Don't you love packing out an Elk?

[Ben Long]

I don't think you could pay enough to hire me to pack elk. A sherpa, maybe, but not me. It's too much work! Too dangerous! But I do it for "fun." Go figure. I don't think you can know how hard it is until you've done it. I've packed elk with some tough customers -- rough necks and choker-setters who have done REAL work along with ultra-marthoners -- and they agree it's about as tough as anything. My dad worked in the same professional setting for 30 years -- with a bunch of fellow academics. When he retired, we got them all together for a retirement party. What did they talk about? Not their office work, no way. They razzed each other about all the elk they'd packed out over the decades. ("Remember that one! Oh my word, who shot that one in that hell hole?") No one remembers their best day at the desk or in front of the TV.

 

[Gr8bawana]

Packing out an elk, any elk cow or bull is just a miserable endeavor if there is any distance involved. You'll curse the elk, you'll curse the mountain, you'll curse yourself but when you're all done it is one of the most rewarding and satisfying things you will ever have done.

 

[onpoint]

View attachment 67581

Any of you ever used anything like this? I haven't had the pleasure of packing out a elk, only deer and antelope from lower elevation drainages and buttes.

We use them in the Military for rescue in that kind of country and for prepping for Air lift. I weigh in at 230lbs and have pulled and been pulled in these in some pretty interesting terrain. On Snow they are awesome because it holds the load tight, on gravel and rocks it pulls OK as long as your not the one in it. Uphill pulls work best with a pulley and anchor but can be done by 2 people. Down hill is just try and hold on...

View attachment 67582

Interesting terrain like this? If you've packed humans in that thing in similar terrain, you'll actually enjoy and breeze through packing out 1/4s in a packframe.

 

[huntin24/7]

Packing out my first ever elk (particularly the way we packed it out) was one of the most miserable dumbest things ive been a part of. It was in the breaks the last morning of our hunt. I arrowed a cow right at sunrise. This was the 5th day of hunting and each day had been at or within a few degrees of 100. We had packed in our camp and all of our water and food with a game cart. I killed this cow elk (thank god it was a young cow) 4 miles from the truck. It was one grueling 8 hour trip where we packed it and our camp out in 1 trip. Mind you we didn't pack very smart back then so camp was not light. It was over 100 degrees when we got into malta around 5:00. I drank so much water and Gatorade afterwords and didn't piss for about 3 hours.

 

[mtmuley]

Throwing the last pack load in the truck is a pretty good feeling. mtmuley

 

[Doublecluck]

Hardest pack ever was my first bull, 1 mile from the road on flat ground on a 1x1 state section. 18" of snow with flood ice from a creek frozen under it. Every step just as I put my full weight down my feet would break thru the ice to the ground 3 inches below.I would take 5 miles at 10000' over that any day.

 

[theat]

You guys are crazy. This is the way to pack out an elk.

 

[IdahoClay]

Old Man Mountain

The pack out is one of the best parts of the adventure. Especially when it's done! I had a memorable pack out this year with my soon-to-be 70 father. I arrowed a young raghorn high on a ridge right before dark. He wandered off into a dark patch of timber and didn't come out. I decided to come back in the morning rather than risk bumping him in the dark. That night it rained and snowed all night leaving 2 inches of a snowy mucky mess. My father and I hiked up the next morning slipping and sliding the entire way. It was several miles with about 2000 ft elevation gain that felt straight up the last half mile. I was convinced I was going to kill the old man, but he persevered and pressed on. We found the bull stacked up in a nasty mess of blowdown timber. We quartered, boned, and bagged it, which took most of the day. A quick swig of whiskey and down the mountain we head to return the next day with reinforcements - Murphy the Mule and Crystal the Mare. My soon-to-be 70 father impressed me...True Grit!

 

[Addicting]

That terrain is why the Army buys helicopters with drop winches....

They would make us patrol stuff like that in Afghanistan, just not as much vegetation where I was.

Me being stubborn and excited when I see an big animal would shoot one down there. But I am sure I would remember this thread all the way out thinking.... Man they were right....

 

[esracerx]

It's all part of it. And there's a bottle of jack at camp to celebrate.

We had two guys on a tank. We were meat hunting so the first animal that came in was getting shot at. Hard quartering away shot, arrow buried in just in front of her left rear quarter all the way to her right front. Could hear her laboring before she expired, then a bull starts bugling. Next batter up. 15 minutes later bull is pushing all his cows. He's last one into the tank. Starts drinking, arrows flies, perfect placement. Runs 10 yards does a 180. Throw another one in for good measure. Falls right there maybe 15 yards from us. 2 elk to pack out. Cow is on a 2 track, but we had thought it was closed off. Bull is maybe 30 yards from that same 2 track. Truck was only a mile away. A few days later we go back, those 2 tracks weren't closed off. It was dark and we knew of other roads that had burms to close em off in that area so we assumed that one was as well. Oh well. That jack sure tasted good a few minutes before midnight.

 

[MITCHMO]

I shot my first elk this year and thought I couldn't be any luckier that it was 8:30 in the morning and I had all day to pack it out. I went in ready to roll and on the way in met the nicest people you could ask to meet and I think they knew I was in for a rough time. They offered up some horses and we were eating lunch by 1:00! My smile was so big I almost couldn't see where I was walking.

