Quartering a elk

[murph13]

Was wondering how you guys keep the quarters clean.  I killed a big cow yesterday in the driving rain and wind.  No matter how hard i tried there was mud and dirt everywhere.  I guess it didn't help that i was by myself.  By the time I got the quarters wrestled into the game bags I had quite a mess. Definately not clean like they should be. Just curious. 

[elkfvr]

I keep a large piece of visqueen in my pack. It's light and doesn't take up hardly any room. Lay it down next to the elk before I start skinning. That along with the hide seems to do the trick.

[Huntbear]

By yourself is tough.   However, if you do one quarter, and get it in the bag immediately and then hang it from a tree to keep it off the ground, it does work better.   Another way I have seen guides do it, is to quarter them up with the hide on.  Protects the meat much better and once quartered will still cool out nice, then finish skinning when you get the quarters home.

[Biggerhammer]

I keep a large piece of visqueen in my pack. It's light and doesn't take up hardly any room. Lay it down next to the elk before I start skinning. That along with the hide seems to do the trick.

Exactly what I do, if I don't have that. I do one side at a time, skin one side and stretch the hide out flat on the ground, once the quarter is removed you rest it on the stretched out non hide side while you bag it up.

[jackmaster]

if it isnt somethn your going to mount i have left the skin on when i quatered them or the cows i have killed i just cut in half, been real lucky because there was very little mess

[PlateauNDN]

My bull this year was not to bad.  I gutted first and then maneuvered the bull the best I could to position him next to my tarp which I pack in my bag.  My wife finally caught up to me and assisted with pulling the hide off and holding quarters while I cut.  Each quarter came off and I put them on the tarp.  I had long thin rope in my bag as well just in case she made the trek back to the truck so I could tie each quarter up to a tree for support but, I didn't need it this time.  Once I had all 4 quarters off I took my bags out and tied them off and placed each of them in the creek nearby until we were ready to start packing it out.  She made 2 trips while I made 3 and the last one was for the head.  So a tarp, bags, rope and an extra knife is all I need, anything else is up to you.  Oh yeah and it started raining on the 2nd trip back and that's when she called it while I went back.

[wrongway]

I bone and carry five light weight game bags with me bag the meet as soon as it is removed from the animal. keeps it very clean and hair off of the meet, the knife I use is a Havle with the #60 blade and do the whole elk with one blade, this is a vital tool for doing this .

[Fullabull]

Take the quarters off without gutting it.
I use a large trash bag to lay them on if not on the skinned hide.
hang or lay on some branches to keep them off the ground.
quarter with skin on like was said above, works when it's cold out

all lessons learned the hard way

[400out]

Just allow for the dirt! it's going to happen, Just keep it to a minimal. I use the hide lay the skinned side out the best I can and put the meat on it and then right into the pack. Then clean it when home 

[rosscrazyelk]

We have always used one of those shower curtain liners to lay the meat on. They are light nd don't take up alot of room.

[murph13]

Thanks for the reply's,  Sounds like some sort of plastic sheet will be an addition to my pack. 

[Humptulips]

I cannot abide dirt or hair on my meat. I want it clean. Here's what I do.
First of all I get the guts out and head for the truck for equipment. You need the packboards anyway.
One of the most important tools I have is a come-a-long. I com-a-long it to a tree, usually only a few feet around where I hunt. Cut a pole 8 to 10 feet long, tie it to the tree at about chest height. You can stand on this to attach your come-a-long to the tree high enough, about 12 feet. Then hook on to a hind leg and raise it up, skinning as I go. Hook another rope on the other hind leg to pull it away from the tree you're lifting it to. You should be able to lift it clear of the ground.
If you like to bone it out you can put in bags but I have always quartered or when I was young and tough halved. Now, I will cut the neck off, bone, put in bag. Then whack the forelegs off and bone. Now I have a big bag that fits the entire front half. I slip that over the front half, let it down on the ground and cut it off. Then I saw the back half in two. I wrap the quarters with sheets and set it down close to the ground when almost cut off. When the back quarters are wrapped up and out of the way I hook onto the front half by the ribs , pick it up and saw it in half and wrap similar to the hind quarters.

[spikehunter]

eat them on the spot    jk  sounds like you have the right info!!

[billythekidrock]

if it isnt somethn your going to mount i have left the skin on when i quatered them or the cows i have killed i just cut in half, been real lucky because there was very little mess

 

Whenever possible we quarter them with the hide on and pack them out that way. Then skin and clean before putting in game bags for transport home.

When it's hot we quarter with the hide on, hang them at or near the kill site and then skin them before putting in game bags.

If you are by yourself and you can't hang the quarters you can teepee them up on top of limbs and brush for airflow.

If we have a few people we will often carry a large tarp or piece of visqueen in a pack along with a sawzall and extra batteries. 

These pics is from this Sept. on a 80+ degree day. We hung these with the hide on in the field before skinning and packing out. Once back at the truck I zipped to the store and bought 20 bags of ice to lay the bags of meat on for the drive home.

