question about skinning/field dressing

[gfaherty3]

Hey guys, I want to start by thanking all of you for your insight and experience, i am a new hunter and have been pouring over this site for about a month now and have learned so much just by reading your posts.  What a great community.

I did read Shadow Cat's post on field dressing an elk (actually printed it out) but I have a question.  When you field dress an animal, do you need to pack out the entrails and the organs?  I don't know the rules or the etiquette. 
thanks.

[saylean]

Some people keep the heart, liver, etc..as they like that stuff (its up to them). We kept the liver of the elks last year.

Entrails/lungs etc...no, you can toss em...

Welcome to the site man, enjoy.

[robodad]

Take everything you are going to eat of coarse and the rest you just leave, but please don't leave it on a trail or hanging in the trees or on a road or in a parking space (if you gut the thing after you get it to a road) Just be mindfull of the other users and everything will be great !!!

[bow4elk]

by law, you must take all edible "meat" but feel free to leave the entrails for the bear, coyotes, and birds.  it is legal to hunt over a carcass for bears and cats; I know a few folks who've taken nice bears the day after boning out their elk.

Read the regulations and call the WDFW if you have specific questions.  The number one rule of thumb for early season bowhunting is getting that meat cooled as quickly as possible.  Send me your phone number and I'll gladly share my techniques with you over the phone...too much to write down at the moment but maybe I will for another post later.

Enjoy the site and all the great info!

[MountainWalk]

.  it is legal to hunt over a carcass for bears and cats;

Isn't that baiting?

[saylean]

this has been discussed on here before...i think the opinion was it was illegal for bears to sit over a carcass...

however, it is not illegal to bait for kitties...which is a fact.

[huntnphool]

this has been discussed on here before...i think the opinion was it was illegal for bears to sit over a carcass...

Is this only true for the person that harvested the animal? Are you telling me that if you came upon a elk rib cage in the field with a bear eating on it, you couldn't harvest it?

[saylean]

That was the supposed concensus at the time, which was news to me, since the first bear I ever killed a bear it was eating maggots off a buried deer carcass.........(which I didnt know was there, till I came up on it)

I will try to find the link to it..

In my opinion, sitting over a gut pile is no different than sitting over a berry patch.

[billythekidrock]

I don't see how they could do anything if you just came upon it. If you knew it was there and they could prove that you were sitting over it then that might be another story.

[huntnphool]

In my opinion, sitting over a gut pile is no different than sitting over a berry patch.

Well let them try and prosecute me for that, if I happen upon a bear eating on someone elses old harvest its going down.

[saylean]

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,1646.0.html

here was the link i was referring too...looks like we didnt quite come to a consensus.

Im with you on that huntnphool

[billythekidrock]

In my opinion, sitting over a gut pile is no different than sitting over a berry patch.

Yea, but the berry patch grew there. They could argue that the gutpile was "placed" there.

[saylean]

I agree with ya there billy, as well. However, it was not placed there with the intent (nor would a naturally killed carcass be placed there)...of course..now we are hijacking this poor thread...

I will stop now..

[billythekidrock]

 

[sirfunkeybut]

.  it is legal to hunt over a carcass for bears and cats;

Isn't that baiting?

I stopped and talked to a fish cop one time and he said it was alright to use hay for deer and elk. but i didn't think it was legal to bait bears.