Mathews Inc.
Backcountry solo elk hunt
Elk
Contributors to this thread:
deerslayer 30-Jan-25
Bowboy 30-Jan-25
Who Cares 30-Jan-25
Rgiesey 30-Jan-25
NM highcountry 30-Jan-25
sitO 30-Jan-25
Schmitty78 30-Jan-25
Grunter 30-Jan-25
Stoneman 30-Jan-25
Recurve man 30-Jan-25
WV Mountaineer 30-Jan-25
Paul@thefort 30-Jan-25
deerslayer 31-Jan-25
BULELK1 31-Jan-25
T-rex 31-Jan-25
Old School 31-Jan-25
Lewis 31-Jan-25
Shiloh 31-Jan-25
Ron Niziolek 31-Jan-25
JohnMC 31-Jan-25
Beendare 31-Jan-25
deerslayer 31-Jan-25
JohnMC 31-Jan-25
Vaquero 45 31-Jan-25
Scoot 31-Jan-25
M.Pauls 31-Jan-25
PA Bones 31-Jan-25
PopeYoung400 01-Feb-25
butcherboy 01-Feb-25
LUNG$HOT 01-Feb-25
Kurt 01-Feb-25
HUNT MAN 01-Feb-25
Inshart 01-Feb-25
in2dmtns 01-Feb-25
priley 01-Feb-25
deerslayer 01-Feb-25
goelk 02-Feb-25
Groundhunter 02-Feb-25
TMac 02-Feb-25
IdyllwildArcher 02-Feb-25
bohuntr 03-Feb-25
Geno 03-Feb-25
Rob Nye 04-Feb-25
midwest 04-Feb-25
BOWNBIRDHNTR 04-Feb-25
LungBuster 04-Feb-25
JB 04-Feb-25
Grunt-N-Gobble 04-Feb-25
Native Okie 04-Feb-25
deerslayer 05-Feb-25
Beav 05-Feb-25
smurph 05-Feb-25
TonyBear 05-Feb-25
Jaquomo 06-Feb-25
From: deerslayer
30-Jan-25

deerslayer's Link
It's difficult to try and film yourself on a backcountry trip, especially when you are trying to wrangle horses, and most importantly kill an elk, but I did my best to do just that this past year.

Maybe this will help with the wintertime no-hunting-blues.....

Hope you enjoy!

From: Bowboy
30-Jan-25
Great video thanks for sharing.

From: Who Cares
30-Jan-25
Good job on the video. I enjoyed it. Thanks.

From: Rgiesey
30-Jan-25
Great Justin !

30-Jan-25
Great job! I really liked your video ! No BS or trying to be a comedian… just hunting.

From: sitO
30-Jan-25

sitO's embedded Photo
sitO's embedded Photo
Really cool, enjoyed it all and especially the footage/audio around the 8:30m mark. Congrats, and thanks for taking us along.

From: Schmitty78
30-Jan-25
Awesome! Thanks for the video, it was definitely great help with those no-hunting blues!!

From: Grunter
30-Jan-25
I enjoyed your video! Thanks for sharing, congrats on a nice bull!

From: Stoneman
30-Jan-25
Great video, really well done! Congrats and thanks for sharing.

From: Recurve man
30-Jan-25
Justin very well done and really appreciated you sharing your video. Congratulations my friend.

Shane

30-Jan-25
I love it!!!!! Great video as always.

From: Paul@thefort
30-Jan-25
Justin, I can not stop smiling after watching your elk video. That right there is a good as it can get, actually better than that. The relationship you have with your horses, is inspiring for sure. You captured what an elk hunt can be and should be. Preparation equals success. Nicely done. My best, Paul

From: deerslayer
31-Jan-25
Thanks guys!

NM highcountry, when I'm out there, I'm too tired to be a comedian!! LOL.... I love it, but it wears a guy flat out, no time for jokes! Gotta get to killin!

Paul, I appreciate that.... although the horses and I have sometimes not seen eye to eye! (As you can tell when I was trying to load meat on the dark gelding;) They can try a guy's patience for sure, but thankfully, I've had them for so long, that I know their quirks, and have learned a few things that help head off the rodeos! They've become pretty good companions, and after years and years of doing it together we just kind of show up and do our thing.

From: BULELK1
31-Jan-25
Well done

Good luck, Robb

31-Jan-25
Horses, Elk and a camera. What could go wrong ? Man you like to do it the hard way :>)))

Great work on all fronts. Far better than the commercial hunters on TV. Congrats

From: T-rex
31-Jan-25
Great video and congrats! Thanks for sharing

From: Old School
31-Jan-25
Thanks for posting - come on September…..

From: Lewis
31-Jan-25
I started watching and couldn’t stop great video brings back a lot of memories ones that never bow hunted for elk probably don’t understand the thrill of it. I got chills.Great job Lewis

From: Shiloh
31-Jan-25
Enjoyed watching that!!

From: Ron Niziolek
31-Jan-25
Enjoyed it very much. Congrats!

From: JohnMC
31-Jan-25
Really enjoyed that. Quick question I am sure there a good reason, why don’t you put meat in game games?

From: Beendare
31-Jan-25
Well done, you told a great story with that vid.

