How far out will you kill an elk by yourself?
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memtb
Well-Known Member
I too carry a pretty good amount even on just a day hunt……well I used to anyway!
I've read some of these posts, those from "superman" to the normal "slug" such as myself…..and see them as humorous to borderline bovine feces!
If one wants to get technical about how much weight we're carrying (firearm/bow in hand vs attached to a pack, ect.) ……anything beyond your "birthday suit" is weight being carried. Carry methods may alter the effects on the body…..but it's still additional weight!
Some of us are older, some have limiting physical ailments, some are hunting for the meat, some for only the trophy, some have jobs and family, while others have no life with the exception of working out for hunting! Simply put……we're all different, and should be recognized as such! JMO memtb
I've read some of these posts, those from "superman" to the normal "slug" such as myself…..and see them as humorous to borderline bovine feces!
If one wants to get technical about how much weight we're carrying (firearm/bow in hand vs attached to a pack, ect.) ……anything beyond your "birthday suit" is weight being carried. Carry methods may alter the effects on the body…..but it's still additional weight!
Some of us are older, some have limiting physical ailments, some are hunting for the meat, some for only the trophy, some have jobs and family, while others have no life with the exception of working out for hunting! Simply put……we're all different, and should be recognized as such! JMO memtb
These days my answer to how far back I would shoot an elk is different than it once was. But it would still depend on a number of variables. Grizzlies - yes or no is one big one. Terrain, weather, season. If I am alone when I shoot it, OK, but do I have help to pack it out? Help packing changes the equation, but distance would still be determined on a sliding scale dependent on the variables. I never count on horses since all my meat comes out in a pack on my back.
I did pack a bull out alone one year. I shot it the first day we hunted, and I didn't want my partners to miss out hunting because they felt obligated to help, so I told them I would get it and they should hunt. I was around 35 then, and pretty fit. I had packed out the backstraps and tenderloins, along with the head in/on my daypack the afternoon I got the bull. That was after gutting, skinning, and parting it out. It was a little over 3 miles back in from a trailhead (straight line wise), but only about a third of that pack was on the horse trail. Next day I had my frame pack, rifle, water, food, and firstaid/emergency kit. First load was both boned out hind quarters - don't know what I was thinking. Second load was boned out shoulders, all other scrap meat, and heart, and I think I made a last trip for the hide the next day. As I said, I was younger then. Would I have shot one further back then and packed it alone? Yeah probably, but at 4 miles I might have been stopping to think about it. In truth, though, I shot that bull where I found him, and since I had heard him bugle very early, I was looking for that bull.
We normally all pack when an elk is down to get it out as quickly as we can. Then the other hunters go back to hunting for their own animals. But we have for years hunted around grizzlies. Rather avoid problems.
These days it is a boned quarter a load, and two of us are packing, so it still takes a couple trips to get elk meat out, two loads apiece. It might take a third trip to get the head and hide. In grizzly country that is a lot of exposure to risk, especially leaving meat out overnight - which we have had to do. We usually get the meat a good distance from the gut pile and carcass. But the approach to a meat cache is always stressful until you can determine if there is anyone larger than a pine marten that claimed it while you were gone. I dunno, with the bears there, the prudent distance might be a mile to a mile and a half with our slower pace these days. Without bears, I would be willing to go farther, as long as it wasn't too hot. Horrible terrain will shorten the distance I am willing to pack more than it used to, but I need to make sure I can still walk out on all the stuff that hurts, and also avoid injury.
In my frame pack I still will have my emergency kit, which is bigger in grizzly country in case there is a bear attack, a lot of water, food, and raingear as well as at least a .44 mag and a canister of bear spray. Weight adds up even before you start loading meat.
As memtb points out "Some of us are older, some have limiting physical ailments,...", I am one of those, with all my artificial joints and a bad ankle. My orthopedic doctors have warned me about abusing my new joints like I did the original parts. Besides that, age does not make you stronger. But maybe it has made me work a little smarter. I am still out there, but slower and not as far in a day as I once did. I need to recruit some younger partners!
I think everyone is forced to adapt if they are going to stay out there for the long haul. I have yet to find any elk hunter who has figured out how to stay 32 years old for the next 50 years.
