer. Would have needed a crane to get her out, gutless does work in that situation. But years ago timed myself gutting out a deer and removing the bottom of the legs. Took well under 5 minutes. I was a whole lot younger back then and doubt I could do that anymore. really nice thing about gutless is no scrap to haul off from home.

 

[Read1t48]

Solo hunter. Always gutless, like described in many of the posts but I take the guts out at the end… not just for the heart and liver but because I think it draws the animals to the carcass faster and they are more likely to leave my meat bags alone as I leap frog meat bags. I feel like it buys me more time to pack meat off the mountain over a day or two.

 

[waspocrew]

Gutless for me. Unless I kill a bull in the late evening and can’t/don’t want to pack it out that evening, I’ll gut it so it can cool.

 

[jhm2023]

I almost always do gutless unless the specific area requires ribs to be bone in. Gutless allows me a cleaner working area. I skin and quarter one side. After quarters and loin are removed from that side, I do the rib roll method for rib meat and pull neck meat. Flip and repeat. After all external meat is removed from both sides, I make a cut in the skirt behind the last rib which allows the guts to roll away from the tenderloins some so I can remove them cleanly. I feel somewhat exposing the internals also puts more scent out for bears, so they go to the carcass and leave me and my meat cache alone. Luckily, I haven't had any bear issues stealing meat yet. I vary this method slightly if I want some frenched ribeyes for in camp that night, but that's only a slight deviation and still gutless. Frenched sheep steaks seared on a willow fire after cold soaking my knees in a creek is my happy place.

 

[william schmaltz]

I was fortunate to work a couple decades in a butcher shop my great x2 grandpa opened when he came to the US of A in 1910. Back in high school my Dad and I could take a cow from chewing cud to split and dressed carcass in about twenty minutes. I was born and bred gutting animals. When my uncle got me into hunting, we gut deer and threw em in the pickup and hung em up at home. That’s how I would do it to this day. It wouldn’t make sense to break an animal down in the field. It’s how we also deal with a lot of blacktail. Gut em and throw em on the boat.

I can’t comprehend how gutting an animal and then breaking it down when you can’t take out a whole animal speeds things up when you literally need to go through the same process after gutting. For AK, it’s almost all gutless. As others mentioned, simply pop a few ribs and pull organs and tenderloins. Neck comes out in one large piece. Ribs roll off in one large piece. There are very few small pieces of meat in the burger bags when it’s all done.

The only way I would deal with gutting a moose is if it were pitch dark and I was in a very bear dense area. I’d gut, put em on a tarp, and drag them to a wide open area a long ways away. And prop the chest open.

Here’s a few bulls done gutless with time stamps. A bull takes about 2-2.5 hours from first cut to ready to load packs. These two were done a day apart with a guy that couldn’t break down an Amazon box and weighed 140lbs soaking wet in waders. The only thing gutting would’ve done is slow down the process by 30 minutes. The first one shows close to 3 hours, but that’s with an already loaded boat and knives/gear cleaned and packed up.


Here’s one of my brother pulling organs and tenderloins on a different bull. The ribs come together as cartilage at the brisket. Nothing more than a knife is needed for the whole process.

I’m wildly confused how some of you guys butcher an animal.

 

[HighUintas]

I’m wildly confused how some of you guys butcher an animal.

With much less skill. Maybe you should do a video on your next one and post it here. I'd love to see a moose broken down and loaded within a few hours like you've done.

 

[william schmaltz]

With much less skill. Maybe you should do a video on your next one and post it here. I'd love to see a moose broken down and loaded within a few hours like you've done.

I actually learned the process before I went on my first moose hunt 10 years ago by watching @Larry Bartlett project blood trail DVD. Still on his website. I’m a poor teacher and he lays it out the same way I would. I guess the speed part comes from being able to see the anatomy in my mind as I make the cuts. I also worked in a wildlife health lab doing necropsies daily for a few years so that sorta helped too I guess. We would do dozens of moose a year along with every other big game animal.

I do always intend to make a video showing where to cut to remove hooves with knives very simply so people can stop carrying around saws and axes, but I’m always in a hurry and would feel weird as shit talking into a camera like that. Maybe this year is the year.