I like watching the arrow flight on the ultra slo mo video setting.

From: deerslayer
31-Jan-25

deerslayer's embedded Photo
deerslayer's embedded Photo
JohnMC, I have used them in the past and just never really liked them. They’re just an extra thing to have to carry, and I guess I don’t personally see the point of them. I carry a small tarp in one of my saddlebags, and as I quarter out the meat, I lay it all on the tarp. It then goes straight from there into the panniers, and then straight from the panniers into the cooler at the truck. The way I look at it is, even with the game bags, you still always get that hardened layer on the surface of the meat that has to be trimmed off, regardless. Once that layer forms, which is usually pretty quick, there’s really nothing that can get on it to taint the meat. I’m pretty careful not to get a bunch of gunk on there just because I don’t like having to deal with it later on, but my method seems to work well for what I do so I just never really end up needing the game bags. A couple of years ago I had a cow tag as well, and I harvested a cow midway through the hunt. I just hung those quarters along with the back straps and tenderloins high off of a meat rack l, that I made up in the trees. (See pic) Never had any issues with that either, as as soon as that hard layer on the outside formed, they were clean as a whistle.

From: JohnMC
31-Jan-25
Thanks, Justin. Always interested on why people do things the way they do it.

From: Vaquero 45
31-Jan-25
Thanks also for starting, posting and sharing . Also enjoyed the vid , your thoughts and comments. Really good stuff ! ......

From: Scoot
31-Jan-25
This was great! Many congrats and thanks for taking the time!

From: M.Pauls
31-Jan-25
Brother! Such a good vid. Thoroughly enjoyed that. Good to see some familiar faces and places ;)

From: PA Bones
31-Jan-25
I really enjoyed your hunt. Thanks for the great video

From: PopeYoung400
01-Feb-25
I was very impressed with the quality of the self filmed video. Excellent quality, content and a great shot capped off a great journey. Thanks for sharing.

From: butcherboy
01-Feb-25

butcherboy's embedded Photo
butcherboy's embedded Photo
I do the same thing with the quarters. Hang it on a game pole I make and let it get a crust on it. I put a quarter into a contractors bag for packing to keep my pack clean.

From: LUNG$HOT
01-Feb-25
Awesome. Great video. That’s a huge September herd.

From: Kurt
01-Feb-25
Excellent video and great elk hunt! Congrats all the way around!

From: HUNT MAN
01-Feb-25
Hammerime

From: Inshart
01-Feb-25
Fantastic video

From: in2dmtns
01-Feb-25
Great video. Thanks for sharing.

From: priley
01-Feb-25
Are you hauling your horses facing the back of the trailer? If so can I ask why?

From: deerslayer
01-Feb-25
That is correct..... Two reasons: 1st when you haul head first in a stock trailer head it is harder on their front legs when you brake, which leads to #2, if you have to brake quickly they have a propensity to get their face slammed into the front of the trailer. With their rump facing the front it doesn't cause this issue. Studies have also shown that rear facing horses are less stressed when riding in this position, and overall experience less side and frontal impacts when trailering.

From: goelk
02-Feb-25
Thanks for sharing Great Video

From: Groundhunter
02-Feb-25
That was great

From: TMac
02-Feb-25
Great job thanks for sharing. Persistence paid off.

02-Feb-25
Good job on the video Justin. Love the character on that bull.

From: bohuntr
03-Feb-25
Great video and really awesome hunt! Congratulations and thanks for sharing the video!

03-Feb-25
enough things need to line up to kill a bull. Let alone adding self filmed. You even got the shot on film. Pretty stealthy

From: Geno
03-Feb-25
Wow, just an absolutely awesome hunt! Thanks for taking the time to video and share it with us!

From: Rob Nye
04-Feb-25
Excellent video my friend! Beautiful country and very cool to see those big herds! Doing it all solo is badass! Thanks for taking us along on a great adventure.

From: midwest
04-Feb-25
Great video and a great bull! Thanks for sharing, Justin!

From: BOWNBIRDHNTR
04-Feb-25
Everything was fantastic, the hunt, the shot, the video and especially your handling of the horses. Thanks for taking the time to share it all with us!!

From: LungBuster
04-Feb-25
Great video! What cameras did you use to film it? I saw the tactacam on your bow.

From: JB
04-Feb-25
Awesome video! Thank you for sharing!!

04-Feb-25
Good video!

From: Native Okie
04-Feb-25
Very nice! Thx for sharing!

From: deerslayer
05-Feb-25
I used a Tacatcam, a GoPro, and a small handheld Sony handycam.

From: Beav
05-Feb-25
Well done and congrats!

From: smurph
05-Feb-25
I'm always impressed with the solo hunt. I can do that from my truck for a few days, but a week or two back country alone, NOPE. I would be in my own head way too much. I would like to think I could do it, but honestly I'd fail.

From: TonyBear
05-Feb-25
Good job, congratulations. And Thank You. Unfortunately I wouldn't be able to do it, strongly allergic to horses.

From: Jaquomo
06-Feb-25
Great job all around! Having done several solo backcountry hunts with horses, I can relate! Thanks for sharing this with us, and congrats on a great adventure!

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