Walking out at night

[mad_angler]

Didn't read through all the answers but it seems like a big part of the discomfort is the fact that your body is already in a tough position before the walk out started....

I think you are right.

In the morning, I am fresh and warm. I am not concerned about walking through the dark to get to my morning spots.

In the evening, I am already cold and tired. I do not know if I have enough left in the tank for an hours-long hike over deadfalls in the rain/snow.

I do not have good puffy pants. Those seem like they would be a great help. I'll have some next year...

 

[Ralphie]

Good points... let me work myself through this... Let's consider my hunt last week. Let's say I killed one right when I was going to leave on the night in question. Now, I have an elk on the ground, it is still dropping heavy, wet snow, and I am already slightly hypothermic. How would I handle that?

First, I would realize that I am in for a long night. I would probably do some jumping jacks to warm up a bit. I would build a simple shelter and start a fire. I would drink some hot liquid to warm my core. Then, I would get to work on the elk. I would use the warmth of the elk to keep my hands warm. The work of breaking it down would probably keep me warm.

If I was warm enough, I would break it all down and hang it from an improvised meat pole.
If I was too cold, I would gut it and break open the hips to cool the meat down.

In either case, I would probably leave the meat in the woods. I would hike back to camp and sleep. I would come back in the morning with an empty pack to starting hauling the meat out.

Once the meat is hanging, I personally would not haul a lot of meat in the dark especially if bushwacking. It is going to take me several days to move the meat alone. I don't see a real difference between it hanging at the kill site or hanging at camp.

I don’t know what your experience level with breaking down elk but with some practice you can get an elk ready to overnight, especially in snow, pretty quick. If it really was urgent gut it and leave it or gutless quarter and leave it. If you aren’t worried about the cape it goes really fast. Leave the skinning, deboning, cutting off lower legs for daylight. Removed quarters with hide on, back straps and tenderloins out will over night very nicely in those conditions. If worried about neck meat you could skin that area a little.
We aren’t talking hours or even one hour.

Adjust as needed if saving the cape. Don’t get into too big of hurry and cut or hurt yourself. You were already going to be walking in the dark what is 30 minutes later in the dark? If working the elk doesnt warm you up…you may be cold blooded.

All that said I’ve killed multiple elk and deer because I left my spot and slowly hunted the last of shooting light on my way back.

 

[Bobrobheimer]

I think you are right.

In the morning, I am fresh and warm. I am not concerned about walking through the dark to get to my morning spots.

In the evening, I am already cold and tired. I do not know if I have enough left in the tank for an hours-long hike over deadfalls in the rain/snow.

I do not have good puffy pants. Those seem like they would be a great help. I'll have some next year...

This might be a little off topic but if it’s a matter of worrying you don’t have enough in the tank it could be helpful to do a death hike challenge goal type of event for yourself where you push what you think are the limits. That way you may find that your limits are further than you think and you have plenty left in the tank. We have done a few of these over the years and have dramatically expanded our perceived limits. You’ll probably do some night hiking along the way too!

 

[RickDalton]

Found appropriate layers and a great (not just good) headlamp help a lot..

 

[WyoKid]

Most of my Elk were killed before dark. None have fallen in convenient places. One time, my Elk fell in a small creek and I spent all night cutting up that Elk and hauling meet 100 yds away to hang in a tree. It was snowing like an SOB, it was well below freezing and I was soaked in sweat. I was completely beat and definitely didn't want to bivouac with soaked clothes and heavy snow fall so I made the long walk back to camp. It was 5:20 AM by the time I got back. My hunting partner thought I was lost or hurt and was waiting for morning to call Search and Rescue. I was so burned out that it was a struggle to get up and go back to haul more meat.

Now, I try not to kill myself if I shoot something before dark. I just field dress and skin out the neck before leaving it until first light. I never had any issues with predators or meat spoiling. I just make sure to get back just as it is getting enough light to see if there are any predators present. I take the tenderloins and the tongue to cook up at camp, and get a good night's rest before a long day of packing meat. It is much better for me to get a good night's rest, and safer than risking fatigue, darkness and hypothermia.

I still carry extra layers, emergency bivy, fire starter and water purification tablets but avoid spending the night out of is isn't necessary especially during late season November hunts.

 

[Cliff Gray]

Tons of good info here. Lots of rational advice - obviously don't get yourself hurt, have contingency lights/navigation, hunt with a buddy if possible, develop comfort.

Having said that, and given I was brought up on this, some observations:

There are many places where the chances of killing bulls are 10-15x+ more probable if you hunt until dark. This is correlated with pressure, correlated with tag availability...

I have guided/hunted many draw tags and private ranches where I was blown away by how long elk stay out in the daylight.

OTC tags, etc... In most cases it's just not a thing unless you get ideal cold/snow conditions that force elk to move or feed longer during the daylight.

The other exception is areas where water is limited. Elk will move for water, especially during the rut, during the day. This again tends to be correlated to less pressure because there is less habitat and carrying capacity for elk (lack of water).

So in short, guys saying they kill elk during the day consistently aren't making things up, but I suspect they are hunting areas and in circumstances that don't apply to the majority of elk tags.

It's also a reality that if you only hunt inside of sunrise/sunset, that is when you will kill a 100% of the elk you kill. That doesn't means it's an effective strategy.

For a big proportion of my life, I observed drop camp hunters—pack guys into a good camp I knew a bunch of elk were around, they get totally skunked... packed them out demoralized and bummed. Via my communication with them during the hunt, checking on them during the week, seeing who/when people were in camp, glassing them move in and out of their camp during the hunt, I know for a fact they were all in camp 30-40 mins before dark every night. The next week I pack in guys that hunt/glass/observe until dark dark—completely different results. I saw this dozens of times.

An hour of elk hunting is not an hour of elk hunting... WHEN matters.

Understanding this dynamic and getting comfortable moving in the dark isn't easy, but given the exponential increase in success it will provide in most places with tags, it is very much low-hanging fruit. Probably the easiest way to increase your chances.

 

[RockAndSage]

Via my communication with them during the hunt, checking on them during the week, seeing who/when people were in camp, glassing them move in and out of their camp during the hunt, I know for a fact they were all in camp 30-40 mins before dark every night. The next week I pack in guys that hunt/glass/observe until dark dark—completely different results. I saw this dozens of times.

Pretty priceless observations over the years. Appreciate the detail you shared here. And it completely makes sense.

There's something similar I've seen with mule deer hunters, but during the day - guys packing it in during mid-day, because they "know" the deer are all bedded down and are "basically nocturnal this time of the year". But they sure do seem to get up and move beds for shade as the sun moves across the sky, and die well - if you're there, looking for them. Especially when nobody else is, because they know better. So yeah, it makes sense for a different animal, that people are getting them on the ground when other people just aren't out, or don't know any better, or the details of that type of animal in that particular area.

 

[Jason Snyder]

I want to emphasize the importance of a really good headlamp. I have a Fenix that is like the sun coming up. Last year I was helping my buddy pack an elk down a nasty steep hill. Between the Fenix and OnX we managed to get our way down with getting cliffed out or mired in deadfall.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

I don't use my headlamp going in and out places I hunt regularly just to get used to the dark...did 3 miles in the dark on Sat and .75 miles on Sunday...Waning Cresant less than 10%...under the tree canopy you couldn't see you hand in front of your face. Lots of stars.
It makes hunting places I have never hunted with a headlamp in the dark a literal walk in the park.

 

[WyoKid]

One thing that I was taught and generally holds true is to be sure to be hunting during the Golden hour - an hour before sunrise and an hour after sunset.