Quartering elk

[Fletch]

We use a gas powered capstan winch...winch, rope, and an extra gallon of gas weighs less than 40 lbs can haul an elk out of anywhere whole...do the rest at camp...
we do have to send somebody to the truck to pack it in to the animal but it beats packing 4 100 lbs pieces or whatever your method.

[Old Man Yager]

Great help guys/gals! Thanks a ton. Do many of you take the neck meat with the head or just saw it off at the first vertebrae? Also, if you harvest an elk in early season and temps are high (90+), is it even possible to cool down the meat? A friend of mine says he hung his meat in the shade for several days and it was fine. Any input on this? I would just hate for meat to go bad if'n I get something. Second, when you de-bone your meat, do you sack it all right away and hang it, or do you all bag it one trip at a time, leaving the rest of it on the animal?

You don't need to "SAW" anything off, maybe if you are going to mount it, you might. But anyway, you can get the head off easily with just a knife. Feel along the back of the skull. There is a bump back there and right below that is where the head joins the spine. I think it's called the atlas bone/joint. So, fing that bump, jab a strong knoife in there, first cutting the hide all the way around the neck under the elk's chin, and then cut through  the meat to the spine. When yo get through all the neck meat and tendons there, you can just twist the head and it will pop right off.

[Elkrunner]

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

cutting it up through the brisket makes it look a lot easier to pull everything out..

[MtnMuley]

I pack an ultralight saw for many reasons.  Comes in very handy for making a meat hanging rack to keep your quarters in the shade off the ground.  Especially when you are making many loads out. 

[dreamingbig]

Even with gutless we always leave sex attached to one quarter.