# A year in the making. My Elk Story



## jshuag (Jan 16, 2014)

My journey through the Elk Project is now drawing to a close.

This is my story through video. I fully expect there will be criticism and that is understandable since I am a beginner.

I hope that this will be of use someday to those who are new that visit this forum.










 - Here is part 2





 - Here is part 3





 - Here is part 4





 - Here is part 5


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## Seven (Jan 8, 2009)

Thanks for the video. I look forward to the next one


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

Thanks for sharing. So are you planning on hunting elk this year?


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## quartz (Dec 16, 2013)

This seems really cool. Can't wait to watch it.


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## jshuag (Jan 16, 2014)

ridgetop said:


> Thanks for sharing. So are you planning on hunting elk this year?


This project represents what happened to me in the last 12 months. (2013) There are about 5 or so homemade videos in the series this being the first. The first few have already been made. (with results)

I'm planning on hunting elk in 2014 though. Cows only unless I don't draw on deer. I don't know if I could do Bull Elk, cows, and deer in one season. That would be a lot of effort, $'s, and work. So I only plan on 2 out of 3 this coming season. (Baby on the way right now so money is getting tight.)

I have offered to help other people though with there animals (drag out) but haven't had any takers yet.


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## CurrentCreekHunter (May 4, 2013)

Good video...interested to see part 2


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

If you have not hunted elk before, I would not try to tackle a big bull by yourself. 
Start with a spike or cow. 
Just for some reference. I shot a nice 4-5 year old bull in 08 and I had the meat processed. I took the bull in whole and received 275 lbs. back. The meat cutter told me that was one of the biggest bulls he cut up that year. This past year, I shot a bigger bull (5-7 yr. old) His skull was even a couple inches wider and longer than the 08 bull.
For a taxidermist, a 30-33 inch neck is considered really big. My bull had a 31" neck and I received about 325 lbs. of meat back. 
Here's a video of me walking up on my bull from this year. Hope you enjoy.
I couldn't even imagine trying to pack it out alone.


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## RandomElk16 (Sep 17, 2013)

Beautiful bull ridge! I don't have sound for vid right now, but do you say where its at? If not was it LE, public, or private? Thank you so much in advance!


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

RandomElk16 said:


> Beautiful bull ridge! I don't have sound for vid right now, but do you say where its at? If not was it LE, public, or private? Thank you so much in advance!


I can't say where it was at but I do know and saw several bulls like mine, taken last year on public land, general season any bull units.


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## RandomElk16 (Sep 17, 2013)

ridgetop said:


> I can't say where it was at but I do know and saw several bulls like mine, taken last year on public land, general season any bull units.


Well, general or private, if it isnt an LE its a hell of a bull. I am still young in the general elk game but we are finding more and more success over the years. Once you learn an area it seems utah still offers you a great opportunity.

Score doesn't matter, but for reference whatd it get?


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## SLCHunter (Dec 19, 2013)

Appreciate both vids posted here  ... jshuag: Am new to elk as well, and have thought about packing out a lot. I have friends ready and eager to help, but the logistics can be daunting. One important piece in the puzzle: Be ready to keep quarters/game bags out there, or even the gutted carcass over night -- piss around it; no critters will go close.


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## nocturnalenemy (Jun 26, 2011)

First, nice video. You're asking some really great questions, and I love that your videos show your quest for answers.

I read through the Wyoming paper you cited and think you might be arriving at the wrong conclusion based on their data. Now I'm not a statistician by any means, but I do like numbers, so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
The average field-dressed weight of the 6 bull elk they sampled was 437 lbs (Table 2). Using their conversion to whole weight (0.7, Table 1), the average weight of their 6 bull elk was 624 lbs (484 lbs average for the 6 cows). 
Building off that number, there were likely some bulls that weighed 700 lbs and others at 550, in order to average 624. Though the exact weights, or even the range, were not listed.

So you're asking if bull elk weigh 800 lbs: The answer is that some bulls probably do, though probably not a large percentage. The weight distribution probably looks like a bell curve with ~624 lbs being near the center. 

Also, check note 2 in Table 3 that says the weight by age class data cited was published in 1961. That's about the same time frame as the OK State data. The weight range listed bulls in that study was 405-735 lbs, averaging 562 lbs. Worth noting too that the weight listed is the field-dressed weight, so you need to use the 0.7 conversion to get the whole weight (about 715 lbs for the 4.5-9.5 year old bulls).

The Colorado state data listed the field dressed weight as 437 lbs, which is the same as the Wyoming study, giving average weight of 624 lbs. They might have even used Wyoming’s data.

Good job on finding the data you did. My conclusion is that elk are heavy, and tackling one by yourself would be a huge task. The weight you need to be concerned about is the meat + head/cape. My guess is you'd need to be prepared to get 300-400 lbs of elk off the mountain. Not impossible, but that's a minimum of 5 trips for even the strongest backpacker.

I’m looking for forward to your next videos.


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## jshuag (Jan 16, 2014)

nocturnalenemy said:


> First, nice video. You're asking some really great questions, and I love that your videos show your quest for answers.
> 
> I read through the Wyoming paper you cited and think you might be arriving at the wrong conclusion based on their data. Now I'm not a statistician by any means, but I do like numbers, so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
> The average field-dressed weight of the 6 bull elk they sampled was 437 lbs (Table 2). Using their conversion to whole weight (0.7, Table 1), the average weight of their 6 bull elk was 624 lbs (484 lbs average for the 6 cows).
> ...


That is pretty much the conclusion that I came to by going through the data. In the next video(s) you will see that my target weight for a cow is 400 lbs (gutted) and 600 for a bull (gutted.) Not to spoil anything but I did get 2 animals this year that are shown in future videos. So you will get to hear about my experience first hand. I will post part 2 this Saturday.


