at what temp do you bone out?

[bobcat]

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.

 
 
 
There may be different definitions of "boned out". I usually like to leave the leg bones in the quarters. But what I always leave in the woods is the rib cage/back bone. Actually my front "quarters" are not really quarters at all. I cut off each shoulder and that's my front quarter. They don't weigh much. If it's a really big elk and/or a really long way out, then I may completely bone out the hind quarters. But otherwise I think they're easier to deal with if left on the bone.

[RadSav]

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.

That might be a pack design issue.  For me the weight distribution and height of the load improves with boned out meat.  I feel I can carry a lot more weight if it is loaded tight against my back and doesn't catch branches above my head.  Us guys that have had back surgery don't duck under those low branches quite as well as you young bucks.  And to me the difference between a load 60# and one 70# is huge.  I complain enough just getting my fat arse back to the truck.

[high country]

there is a lot of weight to be lost by boning, but also you are introducing much more opportunity for bacteria. I typically will hang as quick as possible if time allows, if I have to make time, I will bone and go. I have hauled it both ways and weight is weight. I have found a cheap tent hammock and some paracord will allow you to tie even jello onto your pack and at a half ounce of weight penalty.

[boneaddict]

Interesting enough, I find it easier to carry and transport bone on, and I also think it cools better than a whole bag of meat hanging.   I know I packe dmy moose out bone on, and they make an elk look like bambi.  I'm a big guy though.

[kalamasasquatch]

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.

i have heard of soaking meat in cold flowing water before, but i have also heard that the water will cause it sour very fast also. who else pts their meat in water?

[boneaddict]

The only moose meat I lost was the one that accidentally fell into the lake/stream when I was trying to port my boat over the beaver dam and lost one quarter into the water.  I think it got bacteria from the water.   I have done a bear in a garbage bag, and immersed it into the water without it getting wet.    Normally I wouldn't condone non breathing plastic, but in this case it seemed to work.   

[Instinct]

I havnt but im sure if u put it in a plastic bag then iin a creek it should be fine but correct me if im wrong.

[RadSav]

Interesting enough, I find it easier to carry and transport bone on, and I also think it cools better than a whole bag of meat hanging.   I know I packe dmy moose out bone on, and they make an elk look like bambi.  I'm a big guy though.

We do use a lot of Alaskan game bags for that reason.  I agree a big bag of meat does hold heat more than a spread out quarter with ball socket peeled out a little.  I never carry the large moose/elk quarter bags except one for the cape.  Most bags are small deer quarter sized and they seem to cool quite well.

I always worried about bacteria and the water.  Seemed to me as a kid I read a book warning of such.  But the butcher we used when I was guiding (Oregon Coast) really stressed cool and not to worry about it if it was a flowing stream and gut piles were down stream. Somewhere around 50 elk and I've yet to loose a single pound from sour.  Could just be lucky though I guess.  All I know for sure is the elk meat we eat around the Fry household is some darned good tasty stuff!

I know a buddy of mine killed a nice bull on Stampede Pass on a 90 degree day.  He watched it go down, immediately quartered it, only had to pack 300 yards to the road and then drive to Issaquah to the butcher.  He lost about 10# on the hind quarters of that elk to sour.  Knowing him he may have stopped at the bar for a drink or two before getting there but I know for sure he lost meat.

Another thing we are also careful to avoid is laying meat directly on the bed of the truck where heat from the exhaust can get it hot.  We try to tie the bags to the gun rails and allow more air to move around the bags.  I know Larry D. Jones has a plywood deck above the wheel well on his truck so the quarters do not lay flat on the truck bed.

[high country]

I know I am good for one quarter bone in or better than half bones out.....elk of course.

[Alan K]

I bone out if any real packing is going to be done.  Heck, I bone out deer! 

This is if I'm hiking/biking in.  If I'm somewhere I can get the truck to, I use the rope! 

[RadSav]

One thing to note is that our field processing area is kept very clean.  No dirt, leaves or hair ever allowed on meat if we can at all help it.  If you tend to be messy around the gut pile I'd leave the bone in and just fillet the ball joint out a good ways.  The outer membrane can be peeled off with the dirt attached after it dries a bit.  Get that dirt and hair directly on the meat where you cut to bone it out and you'll probably have to trim a good cut of meat to clean it up.  That's a primary reason we do not gut most animals before we start to bone it out.  Stays much cleaner that way.

[Instinct]

This may or may not be related but what all do u guys take for meat? Quarters, tenderloinds, backstrap, briskit/shoulder, and neck is all i can think of. Do u guys mess around wth the meat between the rib cages?

[RadSav]

We aren't much for eating organs, but we take every bit of meat we can get.  Only place you might be able to get another burger off our carcass would be on the neck right below the skull.  We want to walk away feeling as though we've paid as much respect to the animal as we can.  That means utilizing every tasty morsel.

The ravens hate us

[HOYT6.0]

The only moose meat I lost was the one that accidentally fell into the lake/stream when I was trying to port my boat over the beaver dam and lost one quarter into the water.  I think it got bacteria from the water.   I have done a bear in a garbage bag, and immersed it into the water without it getting wet.    Normally I wouldn't condone non breathing plastic, but in this case it seemed to work.   

We did the same thing when I went moose hunting in 04.  My theory is hang it in a place(off the ground) were air can circulate around it in a well shaded place.  During Bow season (in the lower 48) we gut/de-bone them on the spot regardless of distance to camp. I have lost one to many Elk/Deer do to inproper care of meat....Lessons learned on my part.

[boneaddict]

Yes, I cut out the rib meat.   Pretty much strip a carcass.