With the last light of the day, elk on the ground, you learn to appreciate a great knife that holds an edge and skins like a lightning bolt!
It's hunting season, my back is always sore!WOW....Officer Muddyboots...be gentle...you got a sore tooth...or just a sore back brother? But... you're right!
It looks like Picasso painted a picture of your elk.This a few years back, evening.I chunked it up to get air to it, solo.Was getting down to zero.Hiked out many miles in dark.Got next day with my sonView attachment 609630
Please let me know where these clear, cool wonderful stary nights to cut up animals in the moonlight are ordered up?It's hunting season, my back is always sore!
I'll kill a bull at last light over any other time. It's cool, there's no bugs, the stars are beautiful, and the cool mountain breeze cools quarters very well! God made headlamps to butcher elk in the dark.
If you left it overnight without gutting it I would expect the entire animal to have soured. Doesn't take any longer to quarter one using the gutless method than it does to gut it, but never leave one overnight without at least gutting it. There are circumstances where I won't shoot something late in the day because I won't be able to properly care for it that night. This has been my experience over 49 years of elk hunting and 38 of those guiding elk hunts.Appreciate all the input and will know next time. Made several calls to others and they advised against going back up and gutting and quartering and just leave it as it was. Guess I'll check with Muddybuddy next time to see exactly how he would handle the situation.
See post #34. forget the saw. Front quarters should take about a minute each. Hind quarters still use a knife at the joint, maybe around five minutes. Learn this and you will never pack any saw.Trim out the off parts and now you know for next time. A lot of the time I solo hunt, when I down a bull far from the truck, I skin and quarter. Like others I carry 550 which I hang the rest to cool. Still looking for a good bone saw that's pack able. Congratulations on your elk! Enjoy the meat you have. Very few hunters get to harvest an elk. Most of the time, the successful hunter fills their tag most years. Don't worry about the negative comments and just learn from your mistake. Happy hunting