Keeping predators off your elk

[dapper]

What methods are used for keeping predators off your elk if its left overnight? I know if you get it boned out, you'd move the meat a ways from the carcass. But what if you can't take care of it until morning, so you gut it out for the night and in this case the intestines and the animal can't be separated by any great distance?
Does leaving ones sweaty clothes hanging in the vicinity work? Anybody have any experiences? Would it be worthwhile to carry a lightweight transistor radio to leave at the site?

Dan

[Swede]

Dan, if you can't move the carcass, and you have to leave, then you just take your chances. You can leave a sweaty piece of clothing and pack frame, but in the end there are no guarantees. The best thing is take the best pieces of meat with you, if possible, and get back as soon as possible.

[easeup]

the sweaty t shirt has always worked for me. I have had only one bull destroyed by the yotes. That was the one left uncovered in a blizzard before I heard of the sweaty clothes. With that said I have never hunted in grizz country.

[Indian Summer]

There are two kinds of meat bandits. Ground dwelling and those that fly. Birds will usually be the first to discover the kill site. The noise they make is often what attracts the others. Birds, especially ravens can do some damage for sure but leaving the hide on can minimize that. Also I find that even though they can get at what's in a tree they usually feed on the ground. Which brings me to the best way to eliminate all 4 leggers, except bears of course, and that is to hang quarters in a tree beyond the reach of coyotes. Lions don't feed on anything but their own kills really so they aren't a concern. And yes.... my stinky base layer has helped fend off some as well. One time I was hunting caribou in upper Quebec. The wolves were in the area and had literally stripped every scrap of meat off the bones of some hunters animals over night. I was the only one who left sweaty long johns and they never touched mine.

One thing I ALWAYS do is use the gutless method. Then when I'm all done I'll puncture the gut sack and since it rarely if ever flat ground where elk die I'll take a minute of my time and roll the main carcass downhill as far as I reasonably can. I've showed up the next day to find it torn up pretty good but it appeared as if they never noticed what was hanging in the trees uphill from that.

[Swede]

Dan, where I hunt we only have to deal with the birds, bears and coyotes. I have left some sweaty clothes. Some people say that helps, while others have told me it doesn't. I am satisfied that Indian Summer has a lot more experience with predators, and elk left over night than I have. Accepting the idea that you must leave the elk after only gutting it, means to me, your options are limited. I have never carried a transistor radio in my pack frame, but if you have one, it sure would not hurt. I might tune into some nauseating talk radio, and hope the predators were repulsed either by the sound of human voices or by what was being said.

[Toby]

My son in law shot a bull last year and when we went past the kill site a couple days later the carcass was covered with grass and dirt. I figured it was a cat, what do you more experienced guys say.

[Swede]

I found a bow kill site one time where the elk was covered up with grass. I found the site because of the birds squawking. When I got to it only small areas of the elk were showing. It had obviously been a week or maybe more since the elk was killed and it stunk and had flies and yellow jackets on it. I did not do an autopsy, but the only thing I know that covers up a carcass is a cat. I have seen where bears work and they tear and scatter things around. I have not found where bears cover things up. I have no experience with wolves, but would think they are similar to coyotes which do not cover a carcass.

[Indian Summer]

One time I had a client shoot a small bull that he and the guide swore ran south around the hill but they never found it. Two days later I was in a really thick patch of timber to the north and there it was smelling really bad. Half eaten by a black bear with bear sign all over and covered up with pine needles and dirt. The bear positioned itself uphill facing away from the carcass and like a dog dug with it's front paws covering the animal up. The carcasses I've seen covered by lions were always their own kills and were covered with leaves and twigs mostly. In my experience and the opinions of most houndsman I know lions are not scavengers that take advantage of road kill and kills from other predators. They seem to feed exclusively on their own kills. Of course a starving animal will always break the rules. Coyotes and wolves have a habit of doing just the opposite and make a decent living scavenging off of others and animals that die naturally.

