Elk hunting ?'s

[Outwest]

If your'e going to backpack an elk out of the mountains from 9 miles back you had better shoot him at least 4 days before you have to head home and pray the temps are cool or you will have wasted a lot of meat.

Good luck
John

[RocketDog]

29 is a good age for packing elk.  It will make you both older and wiser.  I have never heard of anyone trying to do such a feat in the mountains in the Northwest, especially if you are liable to be making the trip alone.

Hunches are like shortcuts!  We have found elk in exactly the places we thought they would not be, and missed them in places they should have been.  If you have info on the area from people experienced in the area, that is good.  If you are just doing it because it is off the beaten path, there may be good reason for that.  Master the elk call!

If you are capable of carrying a 150# pack up and down hill for 9 miles you are in great shape.  In Idaho one of my nephews, then in his early 30's, bet me he could carry 200# of elk 5 miles back to camp.  He made it less than a mile in several hours.

A normal person carrying a normally heavy pack in the mountains will average between 1 and 2 miles per hour.  If you pile on 150 - 200# of elk, you won't move that fast.

More than once I have seen good men with heavy elk loads on foot do things that required someone to pack out both them and their meat.  If you are alone with a heavy pack and blow out an ankle or knee or fall and do damage to your torso, you are in big trouble.

If something gives out on your pack, you will have to improvise or lose some meat.

Have some mules or horses available.

[Todd Greenwald]

I would start looking and contact them now for someone with horses that you could hire if you down an elk. So you pack in, hunt, down the elk, quarter, debone, cloth bag & hang meat, hike out were there is cell phone reception, call horseman & give GPS location, & wait for help.  Plus I would not go on a trip into the back country alone.  Good Luck & be safe.

[Pete McMiller]

"We have already made the agreement that we would sacrifice hunting days to pack the other guys meat out!"

It's great to have that understanding ahead of time.  In our camp it is understood and never needs saying.  Either everyone that is able helps pack out or 1) you don't get a share of the meat and 2)  You won't get invited back.  It's all for one and one for all.  Many days have been lost either finding an animal or packing them out and no one ever complains because the next time it could be your elk that everyone has had to stop everything for.

Good luck on your quest and please let us know how it went when you get back.

[mnbearbaiter]

I wont say that i have intimate knowledge of the area im hunting, but have probably looked at maps and google earth to know it well enough! I have held nothing back getting ready for this hunt, its what ive always wanted to do! Im currently 195lbs and 6'1", 11% bodyfat! I shoot daily, and always train, not to mention working a const job 50hrs/wk! Best shape of my life, but good shape on the flat isnt the same as good shape up in the mtns, and i know that and believe it to be true! We plan to take 1 1/2 days to help get acclimated before we pack in! The guys who we know that tipped us off, used a leapfrog method after a kill(it involves locating water via GPS, and caching the meat load there, waterproofing it, submerging it, and them goin to get another load and so forth! Is this a wise way to get an animal out? They recommended getting quarters hung and covered, hang overnight, and debone and pack out in the am, good advice?

[Steve B.]

You may do it, but I bet you never do it again.

[rappstar]

Since you are on the hunter/athlete bandwagon you probably know who Cameron Hanes is.  Cameron isn't packing elk on his back that far.  He has a packer lined up.  

You don't have to go 9 miles to kill an elk. You are probably walking right past a lot of country that holds elk.

[KSdan]

With all honest and due respect from me as well. . . I have not heard anyone mention that it is 9 miles IN THE MOUNTAINS. 10,000 feet most likely. Let alone a flatlander. . . Have you ever tried to climb out of a dark timber valley- even without any wt. on your back?  

I was a collegiate athlete from Michigan. Trained very hard for months. I went out with ideals at the age of 27.  That was 22 years ago and I sure learned quick. Two days of pounding headaches, burning thighs, and I was back in about 2 miles while never harvesting an elk.  Man that was a learning curve. . .  a wonderful experience but actually glad I did not get an elk.

Good luck.  Keep us posted

Dan in KS