Gutless method

[Bambistew]

So lets say you have a big azz bull on the ground, you'er by yourself... Do you go gutless or gut and come back with help? If so how long does it take to get things handled?

I've been around a 'few' elk kill sites. Man it took me about 3 hours to go from dead elk to rendered quarters hanging in a tree. Does that sound about right?

p.s I was alone and scared.

 

[csutton7]

good question--done a few deer gutless, but never an elk--still I would say it will take some time---gutting doesn't take that much time when you get right down to it---may give it a shot this year if we bag one----chris

 

[ERSS]

I think a couple hours give or take, depending on what kind of situation your in ( level ground, etc. ) is about right.

What are ya scared of in Colorado? I know there have been a few people mauled, and even killed, in Idaho and Montana in the past few years by Griz while gutting thier elk....but there is no Griz in CO. Can you carry a pistol in CO while archery hunting?

 

[Oak]

What are ya scared of in Colorado?

Did you see the bull he killed? He was probably scared he had somehow ended up in the wrong state.

I don't have friends, so I would be on my own. I always do the gutless method and debone them now. It takes quite a while for one person to break down a big bull. I think the last one took me close to three hours before I left with the first load.

 

[Ovis]

I don't have friends

Hey now...what the hell am I, chopped liver? I'd drive to CO to help you pack a bull.

 

[nmtaxi]

Definately gutless for me. I used it twice in Alaska last year. Once once on my caribou and again on my moose. Very quick method of disassembling an animal.

 

[schmalts]

I can do a deer or lope in less than a half hour but a big bull is a whole lot different and always had a partner help, so I do not know how long it would take by myself. In all honesty if I killed an elk last week any day but the first I would have had a good chance of at least losing some of the meat. Another reason solo elk hunting is not good.
I talked to a couple guys at DEN on my layover that got elk and both lost the meat. One was because they did not find it until the morning after he shot it and it was bad over night and the other because of time to get it out. Just to warm even in the shade some days over there.

 

[drahthaar]

Depends on when you kill it. If its close to dark, I gut it so it can get cooled off. Come back with help. If its early, then just start skinning and deboning.

 

[GatoMan]

Takes me around hour and half-2 if its on decent ground where I can roll it easy. I also pack a good quality saw with me vs. the pos knucklebuster wyoming saws or uncle mikes, it makes splitting quarters alot easier and faster. Of course you probably were dealing with being more cautious with its cape etc, so yeah that would take longer.

 

[ERSS]

Oak,
Your right about that. If I had a bull like his down, I would be afraid of waking up from the dream

 

[Oak]

Hey now...what the hell am I, chopped liver? I'd drive to CO to help you pack a bull.

I'll remember that.

 

[JoseCuervo]

I'll remember that.

That is funny. One of the guys I have hunted Elk with for 15 years has a string of mules and horses at his ranch. He always says it will only take 4 hours to drive down and get them when we "need" them.

Every time we knock down a bull, he always figures it will only take us 4 hours if we all go in with packframes and haul it out....

|oo |oo

 

[Oak]

That is funny. One of the guys I have hunted Elk with for 15 years has a string of mules and horses at his ranch. He always says it will only take 4 hours to drive down and get them when we "need" them.

Every time we knock down a bull, he always figures it will only take us 4 hours if we all go in with packframes and haul it out....

|oo |oo

Yeah, that's the thing. Anybody that would be willing to help would also be at least a few hours away, plus the drive to cell phone service just to call them. I always pack out one load when I kill it, so with only 2-3 more loads, it's not worth calling someone.

 

[sreekers]

Never done the gutless method. Was tempted to with where I got my spike last year. Ended up getting the horse anyway.

 

[TOM IN TENNESSEE]

At my age and old knees, I do it the easy way.....I watch the guide climb down into the frigging Hell Hole with my binocs while he guts. I then climb back up and head to the horses, he usually catches me. While he rides back to camp to get pack horses and panniers, I lead my horse and find and blaze a trail on the verticle slope down to kill that no more than one horse will break a leg on. I assist in quartering and loading then grab a horse's tail to get me the hell outta there and swear I will never kill one in a place like that again only to repeat...

 

[Dinkshooter]

It depends where it fell. I had a big bodied bull on a steep hill that kicked my arse for close to 5 hours once.

2-3 hours gutless, boned out and hanging in game bags.

I go faster when I am alone and scared as well

 

[Ovis]

I'll remember that.

It is the thought that counts.

 

[IDHunters]

With the gutless method do you end up skinning to get the backstraps? How do you get the tenderloins and rib meat?

Do you pack out the bones or de-bone on the mtn?

Last deer I got I gutted him, cut him in 1/2 and packed him in 2 trips. Wasn't too far. If it were farther I would have de-boned him.

 

[noharleyyet]

Gutless field dressing

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is now recommending hunters in areas with chronic wasting disease leave the skull and nervous tissue of harvested deer and elk in the field. The following method of "gutless" field dressing, which is recommended in a new book by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation called "Elk Hunter's Cook Book and Meat Care Guide," is a good way to leave unnecessary parts behind.


*Position the animal with the feet downhill. Make a cut through the hide from the base of the skull down the backbone to the tail. Make a cut through the hide behind the shoulder and go all the way around the ribs to the brisket.

*Skin the front shoulder. Talk to your taxidermist before going into the field if you are saving the cape for mounting.

*Pull the front leg up and remove by cutting it free from the rib cage. Remove as much meat from the rib and neck as possible. Place in a game bag and hang to cool.

*Skin the hind quarter.

*Remove the hind quarter by cutting against the pelvic bone until you reach the ball and socket joint. Place in a game bag, then cut through the ligament holding things together. Hang to cool.

*Remove the remaining meat by cutting along the backbone from the pelvis to the head, then peel down. Remove all the remaining meat with this piece. Bag, then hang to cool.

*Remove the tenderloins by reaching under the section of the backbone between the ribs and pelvis, then pull free. You may need to cut to loosen the ends.

*Roll the carcass over and repeat the process.

-- Courtesy Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation

 

[Tom]

I've only had help. That big and alone would be lots of work, several hours for me, I'm sure. Isn't that the main reason to hunt elk in groups, getting them out?

I know an amazing guy from CO who did it himself with a WY moose, he's not that big of a guy either, that is totally amazing to me, but likes to hunt alone and he did it.