elk recovery.

[cjcj]

Is there anyone here who "has not" used a truck/atv etc. to recover an elk? i have drug many deer out and 1 antelope, and also cut up 2 cow elk[one in deep snow]and drug them out, but i also have been able to drive up to many elk and load them up without doing any offroad damage.

 

[dgibson]

I can definitively say, beyond the shadow of any doubt, without reservation or hesitation, that I have NEVER used an ATV or truck to recover an elk. Nor have I ever shot one to recover.

 

[JoseCuervo]

CJ,

I have never used an ATV to recover an Elk. With the exception of 2 that have been hauled out on horses, every other Elk that I have had the fortune (mis-fortune??) to be involved in the recovery of has came out on a back pack. I could probably spend some time counting, but I am sure it is between 20-30 critters we have hauled out in this manner, out of our Elk camp.

Right now, in our camp, we are debating the wait until 40 or 45 before we resort to horses, but so far we haven't wasted the time bringing them up, and we have access to them and a couple of mules. It is just easier to go get the meat with a pack frame.

 

[Ithaca 37]

Yup, I can say I've never used a truck or ATV to recover an elk. I've shot a couple elk close enough to a road to drag them or winch them over to the road and then load them into the truck. All the rest I've brought out on my back or on a horse. I've only shot about a dozen, though. I guided clients or friends to about 50 more, and that was a lot tougher than shooting them myself. We never used a truck or ATV to bring any of them out, either. I don't intend to ever use a truck or ATV off the road to recover an elk or anything else. Anything I shoot I'll get out to the road myself without mechanical help. Well, maybe I'd use a wheelbarrow or one of those stretchers with a wheel if one was handy, but I don't take those gadgets with me when I hunt. I keep a pack frame in the truck in case I can't drag an animal out. I hope that answers your question. If you're not willing to pack it out, don't shoot it. (That's one of the reasons I quit shooting elk about twenty years ago.

) I'd shoot one now, though, if he was standing right next to a road.

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 10-20-2003 22:25: Message edited by: Ithaca 37 ]</font>

 

[mtmiller]

I have probably shot fewer elk then most people on this board (2), but I have only used a sled and a frame pack to get them out of the woods.

I am sure some elk can be removed from the woods without resource damage,
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>i also have been able to drive up to many elk and load them up without doing any offroad damage.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
but I don't think this is the only issue with OHV. I believe this can be a negative experience for other people that are trying to enjoy hunting or other outdoor experiences. My 2 cents.

 

[cjcj]

Miller i know this isn`t the only issue with the ATV`s but i`m just trying to get a "feel" for how many do/have driven to pick up large game such as an elk, i always have plenty of saws/knives/rope/winch etc. just in case i need them , i`m just being honest about it, if i can drive to an elk without"damage" and it`s legal then i have and will do it. and i see it happen alot here in AZ .

 

[schmalts]

I never used a atv or truck to get an elk out. I have used one for deer on my own property, but i think thats a different situation.

 

[mtmiller]

I am with you cjcj. If it is legal, I don't have a problem with it. I would hope that out of consideration it would occur during the middle of the day instead of crepuscular periods (word for the day). As I have mentioned before, as long as it is legal, I don't have a problem with it (well too much of a problem anyway).

On the otherhand, if it is illegal use, you had better hunt from your machine. If you leave it, it might not be in the same condition when you return.

 

[cjcj]

That might be a good way to get at the "jerks" that use ATV`s illegaly, one other question for guys in other states are all ATV`s licecnced in your state? Down here in AZ most of them are not.

 

[Bambistew]

I have no idea how many elk my dad, grandfather and I have killed. I know I have killed about 14 bulls and a couple cows… My dad, probably around 40-50 ??? and my granddad in the years of guiding and party hunting… Well they packed 68 out one year alone, but the season was from September through Christmas Throw in all the friends and family we have taken over the years… That number has got to be up around god only knows hundreds… Of all those elk… I know of only three that were not packed out on horses. One was shot about a mile from the road and was drug to it and loaded whole. The other two were cows that we shot late in the season, it was a pretty bad early winter and the elk had started migrating about a month early… anyway we killed these two cows way down on private property, we drove right up to them and pulled them in the truck… I have no idea why we did it, I know we will never do it again though. It made my dad sick to his stomach, he said it was worse than going out and shooting a moo cow… If we don’t use the horses in the back country we don’t even bother with the elk…

As far as deer go… I have shot about half of mine on private land so I could drive right up to them and throw them in. The rest were either packed out on my back or drug to the truck. We have an ATV the only time we ever used to hunt was when my buddy had a moose tag. We used it to get us up and down the main road that was beating the crap out of our trucks. We would then park it at the trail head and walk from there…

IMO elk hunting from a truck is not hunting…

Ivan

 

[cjcj]

Ivan were not really talking about hunting from the truck, but picking your game up by using one, and i know you were just making a comment[truck hunting] and i agree with you, but how many elk have you seen hanging in camps that are in one piece? all most "all" of the ones that i see hanging are in one piece, so i believe the "majority" of these hunters have used a truck or ATV to recover them.

 

[Lostagain]

EVERY single one of the dozens of elk get hauled out by a truck, 4wheeler, suv, car... whathaveyou, I do know of a coupla brought out by logtruck even. I do not for one minute beleive anyone hauled an elk on their back all the way to the stove. I do beleive some of ya have ate a few elk in the backcountry because you couldn't get them out. go ahead and badmouth the rigs, but you all use them.

 

[Mntman]

Yes I ahve used my truck once to get an elk into the tree so I could lower it into the bed by myself without having to quarter it.
mtmiller: I have shot the fewest elk. 1 to date, last year!
I have helped others pack out their elk though.
ATV and off road driving are considered illegal/discourteous by us, even though they say it is okay to do to recover game.
My $0.01

 

[Wally Dog]

I gotta come clean. I have used and ATV to get an elk out. ONE ELK. Every other one (40 + or -)that either myself of those in my group have whacked have come out of the woods on either pack frames, 1 wheel game carts or mules/horses. You see, I just don't have that big boner that some do for the motorized rigs. And I CAN sleep at night.
Those who chastise the ATV clan (many of which are sensible law abiding hunters) can
surely continue to puff their chests and proclaim "I just won't own one".
WD

 

[JoseCuervo]

Anybody else notice that nobody has posted "I have shot 20 Elk while sittin' my Fat-Ass on my ATV, and got them all out with the ATV."?

I just counted up 191+ Elk (+/30), that had been hauled out without ATVs on this thread, and the only ones to use an ATV were Wally Dog for 1 out of 40 Elk, and CJ used his truck for "Many" Elk.

You don't suppose that ATV's not only ruin other people's hunts, but also the Fat-Ass's that is sittin' on it???

 

[Moosie]

I've never used a 4-wheeler.....

 

[JoseCuervo]

YOu used a ATV to pack out that Calf??

 

[Troy Jones]

At least Moosie wiped the milk off the calf's lips before he took the picture.

 

[Moosie]

Yes Sir... It was my First Elk. And the Following 2 made up for it. Although the following 2 were both Spikes. You've been hunting with my Gunner... I'm guessing I don't fall in the "Can't walk and need an ATV" crowd. Although I'll be the first to tell you it's a Fuggin Blast and If I hunted an Area were I could Use them I definately would. We got Warrens Moose out most of the way with a 4-wheeler and Wylees antlerless Muzz late season critter out as well.

 

[cjcj]

Gunner Gunner Gunner! I am so glads that you can add up all of those non ATV packed out elk but i know that you know "most "elk are picked up with a truck or ATV when it is legal to do so.