Post by: snake on February 25, 2016, 07:33:09 PM
Post by: snake on February 25, 2016, 07:34:41 PM
Post by: Ridgeratt on February 25, 2016, 07:40:57 PM
Second is you hope it doesn't make a run for the border.
Post by: snake on February 25, 2016, 07:45:24 PM
Post by: northwesthunter84 on February 25, 2016, 07:46:14 PM
Post by: snake on February 25, 2016, 07:56:36 PM
Post by: Remnar on February 25, 2016, 07:57:44 PM
Get the hide off, bone it out and get as much airflow as possible. Keep meat out of the sun, if available use a creek bottom or drainage as air temps will be cooler. Good game bags allow airflow and help keep the meat clean. Elk, I would take as much as possible and go. Come back for camp as that will free up more room for meat. Have a plan at the other end, IE coolers, freezer or meat locker. Deer split between two guys is definitely a one trip deal for me but it's all about how much weight you can handle. A good pack makes a huge difference.:yeah: ... Also helps to have some friends with stock , and or that REALLY owe you :chuckle:
Post by: High Climber on February 25, 2016, 08:05:30 PM
Say you get an elk down just before dark. Do you quarter and hang over night then pack out at daylight? or do you bone it and hike out in the dark? I know every situation is different but just looking for everyones opinion or experiences. Thanks!If it's warm out I'm packing until it's out. Really the only way I would wait until morning is if it's in a really nasty spot that would be dangerous at night.
Post by: SilkOnTheDrySide on February 26, 2016, 05:08:48 AM
Shot right before dark.
First night quartered and hung next day boned out and started packing.
Always left it in the shade.
Between getting sidetracked chasing bugles, that meat finally made it to the truck Monday morning.
Didn't lose an ounce.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Post by: trophyhunt on February 26, 2016, 06:41:33 AM
Post by: nwwanderer on February 26, 2016, 07:26:51 AM
Post by: Karl Blanchard on February 26, 2016, 07:30:40 AM
Meat isn't as fragile as some will make it out to be. Get it to at least air temp before stuffing it in a bag and you will be good.
If I shoot one at dark, I'd debone, hang, and pack come daylight.
Post by: buglebrush on February 26, 2016, 08:30:35 AM
Post by: kellama2001 on February 26, 2016, 08:56:06 AM
Post by: fireweed on February 26, 2016, 09:00:51 AM
Carry meat sacks, good knife, parachute cord, and good head lamp. Get the hide off, and quartered out. I use gutless method. Let chunks and boned out meat cool on meat sacks while working on quarters. Find a cool spot, like a creek draw in the shade, a bit away from guts. Hang in meat sacks that still have good air flow but keep flies out. Keep it off the ground with airflow all around. hang overnight and pack out tenderloins/bs that night. If it's going to stay hot, start packing out early the next morning if possible. No need to pack quarters out in the dark--let it cool overnight. Leave some "human scent" around the scene when you leave. If you have found a cool spot it can stay a day or so, especially if it gets cold overnight. No problems. With an elk and no horses, bring friends for long hauls, and bone out to lighten the load.
Post by: snake on February 26, 2016, 06:59:56 PM
Post by: northwesthunter84 on February 26, 2016, 07:19:27 PM
Post by: ridgefire on February 28, 2016, 07:22:06 PM
Post by: Branden on February 28, 2016, 08:40:55 PM
Regards, Branden
Post by: jmscon on March 05, 2016, 09:19:02 PM
Post by: JDHasty on March 05, 2016, 09:57:35 PM
It s a matter of temperature, humidity, contamination and time. Each one is such a variable that allowable times can vary beyond reason. As cool as possible and as fast as possible would be the best. Small clean pieces cool faster. Flies can destroy the best laid plan. Bears and all the rest will ruin a good situation.
Humidity is the killer.
