Quarters OR De-Bone?

[Vaultman]

Elk hunter here... one that has ALWAYS quartered a harvested elk (unless the very rare instance it is like 100 yards from a truck), and I've NEVER de-Boned. Maybe just the way I was taught. I've been highly considering a pack that does not have a meat shelf (Kifaru). Most things I've read and watched have guys de-boning meat and bagging it to get it out. I am apprehensions about this as I have never done it. (Maybe only the fear of the unknown.) You know the oxygen exposed meat, how it gets hard and unusable. I worry that deboning:
1. will add to the amount that is oxidized.
2. cause more meat to get dirty when cutting in the field.
3. cause there to be meat left on the bone that I can't get off in the woods but could at home.
4. Will take extra time in the field, when I am just trying to get it cooled and back to camp.

ANY help or advice would be wonderfully appreciated.

Read More

 

[eklarsen]

Quarter, pack, cool, eat...

 

[Ura-Ki]

^^^This^^^
I know a lot of folks put way to much into field working game instead of taking the time to properly prep the harvest at home! To me, it's a waste of the harvest, and even if it's all recovered and brought home, I personally find it more wasteful of good proteins, time, and energy! I always try to save every ounce of usable meat as I possably can!

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

quarter. de bone it at camp

 

[No_Regerts]

I quarter elk because I can't carry the whole thing at once anyway, might as well preserve the meat.

I will bone out a deer though. Especially if its a steep canyon and I can turn it into one trip.

 

[MrMillspecer]

We never deboned in the field. It was always at camp, home or up to the butcher.

When I got my elk at 13 it ran towards a logging road then collapsed in brush 20' off the road. Super lucky. Gutted where it dropped, then hung and skinned , gamebagged at camp then to the butcher within two days. It was some of the best tasting elk many of us had eaten. Not sure how long it hung at the butchers, but super tender .

Deer we usually took home after gutting and finished up there.

I wanted to add , hunting for us back in Idaho was a family affair. At least 3 of us usually when camping and hunting. So I was not solo.

 

[No_Regerts]

We never deboned in the field. It was always at camp, home or up to the butcher.

When I got my elk at 13 it ran towards a logging road then collapsed in brush 20' off the road. Super lucky. Gutted where it dropped, then hung and skinned , gamebagged at camp then to the butcher within two days. It was some of the best tasting elk many of us had eaten. Not sure how long it hung at the butchers, but super tender .

Deer we usually took home after gutting and finished up there.

I wanted to add , hunting for us back in Idaho was a family affair. At least 3 of us usually when camping and hunting. So I was not solo.

I shot a bull that was standing completely unaware on a ridge opposite of where I was glassing. He dropped immediately after he was hit. We went back to the truck to drop off gear and pick up pack frames. Decided to take a peek at the map (no GPS back then). It looked like we could drive to that ridge. We drive aroundand realize that bull had been standing on a landing. Backed up right to him, gutted him, wrestled him into the truck whole, got him to the butcher 3 hours later!

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

I shot a bull that was standing completely unaware on a ridge opposite of where I was glassing. He dropped immediately after he was hit. We went back to the truck to drop off gear and pick up pack frames. Decided to take a peek at the map (no GPS back then). It looked like we could drive to that ridge. We drive aroundand realize that bull had been standing on a landing. Backed up right to him, gutted him, wrestled him into the truck whole, got him to the butcher 3 hours later!

LUCKY

 

[wp4]

Ive tried both and i like Quarters bone in better - for elk. Deer I usually gut and drag.

The last elk I got was a pretty big cow. I wanted to try the debone method since it seems all the cool kids do it. It was late in the year and cold/ snow so I wasn't worried about taking the extra time in the field.

I took one quarter out bone in, and the next quarter boned out. The deboned meat was like having a pack full of jello. My pack has a meat compartment, and a lower shelf. I tied it in as best I could and it didn't move around excessively, but the weight shifted around as I climbed over deadfall, etc and it was annoying pretty quick.

The bone in quarter seemed to pack a lot easier, and it didn't weigh noticeably more either.

I remember when I pulled the big femur bone out of the deboned quarter I thought "this is it?" It didn't seem to weigh all that much. Certainly not enough to take all that extra trouble. I wasn't packing it 10 miles out like the hard core wilderness hunters, only about 1.5 miles, so for me that little bit of weight savings didn't seem worth having a shifty blob of meat in my pack.

Maybe the $400+ packs hold big meat blobs better, mine was about $200. And maybe if someone has to pack out a whole elk by themself on their back 10 miles out of a wilderness area the few pounds weight savings is worth the extra PIA factor. But for me, it wasn't worth it. I had help and it wasnt that long of a distance.

I do bone out the rib cage though, not enough meat between those ribs to make it worth packing all those bones out!

 

[No_Regerts]

LUCKY

And that was three hours despite having a broken fan belt that I had to replace in the field. I had an 85 Silverado and you could replace the belts in 10 minutes with a 1/2 socket and a pry bar. I'd be screwed with my current truck.

 

[No_Regerts]

Ive tried both and i like Quarters bone in better - for elk. Deer I usually gut and drag.

The last elk I got was a pretty big cow. I wanted to try the debone method since it seems all the cool kids do it. It was late in the year and cold/ snow so I wasn't worried about taking the extra time in the field.

I took one quarter out bone in, and the next quarter boned out. The deboned meat was like having a pack full of jello. My pack has a meat compartment, and a lower shelf. I tied it in as best I could and it didn't move around excessively, but the weight shifted around as I climbed over deadfall, etc and it was annoying pretty quick.

The bone in quarter seemed to pack a lot easier, and it didn't weigh noticeably more either.

