wenaha east tag

[JLS]

Agreed on the amount of care for your horse.  I have done pack hunts myself with a buddy in the Bob Marshall.  It takes a lot of effort to take care of the stock once the snow falls.  We always grazed for a couple of hours midday, and packed some pellets to supplement with.

Also, not every horse has a mind for the mountains.  I'd highly recommend you find out if yours does before you embark on your hunt.  If you don't know how to teach a horse to pack, find someone who does.  Basically, you have to teach them to tolerate about anything from a slipped saddle, to an antler tine poking them, and anything in between.  I've seen some really good wrecks that resulted from a dumb packhorse (a few of my own included).

Mtncook, those are some great pictures and a very nice looking string of mules.

Dhorn, best of luck on your hunt.  The Wenaha is phenomenal country.

[dhorn]

the horse i purchased has been in the mountains the last four years. and the guy i purchased him from said that he is a very calm horse in most situations. thanks for the advice.

[Pathfinder101]

His name's not "Buck", is it....

"Widowmaker....?

[slim9300]

Congrats on the tag. If it were me I would hire the outfitter that is offering drop camp hunts for $900 a piece only because of the time of year and the limited time to get two bulls down and out. However, I do a backpacking bow hunt every year in MT that is at least as difficult of terrain. (I'm not going to say what mountain range) It can be done but you need to be prepared (ie. the right gear and being in very good shape). My dad is 56 and does it right there with me every year. But he is a timber cruiser that is tougher than nails. I will say that his time is limited unfortunately.

Send me a PM with your email and I will send you my 10 day backpacking hunt list. I have a spreadsheet with the exact weights down to the hundredth of an ounce and a list without. I will say that I have a ton of money into my gear and due to the time of year you are going to have a heavier pack.

There is a lot of misinformation in this thread about getting an elk out of the backcountry. If you are 2 miles or more back, just bone out your elk. You are only talking about 3 trips for two guys if you are taking the cape. And two trips if you are doing an antler or Euro mount. You are not required to take neck and rib meat, and if you don't, that's about 175-225 lbs. of boned out meat for a mature bull, plus the antlers and cape.

Did I say you are really going to want to get in shape? I carry an 80 lbs. pack every day for about 2.3 miles to get ready. I start on June 1st and by the end of July my body is as tough as nails. In August, I like to alternate days running and packing the pack. The rest is all mental. The above is just a tip for getting ready for your hunt since your time is running out. =)

Below are two bulls we killed two days apart in 2008 and had no problem getting them out from 5 and 7 miles back. The elevation ranged from 8,500' to 6,000'. And it's 70 degrees midday with nighttime lows in the 20s. Much more difficult conditions in terms of meat spoilage.





Good luck on your hunt! Time to start getting physically prepared since you choose the hard way. =)

[bucklucky]

Wow, your mature bulls have small bodies there slim, and leaving meat is  pretty piss poor advice. A guy has too plan for the worst case scenario when hunting those bulls and telling somebody a mature bull will only have 175 - 225 pounds of boned out meat is absolutely rediculas. My dink Roosie, non mature bull with a small bodie had more meat than that. Looks  like you just added to the misinformation 

[50CalJim]

  If your willing to go deep to kill an Elk you must be willing to pack all the meat out also!!!

[JLS]

Wow, your mature bulls have small bodies there slim, and leaving meat is  pretty piss poor advice. A guy has too plan for the worst case scenario when hunting those bulls and telling somebody a mature bull will only have 175 - 225 pounds of boned out meat is absolutely rediculas. My dink Roosie, non mature bull with a small bodie had more meat than that. Looks  like you just added to the misinformation 

I think 225 pounds of boned meat from a 4-5 year old Rocky Mtn bull is quite reasonable.

Not all states require you to take neck and rib meat, which might only add 20-30 pounds or so anyway.

[bucklucky]

Obviousely my point was missed  I dodnt say that you will only have that much meat but a big bidied mature bull can sway those scales quite a bit higher than what he had posted. If somebody goes in thinking thats all the meat they will have to pack and plan on only a couple hundred pounds and end up with 400 + your looking at alot heavier loads. Plan for the worst not the average.

