Nasty Nasty Nasty Basinboy
Elk
After seeing Basinboy's elk on Paul's broadhead thread, I feel very fortunate on field dressing my kills. However I do know many of you have had some tough situations field dressing. Let's see those pics of the field dressing nightmares where elk have met their demise in the worst location possible and how you got er done.
My bull last year didn't look like a bad spot, but it turned out to be about the hardest ever for me to get quartered and bagged. It was a very large bodied bull and I was alone. I went gutless and it started off well, but after getting one side finished I couldn't get him rolled over. It was flat and open so there was nothing to tie off of and when I tried to roll him over he kept sliding. I tried every angle and eventually I yanked so hard I felt something pop in my shoulder. I immediately sat down and pondered the situation. I was about 3.6 miles in and thought I'd never get it done.... After a few minutes I started to test my arm and it didn't hurt that much to move it. I was able to sit on my butt and move him a little with just my legs. Eventually I got him in a better spot and was able to tip him over with my legs, and then get the last two quarters off. I was amazed I could use my arm at all as I knew I felt something rip...... After it was all said and done I went to a doctor and it turns out I had torn my biceps tendon off the bone. The good news is it's attached in two places and he said I could continue without it if I was able. I'm still going and able to shoot my bow
"I tried every angle and eventually I yanked so hard I felt something pop in my shoulder". Damn, Brun...that made me cringe!
Tried to get a general feel for how steep this was...picture didn't do it justice. Tied off the antlers with paracord, to keep the bull from sliding downhill. My buddy and I were worn out, by the time we got him bagged, just from trying to keep from sliding.
Next Day, we came back with horses...could only get them within about 300 yards of the kill site. I had to ride each quarter down the mountain like a sled, in the snow.
Good times!
I can attest to the size of Brun's bull last year, since I was blessed to help him pack it out. It had a huge body, and an equally impressive rack. Honestly, I was surprised that Brun was able to quarter the bull by himself, especially considering he isn't the...um...youngest buck in the herd. ;-) It was inspiring for me to see him get it done at such a high level.
My worst ever field-dressing and pack out experience was a bull that I killed in the deepest, steepest, and thickest drainage I'm aware of in unit 18 in Colorado. He died on a 45 degree slope covered in beetle-killed blow down, inconveniently wedged under a large log. The only way out was approximately 3 miles up and over the top of the drainage. Fortunately, I had a young strong buddy to help me. Even though it wasn't a large bull, It took everything we both had to quarter and pack him out. I swore to never kill a bull in that he!! hole again.
Matt
Video frame immediately after the shot
Video frame immediately after the shot
Timmmmberrrrrr!!!
Timmmmberrrrrr!!!
Splash down!!!!
Splash down!!!!
Before the work...
Before the work...
I killed this bull in a wallow. Honestly never even occurred to me that he'd simply tip over without taking a step. After the shot he stood still for maybe 30 seconds, then just tipped over like a falling tree. Huge splash in the mud, and he had already been rolling and was wet and muddy.
Huge bodied bull, nearly 100 pounds of meat more than mature bulls I've killed before. I was hunting with a buddy and with paracord around the bull and our waists like pack mules we could BARELY slide him out of the water, but still on slick mud.
We removed the meat from the upper side via gutless method, all the while slipping and sinking in slop. At that point it was all we could do to drag what remained up off the mud onto grass around the wallow. Still wet and messy at that point, but at least flat ground and we weren't sinking in mud.
I sympathize with everyone on these posts, I'm also impressed with the effort and ingenuity employed in solving the difficulties, one of my favorite threads in years!
Too many to remember. This is a fun one...
Some rough stories early on in this thread.
My mountain goat died in moderate sized scree on a steep angle. The size that you don't sink into, they just fall and hit your ankles and cut you...baseball size. I was alone.
I didn't even get into skinning him before the whole mountain side tried to take the both of us on a ride. Fortunately, I had a boulder on one side I was able to step on to as it went, but the goat and my stuff ended up a couple hundred feet down the slope.
You don't realize how much time you spend kneeling while deboning an animal till you're doing it on sharp rocks.
Steep hill and rolled against the log, had to do top side and then roll over after that!
