Packing Story

[WapitiTalk1]

The other packing thread (and some of the posts) got me thinking about the wildest ways we've packed out elk. Packboard, old school style? Tarp on snow down a steep mountain? Drug a whole animal out? Quarters on your shoulder (not me BTW)? Ridiculously heavy packs? Please, share some of your most memorable (or most forgettable) elk pack outs. RJ

A quick one from me, three friends and I thought it would be a great idea to drag a cow out whole a 1/2 a mile to my truck.. Yeah, that was fun.

[cnelk]

here is 'after the pack' story...
Many years ago when we shot the elk up in november, and when i had horses, i gave a ride to my buddy on an elk hide drug by the horse.
We covered 2 miles in about 7 minutes!
Man do those elk hides slide on the snow


in 2003 we shot 3 elk one morning during archery. 4 miles in.
We got 2 elk out that day, the 3rd the next morning.
THAT was a pack.

[CrazyElkHunter]

My most memorable was in 1999. I shot my bull on Fri. the day before muzzle loading season and my hunting partners from Texas and Georgia were not due in camp until Sun. It took me 3 days to get all the meat off the mountain due to being so far from camp and down in a canyon. It was a special year also because it was the 1st time one of my 3 daughters was able to go on one of my elk hunts and experience what I love to do. We have been using pack frames on our backs for over 30 years. Never had the luxury of horses or mules. Getting older with bad knees and back, I started inviting younger friends to join me on my trips to help with getting elk off the mountain.

[WapitiTalk1]

here is 'after the pack' story... Many years ago when we shot the elk up in november, and when i had horses, i gave a ride to my buddy on an elk hide drug by the horse. We covered 2 miles in about 7 minutes! Man do those elk hides slide on the snow. In 2003 we shot 3 elk one morning during archery. 4 miles in. We got 2 elk out that day, the 3rd the next morning. THAT was a pack.

Elk hide human skidding Three elk with archery equipment during one morning? Both classic (skidding) and amazing (3 in one morning)... Great times for sure.... Thanks for sharing these adventures in the elk woods.

[cnelk]

here is 'after the pack' story... Many years ago when we shot the elk up in november, and when i had horses, i gave a ride to my buddy on an elk hide drug by the horse. We covered 2 miles in about 7 minutes! Man do those elk hides slide on the snow. In 2003 we shot 3 elk one morning during archery. 4 miles in. We got 2 elk out that day, the 3rd the next morning. THAT was a pack.

Elk hide human skidding Three elk with archery equipment during one morning? Both classic (skidding) and amazing (3 in one morning)... Great times for sure.... Thanks for sharing these adventures in the elk woods.

Yep. Ask PIKEMASTER on here... he was one of the 3... his first archery bull

[Swede]

Maybe the ugliest pack out I ever experienced was in about 1973. I killed an elk on the wrong side of a flooding creek in November. The weather had warmed up enough and turned to a hard rain so the stream was overflowing. My friend and I waded In and across in chest high water to get to the elk. The first time we tried we could not find the elk as it had turned dark on us. We came back the following morning. Still the stream was at flood stage coming down out of the mountains. Again we waded in, hanging onto a rope life line, just in case. But this time we found the elk, Fortunately it was in perfect condition. It was fairly easy to pull whole it down to the stream bank. The fun part was getting it across to where we needed it. Again it was our good fortune that the rope was strong enough to handle the elk in the rushing stream so we were able to pull it across with the Jeep.

[>>>---WW---->]

The first elk I ever shot was back in the winter of 78. We were hunting at 10,000 ft and the truck was parked on the road side at around 8500 ft. It was a straight shot down hill (very steep down hill) to the truck. There was lots of snow on the ground and the elk wasn't all that big. Also, I was young and dumb so I wrestled the elk around pointed head first down hill and tied a rope on it and started pulling. The mountain side was so steep that the elk kept sliding faster than I could get out of the way. So I figured I'd just hop on and ride it like a sled. It worked pretty well but elk sliding on the snow don't have a steering wheel and we got hung up on several trees and bushes on the way down. So every once in awhile I'd have to get off and get the whole mess untangled and pointed back down hill. Other than a few scrapes and scratches, it wasn't all that bad of a pack. OOPS! I mean ride. LOL!

