Removing an elk head in the field

[AvidIndoorsman]

Posting this simply because it took me a long time to figure out how to do this quickly and efficiently.

With a bit of practice you can get an elk/moose/deer/beer whatever skull off with a replaceable blade knife I use a havalon, you don't need a saw/fixed blade/hatchet.

The skin/tongue/lower jaw on a elk are an extra 15lbs of weight so it's well worth taking the time at the kill site to do this work.

Eastman's has a great video on getting the head off.

Lower jaw can be frustrating the first time you do it in the field on a big critter.

The key is to sever all the muscle that connects the jaw. Green is the first cut to get the skull off, red are the cuts you should make before removing the jaw. Not shown, cut the tongue out.

I remove the tongue, cut the cheeks all the way back, remove the eyes and the tissue behind them, and then cut the muscles below and behind the antler pedicle.


Essentially remove everything in circled + eye and tongue.


If you spend five mins and remove all of this first you should be able to force the jaw open and pull the lower jaw down and off of the skull.

I can do this on a pronghorn with hardly any cuts, on an elk it behooves you to do a lot of trimming.

 

[Irrelevant]

Every time I think I have it all done, on the first go, with an elk I'm wrong. I always have a couple of extra rounds of cutting before that dang lower jaw pulls down. Good vid on head removal though.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

Every time I think I have it all done, on the first go, with an elk I'm wrong. I always have a couple of extra rounds of cutting before that dang lower jaw pulls down. Good vid on head removal though.

Plus it's always the last thing you do, so your whooped and it's usually dark... or hot... and so it can be aggravating if you don't have someone to show you what to do.

I'm sure members who grew up hunting think this is old hat and a silly post, but it took me a bit to figure out on my own.

 

[daltrix99]

Very informative post, thank you! I've been intimidated by this technique on all of the elk I've killed, and have not had anyone with me who knew how to do it, so I've just been carrying that extra 15lbs. Saving this for next year.

 

[teej89]

Good stuff! I remember the first time attempting to take a head off "just like a whitetail" I thought. Ha! Damn near got knocked out and or stabbed by antlers trying to twist it off without enough cutting.