Pack out

[Mathewsz7-elkridge]

What has been your farthest/hardest pack out? How long did it take you? How much help did you have? What was the the gain and declines in elevation? Wondering all of this because every time I look at the map the ridge on the other side I was planning to hunt looks better haha. Just want to know what my limitations are before I am there so I can plan my hunting areas out.

[Swede]

I think my hardest pack out was my last. It was a solo effort and not my farthest nor was it especially tough terrain. I was tired when I started and beat by the time I finished. I have packed out 1 1/3 mile as shown on my GPS. It was uphill all the way, but I had plenty of help so it was not too bad. Every pack out situation is different. Even the weather is a factor. My thought is to be a little conservative in how far you think you can pack out an elk.

[Elkhunttoo]

I've packed out lots of times 4+ miles and those were the easy trips... Sometimes I love my horses ... A couple of miles by your self can be tough... My hardest trip was only 2 miles and not much elevation, I just thought I was tougher than I really am ... If you are aloud to debone I highly recommend it... It saves a ton of weight.... I do all of my own butchering so if I have time I clean it up as much as I can so that I'm packing the good weight... I hate packing out a ton and then looking at all the weight I carry out that isn't eatable

[Tigger]

3 miles uphill 95% of the time (ironically, the 5% downhill was the scariest as it was in some thick, steep stuff). The last day of the hunt after having wet feet for 4 days. Got back to the trailhead at 2:30 am.

I think 2 huge variables, more than distance or elevation gain....well maybe not more, but at least equal....is your physical condition and how much weight you are carrying. 6 miles on flat ground with 40 pounds on day 2 is a snap compared to the opposite!

[Mathewsz7-elkridge]

3 miles uphill 95% of the time (ironically, the 5% downhill was the scariest as it was in some thick, steep stuff). The last day of the hunt after having wet feet for 4 days. Got back to the trailhead at 2:30 am.

I think 2 huge variables, more than distance or elevation gain....well maybe not more, but at least equal....is your physical condition and how much weight you are carrying. 6 miles on flat ground with 40 pounds on day 2 is a snap compared to the opposite!

Makes sense. I would say I am in pretty good shape. Has any one packed over 6 miles with 2 people no horses? I have been hiking with 80 pounds and the first half mile sucks after that it's not bad.

[Elkhunttoo]

With 2 people packing you are looking at 3 loaded trips, one for gear and two for meat...might get by with two trips depending on gear and size of elk.

[BRazz]

Wondering all of this because every time I look at the map the ridge on the other side I was planning to hunt looks better haha.

I get that - I know the feeling!

Distance is really only one part of the equation. We've had some packouts less than a mile that were absolutely brutal - usually due to bushwhacking across downed trees up a steep hill. If you are packing on your back, I expect five heavy loads of quartered elk (including a head and gear). If you debone, maybe three. And traveling four miles down a gradual slope on a maintained trail is not a big deal.

[Mathewsz7-elkridge]

Wondering all of this because every time I look at the map the ridge on the other side I was planning to hunt looks better haha.

I get that - I know the feeling!

Distance is really only one part of the equation. We've had some packouts less than a mile that were absolutely brutal - usually due to bushwhacking across downed trees up a steep hill. If you are packing on your back, I expect five heavy loads of quartered elk (including a head and gear). If you debone, maybe three. And traveling four miles down a gradual slope on a maintained trail is not a big deal.

Yeah I figure hin quarter a piece one load, front shoulder and a back strap a piece plus neck Meat second load. Head unless mounting can come out any time. I figure it's well worth hiking a little extra to hit a trail. Bushwhacking always suck for long distance. I get there are a lot of things that make a pack easy or hard. Just looking for some average to max pack out distances.

[Ryan Conkle]

My bull from last year was approximately 5 miles' deep, we had a total of 3 guys' and were able to do it in one trip, although it was pretty brutal. We left camp at first light in the morning and were back at the trailhead at 03:00-04:00 p.m. Even though most of the pack out was going down the mountain, that definitely does not always mean an easier time, especially since it had been raining and had soaked everything on the mountain. Myself and one guy had a hind quarter each on our pack frames', while the backstraps', tenderloins', scrap meat and front shoulder meat had all been deboned and put into buckets', which all 3 of us took turns passing around. We did not have a third pack frame at that time for the other guy, which would have made the trip a little easier. I had killed the bull the evening before and had caped him out and brought the head and pelt down that evening, so we did not have to account for that while packing the meat out.

[snowbank]

Toughest trip. 2 of us. 130 lb packs, 5 miles down a uuncut cedar creek bottom with about an 8% creek. The logs were 3-4ft in diameter and occurred about every 100 ft. There was at least 70 creek crossings. After that every elk came out on horses. My partner swore off on elk hunting an never went again. Truely a watershed experience.

[saddlesore]

The only thing I have packed on my back was a mountain goat. All the meat, including cape and head, 2500 ft elevation again from a11,000 ft camp. Then packed it back out to camp and then the next day 5-6 miles to the truck.
That convinced me that it won't happen again. Everything gets packed on mules now.

[Brendan]

I only have two to choose from, but this year was 3 loads by myself as i was hunting solo.