 

[sagebrush]

All this talk about how hard and how many loads, then why carry all that bone? I carried exactly one animal out that was not boned out and that was enough for me. From then on, only meat and antlers go on my back.

Packed out a load 3.25 miles according to the straight line on the GPS, probably more like 4 1/2. Farthest I every carried a load of elk meat. Noticed a place I had parked the Rhino while scouting that was only a mile away from the kill site on the GPS but didn't know what the country in between was like. Decided to drive in and give a try. The next two loads were 247 yards.

 

[SFC B]

I got Christened into the "pack out" right off on my first elk hunt. Opening morning of my first elk hunt my buddy and I were hunting about half a mile from each other on the same big park. About 1000 hrs I saw some movement down the park. It was a pretty decent 5x5. As I started to move toward it a shot rang out from my buddy. The elk stood there as he followed up and dropped it. We met at the elk and started the work. From that spot to camp was about 2.5 miles with 1000ft gain in elevation and then an 600ft drop. 2 trips apiece and about 4 hours later we were all finished and pretty bushed. Camp chairs and Rumpelminze came out and we chilled the rest of the afternoon. The next day was howling wind. We headed out to another drainage and saw nothing but a doe all day. I was still carrying a cow and bull tag in my pocket so on the 3rd day we headed back to the big park we had started in. We holed up in a spot just inside the woodline with a good view of the park. Around 0830 a cow comes cruising out directly across from me at 150m. What luck!! I connected on her and she dropped after a quick 20m circle. Just as we were high fiving and getting ready to go check her out we caught movement about 350m down the park. At a little opening in the wood line 3 bulls had popped out. The closest was better of the group, again, a decent 5x5. It started to turn and head uphill. I shot and hit it between the shoulder blades at the base of the neck. It dropped immediately. We were hooting and hollering for a good couple of minutes. Then reality struck.......holy crap, we now have 2 elk to pack and temps were in the low 50s. We loaded the first load as quickly and we could get cut into it and headed to camp. Luckily, when we hit camp we were able to raise a couple of our fellow camp-mates on the radio for some help. One was an older guy who is great with his knife and the other 2 were his sons. The older guy started skinning the second elk and we got a load ready. The boys ended up only carrying one load between the two them (better than nothing ) so that day was 4 loads for me and 3 for my buddy. Needless to say we collapsed that afternoon. All tags filled, the Rumpleminz and Busch came out if full strength. We had a big dinner and then sacked out knowing we could sleep in. Probably the best sleep I EVER had.

 

[Tjay]

This was my pack out this year. A heck of a lot easier than on my back. I am getting to old for packing elk out by myself.

 

[Gr8bawana]

The pics of animals packing out an elk are nice but they don't really count as you "packing" out an elk. The pack animals are doing the packing.

 

[MTGomer]

This is my most miserable pack out of recent years.
Step dads bull
We finished up with the bull after dark, and planned to hit a dead ended gated logging road.
Missed the road and ended up on some of the worst lodgepole thicket blowdown I've ever been in.
Got suspended with off the ground and antlers hung up a few times. We only had to backpack the elk to horse friendly terrain, but still got back to the truck around 3AM, barely slept, grabbed horses and went back to pack everything out. All in all about 10 miles. We got back at 2Am the next night.
I slept all the next day, hunted a bit on the following day( thanksgiving) then went back and killed a bull about this size for myself on the same mountain, on Black Friday
Thankfully it was on the other side of the mountain, within a few miles of a gated road that opens to snowmobiling Dec 1. So we only had a short lodgepole hellhike, hung it up for a few days and then returned.

 

[BlakeA]

I feel sorry for anyone that cant see the beauty in using pack animals. And yes I have done my share both ways. The amount of work in keeping pack stock year round more than equals a three day pack out on your back. So if it is a pissing contest it is a tie.

I think you missed Gr8bawana's point. The point of this specific thread was how hard it is breaking a bull down and packing it out by foot. Not using pack animals. There have been a pile of new threads by hunters going on there first elk hunt and the majority start with "I'm willing to backpack 5-7 miles into the backcountry" and I'm guessing thats what triggered the OP to start it. Has nothing to do with keeping stock or using pack animals.

 

[Steelhead]

I think you missed Gr8bawana's point. The point of this specific thread was how hard it is breaking a bull down and packing it out by foot. Not using pack animals. There have been a pile of new threads by hunters going on there first elk hunt and the majority start with "I'm willing to backpack 5-7 miles into the backcountry" and I'm guessing thats what triggered the OP to start it. Has nothing to do with keeping stock or using pack animals.

I'm willing to backpack 5-7 miles in...and hunt my way back to the truck!!
**and not shoot anything for the first 4 miles!!!

 

[Gerald Martin]

I'm most proud of the ones that I figured out an easy way to get out. There's a lot I don't want to remember and the hardest pack of my life so far was 1/2 a mule deer and my gear. It's been 3 months and my back is still not normal.

 

[el unit]

Yes. I do love packing out elk. Sweet Pain! We got this year's Colorado elk back to basecamp before midnight. The Montana elk made it back to the ranch before dark.