What would you do?

[ibuyre]

Thanks for the responses guys.  I'm going to have to do some more reading on 3 point tie-ups and consider carrying a carabiner or two
[/quote]

Look up  “Truckers Hitch”. It’s a crude version of a block and tackle with nothing more than your rope. Throw a couple of these in on opposite sides and you will be amazed at what you can move.
[/quote]

That's what I was thinking, I always carry a bunch of 550 cord, it's my sling on my rifle (so I don't forget it), about 100' of it. Truckers hitch's to make a 3 or 5 to one. Make a few of them, start inching it up one leg, head, ect at a time. Once I feel I am in a good spot to get a 1/4 off (looking at the pic, wouldn't be long till one of the fronts came off and a hind not long after). I would leave hide on.

Inch it up, get a front off, inch it some more, get a hind off. Inch it a little more and drop the guts out, and pull backstraps and tenders. Maybe cut off the ribs on the top side. At this point you are down to a 1/2 a elk, and have 3 lines on it. Hull that up onto the dry and finish it.

My worry would be, that water, could get DANGEROUS. Try not to get under him, a line pop loose and elk roles onto you and you drowned. You hop into that muck to find, it's over chest deep and you get stuck/over your head. It could get bad quick. Temp, just above freezing and you get soaking wet in the back country and maybe stuck in the mud.... A lot of ways this could go south. Don't get in a rush, take your time, think it through and be careful. I would try and do all I could from the dry, but no way around getting in the water to get lines on it, and to make some of the cuts... You are going to get WET, plan accordingly. 

[msg]

I agree with Stein, I am not a big guy and moving one of those with no mechanical advantage is out of the question for me. 600#'s of dead weight, someone came up with that term for a reason. I would be truly impressed to see someone do that in the situation it is in. If you hunt alone you have to follow the Boy Scout Motto  " Be Prepared "

[Encore 280]

Drain the mud hole!!

[LDennis24]

Drain the swamp!!

And this thread is dead... Problem solved!

[Encore 280]

Norwegian ingeniuity!

[Encore 280]

Drain the swamp!!

And this thread is dead... Problem solved!

Some folks may have misunderstood my reply so I had to edit it. My son informed me of the "drain the swamp" term.  Sorry if I offended anyone.

[OutHouse]

Gosh I don't know what I would do but like the fulcrum idea. Get a big rock or something in there next to its back and get a manageable size log long enough to use a lever to inch it over to the closer side of the water hole in the picture. Then move the rock/fulcrum to be next or slightly under its spine again and keep going with the lever. Might be able to get it enough out of the water to work on it.

[X-Force]

Assuming (yep) there are trees or another anchor point i would rig up a 3:1 system and use the paracord and the carabiners i carry in my pack, and work him up inch by inch alternating between front and rear legs

Exactly what I carry. I’ve had to use it twice.

[KFhunter]

I'd make a primitive flip flop winch with the paracord and mule tape I carry, also carry a saw, so I'd carry some poles in to work with.

I'd have that bull high and dry.



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[Cylvertip]

Let it bloat and float it out....    

 

[Humptulips]

I think it is quite doable to drag a half an elk so I would tie up the front and back halves separately as tight as I could. Cut it in half behind the last rib. The guts fall out and stay in the water as you pull out the back half finishing your cut in half as you go. Then pull out the front. Carabineers and paracord for a block and tackle sounds good but if you don't have it you should have a little cord to tie it up. If you tie it up tight you can bring a lot of force by springing sideways on the tie up line. Half at a time should move pretty easy.

[SuperX]

Before I walked out for a come along I would try using a long lever under the antlers and the short end stabbed in the ground to inch it out.  Probably have to tie it off between lever adjustments if I could.

[2MANY]

Been a lot of years since I've seen a bull with double rings around the snout.

[ctwiggs1]

Are you talking about the weeds laying across his snout?

[MR5x5]

I’ve never killed an elk so take this with a grain of salt, but is it really not possible to wrestle that thing out of there? I feel like, albeit a little at a time, I could eventually get it out of the swamp water. Call me crazy.

Not with one guy.  Flipping an elk over on flat ground is a chore with one guy if you don't have something to tie off to.  Getting it up out of the water onto a higher bank would be impossible if you are talking about grabbing a leg and pulling.  It's like a 700 pound sandbag half filled with jello.

Elk processing is a lot like golf.  You typically need to play it where it lies.