This one died at the highest tree on the mountain at over 12,000. While quartering, he started to roll and we were able to get him stopped. Had he kept going, it would have been a 3k foot roll to the bottom!
Scoot I had a buddy I was with kill a bull that died in creek that look a lot like your picture. Less mud but creek had a few inch deep of running water. Fun quartering job.
I shot him in the evening and did not find him until the next day, temps were warm and by the time I had butchered him he was already bone sour. Everything about this situation was the worse I had ever encountered.
Pictures rarely reveal the steepness of the terrain.
Most often “had to be there”
Not an elk, but this was the roughest spot I’ve had to get a critter out of. At least the ground was level ;-)
Cool pic Troy...a nightmare...but, a very cool pic!
Very cool pic Troy!!!! Hope you and the wife are well.....All good here.
Spined a staghorn in a tank, had to get him out by myself. That was not fun.
One of my most favorite moose pics T-Roy! Should have recruited the beavers to help!!
Smarba, why doncha post the actual vid of you killing tht bull on the wallow??
Troy’s photo should be titled “Heaven and Hell”!
Spectacular!
Have packed out more elk than I would wish on my worst enemy. None “easy” but some easier than others...
The worst is when they drop into a muddy creek or beaver pond and you have to suck it up and break them down on the spot. Alone.
Have had several elk recoveries that extended over 4 days.
A number that required a lot of elevation to get out of the hole where they died and a lot of miles to the truck.
One in grizzly country. Several miles and several thousand feet down in a hole. Through the night. In a snowstorm. With no gps (lost), no compass and a dying headlamp... Thanks Ron for saving my life there...
Have been very close to death more than once packing elk. Have killed a couple of horses and one mule on pack outs.
Elk hunting is awesome!
Recovering elk meat sucks!
Gotta love it;-)
Phaseolus That had to be a nightmare!
I was lucky to have some big strong guys hunting with me and we were able to get my bull out from under that blow down to a much better spot.
I've never killed an elk. However, this video of a hunter gutting his on a steep slope has always made me laugh. Enjoy. Mark
Pictures never accurately represent slope, but you could play music on that 550 cord it was stretched so tight. When we were done field dressing and took the head off, the carcass cartwheeled about 100 yds to the bottom of the hill...
lol I was waiting for t-roy's moose pic! That was the first thing I thought of.
This was essentially mud gumbo underneath where when you try and lift a quarter you just find yourself waist deep both legs in gumbo.
But who are we kidding - still loved every second!
Late season rifle cow. Solo, 2+ miles from the truck. Last night of the season in a snow storm 2 hours before dark. No chainsaw in my pack... ;-) She had slid at least 25 yards downhill and had a pretty good head of steam before wedged herself under a pile of logs. It took a a while to get all the downed logs off her and start the work. Sandbrew
A rock and a hard place!
A rock and a hard place!
Worst one on here I read was when their elk died right on top of an under ground meat bee nest. He said it was a war.
You and your brother’s moose trip certainly came to mind, as well, APauls! .....agreed. Loved every second of it!
Poor planning on your part, sandbrew! A chainsaw goes into my pack, first thing! Looks like a shoehorn might have came in handy as well!
Take extra gas and oil too, Troy?
This was essentially mud gumbo underneath where when you try and lift a quarter you just find yourself waist deep both legs in gumbo.
But who are we kidding - still loved every second!
Those steep hillsides suck. My longest was 8 miles one way....but my toughest was solo in one of those steep holes. To complicate things, he was covered in hundreds of Yellowjackets by the time I finished.
I'm allergic to bee stings and it was the rare occasion I didn't have my Benadryl or an Epi pen. I was only stung 3 times on my left hand but my left arm looked like Popeye pretty quick. [apologies to the young guys that won't get that reference]
Luckily it was raining hard to cool it down. First load was at the truck in an Hour and a half or so....some Benedryl and an hour to eat/ relax....and spent the rest of the day hauling meat.
This photo is after I waded out and towed him to the shore. When he expired he was totally submerged except for a little fur on his side. I remember pulling that rack out of the water to see what he looked like reminding me of opening a Christmas present back in 1975.
Hell of a nice bull there!
MQQSE that had to be the best christmas ever.
E Don Thomas wrote, Nothing ruins a good elk hunt like killing an elk!
