What was your worst packout?

[220yotekiller]

What was it? Distance, gear failure, or topography?
Mine was packing a bull out of a hellish canyon choked with scrub oak, and to top it all off we ran out of water so I had to hike an extra mile to fill water bottles. Which the hunter wouldn't drink because the spring that I got the water out of wasn't filtered...it was an artesian spring.

 

[Schaaf]

I packed animals out for a few years with an eberlestock. Once I figured out there was a better way to go about that I felt the same elation as I’m sure others did with electricity and water on tap.

 

[220yotekiller]

I packed animals out for a few years with an eberlestock. Once I figured out there was a better way to go about that I felt the same elation as I’m sure others did with electricity and water on tap.

hahahaha

 

[Sask hunter]

My frost pack out lol One time I packed an elk quarter two miles back to the truck. So far I have got quad and trailer to where they fall.

 

[SFC B]

My first elk hunt with CPO on opening day he shot a bull. Pack out was only just short of 2 miles but involved climbing a steep 5-600 yard grade to the top of a ridge before dropping back down to camp. We did a front and rear a piece at a time with trim/back straps/head distributed accordingly. Thought that was a little taxing. Next day was crazy windy with no action. On day 3 we go back to the same spot as opening day and guess what? This brain surgeon shoots a cow AND bull about 30 seconds and 200 yards apart at +-0900. Same pack out doubled. For bonus points my pack out(s) was accomplished using a second hand Osprey 70L internal frame pack. We were done by about 1500 and collapsed into chairs with beers and Rumpelminze to sooth our aching bones. This was my bull....

 

[Bambistew]

This one sucked pretty bad. Caribou hunt

We had to cross a fair size stream/small river about 6-7 times due to being cliffed out. We were happy to see the truck that's for sure.

 

[Djfan]

A bull and two cows, up a hill, and I was very sick. It sucked.

 

[jrabq]

I've had several tough packouts uphill with elk, but the worst was probably going downhill 3000+ ft on a goat hunt

Another Montana Goat Hunt

Just got back from MT last night, it was a relatively short and successful hunt. Short, but tough for an old guy. I got real lucky and drew a tag for the new hunt in unit 361, right on the ID border, west of West Yellowstone. And I also got really, really lucky in that I had help; Pete...

www.hunttalk.com

 

[BearFoot]

Moose is hard. Distance, topography has been a thing. Did a young bull, long ago in two trips. If I'm packing, did good. Dang it, going again next year!

 

[Big Bore]

My worst is everyday I come out…with an empty pack.

 

[hank4elk]

12 miles out with a buck & camp on my back. 2 days, 3000' straight down in 5 miles and 600' up out of a creek to the truck. Camp was 11,000', truck was @ 6500'. A typical Sierra trip...LOL I was younger.

8 years ago I packed a bull 3 miles to my truck,solo. 2 days. The worst...a bear got the head. I got 2 halves. 5x5

 

[SC Living Outdoors]

I've definitely had some that sucked, but this one sucked the most. After killing the bull I shuttled all the meat, cape and antlers 500yds down to the creek. I was hunting solo but I was able to get a couple friends to help with a couple loads and it still took 3 days. I can usually get a bull out solo in 3 loads. This bull was just big. 3.4 miles each way following the creek in and out. On the 4th day I had to go back in for camp which wasn't bad, bc I'd been real light going in, but it was still another 6 miles.

The load in the pic below was a quarter, some scrap, cape and antlers. Idk what it weighed, but it was heavy.

 

[belshawelk]

took a buddy elk hunting for the first time. I found some cows but not in a good spot. BUT, a good shot opportunity for him. I told him I would prefer to wait and not shoot them there and come back the next morning. But he was so exited. He shot his first cow, then I decided to be extra stupid and shoot the lead cow also. Not that cows are anything special, but they were in a hell hole. 4 plus miles from the truck, 3 nasty volcano rock filled canyons. First we had to walk a back to truck to get pack frames ( dont ask). then hike back. I gutted them at 4:30PM and crawled into bed a t at 6:15 am. Had to make 3 trips. Add that to someone who has never ever even seen an elk.

Man it was fun. Even better to hear my buddy talk about it still to this day.

 

[Khunter]

Worst pack out was not this one
Spent 20+ hunting days trying to kill a bull in what was sure to be an adventurous pack out only have one come in on a string next to camp.

 

[gouch]

My first elk rolled down into a canyon that was so steep that if you were to stand up straight you didn't have to extent your arm all the way to touch the side of the canyon. And it was winter, so it was all slick mud. And neither me nor my buddy had ever killed an elk before and we didn't know that you could cut the bones out and only pack meat.

That doesn't even compare to the last elk I shot. The darn thing died right next to a two track but there was a slick rutted spot that prevented us from driving right to it. We had to pack that thing a good 150 ft. up a gentle slope. Almost makes one want to give up hunting.

 

[LuketheDog]

My worst packout was the one where the guy who came along to experience an elk hunt packed out the hide for himself and left the two of us with all the rest of a very big-bodied bull, which made necessary a 3rd trip back down the hill. That guy doesn't come along anymore...packing meat is still the best way to end an elk hunt though!

 

[Dakotakid]

I went for a hike just to see what was on the other side of a large ridge. Not expecting to see anything I just took rifle. Found herd of elk on next ridge. So at 9 above, without pack(had my license in pocket) I shot one at about 9:30 am. Gutted it with an original leather man, gutted just to keep my hands warm.
We got back to the truck after dark.
It was a bit of work. Snow was about thigh high.

