Whats your packout process after the harvest?

[ureyes]

What your process from the moment you have your animal on the ground to when its time to take it home?

Do you debone in the field? Hang your quarters? Leave the hide on?

For the non-resident hunters do you use a processor? If not how do you transport your meat on the long journey home?

The whole purpose of the hunt is to bring quality meat to the family. Lets hear how you close the gap from woods to table.

 

[MULEPACKHUNTER]

Skin quarter hang then go get mules. Ounce at the truck head for town in coolers and hang at processor or taxi shop and go back out hunting. Pick meat up on way home and hang at home a week. Then process to freezer.
I did see a camp last year that had a full size deep freezer and generator right in camp. Thought that was interesting.

 

[5MilesBack]

I hunt the warm archery season so I immediately skin and debone and then hang bags in the shade or over a creek.....just depends where I am. Sometimes I have to carry the bags to where I can find cooler air. Then I pack them to the truck or camp and get them in the cooler.

 

[Ross]

After photo op start taking apart quarters. If never handling an animal this size you soon realize you have some serious work ahead. If can't move him and buy yourself I start by simply taking any quarter off I can. I like to use a meapole. Off comes a quarter, skin and bag as flies and bees can be an issue. Then on to 2nd quarter, hang skin bag. On to to backstraps, neck and flank meat. Reach in and grab tenderloins. Now will be light enough to flip over. Flip and repeat. Cover with limbs if further shade is needed. Off the mt and call helpers. Back in that day or early next morning. Hinds I tend to keep together as it keeps them cleaner and easier to process muscle groups in a more efficient manner at home. Depending on distance and number of helpers arms may or may not be boned out as I burger this anyway. Once down in truck down to home. I place all in coolers or freezer. Next day or two process myself or take to game processor to handle. Sept creates in normal years a need to be efficient from harvest time to processing time due to the heat. Come mid/late October/November you can take your time once hung and cooled.

 

[Backpack Hunter]

Position for photos (just started doing this), start to quarter and hang or debone and hang depending on time available. Pack out and put on ice. Once all meat is in coolers I put coolers in a shaded area, and go back out hunting. I make sure to refill the coolers with ice every 4 days or so. Works the same way driving home.

 

[Jon Boy]

I skin and bone em out. I leave one hind quarter bone in because its easiest to leave proof of sex on and also your tag is suppose to go with the largest piece of meat (at least in MT, NOT the antler) And yes Ive been harassed for not leaving proof of sex and putting tags on antlers.

 

[rhendrix]

When you guys bone out your hindquarters, are you just cutting down the line that follows the femur on the inside of the leg then pulling it off?

 

[ureyes]

It sounds like we were doing it all wrong on the only 2 elk I ever packed out.

We gutted, then nearly skinned the entire animal before we started cutting off quarters.....the body was in 5 quarters and then the head and antlers were 1....so 6 quarters all together. We didn't put the quarters in sacs when we packed them out either....some of it did get dirty and the processor commented on it.

I like some of these ideas.....

I never considered you could hang quarters at a processor and pick them up later.....we had ours completely processed and wrapped then froze hard. that didn't give the meat much time to age.....but it was still delicious!!!! I do all my own deer processing at home and would like to do my own big game too....save me some cash that way.

Been thinking about taking an old chest freezer I have instead of packing a bunch of coolers.

My sons aren't big enough to handle a complete quarters alone.....so I thought about tying one to a pole and have them each carry one end of the pole....like Indians did it at times. Its either that or debone just enough for them to handle.

 

[Ross]

I don't believe you did it wrong, just that there are more efficient ways to help keep the meat clean and maybe save you time both in the field and cleaning the meat later, thus maybe saving more meat. Personally I would not recommend using the pole method, I did that with pigs down in Georgia growing up and would not want anything to do with that in elk country unless totally flat. I would recommend just removing enough meat to create a manageable load for someone smaller or younger. A chest freezer would work well in place of cooler, just less manageable to move around. Getting the meat off the ground and the hide off quickly so air can circulate around the meat in the shade even in higher temps will help to reduce the heat in the meat.

