This might interest you.
http://home.att.net/~sajackson/guttless1.html
Yes, I'm familiar with that page. It belongs to a local bowhunter. And, it is indeed the way to go. Boning out is the only method I use any more and I don't bother to carry the head out unless I want the antlers or want a CWD test or if the head is necessary for evidence of sex.
Busta, pay heed: If you are hunting in a unit that has a 4 point or better requiremnt on bulls, you will need to bring the head out even with the evidence of sex attached to a major portion of the boned out meat!
It's easy to forget to leave evidence of sex attached to the rear hindquarter meat when you are skinning.
Don't forget. The mammary or male sex organs detached from the meat and displayed separately will not suffice when your boned out meat is being checked :eek:
You can bone out however keeping the above in mind. Failure to provide satisfactory evidence of sex to the wildlife officer is one of the most common mistakes cited in CO. And,
you will be cited. They aren't so much hard nosed about it as they are consistent in applying the law so as to prevent the spread of the stories that go: "well, the officer decided we meant no harm and let us off". Those stories only encourage abuse and so they have a policy of writing the citation no matter how nice a guy/girl the officer is or how nice a guy you are.
Also, some processors won't accept the meat for processing if the proper evidence of sex is not attached at the time you bring it in.
That said, I'm a 59 year old fat guy and I can single handedly bring a large elk out in two trips without wasting any meat. The head makes for a third trip though. A boned out elk will provide about 160 to 180 pounds of meat so your looking at 80 to 90 pounds per trip.
Make sure you have a pack frame that will handle the load. Get a large capacity pack with a frame and put your meat in game bags with a large plastic bag lining the pack. Once the meat is in camp, get it out of the plastic, as it can cause spoilage.
Heck, as long as I'm rambling here, I'll throw out a few other things. Carry
everything you might need to handle your downed animal in your day pack. Includes; Flashlight (sure, it was light when you went in, but by the time you were done field dressing the elk it was dark :shock: ), lotsa rope, two tent stakes (use with rope to lift the legs on one side of the animal up high while you gut. there's not always a tree handy), a sharp gutting/skinning knife, a boning knife (a fish fillet knife is good), a stone to sharpen up occasionaly, a pen to sign your carcass tag with, a piece of string to tie the tag to the animal, your game bags, several plastic bags, an 8X10 plastic tarp if you don't mind carrying it, a bone saw (I carry a regular collapsible hack saw with a 18 tpi blade), Something to pull the "whistlers" or ivories with (can be done with a knife and bone saw), all the other stuff that common sense says you shoult carry with you! :grin:
I don't hunt with the pack frame on me cause I generally field dress the animal and bone it out if there is time and then come back later to take the meat out. If there is no time to bone it that day you need to make sure to get the skin peeled back of the carcass around the front shoulders and neck as well as the hindquarters to dissipate the animals body heat.
If you are going to hunt waaaaaay in with many miles back to camp, then you should have the pack frame with you as well as the minimun stuff needed to spend the night at the kill site. That will save you a round trip walk to get the pack frame. Hopefully once you get the first load out you will have help available to go back with you.
You probably knew all this stuff already, but maybe there are others reading this thread who might benefit.
