Pack It Up
The load-hauling basics.
As hunters, sometimes we can trick ourselves into believing that the hardest part of a hunt is finding and shooting animals. While that can sometimes be the case, make no mistake: the real work begins once an animal is on the ground. Whether one mile or ten miles from the car, you have to get the meat home somehow—and it will most likely be on your back for a portion of the journey. When packing up meat, here are a couple considerations to make your loads easier.
The most important practice is to get the meat as close to your back as possible, and as high as possible. The last thing you want is an elk hindquarter sagging and slapping the back of your knees every step of the way. If you’re using a load-hauling hunting pack, break the bag away from the frame, and strap the meat directly to the frame. Place hindquarters ball-joint side up, so the bulk of the weight sits high. This positioning will also help keep the meat from sagging down, due to the teardrop shape of the quarter. When strapping on front quarters, sandwich two in a single game bag, and strap ’em on together—again, with the shins pointing down. Scrap meat and backstraps can then be balanced on top and secured with the lid of the pack. Antlers and skulls are a bit tricky to strap on, and there’s really no good way to do it. But if you’re lucky enough to get to that point, there are worse problems to have. Mess around with a few different setups to find something that’ll work. If nothing else, you’ll have fun playing with your antlers and showing them off to your friends.
Carrying meat in a regular backpacking pack or daypack is a little trickier, but plenty of people do it. The key is to bring rope or a cam-strap (like the blue NRS variety) to cinch around both the meat and the frame. The extra lashing will keep the meat secure and prevent it from sagging. Standard packs are fine for short packouts or medium loads, but if you’re planning on hunting steep and deep country, or elk any significant distance from the road, consider purchasing a pack with a stronger frame. Your back and your bones will thank you.
