What's a Quartered Elk Weigh?

[RobG]

Also... I weighed an intact head/cape from a 300" bull and it was about 85#. Wish I had cleaned that up before packing it out!

 

[claybreaker]

Thanks to Marcus and crew for this vid. Great info that I have wondered about many times.

I wonder if Jack won?

 

[Gunner46]

We always had an end of day "Take yer best Guess" at the old deer camp, a $1 a guess. Amazing how many over estimated by a wide margin. I learned to under guess-timate really fast and the stack of empties cans pays tribute to being observant.

 

[Redside]

Great video as I just finished packing my cow and a buddy's raghorn last week.

One question regarding the video, Beau mentions the testicles being in the trim bag....I thought evidence of sex had to be attached to a rear quarter until processing. Not trying to start WW3.....just asking as I think its nasty to leave a nut or a mammary gland attached to a hind quarter myself.....

I'm guessing the testicles were to eat after watching the bison hunt I'm fairly certain they probably left the penis attached.

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

The elk I have had the pleasure of taking in to be cut up were in the 220 pound range like a few on here. John

 

[tjones]

I'm all ears to be enlightened......

The answer lies a bit south of the leaking udder.

 

[JDinMT]

Personally I've always just skinned the udder on cows or ball sack on bulls when I make the first cuts and leave the hide attached. You don't need the actual milk gland itself or the nuts, the hide tells what was in it.
As far as packing out the balls and tongue, well what someone does in the privacy of their home is none of my business. (kinda joking there)

 

[HSi-ESi]

The answer lies a bit south of the leaking udder.

Depends on which direction her nose is pointing

 

[Jayden12]

My NM bull this year weighed 247 lbs at the processors,just 1/4s,backstraps,neck meat.I wasn't able to get much rib meat/flanks due to being swarmed over by yellow jackets.I was happy with that hanging weight though.And all quarters were cut off at knee joints so my weight was all usable meat.Trying to break him down solo quick enough probably cost me 15-20lbs meat.Easily had a couple hundred yellow jackets on the carcass within half hour.It was crazy.Never had them that bad before.I was since told to carry chili powder to keep them off the carcass and bags

 

[2rocky]

I've seen one bull with bone in/hide on sawn quarters where one or more broke the 100# mark . The range on my gutless quarters has been from a low of 184 to a high of 280. Rib cages and hides weigh a lot.

 

[Jasher]

I will guarantee that a quartered elk will weigh the exact same as he did when you shot him. Doesn't matter how many times you cut him lol. Now how much each piece weighs I have no idea.

 

[M. Ireland]

i harvested a 8yr old roosevelt bull coastal calfornia. 2 days after the harvest. rear quarters. were. 91. and 96 lbs no skin off at the knee, on certified scales. ive taken 14 bulls idaho colorado montana. most were 60-70 lbs on a packer scale. getting ready for the mules

We killed a mature Roosevelt this year in Northern CA. Our best guess for a rear quarter was about a hundred pounds. Looks like we were probably pretty close.

 

[COEngineer]

I used a bathroom scale and recorded these numbers (quarters were bone-in) from a nice 6x6 taken in southern CO:
front qtr 48 lbs
front qtr with backstraps and misc 59 lbs
rear qtr (each, x2) 61 lbs
Total: 229 lbs

We weighed the bones after butchering at 26 lbs total and that was after they were very well cleaned. We certainly left some neck and flank meat on the mountain because we were under the gun due to warm temps (we were worried about spoilage and bugs) and had to haul it on our backs 6 miles one way to the truck. I imagine we could have gotten another ~20 lbs of meat if we had had more time and/or cooler temps.

 

[teej89]

As I head back to the Breaks solo....... mtmuley

HAHA!! You woulda had 3 packers on your previous trip, just would have had to share that liver.....

 

[ImBillT]

My first elk came from NM this year. It was a small 6x6, but seemed to have a large body. I boned out the meat in the field, and left the rib meat on the last few ribs, the skirt steaks, and the last thin layer of meat covering the guts. I’d have taken that as well, but the first shot was in the guts, so I left that meat alone. When I got home I weighed all my game bags and came up with 264lbs. I have all the weights written down somewhere, but the total, and the weight of the front quarters is all that I remember. The front quarters were both 40.7lbs. The hind quarters were roughly 50lbs, and each weighed a different amount.

 

[rtraverdavis]

I don't have exact numbers, but I would say my bull from this year, with bone-in quarters all in total was about 220 lbs at the kill site, and about 946 lbs by the time we reached the truck.

 

[npaden]

I always enjoy the exaggerated weights that I hear people throw out there on quarters and other parts. It is very hard for me not to call them on it but I just bite my tongue.

I've weighed several and generally a bone out hindquarter is going to run between 50 and 60 pounds on a bull. A bone out front shoulder weighs around 30 pounds. Neck meat, backstraps, tenderloins and trim meat can run between 50 and 80 pounds depending on several factors.

Factor up probably 25% for a Roosevelt and then add on probably another 30% for one on Afognak island from what I understand.

They do get heavier the farther you go, but when you put them on the scale they tend to lighten back up.

 

[ImBillT]

^^^ I was wondering why my hind quarters fit with Nate’s and came in on the light end, but my front quarters were heavier than his high numbers. Then it dawned on me. My front quarter bags had the corresponding neck roast thrown in with them.

 

[Devil Diver Down]

My AZ bull last year had rear quarters of 63 and 64 lbs, fronts of 36 and 38 (all without the hoof to knee portion, though I packed them out for a buddy's dog) and the trim meat bag was 85 and about made my eyes pop out of my sockets when I stood up (it was my first load) but the smile never came off my face. Have no idea what the rack weighed and I left the cape there because I had no use for it.

This year's bulls from CO and NM weighed a lot less - like 0. Never got that smile going this year.

 

[npaden]

^^^ I was wondering why my hind quarters fit with Nate’s and came in on the light end, but my front quarters were heavier than his high numbers. Then it dawned on me. My front quarter bags had the corresponding neck roast thrown in with them.

It also depends on how you cut the front quarter off the animal. Some folks cut a lot of the brisket meat off and include it with the front quarter. I tend to cut the front quarter off a little cleaner and then the brisket goes in with the trim meat bag.

I tend to haul out a hind quarter out first generally with whatever happened to be in my backpack at the time. If I’m with a buddy they also take a hind quarter on that first trip.

If we are both feeling good we come back light on that second trip and one guy hauls out the bone out front shoulders plus the rack and the other guy hauls out the neck, straps and trim.

If it is big enough that it gets caped out then it probably is going to take one more trip.