How have you been Swede?

[elk.addict]

I don't care if I have to stay until 2:00 am; I always debone, store the meat in game bags and hang them up in a tree (away from the carcas/guts). Too many problems in the past (from grizzlies to birds) has inspired me to use this method, and I haven't had a problem since. And it's always nice to come back to haul meat when everything is ready to go.

[Toby]

I don't care if I have to stay until 2:00 am; I always debone, store the meat in game bags and hang them up in a tree (away from the carcas/guts). Too many problems in the past (from grizzlies to birds) has inspired me to use this method, and I haven't had a problem since. And it's always nice to come back to haul meat when everything is ready to go.

How high up do you hang the meat and how do you go about it?

[Swede]

I.S.: Thanks, I have been doing fine. I did not know bears cover dead animals. I am sure you are right as it makes sense. Do you have any theories on why they cover up a carcass? I have come upon other covered carcasses in the forest over time. I always attributed them to cougar kills. Usually they were not associated with hunting season, and I was either out working or occasionally scouting. Do lions travel far from their kill if they are still going to be feeding on it? I know of hunters that will watch a fresh lion kill planning to killing the kitty when it comes back.

[elk.addict]

How high up do you hang the meat and how do you go about it?

I don't hang it real high, about 7' I guess (about as high as I can reach and still tie off the rope). I think just about all the critters are more interested in the nearby guts and carcass than the meat bags. Hanging it just gives me better piece of mind and it helps cool the meat too.

[Indian Summer]

How high up do you hang the meat and how do you go about it?

Just out of reach. I'd agree with elk.addict, about 7 feet should do it. Every elk hunter should have some parachute cord in their pack. I suppose maybe not if you don't hunt mountain country. But I didn't say that made it easy. Tie it to the quarter or meat bag, toss the cord up over a branch, a smooth one of possible, and hoist it up. In some cases I'll climb up with the cord in my hand and lift it from above. Obviously if you have a helper it makes life easier. Hanging quarters is a great way to handle your elk. Not only minimizes damage by predators but lets air circulate all around helping to cool quickly.

Swede, in my experiences lions, unlike elk, don't travel very far on a daily basis regardless of if they have a kill. They may have a fairly lare home range but when the necessities they need are there such as game, they will make a movement from bed to hunting grounds and back. I once followed a lion track for two days of it's life. It would bed up high in the rocks and just drop down at night to hunt. Then back up. If you find a fresh kill the lion isn't very far. I can't speculate why bears or lions cover their food. Maybe so others don't smell it. Why do dogs bury their bones? Maybe the same train of thought.

[welka]

We always have had luck with the sweaty shirt AND take a leak in a circle around the elk. That includes one time where a bear tried to claim the bull and we had to bolt and come back with more noise.

[8seconds]

I've used the human scent method including the urinating method. I also have a bottle of caynenne pepper laced to my game bag with duct tape as another method of keeping critters off of the packed meat. I sprinkle it on the game bag from the outside and it doesn't impact the meat taste. And I hoist the meat into a tree as far as i can get from the carcass.

[Magic]

We lay limbs across a couple of logs to build a platform. The meat is enclosed in cheesecloth bags and liberally dosed with black pepper.

[Lefty]

I have always gotten the meat out before predators have found it.
My father in law has stories where the sweaty shirt, hiding the blood in the snow from birds building a fire, He believes all have worked and each had exceptions. He has had lots of worry trails built by black bears
He has lost a mountain goat and a elk bull to grizzlies , with clothes, pee and fire

Indian Summer Ive seen where a lion was the the first to a fresh road kill
One time I found a fawn mulie dead just hours in deep snow. that night the coyotes found it and ate about 1/2. the following night a lion hauled off the the rest: , just leg bones hide and part of the head were at the lions feeding sight

both situations were near deer yards after a new deep snow