[pikemaster]

Hike 4 miles in

shoot bull and a cow same spot 10 mins apart

shoot 2nd bull 1/4 mile away 40 min later

equals-- what the heck were we thinking.

This had to be one of the longest days I have ever experienced. First part was awfully fun though.

[elkmtngear]

Bill, your "sleigh ride" story reminded me of this one:

We had this (archery) bull down on a ridiculously steep oakbrush slope. Had to tie him off to keep him from sliding away on us. Got him quartered and hung. A long way from the rig, we opted to hike to the valley floor (about 8 miles) and try to hitch a ride to a pay phone and call a friend of ours.

Our Buddy brought his horses in there the next day. Couldn't get the horses within 500 yards of him. So our buddy with the horses went back down to the main trail to try to cut underneath and meet me on the sidehill, as I skidded quarters down about 500 yards. To make matters worse, it started snowing, so the last couple of loads, I basically sledded the quarters in game bags down the mountain.

Our buddy could only bring one horse and the mule under the bull. So we loaded them up.

As soon as we started walking, the mule started to slide, so he instinctively stuck his front legs straight out, and sat down on his back legs. Down the hill he went like that, for about 70 yards. We kept yelling "Whoah Musket...." He finally came to a stop.

It was dark now, and nobody had a flashlight. We were having trouble finding the other horses, until we finally heard them. Walking out, we couldn't find the trail, because the heavy snow had bent all the brush over it. It was a complete white out.

Our friend told the lead horse "Go home, Buddy".....and I hung on to the mule's tail for dear life as that train of horses walked off that mountain...knowing there were sheer slopes on both sides in certain areas. Truly the "pack out from hell", but we made it out of there, cold wet and miserable. A hot shower never felt so good! Thank goodness for having good friends.

[slim9300]

I have told this one a few times...

I killed a cow about an hour before last light in early December of 2006 in Western WA. By the time the pics were taken, the temps dropped a few degrees and it started sleeting on us and blowing like most haven't seen. (30-40 mph wind and bad PNW nastiness) We were 8 miles from the truck and it was steep uphill on logging roads the entire way. One guy normally took the entire elk on my bike pulled game cart down to the lower gate in this area, which is about 8 downhill miles. And one guy would go uphill to get the truck and drive it 45 minutes around. The problem was that the shale rock was so icy and slick that the bike couldn't even begin to slow down the loaded trailer on the STEEP slopes. It kept jackknifing on Scott and knocking the bike over. The reluctant decision was made to pull the bikes and the trailer uphill the entire way to the truck.

We left around 5:30pm (well after dark) and neither of us had raingear (something we haven't forgotten since). Within 30 minutes of walking directly into the driving sleet and wind, we were both soaked and freezing cold. About halfway through the brutal uphill grind, my partner and I were both starting to show signs of hypothermia. We debated leaving the animal and coming back the next day, but since it was a sunday we both had to get back for school and we decided to keep pushing on. The next few miles we continued to question our sanity and second guess our decision making. Scott would push me verbally at times and I would push him at other times. As we reached a point about a mile from the truck, the fog rolled in thick and we somehow took the wrong road heading us about 200 yards downhill until be realized that their was no downhill to the truck. At this point I think I may have broken mentally and physically for the first time in my life; my hands had been 100% numb for hours and my legs beyond jello. Lets just say moral was really low, but Scott pushed me on and eventually we arrived at the truck at about 1am. We held our hands in front of the heater vents on my old Tacoma for about 40 minutes until the feeling came back (I'm not exaggerating either). A few hour nap was in order and then we loaded everything up, and headed out around 4am.

Now it's just a memory we bring up on tough pack outs and laugh. Scott will say, "Nothing will ever suck as bad as that f-ing late season cow you shot down in the ----- valley."

Here's the pic...

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1366335769.647373.jpg (131.41 KiB) Viewed 3816 times

[welka]

Buddy killed a huge 6x7 that kept following cows after it was hit. It was a 45 minute walk from the logging road up to the bull from the nearest logging road (easier walking). We could see the top of the mountain and swore it was only 10 minutes up and we could get the truck to within 50 yards of the top. Unless if unavoidable, will NOT make that mistake again. Took 3 of us 2 trips at about 3 hours each straight up. Needless to say, there was a fair amount of napping in the woods the next 2 days!