 

[michaelc10]

I usually hunt the archery season when temperatures can get real warm in coloradnce my elk is down i do it a couple ways when i have extra time and by myself i cut quarters off with hide on then drag to tree and hoist up and tie with paracord, then skin while hanging to keep meat clean , I always bring a meat hook to debone on the spot the meat gets real slippery , without the hook ive dropped pieces on the ground before, But when im in a big hurry , i skin back enough to debone and keep a game bag or plastic over the exposed meat while deboning , i do gutless method and usually debone and can be ready to go within an hour of getting my elk down.I then hang the extra meat in a cool area out of the sun till i can get back for my second trip. I keep a case of frozen water bottles in my cooler sometimes i bring a gallon jug or 2 liter jugs frozen solid ,this will keep your meat cool till you get to some dry ice. Once home you can wrap the cooler lid with duct tape and lay a blanket over it it will keep great for a few days. While processing the meat i keep it in a seperate freezer in large tubs and also in the large cooler to keep the meat cold while processing it in sections.This helps keeps everything at a very cold temperature while processing. Ive never had meat go bad on me using this method.

 

[rayporter]

like ross says it aint wrong but by your third critter you will look for ways to save your energy.

i like to leave the hide on the legs [if temps allow] and skin them at the trailer. i just lay the meat on a sleeping pad and throw gear over it. 2 ten lb chunks of dry ice will have it frozen after a thousand mile trip across texas and oklohoma in 90 degrees.

 

[tttoadman]

I don't gut anything anymore. I roll back the hide, and bone off one side complete. This makes an elk a little more manageable for one person. Roll and repeat. I will leave the head on if it helps keep the critter on a hill for me. If not, take it off to cut weight. I will skin out the head, and only take the top jaw and antlers with the eyes. Keep in mind I am a rifle hunter. Temps are usually not a huge concern for me. I bag everything as I go and leave in the shade if sunny out.

Watch that proof of sex thing. It is pretty hard to keep your chit straight trying to keep the nut sack attached to a boned out hind 1/4. This needs to be thought out early on.

 

[rayporter]

i left out the answer to the OP.

i carry a cigar and the first thing i do is sit on that critter and light up while i notch my tag. the second thing i do is grab a front leg and cut it off. then i sit back down and finish my cigar while i tell my self i am one quarter finished. [ it is just a little white lie]

and to get back home i have to bone it out to be legal-no bones are allowed into arkansas.

and the pole thing dont work very well for any distance. BTDT.

 

[ridgefire]

Notch tag, photos, skin one half, take off both quarters and bone out or put in game bags bone in, then backstraps and tenderloins, next is rib and neck meat. Repeat on other side and then pop skull off where it attaches at first vertebrae. Two front quarters in one game bag, hind quarter with backstrap and tenderloin in two separate game bags, neck, rib and other misc pieces in meat bag. Makes for some fairly heavy but manageable loads. Have hung in the shade for up to a week in Sept with zero meat loss. Meat and ice in a 165 quart cooler for trip home.

 

[Archerm]

Mine is pretty much in the thread below.
http://www.rokslide.com/forums/showthread.php?28544-***Recap-2014-Montana-DIY-Archery-Hunt***

 

[muledhunter]

I also do the gutless method. One thing I didnt see mentioned is make sure to use the cape to your advantage by laying it out nice to keep your meat on it and keep the meat clean. and it keeps your cape clean if you are planning on keeping the hide.

 

[cnelk]

Photos
Punch tag

oops
Punch tag
Photos....
See freebird's post for the correction
[PS I even signed my tag too]

Gutless method
Hang quarters in tree [if shot in evening]
Leave sweaty Tshirt by tree to keep critters away
Back to camp
Celebrate
Come back in morning to retrieve meat

PS
This was solo

I would highly suggest NOT using a frame pack like the one below

 

[michaelc10]

what i do for evedence of sex , as far as keeping it attached , you have to be real careful not to cut in the wrong place and detach anything , so ii always bring an extra rubber glove and cover the piece i need to keep attached with the glove and it seems to work for me so not being careless and cut something wrong, plus it will keep it away from your clean meat when deboning

 

[freebird134]

Photos
Punch tag
Gutless method...

Sorry to be a stickler, but this is illegal in most places I know. Pretty sure the tag needs punched first in most places, or am I wrong?

 

[cnelk]

Oh yeah...
you're right I put it the P's alphabetical order... instead of the legal order
See edited post above

Sorry