at what temp do you bone out?

[kalamasasquatch]

how warm does it have to be for you guys to bone out your meat as opposed to leaving it on the bone. Now i am talking from a pure temp/weather point of view. I've done both, but just curious whats the cut off for you guys.

[RadSav]

Faster they cool the better regardless of temp.  Late season, if I can get them in the truck whole in short order I will rush them home to bone unless we are more than a couple hours from the shop.  Sort of a clean-vs-cooling dance.  Early season don't even gut them.  Dorsal skin and debone right there.  Drop game bags of boned meat immediately in creek if one is close by.  Used to worry about the water and bacteria but my old butcher said better cool and wet than hot and dry.  Once they're hanging in the cooler the water will dry up quickly.  Never had a poor tasting elk since we started doing things this way.

That same butcher used to say that almost 50% of elk he received had some sort of bone sour when brought in just quartered.  If temperatures were over 80 degrees the amount of loss from sour increased greatly.  He said in 35 years of butchering elk he could count on one hand how many soured when boned out immediately.  That was good enough for me. 

Plus, it makes one heck of a difference packing out.  The wife and I can get a cow out in just three pack loads most of the time.  That's leaving nothing, but a little neck meat behind.  Two packs if I'm hunting with my buddy Channon.  Big bulls usually take one more 25-30 pound pack on the wife and one more for me with horns, cape and back straps.  She's a pack mule for a 5'2 squaw.

[Elknut1]

Heat isn't the criteria for us as much as the distance & ruggedness of terrain, that's what dictates to us whether we bone out or not! We use various ways to keep meat cool on even the hottest days.  In this photo we took this bull at 9am last year, it was in the 80's midday, we quartered, bagged & hung in the shade, we made sure the meat would stay shaded nearly the entire day & we do not let the meat touch each other. We retrieved those quarters the following morning as the pack out was far, a total of 18 miles in & out before we were done, we did it in two trips. The meat was great as usual, we've done this method many times. Other times we cool in water 1st for 20-30 minutes, squeegee off with our hands air dry & put it back into game bags & hang or haul out.

  ElkNut1

[Swannytheswan]

good info

[boneaddict]

Heat isn't the criteria for us as much as the distance & ruggedness of terrain, that's what dictates to us whether we bone out or not! We use various ways to keep meat cool on even the hottest days.

Exactly.

[arrowflinger]

 

[D-Rock425]

I've only had to bone out one elk and it was do to distance not heat.  The last 2 elk I've shot we got out whole I'm getting pretty good at shooting them by the roads now.

[BOWHUNTER45]

good post ! the faster you get the hide off the better  especially  elk .....

[halflife65]

All of them as soon as I get to them and get done taking a couple of pictures.  They're heavy and I'm eventually going to cut them up, anyway.

[bullcanyon]

I dont eat bone. Therefore i dont pack it. If i was super close to the truck maybe but not usually the case. Regardless of temp.

[kalamasasquatch]

bone sour was my big concern. I havent lost any meat yet, but always good to see anothers point of view. I am also most concerned about early archery, it can be pretty warm.

[boneaddict]

Air circulation is key.    That usually means getting it off the ground.   Leaving a quarter propped up on the ground, you'd be amazed of the insulation factor and the heat "generated" from the meat. 

[blackveltbowhunter]

It depends, But by and large the only bone I pack out is attached to skull. If its cool and the pack isnt far I may leave bone in for sake of speed. Otherwise get it off the bone ASAP, hang it, rotate often, and enjoy.

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

Same here, no need to carry anything I am going to throw away.
1.)Find it, 2.) pictures, 3.) skin off, 4.) bone out, 5.) cool, 6.) hang, 7.) carry.
Never easy to haul an Elk, but why carry bones when you dont have to ?
 

[WSU]

Do the leg bones really weigh that much?  Seems to me the ease of carrying with the bone in is worth the extra 5 or 10 pounds per quarter.