Post by: Magnum_Willys on March 05, 2016, 10:21:01 PM
Post by: JDHasty on March 05, 2016, 10:52:50 PM
Th most important step in the whole process is the initial cooling of the meat. Once the meat is cool or cold, it will stay that way for a very long time. I bone everything, regardless of distance (packing bones is dumb :chuckle:). So deer go out in one trip, elk are a bit more. Once meat is cool, I will put in garbage bags and submerge in a creek. If no creek is available, a shady geothermal pocket will do. Get it up off the ground. If you do quarter and hang, seperate a few muscles down to the leg bone to help release heat.
Meat isn't as fragile as some will make it out to be. Get it to at least air temp before stuffing it in a bag and you will be good.
If I shoot one at dark, I'd debone, hang, and pack come daylight.
In a plastic bag and into a creek is the gold standard. Bone is not only bad news because it is heavy to pack out though. From what I have heard old timers used to say bones cause spoilage, but me thinks that it wasn't the bones per say but getting the meat out of it's hair coat and off the bone enhanced heat transfer and cooling.
Post by: dreamunelk on March 05, 2016, 10:56:19 PM
Have always boned and not lost any meat. Always looking for a better plan.........
Post by: Karl Blanchard on March 06, 2016, 06:22:58 AM
It's referred to as bone sour. Bones hold heat for a very long time, and will cause the meat to spoil from the inside. Just ask any butcher how much meat he has thrown away because someone thought that simply skinning and hanging an elk was adequate, when the temps seemed cool.Th most important step in the whole process is the initial cooling of the meat. Once the meat is cool or cold, it will stay that way for a very long time. I bone everything, regardless of distance (packing bones is dumb :chuckle:). So deer go out in one trip, elk are a bit more. Once meat is cool, I will put in garbage bags and submerge in a creek. If no creek is available, a shady geothermal pocket will do. Get it up off the ground. If you do quarter and hang, seperate a few muscles down to the leg bone to help release heat.
Meat isn't as fragile as some will make it out to be. Get it to at least air temp before stuffing it in a bag and you will be good.
If I shoot one at dark, I'd debone, hang, and pack come daylight.
In a plastic bag and into a creek is the gold standard. Bone is not only bad news because it is heavy to pack out though. From what I have heard old timers used to say bones cause spoilage, but me thinks that it wasn't the bones per say but getting the meat out of it's hair coat and off the bone enhanced heat transfer and cooling.
My buddy killed a bull in Colorado a few years ago on our November deer hunt. Temps were into the single digits at night. It was a bad 6 miles out and required multiple trips. We figured it was plenty cold, so to keep the meat from freezing we left the hide on but gutted and propped himopen, then skinned as we boned out. The next day on our second trip, we rolled him over to bone out the other side and that ground side had bone sour started in the hind quarter. Lesson learned. It's never cold enough
Post by: kentrek on March 06, 2016, 07:10:12 AM
Post by: Jonathan_S on March 06, 2016, 09:06:32 AM
Has anyone sprayed vinegar or other on their meat bags? Would think that would help with insects? Thoughts?
Have always boned and not lost any meat. Always looking for a better plan.........
Maybe not the best solution for backcountry hunting but PAM spray works great. Spray it on your game bags after the meat is hanging and bugs will not land on it. They'll buzz around until the cows come home but they don't land.
Post by: Jonathan_S on March 06, 2016, 09:23:26 AM
When using the horses we've left the bone in over night on lots of elk, if it's in the 30s there's no issues with the bone being left in.....but with that said you definitely can never leave a hot elk on the ground with the hide on, like BLRman said...it's never cold enough for that..that ground contact kills the cooling process
I've heard a pretty fascinating story from a member on here. A bull was shot in the September afternoon and recovered the next day. The bull had bedded down with it's legs underneath him and died like that. Minimal ground contact and zero spoilage.
Of course that can't be counted on happening, 99.99% of the time, they are going to flop on their side and 50% of that animal is on the ground.
