Boning out elk (and maybe deer)

[biederboat]

There was a recent article in Outdoor life that expalined the technique of boning out elk & deer (without having to gut it). Does anyone out there consider themselves to be a "convert" to this method (as opposed to quartering)? I've always considered that I would do this for a big bull (that I WILL get some day) if it were way back in but the article implied that it was a "better" method all the way around.

The advantages I see are: lighter load, keeps meat cleaner, less to deal with at home. The potential disadvantages I see are "properly aging" the meat (not sure about this one) and the logistics of not having everything with you to immediately process the animal in the field. They say you don't have to gut it so what do you do after you kill it if you don't have all the bags and packs with you, leave it for an hour or two ungutted?

Any comments?
Biederboat

[fishwhenican]

If you have a spot to let the meat cool after boning then it is great. Certain regulations in Alaska don't allow for complete boning of some animals (I don't remember all the details), but I have done a partial boning on a caribou. I boned out the ribs,neck, and backstrap and took the shoulders and hindquarters out in one piece. If you don't have a cooler or a good place to spread out the meat you may lose some to spoilage. Or you could hang the meat overnight,bone out the next am then pack out. I don't like to pack quarters out if we are more than 1 mile from a vehicle, bones weigh 50 times more at the end of that mile long trip any way

I wouldn't read outdoor life but we quartered moose by going down the back and leaving the hide on the meat. Cleaner meat and faster. One time we had two brown bears on us 30 minutes after killing the moose and one of us had to keep watch for them as I cut moose. M ick shot in their direction twice to drive them off.

Alaska regulations say that the genitals have to be atached to the meat. The Troopers where I was interpreted it as if you had a chunck of meet with the genitals attached it was ok to bone out your meat.

[ 11-09-2002, 11:40 PM: Message edited by: Keta ]

[MarlinMark]

I was wondering how you were going to get the tenderloins out if you didn't gut it????

Mark

[Norm]

I've done a couple of moose the way keta describes. Cut the hide down the back and off the legs. Bonning as you go, when your done all that is left is guts and hide. The hide makes a blanket to keep the meat clean as you work. This works well because moose are really heavy and hard to roll and work on. By the time you get to the second half, you only have half the weight to roll over. With elk and deer I wouldn't bother, I'ts easier to pack out meat with the bone in. Even a big elk you can roll around to quarter. I usually cut elk into 6 pieces, bone only the rib cage in the woods and haul the front and rear pieces out with the bone in. Sloppy loose meat is tough to handle. Also, you get so little for hides anymore, I leave it on the quarters to keep the meat clean.

PS, don't forget your orange ribbon on your animal as you pack it out.

[biederboat]

MarlinMark,

The article says you can "reach in" to cut out the tender loins, seems like it would be tough though.

Biederboat

[lightline]

you bone out moose however they lay because unless you have equitment with you moving them isn't an option With elk unless i'm close "less than two miles" bone's are going to stay on the hillside also. Iv'e helped my hunting partners pack elk up to eight miles and another two over six How many of you fellows would pack out bone's'? After hunting the snake river country for allmost thirty years I doubt that more then a half doz. elk came out in quarters. In all fareness if I had the chance I would take them out whole.

[MarlinMark]

Biederboat,

Copy that on the "reach in." That's the one piece of meat that I don't want to make a sloppy cut on. Still, once you have all the meat out of the way then you can get the guts out of the way and then get your loins out.

Probably the long road though.

Mark

[tailchaser]

Actually I don't gut any animal that I have to quarter. I can get the loins also without gutting it. My uncle from alaska showed me the trick. I'll try to explain.

Take the usual 4 quarters off and bag them. In the 5th bag place the backstrap, neckmeat and the loins and whatever meat you trim. To get the tenderloins wait until you've cut all the meat off the animal and what's left is the guts and ribs. You can barely make out the top line of the loin under the backstrap cut and behind the last rib. Cut the top line all the way across to the end of the loin. Then take your fingers and reach in and rub out the tenderloin. It should come out without cutting. When you have it all loose from the bone cut the top and bottom. It's a pretty neat trick.

tc

[Norm]

I hunt the coast range, so I've never packed one out fartther than two miles :grin: . I usually cut the hinds just behind the ribs, then split the backbone with a hatchet. I then bone out the ribs taking the ribeye and ribmeat off. Then split the backbone to just behind the shoulder and leave most of the ribcage. I then cut the front legs off of the shoulder. I think leaving the bone in makes it easier to handle on rough terrain, and doesn't add that much weight. If I had to go farther than a couple of miles, I would probably re-think my stratagy. This way you can pack it in six trips and ~100LBS a trip. I start with the hinds then go for the lighter pieces as I'm getting tired .