Hunting aftermath?

[el greco]

After reading all those stories about hunting Elk and such ,I have a few questions. If you do manage to connect and bring down game like Elk, what do you do? I mean obviously you field dress, but I was curious about all these pictures I see with guys carrying the antlers. Do you like saw off the head? Do you live the skin and everything? What about if you have taken a flight to go there? How do you bring the meet back home. Those and other silly questions..

[Roadkill]

Depending on how far from a road or trail:  we quarter then out and hike them to the nearest road.  If a long way, bone it out.  We use meat bags as they are easier to balance out a pack frame.
Cut the neck up the back.  Cut off the head at the junction of the neck. Hide and or cape?  Depends on distance of the pack.
Knife work is usually the easiest part of getting the meat out .  Again the amount of effort is inverse to the distance to the road

[el greco]

Thanks

[screamin]

I don't field dress my elk, I did the first one but haven't done it since. I just take the meat off one side and bag it up. Push the gut bag down and you can reach in and cut out the tenderloins. Then... you can roll it over and do the other side. Usually it takes 3 loads for the meat without the bone. If your going to mount it, cut the cape up the back of the neck and detach the head from the neck. If its a cow, there is no reason to worry about the head.

[AkDan]

Its a great way to field dress a critter of any size Screaming..but we do take the flank/rib meat as well (required by law but I would do it regardless its a pile of meat!).  The flank and rib makes for a great rolled roast!     I typically take the 2 quarters, one strap,  and sometimes start working the neck before rolling it over....usually I pull the neck off after I gut.   On a moose, getting the quarters/straps/neck off makes it manageable. start taking the head off (cut down to the bone before rolling but not through).  Roll the animal over onto a tarp or the hide if its all you have.   Take the 2nd two quarters and loin off, now cut the head off. If you did it right it should come off pretty easily.  Now gut, pull your loins, than cut loose the flank up to the ribs and roll the meat off the ribs on both sides.  You'll leave a raven starving doing it this way and you wont break your back in the process!  

You can grind the flank or make flank steaks or strip it for finger steaks or phillys or or or.   The ribs with some sweet baby rays is delicious and no bones to mess with!

[Bladepeek]

Brings to mind the advice given to someone who asked the best place to shoot a moose - as close to the road as possible.

[gregg dudley]

You can check a cooler as a bag.  I've done it several times.  Dry Ice or not depending on the circumstances.

[CoachBGriff]

Does anyone know of a previous thread dealing with this subject in detail?

I will do a search, but sometimes I don't get the "search terms" right.

Also, does anyone have a good book or DVD they would recommend regarding this subject?

[el greco]

You said you can check a cooler as a bag. I imagine killing a big animal as an Elk or a moose would require several coolers..

[el greco]

I would like to read more, hunting aftermath. Stuff that a novice like me can't think off.

[el greco]

For example, you kill a magnificent bull. You are in the middle of nowhere. Is there a specific timeframe you need to get it to the taxidermist before it goes bad?
If you kill a Bear and you want to keep the hide to make a rug or something, do you guys know how to do it or the taxidermist does it for you? Please share weird stories or stuff that go beyond grabbing your bow and stalking your prey.

[Mike Vines]

The search feature on this site is your friend.  You can find anything you want to know by using it.

[Ed Race]

Good question, I'm going to be hunting whitetails in some seriously steep country and was thinking that field dressing would be a better option vs. dragging up 800 ft of elevation.