Post by: kentrek on March 06, 2016, 09:34:48 AM
When using the horses we've left the bone in over night on lots of elk, if it's in the 30s there's no issues with the bone being left in.....but with that said you definitely can never leave a hot elk on the ground with the hide on, like BLRman said...it's never cold enough for that..that ground contact kills the cooling process
I've heard a pretty fascinating story from a member on here. A bull was shot in the September afternoon and recovered the next day. The bull had bedded down with it's legs underneath him and died like that. Minimal ground contact and zero spoilage.
Of course that can't be counted on happening, 99.99% of the time, they are going to flop on their side and 50% of that animal is on the ground.
That's a interesting story, I wonder how long the animal had actually been dead
I left a bull over night once and after way to much tracking we found him at 11am the next morning....wasn't even stiff yet ...zero spoil :tup:
Post by: Jonathan_S on March 06, 2016, 09:40:36 AM
Post by: snake on March 06, 2016, 11:32:11 AM
Post by: Branden on March 06, 2016, 01:15:13 PM
My buddy killed a bull in Colorado a few years ago on our November deer hunt. Temps were into the single digits at night. It was a bad 6 miles out and required multiple trips. We figured it was plenty cold, so to keep the meat from freezing we left the hide on but gutted and propped himopen, then skinned as we boned out. The next day on our second trip, we rolled him over to bone out the other side and that ground side had bone sour started in the hind quarter. Lesson learned. It's never cold enough
I had a different experience in almost the same situation. Colorado, November, freezing temps at night probably 40 or so during the day.
I was 7 miles in when I killed the bull. I came into this canyon from a different one and never had hunted it before. I knew a road was 3-4 miles away at the mouth to this canyon so I told my dad to wait for me there. I got both quarters off one side boned and in my game bags. It was starting to get dark, the area has lots of cliffs and since I had never been down this canyon before I loaded the front and hind quarter and headed out right before dark. Turned out to not be to bad of a pack. The next day my dad and I hunted our way into the canyon the same way as I did the day before and we finished cutting up that elk about mid morning. There was no spoilage on that bull. And it rested on the on side over night with the bone in.
It's funny how some people get spoilage and some don't.
We've also hung quarters overnight bone in and not had a problem in warmer temps. Maybe some bulls just have more bacteria in them or something?
Post by: Oh Mah on April 09, 2016, 09:48:23 PM
Post by: Karl Blanchard on April 10, 2016, 09:30:53 PM
Just came across this thread and got me thinking,If you completely bone the animal out whether deer or elk how does one cleanly leave proof of sex attached?Is this considered processed and can be removed in the field when fully boning the animal?I just skin back the sack and leave the berries attached to the meat. It's pretty easy.
Post by: Bango skank on April 10, 2016, 09:47:44 PM
Just came across this thread and got me thinking,If you completely bone the animal out whether deer or elk how does one cleanly leave proof of sex attached?Is this considered processed and can be removed in the field when fully boning the animal?
So thus is off topic, but your post just made me think about this. Does anybody else find it unreasonable that evidence of sex must be left attached on hunts where either sex is legal? Examples, bear, cougar, either sex archery deer/elk seasons. :dunno:
Post by: kentrek on April 10, 2016, 10:07:15 PM
Just came across this thread and got me thinking,If you completely bone the animal out whether deer or elk how does one cleanly leave proof of sex attached?Is this considered processed and can be removed in the field when fully boning the animal?I just skin back the sack and leave the berries attached to the meat. It's pretty easy.
I prefer to skin back the twig and leave s small one inch piece of that...same idea tho
I could be wrong but I think he's wondering since it's deboned how can you prove it's from the same animal....which I can't answer
Post by: Oh Mah on April 10, 2016, 11:38:02 PM
Post by: Karl Blanchard on April 11, 2016, 06:01:28 AM
Post by: Oh Mah on April 11, 2016, 04:02:01 PM