Quartering elk

[wt]

How about removing the antlers and not packing a heavy head for a reason to carry a compact saw?

[pianoman9701]

YouTube is your friend. Havalon knives rock. Best of luck to you this year. I hope you find yourself in the situation that requires the above suggestions! 

[Elkrunner]

On average what is it taking everyone to quarter an elk, have it in the bags and ready to pack?  I did it my first time last year and took me 2 hours.  I have seen it done in a hour before.

[dreamingbig]

2 hours solo is probably average...  Depends on a lot of things (where the elk died, size of the animal, how clean you are with the meat, at night?) and as long as it is done right, I don't really stress about the amount of time.

[Bullkllr]

How about removing the antlers and not packing a heavy head for a reason to carry a compact saw?

  Small saw is way lighter than a whole head.

[D-Rock425]

Took me about 1 1/2 hours last year to do my spike all by myself the old fashion way.  6 total pieces.

[Elkrunner]

Took me about 1 1/2 hours last year to do my spike all by myself the old fashion way.  6 total pieces.

Im going to time myself this year...Ill post it up Tuesday afternoon

[pianoman9701]

Took me about 1 1/2 hours last year to do my spike all by myself the old fashion way.  6 total pieces.

Im going to time myself this year...Ill post it up Tuesday afternoon

Confident, I see! Good luck.

[Elkrunner]

wishful thinking...its never in the bag

[lghtnquik]

Granted mine last yr was on snow in CO, so keeping meat clean wasn't an issue. It took me maybe 45min using the gutless method and the only trim I left were the ribs. That includes boning out the quarters so we weren't packing any unnecessary weight at 11,000 ft.

[elkfins]

This post brings up an interesting point of the legality of boning and quartering elk.  The excerpt below is from page 79 of the regs.
I have had a couple of discussions with WDFW enforcement about this specific issue.  One of the points the officers I've talked to made was that there is a precedence of people taking a legal elk and quartering/boning it, removing the meat from the field then using that head to take a second elk, bone it out to just the meat.
Several years ago, my hunting partner harvested a legal spike elk.  We boned it out for the 3 mile pack using the gutless method.  At the truck, we were approached by the game warden and questioned about the animal at length, eventually we had to walk the officer to the spot of the kill to show him that the animal we were packing out was in fact the same animal that the head belonged to... He wanted to see the headless carcass with the sex organs there to prove we were not using a head from a different animal to poach a second animal.
Obviously, each officer can use their discretion for each encounter and no doubt, my partners attitude towards the officer had much to do with the extent that he questioned us.  But, having said that, I no longer use the whole boneless method.  Instead, I gut the animal then I split the 2 hind quarters (bone in) off of the carcass, leaving the sex organs attached to one quarter.  I remove the 2 front legs (bone in) and then bone out the ribcage and neck.  This way, I can prove that the quarters I have in the back of the truck or hanging at camp does in fact belong to the head I have.
 
3. Evidence of Animal's Sex:
It is illegal to possess or transport big
game animals unless evidence of the
animal's sex is left naturally attached to
the carcass until the carcass is processed
or stored for consumption. Evidence of
sex means:
••Male - head with antlers or horns
attached or penis or testes any of
which must be naturally attached to
at least one quarter of the carcass or to
the largest portion of meat.
••Female - the head or udder must
be naturally attached to at least one
quarter of the carcass or to the largest
portion of meat.
Big game taken in antler or horn
restriction areas: The head or skull plate,
with both horns or both antlers naturally
attached, must accompany the carcass
while in transit or in possession.

[D-Rock425]

I've always wounded about this myself.

[Fullabull]

I hate gutting the elk first then start skinning and quartering. This ends up to often with everything getting messy and sloppy. I now just skin, quarter, take the backstraps and neck. Once all that meat is off we go after the tenders. At this point I don't mind cutting whatever I need to to get the extra meat for burger. I do leave the bone in because it provides good structure for cooling the meat.

[Crunchy]

Gutting an elk takes all of 10 minutes.  Five if you have a helper.   I guess we all have our own way of doing it but this is mine.

http://youtu.be/xRYWk4E6v-A

[Fullabull]

I don't mind gutting it, just after I have taken all the big important meat off of the animal. Blood and everything else just seems to stick to everything and attracts even more pests. So if I gut it after all the big stuff is off, its less time to deal with mess and pests