 

[Mykolaivka887]

View attachment 739542View attachment 739541View attachment 739544View attachment 739547
Here’s one of my brother pulling organs and tenderloins on a different bull. The ribs come together as cartilage at the brisket. Nothing more than a knife is needed for the whole process.
View attachment 739548
I’m wildly confused how some of you guys butcher an animal.

Just a slight disclaimer, so no one thinks that it's always legal to salvage moose or caribou as seen in the photos above /\/\/\ but in nine different game management units in Alaska, it is ILLEGAL to salvage caribou in that fashion and in six different units it is ILLEGAL to salvage moose in that fashion (as was shown in the photos). Just sayin' ......

 

[Fireflyfishing]

I’m a gutless guy most of the time. However, it’s good to know how to disassemble animals multiple ways depending on the situation. Looking at the photos on this thread of animals in bad spots reminds me of how you sometimes need to be innovative in your processing strategy.

I always carry a WY saw in my pack. To me, it’s worth its weight in gold. It has two different blades. One for wood and one for bone. Between these two blades, my knives, and some rope, I can construct and deconstruct how I please given the situation. Plus, it’s good for survival situations if the need arises. I finally acquired some Wiser Precision pulleys for my pack. Now I have light weight mechanical advantage on my side too.

I prefer to haul bone in, if possible. I hang and age my meat. Bone-in makes that easier and creates less waste during the aging process. However, I will debone if needed. It really depends on the situation.

Gutting the animal and dragging it on its hide has always worked. If it’s close to the truck, road, camp, etc.

 

[Marshfly]

Just a slight disclaimer, so no one thinks that it's always legal to salvage moose or caribou as seen in the photos above /\/\/\ but in nine different game management units in Alaska, it is ILLEGAL to salvage caribou in that fashion and in six different units it is ILLEGAL to salvage moose in that fashion (as was shown in the photos). Just sayin' ......

Would be helpful if you would specify exactly what is incorrect and what would BE correct. A lot of us have never hunted AK but have plans to at some point. Caribou is my son's dream hunt and we plan to make that happen before he leaves the house.

 

[HighUintas]

I’m a gutless guy most of the time. However, it’s good to know how to disassemble animals multiple ways depending on the situation. Looking at the photos on this thread of animals in bad spots reminds me of how you sometimes need to be innovative in your processing strategy.

I always carry a WY saw in my pack. To me, it’s worth its weight in gold. It has two different blades. One for wood and one for bone. Between these two blades, my knives, and some rope, I can construct and deconstruct how I please given the situation. Plus, it’s good for survival situations if the need arises. I finally acquired some Wiser Precision pulleys for my pack. Now I have light weight mechanical advantage on my side too.

I prefer to haul bone in, if possible. I hang and age my meat. Bone-in makes that easier and creates less waste during the aging process. However, I will debone if needed. It really depends on the situation.

Gutting the animal and dragging it on its hide has always worked. If it’s close to the truck, road, camp, etc.

The pulleys is a good call. I haven't had to use mine yet, but I know they'd help in some situations since I'm always solo. I can't remember the brand I got, but they're made for the sailing industry and are super lightweight and strong. Not a bad price either. I think somewhere between $35-65 for one.

 

[LongWayAround]

@Marshfly the Alaska regulations booklet contains a myriad of meat salvage requirements. It would be difficult to summarize them all.

There's a video on YouTube of a guy breaking down a moose and he uses a guthook to take all of the belly meat in a single slab. It was a cool technique and something I have never seen otherwise.

 

[medvedyt]

I do always intend to make a video showing where to cut to remove hooves with knives very simply so people can stop carrying around saws and axes, but I’m always in a hurry and would feel weird as shit talking into a camera like that. Maybe this year is the year.

most of the time i do not use axe and saw first because it will let little bone parts that you do not want in your meat and second if you follow the attachments and cut the tendons at the proper way even moose legs are easy to break down. i will add i never been on a rush while cutting animals but it is because i was not raised as a butcher ...