I did pack a bull out alone one year. I shot it the first day we hunted, and I didn't want my partners to miss out hunting because they felt obligated to help, so I told them I would get it and they should hunt. I was around 35 then, and pretty fit. I had packed out the backstraps and tenderloins, along with the head in/on my daypack the afternoon I got the bull. That was after gutting, skinning, and parting it out. It was a little over 3 miles back in from a trailhead (straight line wise), but only about a third of that pack was on the horse trail. Next day I had my frame pack, rifle, water, food, and firstaid/emergency kit. First load was both boned out hind quarters - don't know what I was thinking. Second load was boned out shoulders, all other scrap meat, and heart, and I think I made a last trip for the hide the next day. As I said, I was younger then. Would I have shot one further back then and packed it alone? Yeah probably, but at 4 miles I might have been stopping to think about it. In truth, though, I shot that bull where I found him, and since I had heard him bugle very early, I was looking for that bull.
We normally all pack when an elk is down to get it out as quickly as we can. Then the other hunters go back to hunting for their own animals. But we have for years hunted around grizzlies. Rather avoid problems.
These days it is a boned quarter a load, and two of us are packing, so it still takes a couple trips to get elk meat out, two loads apiece. It might take a third trip to get the head and hide. In grizzly country that is a lot of exposure to risk, especially leaving meat out overnight - which we have had to do. We usually get the meat a good distance from the gut pile and carcass. But the approach to a meat cache is always stressful until you can determine if there is anyone larger than a pine marten that claimed it while you were gone. I dunno, with the bears there, the prudent distance might be a mile to a mile and a half with our slower pace these days. Without bears, I would be willing to go farther, as long as it wasn't too hot. Horrible terrain will shorten the distance I am willing to pack more than it used to, but I need to make sure I can still walk out on all the stuff that hurts, and also avoid injury.
In my frame pack I still will have my emergency kit, which is bigger in grizzly country in case there is a bear attack, a lot of water, food, and raingear as well as at least a .44 mag and a canister of bear spray. Weight adds up even before you start loading meat.
As memtb points out "Some of us are older, some have limiting physical ailments,...", I am one of those, with all my artificial joints and a bad ankle. My orthopedic doctors have warned me about abusing my new joints like I did the original parts. Besides that, age does not make you stronger. But maybe it has made me work a little smarter. I am still out there, but slower and not as far in a day as I once did. I need to recruit some younger partners!
I think everyone is forced to adapt if they are going to stay out there for the long haul. I have yet to find any elk hunter who has figured out how to stay 32 years old for the next 50 years.
I appreciate how you described the "backpack" hunting the way you did, the passion & desire & willpower to do it all on your back with a group, but also to individuals that probably do it alone as well & how the old age just catches up way too fast!!!!!!!!!!!!! Although i've never hunted in griz country, don't really know how i'd feel about that? But, used to hunt alone, more than with someone. Always carrying more than i needed, heavy pack, didn't care
. I haven't had the medical issues you have but just the age comes into play, i'm also on the downhill side of 65 & am just hoping for one more year of hunting, 2024
! Started hunting that way in the mid/late ninety's. But most of those years, when we killed something, we just had to pack the meat to a horse trail & get it hauled out. Still like that kind of hunting tho & probably do it as long as physically able to do so & as always, carry too much weight!! It's just really hard to teach an old dog new tricks
. Just an old fan of, "rather have it & not need it, than need it & not have it
!If you plan ahead, you can go to the local feed store and put up an ad to find a guy with horses/mules to help you out, Talk to the feed store manager and cashiers who have worked there for a long time. I helped a few guys out for gas money, my mules loved to go on vacation.
Put three dozen or so moth balls around the kill, predators will rarely if ever touch it, but you should NEVER forget the possibility of their presence.
I have been followed more than once, and I have to put some Vics on the mules/horses nose to get back to the truck, they have to be trained/sorted for this use. When a horse/mule smells a bear, you may have a wreck on your hands.
Put three dozen or so moth balls around the kill, predators will rarely if ever touch it, but you should NEVER forget the possibility of their presence.
I have been followed more than once, and I have to put some Vics on the mules/horses nose to get back to the truck, they have to be trained/sorted for this use. When a horse/mule smells a bear, you may have a wreck on your hands.
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Must depend on where you are if you can get that to work. Having tried to find a packer has never panned out for me. Forest Service rules and Outfitting regulations usually prevent just any horse owner from packing for people - unlicensed guiding. But as you say, if you want to depend on getting horses in, plan ahead and get it firmly set up ahead of time.