Shot my bull before 7 AM, had him completely broken down, in game bags, and hanging from a meat pole in a creek bottom near a trail about 3/4 mile away from the kill by 1:30 or so. Made it to spike camp 3 miles away from there with the first load of meat and antlers late afternoon, back to the truck an additional 3 miles away by 6 - 6:30 pm after breaking and packing up camp. Those last 3 miles were downhill on a trail, and brutal, for 6 miles of packing out that day.

Day two was two loads - 4 miles in, 4 miles out for an additional 16 miles all on a good creek bottom trail. Moved to a new trailhead, Started hiking around 6, was finished by 1-2.

Grand total - 22 miles after hunting hard for 10 days. Roughly 200 lbs of meat and antlers before any of my gear. Elevation change wasn't super significant for me, and most of it was on trails after the initial ferrying I had to do.

To say I was beat up would be an understatement - but got it done.

[N2mywake]

In 2009 on the last day of our hunt before packing out we went over the mt to the next valley and got after a herd. I broke off from my dad and buddy after we thought we'd blown our setup, and was still able to get the bull.
We had to get it back to camp and I had just made it 12 weeks from back surgery...
It took 3 of us 2 trips over the mountain I. Rain, sleet and snow to get it back to camp. I killed him about 7:50am and it was 10pm before the last load was in camp.
We were all whooped. If an elk would have walked in the tent the next morning no one would have shot it... Lol. I was so happy to see the horses arrive the next morning.

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[pointysticks]

i was much younger, but arguably in worst shape.

my first elk. unit 36 NM. brother and i hunting, but we had two friends along to help with whatever...whatever turned out to be a five mile hike out with maxed out loads. most of it was downhill, but it was a steep downhill..super steep downhill.

my brother toppled elk#2 the next day about 0.5 miles further up. it was the two most strenous days of my hunting life. the climb up the next morning was soul sucking..and when that elk fell over,,it was "oh no..what did you do?"

[olympushunt]

My worst one was my 2013 bull. It was down in a deep canyon....one of those where it's 3 feet up for every 1 foot horizontal. Ugly. When we finished loading the boned out meat we were looking at another game bag that had about another 20 lbs of meat. My buddy's pack was already more weight than mine. He is an animal and could probably pack half a horse if needed. He asked me if I thought I could handle that extra weight. I said no. He says "That is going to suck for you to come back all this way for 20lbs." I laughed and said..."ok throw it on." It was only 2 miles but it sucked. We would hop scotch each other as to not lose track of each other. It was head down and plow. I remember him asking me if I was ok and I simply said "No" and he also asked if I thought I was going to make it and I just said "I don't know." It was the honest truth. At certain points I thought I would have to ditch some weight but the thought of going back for more wasn't all that appealing.
In hind sight make more trips if it means doing it safer.

[Swede]

Back in the 90s I sure learned the hard way what Oly did in 2013. I was alone and decided to pack out the front half of a medium sized elk in one trip from below Spike. It was a monumental task, even though it was barely 1/2 mile on a moderate uphill climb. It was a struggle to stand up. I began by first lying down and rolling the pack on to my back. then I brought my knees up under me then stood. It would have been much easier to at least remove the shoulders of the carcass first, then go back. How dumb. Like father, like son.

[WapitiTalk1]

Several come to mind, but, I think one of my absolute worst was a Roosey cow on the Washington peninsula back in 1988ish? In our infinite wisdom (myself and two other Army buddies), we thought we would merely just drag my field dressed cow out "whole". It was relatively flat ground and only 1/2 mile to the truck. Really great idea . One guy grabbed the rope attached to the upper neck of the cow and the other two guys each grabbed a front leg. Through the brush and over blow down we went, dragging said cow. By the time we got it to the truck and loaded, I was so beat down that I could barely move. Won't be playing that game again, ever.

[Elkduds]

About 1992, hunting solo in October, central CO. @ 1st light I was 3/4 of a mile and 800' of elevation above the truck, looking for the herd I put to bed the night before. Found them 300 yards below the ridge top, on the opposite side of the ridge from the truck. Considering the haul to the vehicle, I selected a calf and dropped it. Field dressed, cut it into rear and front halves, left the hide on for the drag to the truck. I had a fanny pack and some rope. 1st challenge was pulling both halves up 300 yards to the ridgetop. I left rifle and pack on top of the ridge. Tied the rope to both legs of the front half, stepped between the legs, put the rope across the front of my belt, and commenced walking/dragging up the hill. Sage, downed aspen, bare rocks, steeply up. Then ditto w the hind half, which dragged easier. 9:30 am, getting sore and tired, but all downhill from here. Turns out it was incredibly hard dragging calf halves downhill; stuck on every log, tripped my heels, wore welts on my hands through gloves where I held the rope off my hips. I did it in relays, taking gun and pack a few hundred yards, then bringing each half that far. About 3 pm I got the last half to the truck, much of the hair rubbed off the hide, and cramps in places I never knew I had. The meat was fine. I walked oddly for days, and could not ungrip my fingers. A pack frame and the gutless method would have reduced my effort, time and pain by more than half. Lesson learned.