 

[GrantK]

I have way more horrific packout stories than I'd care to remember. However, as time goes by, the misery tends to fade away, leaving only the good parts etched in my memories. In the early days of our elk hunting career my brother and I possessed more fitness than brains, with no self-restraint whatsoever. If a legal elk presented itself, it was going down, regardless of the location.

Among the numerous experiences I would prefer not to repeat, one particularly stands out. Fortunately, we were all around 19-20 years old at the time and close to bulletproof.

My brother and a friend had drawn a first rifle tag in CO in a notorious very high-elevation unit, I was guiding in a different unit so I couldn't join them for the hunt, they let me know roughly where they were in case I wrapped up early and wanted to join them, as it happened my hunters killed on day one and two so I was free early, sitting around the lodge the third night after packing out the second elk the news was entirely weather reporters predicting 3-4 feet of snow in the high country and urging hunters to pack it up and get out ahead of the storm, I figured that my brother and friend had no idea what was coming as they had been at camp for 7 or 8 days at that point so I should probably go warn them and help them pack up camp...

I rolled out early the following day from the lodge where I was guiding and drove straight through to where they were supposed to be camped, in an area I had never set foot in, it took me until close to noon to locate their camp, passing pretty much every other camp in the area headed out..our friend was sleeping in his popup camper after getting worked packing his elk out the previous day, my brother was out chasing a bull they had spotted the day before... as the storm was supposed to be arriving that evening we decided we should pack up their camp and get the trailer, truck, and everything but their ATV back over the pass and down to where we would be able to get out then drive back up and park my truck at the pass and go back to get my brother on the ATV, hoping that he saw the enormous black cloud rolling in and decided that it wasn't the day to be shooting an elk...

However, just as we were approaching their camp, we managed to make radio contact with my brother. All we could make out was, "Got one!" We found him sitting on the side of the road further in, rather surprised to discover the camp had vanished and to see me there. He had managed to shoot what appeared to be the last remaining elk in the unit, located a mere 40 feet from the summit of a 13,000-foot peak. Anticipating a leisurely couple of days to complete the packout, he had quartered the elk but left the meat behind, intending to return the next morning with his frame pack and some backup. At this point, the weather was beautiful, with no signs of the impending storm. However, we could observe a massive wall of black clouds rapidly approaching, causing a sense of unease. After some discussion we decided that we needed to pack out the bull that evening; otherwise, we might not have another opportunity. throwing minimal gear in our packs, we headed up the mountain—my fourth consecutive day of elk packing, and their third. We climbed approximately 3,000 feet over a distance of 3 miles to reach the elk. Throughout the ascent, we kept a watchful eye on the advancing wall of clouds. Just as we reached the carcass, the wall engulfed us, reducing visibility to just a few feet.

We set what is still probably my record for boning out a whole elk, while the rack wasn't all that impressive this was one of the largest bodied elk I have ever seen, we were loaded heavy and it was getting dark as we started down. in the time we had taken to bone out the elk and get it stuffed into packs there was already close to a foot of snow on the ground, things were going ok until my brother, having had nothing to eat in 10 hours, passed out midstride, getting run over by his pack and sliding uncomfortably close to a cliff, we got him up and going, fed him all the food we had, which wasn't much, and made sure he was in the middle, at this point it was completely dark and the storm had intensified, visibility was maybe 10' and lightning was now flashing through the snow every 20-30 seconds, we were still well above treeline on a hillside that cliffed out in most places, and the snow was getting deep enough we were kicking off loose avalanches everywhere... we finally reached a gully we thought we recognized as one that went through the majority of the cliffs and decided to go straight down, almost immediately all three of us were losing our footing and taking 5-15' tumbles into the deep snow, quickly realizing that just sliding off the small cliffs was way faster and easier than trying to downclimb, if we could see the bottom of the cliff in the headlamp off it we went, moving pretty well until we were below timberline battling the downed timber just headed downhill with no idea where we were and my brother almost passed out again, sitting down and mumbling about wanting to stop for the night...

We got him going again, finishing the last calories we could find in our packs, blindly bushwhacking and by pure luck hit the road 50' from the ATV, now almost seat deep in the new snow... we loaded all of us and the entire elk and took turns pushing to get the ATV the couple miles back up to the pass, where we threw the elk in the truck and spent a couple minutes warming up, all at least mildly hypothermic at this point and soaked to the bone, we then embarked on probably the scariest drive I have ever done, plowing snow with the truck bumper and occasionally having it come up over the headlights while going down a ridiculously exposed mountain pass road that at some points is maybe 3' wider than the truck with 1,200' of exposure on the outside... we rolled into town just as it was getting light the following morning, totally and completely worked, in all honesty probably the most dangerous day in the mountains I've had, we got lucky at many turns, it could have gone badly, as it was all we ended up some minor frostbite and a couple broken fingers was all we had to show for it...

 

[SaskHunter]

My worst pack out was last year's antelope. Not because it was heavy or a long distance, but because it was hot as balls and I had left all my water at the truck... Antelope was shot 2 miles from the truck with a mix of rolling hills and broken country. Started my stalk at around 8 AM that morning and didn't get back to the truck around 4 PM...

In comparison, my 1 mile pack out for the elk I shot 4 days later was a breeze.

That one is 100% on me. I'm an idiot.

 

[Brian in Montana]

I once arrowed a cow elk 7 miles back in the Pioneer Mountains. I deboned it and spent the night, but the next day was 7 miles to the trailhead, 7 miles back, and 7 more to wrap it up. I got it all in a big Cabela's external frame pack in 2 crushing loads. That was a memorable experience, not necessarily in a good way. The cool part is I wrote a story about it and Bugle Magazine published it.

I've actually been published in Bugle twice, but my writing has gradually tapered off in recent years.