COmtnman1
It seems like a lot of us carry contingency packs that end up too heavy. Things end up in mine due to past experiences, and they never leave. Every trip it is the same: why is my day pack so heavy? Empty it out, try to drop weight, then everything sneaks back in. I have a little go-pack that I made years ago that has everything I need if stuff hits the fan. It is a bag with belt loops that has a spare flashlight, extensive first aid kit, a couple cliff bars, fire-making equipment (redundant methods), heavy non-Mylar emergency blanket, filter straw, spare batteries, and a few other things. When I switch packs, that kit moves to the new pack. Yes, I have used stuff from it on me and others. Then there is what is in my pockets, my loaded rifle, binoculars, walking stick, the extra bottle of water if it is hot...At least with the new knee I am no longer carrying the weight of an industrial strength knee brace.Regarding the Mylar"emergency blankets", I switched to SOL blankets which are only a little heavier and bulkier, but much more durable, after experiencing how easily the flimsy Mylar ones shred and become useless. Any nick in that Mylar will cause an irreparable tear. In the wind pieces will just fly off. If you need that blanket for shelter, you need it to stay together!!
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Rules have changed. Working for Free changes a lot of issues for the horse/mule owner.
Buying a Tractor is a lot cheaper than buying horses and mules if you count the hospital bills and lost work.
Now that is what I call "thinking outside the box", carrying a tractor on an elk hunt! Less apt to get shot off of the tractor also!
Some of the crazies in my family would probably paint the tractor camo color!
Now that is what I call "thinking outside the box", carrying a tractor on an elk hunt! Less apt to get shot off of the tractor also!
Some of the crazies in my family would probably paint the tractor camo color!
I shot a cow 3.5mi in, and 2500' above the parking lot. It was mostly on trail, down hill, and very little of it involved regaining elevation that had been lost. Just a steady descent. That season they had mandatory CWD testing, so I took the head and all my gear out the first trip while I let the meat hang overnight. The next morning I went back up, devided the meat(bone in) into two equal loads, and would go down hill with one load until my back and hips needed a break, then back up unloaded to get the next load. I would breath a little heavy going uphill, and be hard on the knees, hips and back going downhill. I had to have the head into the game and fish office before 5pm, so at 2:00, I stopped doing the back and forth deal and went straight to the truck. I'd gotten both loads over halfway. Got the CWD sample turned in, ate a burger in town, relaxed and slept. The next morning I slept in and was still back at the truck with the final load before noon. Roughly 17hrs total packing time. Got home and weighed one of the loads of meat(literally a side of elk. Backstrap, tenderloin, front quarter, hind quarter, one rib roll) 99lbs. I had a water filter, started with a gallon of water, a light snack and some emergency supplies. I'd guess if I had weighed everything, pack included, it was probably 115-118lbs. My pack is over 6lbs empty. All the meat was 186lbs deboned, but that's before trimming and packaging.
A bull might have been "worth it", but I suspect it would have required at least one more trip, and that would really have been a butt kicking. I suppose it would have added about more 7hrs if I had maintained that pace. Not sure if I could have. I think I pinched a nerve or something. I had quite the pain running down my leg for 3-4 months after. While I might do it again, I have since aimed at likely areas a bit closer.
A bull might have been "worth it", but I suspect it would have required at least one more trip, and that would really have been a butt kicking. I suppose it would have added about more 7hrs if I had maintained that pace. Not sure if I could have. I think I pinched a nerve or something. I had quite the pain running down my leg for 3-4 months after. While I might do it again, I have since aimed at likely areas a bit closer.
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What state was that in? How long did you have to get the head to G&F? It would be tough to get a head to G&F before 5:00 even the second day in a lot of places. Like SD requiring same day check in as someone mentioned, jeez. Not even possible to call in from some areas here. BTW learning to extract the lymph nodes is easier than having to carry a whole head, if all they want is the sample material.
Those were substantial packs you were carrying. That was a lot of effort in a short period! Sounds like you dented your sciatic nerve with that effort. Good it went away.
Ouch!
Ucsdryder
Well-Known Member
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- Jan 23, 2016
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When I'm 69 I hope I have a trip like that in me! Well done!
