Hauling an elk out of the woods?

[Atroxus]

I have some questions about how one would go about getting an elk out of the woods. Lets say you hiked, or mountain biked a good distance into the woods to avoid competition from other hunters and bagged a nice sized bull elk. Assuming there is no motor vehicle access, and you are not an olympic weight lifter that could single handedly carry an elk out on your shoulders, how would you get the animal out of the woods?

I am also curious how much a bull elk would weigh fully field dressed and quartered, vs a cow elk indentically processed. I am just looking for a ballpark weight range. I am thinking the meat and hide alone would be pretty heavy. This is assuming you are also bringing out the skull/rack if applicable, and hide to have a mount of some kind made. That would be what 300-600+ pounds for a bull, 200-500 for a cow? Or am I way off?

This year will be my first hunting season and I just want to make sure I don't find myself out in the woods with a dead animal that I could never haul out on my own.

[HHPro]

I personally have a custom made game cart that I hauled my 5 point bull I shot a few years ago and it was pretty easy with 2 people.If there is a road near that is the way to go your whole elk in one fairly quick trip.

[Craig]

try and make some arrangements before your hunt with a  meat packer with horses. Have a  Cell/satelite phone and a GPS. It cost a little $$$ but It was a hell of a lot easier then packing him out.

[Goldeneye]

We've personally brought out bulls with this cart.  The motorcycle tire allows for you to use it on game trails, sturdy enough to roll over logs with a bull attached and has motorcycle brakes on it so you can stop on even the steepest of hills.  It's rated at 1,000 pound haul capability.  We've not had near that much on it.  Just the animal, guns, and and packs.  They cost a bit, but it does save a lot of extra packing.  Two guys can handle it unless your going up some real steep stuff, then you need help.

http://gametote.com/index.html

[sako223]

Yeah they have single and double wheeled game carts Cabelas and others sell them. Hanging weight for a spike or cow meat would start at about 250 lbs. You can bone it out to reduce weight.  We have used the plastic drag a few times from Cabelas too. I always take a cheap plastic tarp to put the elk on when dressing and use game bags. Keeping the meat clean and cooling it are very important for meat going on my table.

[NWBREW]

The first elk I killed was a long hike in and out. No game cart....just a sturdy pack frame and pack with game bags. Boned out the meat and packed into a game bag ...into the backpack and on the frame. 3 trips in and out and it was done. Hard work....Yes but very tasty and satisfying. I'd do the same thing any day.

[Axle]

Use this method to bone it out.
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,37569.0.html

Then pack the meat out in a very good back pack unless you have a horse or some really big friends.

I have taken many elk, moose, caribou, bear, and deer out with just a backpack. When it is just meat and no bone, it is much easier. Smallest full-grown cow elk was 156 lbs of boned-out meat. My biggest cow elk was much much larger but close to the road (Pe Ell, WA).

[boonerboy]

There are many ways to get an elk out of the woods. I've packed out with horses, atv's, game carts or just a single back pack. In any case the most important thing to take with you to get an elk out are friends! It's a ton of work, especialy if you are a long ways in. Also, learning the correct way to bone out or quarter an animal is very helpful. I have seen a lot of guys wrestle with an animal, who didn't know what they were doing and be worn out before even starting the pack.

[Atroxus]

I am hoping to have a hunting parter if/when the time comes. But as they say hope for the best but plan for the worst. There is a friend of my mother's that offerred to hunt with me to show me the ropes, but he is a bow hunter and I am not. I have also posted on a few forums looking for a hunting partner/mentor but so far had no luck, so I am not holding my breath on having anyone with me when I hunt. I am also on an extremely tight budget so horses or expensive gadgets are not an option. If I can find an area that allows it my goal is cows rather than bulls, I am more interested in filling my freezer than getting a trophy that I could not afford to have mounted by a taxidermist anyways.   Likely I would give the hide away to someone that could process it themselves.

Someone on another forum mentioned that in some states it is illegal to bone out an elk where it is killed, and that I might be required to haul out the entire carcass. Anyone know if that is true of Washington?

[bobcat]

Your best bet is to buy a good external frame backpack and some good meat bags. If you bone out an elk, you can pack it out by yourself pretty easily, unless it's all uphill for miles and miles. When elk hunting, the best advice I can give is to always hunt above a road. To be legal in this state you just need to leave evidence of sex attached to the meat, so with a cow you'd leave the udder. With a bull you just need the head. As far as the hide goes, most people don't bother packing it out, as they are very heavy and it's a lot more work skinning it out if you're trying to save the hide.

[couesbitten]

I'm pretty sure that anything with wheels is illegal in a wilderness. We always pack ours out on our backs. I second what bobcat said, buy yourself a good pack frame, and you'd be suprised how much you can carry.

[carpsniperg2]

i think couesbitten is write on thw wilderness part no wheels because of damage from what i know we just use our packframes and when we can i have a elk cart that we have used one time because of were the elk was. boy was that great turned 3 round trips on our back into one trip with my cart but most don't get killed in a place you can take the cart.

[ridgefire]

is it proof of sex to just have the head of a bull i was under the impression you had to have it attached to the meat

[Magnum_Willys]

I've quartered and packed em out by myself but its a big job - a mile in means at least 8 miles on the packout if you are alone.  Bone-em and it will save a trip.  You have to be pretty hard-core to shoot one much more than a mile or mile-an-a-half  in by yourself.  

[bobcat]

is it proof of sex to just have the head of a bull i was under the impression you had to have it attached to the meat

You're probably right, depending on how you want to interpret the law. Here it is:

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=232-12-267