Main Discussion Area > 2012 Hunting Pictures
2012 Elk Hunt
Adam:
Nice elk and great story!
H Rhodes:
Congratulations! Thanks for sharing your hunt with us. Beautiful. :)
nclonghunter:
It is terrible to wonder and wait if you will find your game, but certainly glad you did, Congratulations!
Gordon:
After a quick celebration and pictures we set on the elk immediately. It had been almost 24 hours since the bull had been shot and despite the cold night, daytime temperatures had warmed considerably. Cooling the meat to prevent spoilage is now our most pressing concern. Chuck examines the wound and says that gutting the animal is out of the question as the broadhead had penetrated the gut sack and exposing the meat to the digestive juices in the cavity could ruin it. We therefore agree that the “gutless” method of quartering an elk is our best option. We split up the job to be as efficient as possible. Chuck has the most experience and is in charge cutting the meat and the overall operation. Max’s job is skinning and helping Chuck. My job is skinning, cleaning, bagging and hanging meat and keeping the knives sharp. When Chuck carves out the first back strap he holds it out for me to examine. It is still warm, but I see nor smell any sign of spoilage. It is a very good and welcome sign.
The elk is quartered and the meat bagged in about an hour and a half. We have our pack frames and pack the meat the half mile to the base of Coral in 2 trips. Night is rapidly coming upon us and we decide to hang the meat where it is rather than pack it the 4 ˝ miles back to camp. It's a good spot as it is continually subjected to cold winds that funneled off the surrounding peaks. We will let the meat cool here overnight.
This is me hauling out the antlers.
Gordon:
Later that night I contact the outfitter on my cell phone to arrange to have the meat packed out. It had been in the 80’s at the pack station and the outfitter is concerned about spoilage. He suggests that we bone the meat in the morning to prevent bone sour while they bring in the horses. The next morning Chuck and Max make for Coral basin to bone the meat and do a little hunting. Chuck reports later that when he got there the meat was partially frozen. We had picked the coldest spot in the entire area to hang the meat – what a stroke of luck!
The outfitter arrives the next day at noon and I lead him and the mules to where the meat is hanging. It was not easy getting the horses in there but we get it all. We end up with almost 300 lbs of cut and packaged prime elk meat!
Here is a picture the outfitter packing out our meat.
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