Packing out elk

[Madison COunty]

What is the furthest distance that you have packed a elk out on your back?

[Swede]

The farthest I have packed one out is 1 1/3 GPS miles. I hunt a well roaded area. That pack out was straight up and out of a canyon. Fortunately I had plenty of help.

[Indian Summer]

13 miles. 2 bushwhacking and the rest on an old mining claim road. That was my first bull back when I thought it was necessary to go that far to hunt. Since then probably 5 miles but only one time. The rest about 2 or less. In 2012 in Wyoming a little less than a mile of gradual downhill... entire bull head and all on a one wheeled game cart in 1 trip....like a dream.

[otcWill]

5 miles or so, 3+ off trail, but most between 1-3

[cnelk]

5 miles is the most here too.
Typically between 1 - 3.
Sometimes less than 1 mile

To put it in perspective:

In 2003 me and two buddies hiked in 4 miles one morning via closed roads
We shot 3 elk - 2 bulls and one cow. Dressed them out and hiked back out to the truck to get pack frames
8 miles

Then we drove around the mountain and bushwacked 2 miles in to the elk.
We made 2 trips to get two of the elk out that day.
8 miles

The next morning we hiked in via the closed road system to get the 3rd elk.
8 miles.

24 miles in just over 24 hours.

[BrentLaBere]

1.5 miles according to the gps. 3 trips.

[Still Hunter]

Farther than I should have.

[stringunner]

A little less than 2 miles in Wyoming. In Oregon 1.24 according to the gps. 2-3 trips for each one.

[Washington Wapiti]

Just under 3 miles from kill site to rigs this first time. We will see what the future holds. Mine was a 3 phase process. I forgot my stupid "meat pack," at home but we had a utility cart (not a game cart) and a big cooler with a pretty burly wheel attachement. There's also gated off logging roads that weave in and out of the area and intersect the trail systems. Sooo . . . Phase 1: With the cart parked at the top end of the trail and on the logging road, we hiked the quarters from the kill site to the cart. About 1/8 to a 1/4 mile. This SUCKED without a pack. The hind quarters we carried out "Hawaiin Style" with a burly branch shoved between the legbone and tendon, and one of us on each side. Then we each muscled a front quarter up to the cart (making a couple rest stops LOL), and then one more trip for the loose meat (neck meat, backstraps, etc). We ratchet strapped the quarters down and wheeled the cart about 3/4 of a mile back to camp, with the loose meat in our mid-sized packs. We left the head at the kill site for the time being. My brother hiked out and went home because he had to work the next day. I went to work on the quarters, skinning and deboning all the meat, bagged it all up, hung what I could myself, and left the rest on the cart to ventilate and cool. The cart worked out well, sitting about 1.5 feet off the ground and made out of that steel mesh grating, so plenty of air circulation for that first night. My brother joined me the next night, and over the next few days we did the alternating between hanging at night and keeping cool in the shade during the day thing. We hiked in 3 bags of ice on one of those days also. Phase 2: Three days later we went back for the head with cart in tow and brought it back to camp. Phase 3: On Sept 8th, our final day, we hiked out all the meat and head from camp to the rigs in one trip using the cart and cooler. 1.5 miles one way. Hiked back in, broke down camp and carried it all out in one last trip. I'm pretty sure that all totals up to much more than just "under 3 miles" . . . but you get the idea.

[elk.addict]

About 5.5 - 6 miles (actual distance, not as the crow flies). But this year I set a season record at just over 45 miles, counting all the trips between my elk and others I helped out.

[fm]

Two and a half miles. Shortest was just after I left a county road I spotted a cow that I was able to shoot and she rolled down to the road.

[easeup]

the farthest on a frame was 4 miles for me. the last one on a frame was 2 miles which made for 20 miles in two days when you are solo.

most of the time I have the A game working so there is no pack frame required......see >>>>-------------------------->

[jmez]

6.8 miles because I'm a moron and dropped into the wrong drainage and packed the elk away from the truck!!

[WapitiTalk1]

Close to 4 miles for the longest. Closest was about 1/2 mile.

[kevin_t]

5.5 miles

[Lefty]

My first elk I slid into the shade 100 yards downhill,.. And some fellow came by with his horses that "needed the experience"
Others were in locations that with skillful and slow driving ( and legal) We could get to them with a snowmachine ATV or pickup.
I dont think that will happen with my next elk

[FemoralArchery]

4.69 miles.

[Z Barebow]

2.54 GPS miles. Actually mileage may vary! LOL!

[msd1228]

The hind quarters we carried out "Hawaiin Style" with a burly branch shoved between the legbone and tendon, and one of us on each side.

On the first elk I ever shot I was with a fella who had never hunted anything before, and I was purely a deer hunter myself still. I didn't realize at the time that the pack I was using was completely inadequate to carry even a single quarter. We weren't smart enough to at least shove the stick through the tendon like you guys did - we made 2 trips at 1.5 miles each with a front and a rear quarter + bags of trim and backstraps/tenderloins hanging off the pole about 6 inches. To say things got interesting when those quarters got to swaying would be an understatement! One of the worst (or should I say painful) but, in hindsight, fun and funny experiences of my life. My buddy and I have talked about that night at least once every few weeks ever since. We really were nothing more than acquaintances on the day we went hunting - he was just a guy I knew who wanted to try something new, but we have been inseparable ever since, and its been years now. Funny how the best friendships can form during times of mental and physical strain.

[Washington Wapiti]

The hind quarters we carried out "Hawaiin Style" with a burly branch shoved between the legbone and tendon, and one of us on each side.

On the first elk I ever shot I was with a fella who had never hunted anything before, and I was purely a deer hunter myself still. I didn't realize at the time that the pack I was using was completely inadequate to carry even a single quarter. We weren't smart enough to at least shove the stick through the tendon like you guys did - we made 2 trips at 1.5 miles each with a front and a rear quarter + bags of trim and backstraps/tenderloins hanging off the pole about 6 inches. To say things got interesting when those quarters got to swaying would be an understatement! One of the worst (or should I say painful) but, in hindsight, fun and funny experiences of my life. My buddy and I have talked about that night at least once every few weeks ever since. We really were nothing more than acquaintances on the day we went hunting - he was just a guy I knew who wanted to try something new, but we have been inseparable ever since, and its been years now. Funny how the best friendships can form during times of mental and physical strain.

Desperation breeds invention MSD! Those hind quarters were easily 100 to 110 pounds a piece with bone-in and hide still on. Throw in 60 yards of heavy vegetation from kill site to the trail and then a consistent uphill slope of maybe 30 degrees to the cart for an 1/8 of a mile or so . . . we couldn't have done it any other way. Still not an easy way to do it either. Kills the lower back and shoulders. Don't ever forget a hauling pack!

[WapitiTalk1]

Myself and three hunting buddies thought it would be a good idea to drag a cow out whole one year. It was a two year old Roosey cow on the Washington penninsula (1989 or 1990). I shot her about 1/3 mile from where I had parked my truck. Gutted the elk, somewhat sewed up the chest cavity and away we went. Oh ya, that was a great idea

[Washington Wapiti]

Myself and three hunting buddies thought it would be a good idea to drag a cow out whole one year. It was a two year old Roosey cow on the Washington penninsula (1989 or 1990). I shot her about 1/3 mile from where I had parked my truck. Gutted the elk, somewhat sewed up the chest cavity and away we went. Oh ya, that was a great idea

LOL, oh man . . . that is brutal RJ! It's good to know my little sewing kit I carry with me in the field has more potential uses.