Breaking down your elk must have item(s)

[Tuffcrk14]

Breaking down an elk has almost always involved getting myself cut or poked by my knife. I try to be careful, but I’m always feeling rushed in this process and sh*t happens. Between trying to beat darkness, heat, or a griz, it always feels like a battle against time to get an elk out of the woods. Last season I bought some cut resistant gloves off of Amazon and it has proven to be one of the best purchases I could have made for this process. For anyone looking, I bought the “Schwer Proguard PR3326 gloves” they claim to have the highest rating for preventing cuts. I used them for the whole process of breaking down my elk and they worked flawlessly. When I got home, I threw them in a bucket of water and some detergent with my game bags and they are good as new again. If your hand size teeters between Large and X-Large, go with an X-Large. The Large is a little tighter than I like, but bearable.

I would also recommend getting a cheap polyester tarp to lay quarters on to keep them clean. I have a Klymit roamer tarp that I found for $30, so I don’t care what happens to it. It’s been great to keep out of the rain and also great for keeping meat cleaner. The blood washes right off of it if you give it a soak too.

If anyone else has any great tips to share that has helped them in this part of the process, feel free to chime in and share!


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[7mmfan]

Essentials in my kill kit include:

- Travel size bottle of Dawn Dish soap
- Small roll of electrical tape
- 5x8 sheet of lightweight visqueen for quarters to be laid on
- Game bags I'm vacuum seal bags for space saving
- Clip-Shot camera holder for solo photo opps
- Snickers Bar

I also am prone to nicking myself when processing animals. Soap and electrical tape help me keep moving. I have considered cut resistant gloves, might need to try them.

Same idea as your tarp, cheap plastic visqueen. Invaluable for handling meat, especially if you're solo.

Snickers bar to remind myself to slow down and take a break.

[Lefty]

My kill kit consists of Two separate sources of supplies.

In my pack a gutting kniofe my FIL gave me my 1nd Christmas ( 15 days after my wife and I were married.
Pack a pull with extra cord.
This year 2 head lamps extra batteries,, each( learned that the hard way, Tons of fun packing out at 12:00-1:00 AM in Grizzly country)Florescent flagging wrapped around90-100 sq feet of painters plastic. Some paper towel and toilet paper, 2 small meat bags

My kill box a plastic Husky tool box, A browning , Winchester gutting and skinning knifes, Wiebe Red Fox and a dozen replacement blades,
Wiebe Skinnerhttps://www.wiebeknives.com/?srsltid=AfmBOopGwULgzCstAbUuowpaThSHhB3i0kHdKCl-EtCBo0dRiD5rYT8q , , Carbide/ ceramic knife sharpener
Large heavy ziploxk type bags for heart/ liver
Paper towels,
Para cord
Heavy plastics sheeting one small tarp, one kingsized cotton sheet
Gutting gauntlet gloves
1o lbs salt, bottles of Cayenne pepper
solar yard lights
more game bags
Meat pack ( for others

500 feet nylon rope, snatch pulley

Ah need to add back in a large plastic cutting board,,,
We have wrapped some meat in camp and froze it
Someone gave me one of those butt plugs,, Tried it on a deer and an elk,,, kind of worthless.
Andrew had s a table that he brings to camp for processing And some sort of ridiculous freezer in his pickup

[saddlesore]

Cheap Walmart poly drop cloth . About $2 , 2-3 ounces, 10' x 10'

Walgreens carries "Wound Seal". Small packets in a very small plastic container. Great for those small cuts and knicks .Think Quick Clot, but in small packs. About the size of Starbucks instant, 1 cup coffees

Super glue for bigger cuts.

Small spray bottle of peroxide to identify blood spots before you find the elk

Small container of chili powder to keep yellow jackets and flies off while processing.Works much better than black pepper.

Couple of zip ties to attach tag.