I remember when I pulled the big femur bone out of the deboned quarter I thought "this is it?" It didn't seem to weigh all that much. Certainly not enough to take all that extra trouble. I wasn't packing it 10 miles out like the hard core wilderness hunters, only about 1.5 miles, so for me that little bit of weight savings didn't seem worth having a shifty blob of meat in my pack.

Maybe the $400+ packs hold big meat blobs better, mine was about $200. And maybe if someone has to pack out a whole elk by themself on their back 10 miles out of a wilderness area the few pounds weight savings is worth the extra PIA factor. But for me, it wasn't worth it.

I do bone out the rib cage though, not enough meat between those ribs to make it worth packing all those bones out!

Deboning for me is just a means of making it small enough to go out in one trip. Thats why I'll do that with deer. Elk, I don't bother because I can't carry a whole elk. The stability of the load is definitely an issue.

 

[wp4]

Deboning for me is just a means of making it small enough to go out in one trip. Thats why I'll do that with deer. Elk, I don't bother because I can't carry a whole elk. The stability of the load is definitely an issue.

Makes good sense. Where I deer hunt it's mostly private property and not too far to get it out, so I just drag it. But if I ever shoot one on public land a far piece from the truck, it would be nice to not have to drag it that far. I only shoot those little black tails too, a big muley buck might not drag very easy!

 

[MrMillspecer]

I shot a bull that was standing completely unaware on a ridge opposite of where I was glassing. He dropped immediately after he was hit. We went back to the truck to drop off gear and pick up pack frames. Decided to take a peek at the map (no GPS back then). It looked like we could drive to that ridge. We drive aroundand realize that bull had been standing on a landing. Backed up right to him, gutted him, wrestled him into the truck whole, got him to the butcher 3 hours later!

I went out one more time while there was still daylight didn't even put my boots on, just running shoes. Mine was in an open grass area, a nice spike just eating and didnt have a clue i was there. I thought the scope on the Bob was off when he just stood there after being shot, but they were good hits and i should have stayed down , but it worked out well in the end. I remember running back to camp after i heard it take its last breath, super excited. My grandpa was well into his bottle of whiskey by then , and he took a 2 wheel drive van through some muddy ruts you would have given second thoughts in a 4x4. My brother and i were laughing our azzes off , but he made it through. My brother was the gutter, skinner , man was he good with any game.

 

[wp4]

Vaultman, are you considering a kifaru pack without a meat shelf because you want to walk way into an area without roads?

Seems if you've always packed out bone in quarters and it works well for you I'd stick with that, unless you are going to change the way/ location you hunt.

Does Kifaru make packs with a shelf?

 

[Certaindeaf]

A proper elk round automatically debones and converts the carcass into hamburger so you're doing it wrong, man.

 

[nextgenar]

Interesting reading everyone's opinion on this subject. The first elk I arrowed was within 100 yards of the road, myself and the guy I was hunting with, weighed about 220 apiece at the time, and we drug it to the truck whole, after gutting it. The rest of the elk I have killed have all been a mile or more from a road, and I've boned all of them, for me carrying that much dead weight, that far, It just doesn't make sense to carry all the extra weight of the bones. By myself, I can skin, gut, and debone an elk, in about an hour. (Faster if I have help) As far as the weight shifting around on the pack frame. I use heavy weight Musslin bags, pack the meat in tight and wrap it with lots of para cord to make a very tight package and carry it as high as possible on the frame. This is just my opinion and experience of an old man, that has killed enough elk that I lost count a few years back, (more than a dozen but less than 2 dozen) only one with a rifle, the rest with a bow. So happy hunting, shoot straight and enjoy every minute in the mountains.

 

[solv3nt]

Quarter, pack, cool, eat...

Don't forget the "cook" step.

 

[Member 5605]

I've done both in younger years.

Always carried a $1.99 tarp with me and a couple garbage bags. Never had dirty meat.

Sure is nice not carrying bones out. So nice that at 17 my cousin (15) and I packed an entire deboned cow elk out in one trip. 6 mile trail in the Desolation unit.

 

[Superglide]

Thanks @Dyjital I was beginning to wonder if I would be the only deboner vote.
I hunt with a team 4-6 miles from road also. Our plan typically works out like this.

Opening day kill--- slayer guts out elk and returns to camp with head and horns. Much partying and celebration ensue. Next day at first light, killer and 2 others (3 others for biggest elk) head back to bone out elk and bring meat to camp if snowy, or to truck if it is warm weather. More celebrating ensues. Repeat as necessary, hopefully next day.

The meat goes into a garbage sack right from the bone into the pack and then is spread out on a tarp when it gets to camp and then covered by another tarp. No issues at all with meat quality.
Advantages: easier to butcher at home, no extra weight to pack, minimal hair and bone chips,maximum efficiency
Disadvantages: none

Yes there are plenty of bear, coyotes and cougar around, but none has ever done damage that first night.
I don't expect anybody to change their methods, but this has worked for us for over 40 elk. Happy hunting to all.

 

[Vaultman]

Vaultman, are you considering a kifaru pack without a meat shelf because you want to walk way into an area without roads?

Seems if you've always packed out bone in quarters and it works well for you I'd stick with that, unless you are going to change the way/ location you hunt.

Does Kifaru make packs with a shelf?

Yes, I want to walk way into an area without roads. Maybe camp there a few nights then pack out. This is a change in the way I hunt, as I have hunted with folks that are getting to a point that they may not be hunting all that much longer. So I may be joining some friends that hunt different than I have in the past.
Kifaru packs do not have shelves. I love everything about these packs, I just have never used a pack that didn't have a shelf, and I have heard it can be difficult to get a whole quarter out without a shelf.