[slim9300]

Wow, your mature bulls have small bodies there slim, and leaving meat is  pretty piss poor advice. A guy has too plan for the worst case scenario when hunting those bulls and telling somebody a mature bull will only have 175 - 225 pounds of boned out meat is absolutely rediculas. My dink Roosie, non mature bull with a small bodie had more meat than that. Looks  like you just added to the misinformation 

Look. I didn't post to start a fight, but we need to clear this up...

I have killed 7 elk (and packed out about 20) and my dad had killed nearly 40. I think you are questioning the wrong person. How many Rocky Mountain bulls have your killed?

A 3-year old Olympic Peninsula Roosevelt bull is as large as any Rocky Mountain bull I have ever seen dead. My bull from last year shown below had roughly 20-30 lbs. more meat than either of the two mature Rocky Mountain bulls pictured above. The body size of this young bull put to shame the size of my MT bull from two years earlier.

[slim9300]

Obviousely my point was missed  I dodnt say that you will only have that much meat but a big bidied mature bull can sway those scales quite a bit higher than what he had posted. If somebody goes in thinking thats all the meat they will have to pack and plan on only a couple hundred pounds and end up with 400 + your looking at alot heavier loads. Plan for the worst not the average.

You have to be kidding. We are taking about boned out meat here. No neck meat, no rib meat. Just the 4 quarters, backstraps and tenders. Are you really saying that you think there is a Rocky Mountain bull with 400 lbs. of meat from these areas? Lol.

Have you ever actually weighed your meat or are you just estimating?

[JLS]

Obviousely my point was missed  I dodnt say that you will only have that much meat but a big bidied mature bull can sway those scales quite a bit higher than what he had posted. If somebody goes in thinking thats all the meat they will have to pack and plan on only a couple hundred pounds and end up with 400 + your looking at alot heavier loads. Plan for the worst not the average.

You have to be kidding. We are taking about boned out meat here. No neck meat, no rib meat. Just the 4 quarters, backstraps and tenders. Are you really saying that you think there is a Rocky Mountain bull with 400 lbs. of meat from these areas? Lol.

Have you ever actually weighed your meat or are you just estimating?

400 lbs of boned meat would translate to a 1000 lb live weight.  Your average quarter horse is only about 1100 or so.

[JPhelps]

I don't think it is a good idea going into a hunt planning on leaving the neck and rib meat.
As far as questioning Charlie.

[Huntbear]

Obviousely my point was missed  I dodnt say that you will only have that much meat but a big bidied mature bull can sway those scales quite a bit higher than what he had posted. If somebody goes in thinking thats all the meat they will have to pack and plan on only a couple hundred pounds and end up with 400 + your looking at alot heavier loads. Plan for the worst not the average.

You have to be kidding. We are taking about boned out meat here. No neck meat, no rib meat. Just the 4 quarters, backstraps and tenders. Are you really saying that you think there is a Rocky Mountain bull with 400 lbs. of meat from these areas? Lol.

Have you ever actually weighed your meat or are you just estimating?

400 lbs of boned meat would translate to a 1000 lb live weight.  Your average quarter horse is only about 1100 or so.

Plus, you have to figure in head/horns & cape as well. 

[JLS]

I'll be the first to admit I know absolutely NOTHING about Rosies, other than they are bigger that Rockies.  I worked at a check station for a season weighing elk (Rockies).  I never saw anything remotely close to a 900-1000 lb bull, and I weighed some good ones.  I always asked people to guess the weight before I hoisted the elk (lots of whole cows) and they would pretty consistenly shoot about 100 lbs or more high.

Personally, I usually take most if not all of the neck meat.  I'm not going to lose sleep over 5-10 lbs of rib meat.

Maybe Dave can weigh in here?  Mtncook, how much do the quarters average that you pack out?  I'm guessing Dave doesn't need more than two mules to get out an elk.

[Todd_ID]

The thought has never even crossed my mind to leave any meat.  The big cow I shot last year with my bow had 104# of steaks and 145# of hamburger, and I've taken bulls which were larger in body size.