[ANDERWAGON]

Depends on the situation. I prepare for the worst as it seam I never get an easy elk. Usually I quarter them on the spot and pack them out the next day. First thing I do is unload elk pack (long steal stakes, tarp,  Wyoming bone saw and small hatchet, five light weight deer cheese cloths and one canvas quarter bag). After I gut animal I go and cut a bunch of little huckleberry branched and make stakes. Then I skin the animal down one side and stake the hide to the ground. Following that I skin just the other sides rear quarter. When I have it ready to cut apart I find a tree big enough separate and handle four quarter. I drive the nails in at a angle just past the bark and not too deep that I cant get them out. (I've used tree stand steps before but the don’t stick out far enough to keep things clean)  Then I finish quartering and hanging. When I have everything hung up I bone out neck meat and place it in the heavy canvas bag with the heart and liver. When its time to clean everything up I place the light weight cheese cloths on the quarters and lightly cover everything up with my tarp so it can still get air. I also cover it for a few other reasons, keep the rain, coyotes and camp robbers off the meat. Also I usually pick a tree a little further away from the gut pile so its not so obvious to the animal and other hunter. If after all that I'm feeling froggy I pack the head and the canvas bag out that day. If not I hang the bag with the quarters and just take the head. Last but not least I mark my location in my GPS with the animal and year and head out. When I return with my pack frame I bring heavy canvas bags for each quarter.

[fishngamereaper]

Lot of good info. Everyone has a little different way to get it done, no real right or wrong way to do it. I carry a 4x8 tarp in my pack, rolled up its actually small and lite.And It doubles as an emergency shelter if I get hurt or stuck in the woods. As for elk I quarter them as they lay. I have never gutted an elk, from my experience its wasted time.

As for the quarters, I Lay the tarp on the ground, lay your quarters on the tarp. I also carry one or two game bags with me in the field. I dont like having to hike back to the truck to get what I need to get the elk out, its wasted energy.

After quartering Ill load my game bags with quarters and load up my pack, that way my first trip to camp is with meat.

The other quarters I wrap up in the tarp and drag them away from the kill site. That way any critters in the area go for the fresh blood and leave the good meat alone.

[Recurve-Elk]

Just do your best.  Cut it up on the hide.  If you get a little dirt on the quarters dont sweat it.  When you get back to camp, hang them up and wash the dirt off.  That's what I did this year and they cleaned up real good. 

[pianoman9701]

I have a kill pack with 5 cloth elk bags, 2 deer socks, 1 lb of ground pepper, a quart of vinegar, come-along, 4 to 1 block and tackle, Wyoming knife with 2 extra blades, diamond sharpener, 10x10 tarp, cow exam gloves, and plastic aprons. Do a bloodless quartering with a meat pole right next to where I'm cutting. If I can get my cart in there, I drop the quarters right into the cart. If not, I tie them to the packboard while they hang and step into the pack and cut the rope. It's a sweet set up. Keeps the meat spotless and cuts the butchering time by hours. I don't gut until I have everything out and am ready for the tenders, liver, and heart. Of course, the heart's usually in pretty bad shape! 

[Arteman]

To the guys that do not gut their elk.  Not saying at all your way is wrong, and you may have methods to do this still even without gutting, but how do you get your tenderloins out?  also, not sure what its called but with a elk I also take the meat that's attached like the tenderloins on the upper inside of the backbone close to the neck, and this one really stumps me, how do you cut out all the meat between ribs without poking guts eventually.  I'll take that rib meat off afer the backstraps are off so i can cut them thin strips out between the ribs all the way to the backbone.  When im done boning out an animal even the coyotes are like wtf?  I'd be game to try this with guts still in to save time, just never seen it done or tried it.  Only thing I can think is you split the ribs all the way up the brisket, take them off whole, or split them and pull them away from guts to work on them.

[pianoman9701]

Like I said above, I open the guts after I have everything quartered and out of the way. Then I get the liver, heart and tenderloins.

[gaddy]

check out the gutless method on elk101.com? havent tried it myself yet but looks fast & effecient. would guess you could gut afterwards to fine pick. personally i always take the heart & liver also so this is something i would do. seems quick,easy & clean.

[Blacktail135]

 We've did 3 moose, several caribou and several elk with the gutless method and would never do it by gutting first again. Even did an elk by myself, in the rain, once. The trickiest part, for me, is down deep in the crotch area, gotta be careful there.
   Hunting Alaska, you had better make sure that when you are done taking your meat that the ravens are looking at you funny! And yes, heart, liver, tenderloin, tongue, flank and rib meat are taken with normal "big stuff".
 

[pianoman9701]

check out the gutless method on elk101.com? havent tried it myself yet but looks fast & effecient. would guess you could gut afterwards to fine pick. personally i always take the heart & liver also so this is something i would do. seems quick,easy & clean.

Those are excellent videos.

[farmin4u_98948]

After the kill , Which always seems to be on a treeless STEEP hill, I open the animal up pull out the guts and make sure it will stay on its back by putting rocks and sticks under it and a stick to spread the rear legs. Guttless is fine but it takes a long time to cool down that way. I then hike to my rig( This year was 3 1/2 miles) and get a meat pack ( External Frame seems to be the best for me) that has Knife, Knife sharpener, Saw, Heavy duty trash bags, Gatorade, And some other first aid stuff in case of... You know... Whatever might happen during the extraction process. I know many people say Dont use trash bags...but OH WELL. Rolling the elk on its side I skin a rear 1/4 sliding the trash bag up as I skin it. that way it will not get dirty if I drop it during this process. You can slide the 1/4 all the way in the bag as you cut it off the carcass . Keep the bag open so  the meat can still air out and cool down. Keep it in the trash bags till you get back to your rig then pull it out and put in the game bags.
 

[MagKarl]

I always carry an extra silver foil emergency shelter blanket for use when boning out the carcass.  We spread this out and then spread all the trimmed meat out on it that will end up in the meat bag.  They are cheap, tiny, and light and I like having a clean place to put all the meat pieces that are not easily hung up like the quarters are.  Meat stays clean, gets a chance to cool off, and is easy to see all the pieces on when it's time to clean up and load the meat bag for the walk out.  I carry one meat bag for the first trip out, then switch to my pack board and bring the other game bags in on the next trip.