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## nateysmith (May 13, 2013)

Nice videos. I am looking forward to your next one.


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## RandomElk16 (Sep 17, 2013)

Finally was able to sit down and watch it. Nice video. Good to see people engaged in our sport in any way. Also good to see a beginner who is doing his share to get into it! The forums don't always answer ever question because we don't want to take the fun out of it 

Interesting to see the chart vs. what I take off of my elk, and what ridge took off of his two... They are bigger than you think!


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

jshuag said:


> That is pretty much the conclusion that I came to by going through the data. In the next video(s) you will see that my target weight for a cow is 400 lbs (gutted) and 600 for a bull (gutted.) Not to spoil anything but I did get 2 animals this year that are shown in future videos. So you will get to hear about my experience first hand. I will post part 2 this Saturday.


I think a 600 lb. (gutted) UTAH bull elk, might be on the extreme huge side. Despite what the charts say.
I don't think my biggest bull that I shot this year weighed that much.
I would think with a bull that big, you would be looking at 6 pack out trips minimum.


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## jshuag (Jan 16, 2014)

Part 2 is up.


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

jshuag, by post this, I'm sure your expecting some feedback. 

So here it is.
1st
I'd advise to anyone, do not try and drag an elk very far. Unless it's very steep and your going straight down to the truck.
2nd 
Hunting does get expensive. People need to plan for it or don't do it.
3rd
I like the cart idea, if your alone and on flat ground or can follow a trial.
Brushy country, it will not work very well. 
I personally, think boning out your animal is the best, even if it takes 4 or 5 trips. 
Now the thing about hunting alone. Is that a personal choice?
I know there's a lot of folks that would help out if they were just asked.


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## muzzlehunter (Nov 29, 2009)

Try the gutless method, seems like a lot but a lot easier to move once its broke down. I've dragged one cow out with a friend in snow at that was tough. Or like ridge suggested debone it. There are several videos on both methods, watch them a few times and it will seem fairly simple once you have an elk down.


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## Berretta40 (Aug 24, 2013)

Agree with ridetop on his post #18; with a couple changes IMO. 

We prefer to quarter our elk, and pack it out on horses or our backs. Been working well for us over the last 25 years. Got some good quality large canvas bags, that work great.

I suggest against hunting alone if at all possible. If it's a personal preference; more power to you. But if i hunted alone, i wouldn't hunt at all. Too many things can happen out there in the field, and plus it's a TON of work when you get an elk down for one person. 

Nice vids though.


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## derekp1999 (Nov 17, 2011)

I admire the thought process, it's interesting to see the perspective of somebody just getting into this.

The key to getting any big game animal out is to be flexible and take what the mountain and the animal give you. Be capable in a couple of different ways instead of trying to zero in on one method right from the start. You may find that the method you have arbitrarily selected because it looked cool in a Google search is not the best option in the field.
I shot a young cow a couple years back on a steep snowy hillside and did in fact "ride her down the mountain," best sledding run I've had in years and moving her whole was not a problem. But, I shot a spike this year that went down on a dry rocky hillside and a friend and I couldn't move him much at all. We boned the meat out and made two trips each. 
Part of the fun is figuring out how in the heck to get this out of here now.

This sport/hobby can be expensive & it's not getting any cheaper, but some of the most successful hunters I know make it happen on a more meager budget.
I also prefer to not hunt (or fish) alone. Too much can go sideways to not have at least one companion there... plus it's more enjoyable to share these experiences with friends/family.

BTW, the trick to riding an elk down the mountain is to go head first with the grain of the hair, sit on the chest and tuck the front legs under your arms, lift up the head and off you go! The back legs will steer you off to one side but I found by dragging my opposite foot I could keep her mostly straight. I would have taken the bronze that day but was later disqualified for taking a banned supplement... I swear I had no idea what was in that cream!


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## jshuag (Jan 16, 2014)

Part 3 is now up.


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## SLCHunter (Dec 19, 2013)

Post link?


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## jshuag (Jan 16, 2014)

The link is in my first post on page 1. Guess I should also add them to my other posts too.


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## muzzlehunter (Nov 29, 2009)

Yearling in the middle of the road is the way to go, good eating there. Sounds like the second tag kicked your butt. Good job on filling both tags.


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

Ok, here's my take on your 3rd video.
First of all, congrats on your first cow elk. It does look like a young one, which should be good eating.
Now there was one thing that you said in the video that I found disturbing.
That's when you said, if you end up shooting an elk and there's another one standing nearby. Then you would shoot it to and then figure a way to get them both out. Even though you really had no idea how to get two out by yourself, let alone just one.
I hope you were just thinking out loud and would never do such a thing.

On a side note, has anyone told you that your voice sounds just like Jay Baruchel?:shock:
You could do voice impersonations.


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## jshuag (Jan 16, 2014)

I have been told that I sound like Vin Diesel. (Then my sore throat goes away.)


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## jshuag (Jan 16, 2014)

"I hope you were just thinking out loud and would never do such a thing."

I would shoot 2 elk to double tag but no I would not leave one to rot. In fact a week prior to shooting the second one I found a poached one. I called DWR and turned it in. At least I think it was poached. Perhaps the forum members can chime in on this one. It is a calf and the shot looks like a kill shot to me. DWR didn't seem to concerned though. He said something like, "I will just see if in that unit there were any wounded reports". I was pretty disappointed.

http://utahwildlife.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=29202&stc=1&d=1392698113


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## jshuag (Jan 16, 2014)

Part 4 is now up.


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## utahhunter678 (Nov 3, 2012)

All the vids are great! I like any chance to share also so here is mine.


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## jshuag (Jan 16, 2014)

Part 5 is now up.






All done.


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