Quartering elk

[ICEMAN]

Don't over think this.

Kill the animal.

Get the skin open, and meat off the bone.

Bag the meat to keep flies off.

Get the meat cooling, in shade, in a creek, whatever.

Take the meat home.

[dreamingbig]

Dumb question number #112; Does your gutless method abandon the heart and liver?

Easy as pie to get the heart, liver and tenderloins with the gutless.  I don't like liver so unless someone is along who does it stays behind.

[xXLojackXx]

I wouldn't gut them if the tenderloins weren't so damn tasty  otherwise the gutless method works great.

[dreamunelk]

Don't over think this.

Kill the animal.

Get the skin open, and meat off the bone.

Bag the meat to keep flies off.

Get the meat cooling, in shade, in a creek, whatever.

Take the meat home.

 

Well said   It is not rocket science.

[Elkrunner]

I wouldn't gut them if the tenderloins weren't so damn tasty  otherwise the gutless method works great.

You can get the ternderloins without gutting...

[JPhelps]

I break the whole elk down using nothing more than my havalon.  I don't gut them.   Just cut below the spine and roll the gut out of the way to get the tenderloins out. Get everything but the heart and leave a thin piece of rib meat while getting the rib roll off.

No more packing bones for me (besides the horns).

[D-Rock425]

I'm not packing bone this year.  I will bone out rib cage.  I'm tired of packing that Chuck out its big and heavy and I'm little and fragile.

[Elkrunner]

I break the whole elk down using nothing more than my havalon.  I don't gut them.   Just cut below the spine and roll the gut out of the way to get the tenderloins out. Get everything but the heart and leave a thin piece of rib meat while getting the rib roll off.

No more packing bones for me (besides the horns).

I watched ET1702 and RIBKA do one with a havalon last year.  I was quite impressed with that little thing.

[SilkOnTheDrySide]

I exclusively use gutless now.

To get the tenderloins, follow the ribs until you get to the short rib. Reach up into the lower part of the spine and feel for the tenderloins. Pull back a little, sometimes you can pull the whole loin away with your hand. Otherwise, very careful insert your knife and make a few cuts. Easy.

Also, why anyone packs a saw is beyond me...takes a very minimal amount of time to cut the tendons.

[Labs07]

I have quartered and done the gutless method.  Pros to quartering is less meat lost but the con is that bone is heavy and it takes much longer.   The gutless method takes way less time and the meat I leave is jsut rib meat.  I take the quaters with hair on and then take heart and liver tenderloin and backstraps and neck meat on one game bag and the quaters in 4 others.
Last year I was able to take care of the animal in an hour where it would take about two hours the old way.  Less time doing that means that there is less chance for a griz encounter.

[jechicdr]

I modified the gutless method last year on my cow.  I was by myself and it worked out really well.  I skinned half the elk and then cut the quarters off on that side.  For the front quarter, I cut down and hug the ribs, but don't really work that hard to get the meat out between the ribs.  By the time I would have gotten those strips of meat out of the woods, they would have been something I would have shaved off a roast and thrown away anyway.  I did leave the long bones in place (they make nice handles).  I flipped the beast over and did the same thing on the other side.  At that point I cut away the backstrap.  I started to go after the tenderloins as mentioned earlier in this thread but the abdomen was starting to bloat and there was not a lot of space to get my knife in without risking my fingers, so I cut a slit in the belly and allowed the intestines to extrude out a bit.  That opened up the space to finish removing the tenderloins.

[Smossy]

Following this one.

[RadSav]

Last year I was able to take care of the animal in an hour where it would take about two hours the old way.  Less time doing that means that there is less chance for a griz encounter.

You are way better at that than me. Gutless method has always taken me longer.  Though I do like it better until I get puked on    Maybe if I were faster that wouldn't happen 

[MLBowhunting]

  

[brianmtsinc]

I am a fan of the gutless method.  Started using it a couple of years ago and have now done several animals that way.  I must admit there is a learning curve.  My first couple looked like they were cut up by someone that never held a knife before, but now I have it down pretty well, and I hope to never gut one again.  I pull all of the meat, including rib meat (takes 5 minutes) but I leave the organs.

With that said, I have never done a bull that I intended mount before and I hope that I run in to that situation this year.  Is there anything different I should be aware of?