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sniper7
09-15-2010, 17:28
Got a 5x5 on the 12th. Second day of muzzleloader. Still up here trying to get my dad and friend their tags filled. Bulls are just barely starting to bugle. It is just too damn hot right now. Its been mid 70s the entire time and no frost on the ground in the mornings. Ill get pics up when i get back!

StagLefty
09-16-2010, 07:56
Well done Sniper !! Looking forward to pics [Beer]

Bad Dog
09-16-2010, 09:32
I took a 2x2 mule deer on the 12th, pretty big deer for such a small rack. Youre right about the weather, it was hot, dry, and windy. I feel pretty fortunate to have filled my tag. Took this deer at about 70Yds. with a CVA Accura, shooting 110 grains of Tripple Seven, 295 grain Powerbel bullet.

mx'r
09-18-2010, 16:16
Lets see them pics..[Beer]

sniper7
09-18-2010, 18:58
Just got home today at a wedding now... this chick is bigger than my damn elk. Ill post pics tonight!

sniper7
09-19-2010, 23:41
finally got some pictures uploaded!

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s10/jdean23_photos/Elk%20Hunting%202010/ElkHunting2010.jpg


http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s10/jdean23_photos/Elk%20Hunting%202010/ElkHunting201019.jpg

Pretty cool that I was with my dad this time when I took this Bull
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s10/jdean23_photos/Elk%20Hunting%202010/ElkHunting201030.jpg


saw this small heard way way way long ways away. hard to tell in the picture but the one just getting to the top in the middle was a monster bull. we heard him bugle a couple times then later saw him here going the opposite direction.
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s10/jdean23_photos/Elk%20Hunting%202010/ElkHunting201034.jpg

pretty nice scenery!
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s10/jdean23_photos/Elk%20Hunting%202010/ElkHunting201037.jpg

Even saw this porcupine. I bet he was at least 40 lbs. he struggled to climb the tree away from us, pretty funny to watch
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s10/jdean23_photos/Elk%20Hunting%202010/ElkHunting201055.jpg

mx'r
09-20-2010, 07:00
How come they always fall in a crappy spot against some sort of tree or rocks?
Nice bull. I know that spending time with your dad is the highlight. Good job.

henpecked
09-20-2010, 07:27
What unit where you hunting?
Nice pictures thanks for sharing

looks like south of Aspen unit 471

sniper7
09-20-2010, 10:17
How come they always fall in a crappy spot against some sort of tree or rocks?
Nice bull. I know that spending time with your dad is the highlight. Good job.

every single one of mine have ended up pinned next to a large down tree. I just expect it now![Beer]

sniper7
09-20-2010, 10:18
What unit where you hunting?
Nice pictures thanks for sharing

looks like south of Aspen unit 471

Got him right on the north facing side of notellum ridge.[Beer]

BigBear
09-20-2010, 10:24
Coolness. Jerky time!

Mr. Porcupine is like: "What chu want Willis?!"

henpecked
09-20-2010, 10:53
Got him right on the north facing side of notellum ridge.[Beer]

Ive shot several nice bucks there during the early rifle season.

sniper7
09-20-2010, 13:19
Ive shot several nice bucks there during the early rifle season.


it is a great spot! we need to keep it on the down low though[Beer]

henpecked
09-20-2010, 13:44
No worry 95 percent of the hunters there are to lazy to leave there trucks.

Steve

sniper7
09-20-2010, 15:19
No worry 95 percent of the hunters there are to lazy to leave there trucks.

Steve


aint that the truth. watched guys on 4 wheelers drive around all day with their orange on. They stopped once when I was putting the meat in the truck and they saw the antlers. they asked where I got him..."right next to the road, just gotta get lucky I guess!"[ROFL1]

henpecked
09-20-2010, 15:27
aint that the truth. watched guys on 4 wheelers drive around all day with their orange on. They stopped once when I was putting the meat in the truck and they saw the antlers. they asked where I got him..."right next to the road, just gotta get lucky I guess!"[ROFL1]


Pretty place and I hope you have more pictures to share

Steve

Irving
09-20-2010, 15:30
That's a big ass deer. I still can't understand how you're supposed to pack something like that out of the woods with out an ATV, dolly, and engine cherry picker.

theGinsue
09-20-2010, 19:00
Just got home today at a wedding now... this chick is bigger than my damn elk. Ill post pics tonight!

Still waiting for those pics!

Oh, you meant of the bull; I thought you meant pics of the chick.




Awesome harvest Sniper. Given the warmer weather and the delayed rut it's even more difficult to harvest an elk so you should be especially proud!

sniper7
09-20-2010, 21:14
That's a big ass deer. I still can't understand how you're supposed to pack something like that out of the woods with out an ATV, dolly, and engine cherry picker.


I will look and see if I still have my pictures of the detailed process to quarter out and animal.

basically you cut off all 4 quarters. use a saw to cut off the bone just below the knee because that is just bone, almost no muscle/meat and a waste of weight.
take off the backstraps (meat the runs all the way down the neck to the rear quarter on both sides of the spine).
cut off the neck meat and throw the scraps into a bag for burger.
cape it out if you want to do a full shoulder mount (all the hide from the shoulder forward is the cape), cut the head off as far up as possible to keep from hauling the weight of just neck bones.
or if you don't cape it, you can cut into the skull and get the antlers off...and scrape out the little bit of brain that comes along with it!

time consuming, and a bit tiring of a process, you have to work carefully to not cut yourself, not get in a rush, not waste meat, watch out of animals who want the meat more than you and keep the meat clean the whole time!

I always say, once the animal is down...then the work truly begins.

sniper7
09-20-2010, 21:15
Still waiting for those pics!

Oh, you meant of the bull; I thought you meant pics of the chick.




Awesome harvest Sniper. Given the warmer weather and the delayed rut it's even more difficult to harvest an elk so you should be especially proud!

I have been advised by my better half that I am not supposed to post pictures of the beast I saw roaming in town.

yeah, the weather was killing, I was just glad we got into them. my buddy should have had a really nice 5x5, but it didn't happen so no point dwelling on it.[Tooth]

mx'r
09-20-2010, 21:18
[

I always say, once the animal is down...then the work truly begins.[/quote]

[Beer]. We got fairly fast at the quatering with two people. About 20 minutes without gutting. Works great, just cant hit the gut.[Bang]

Irving
09-20-2010, 21:19
So do you just leave the rest of the animal (all the blood, guts, bones, etc) in a neat little pile for the scavengers to eat? I suppose without like 80% of the animal, it'd be much lighter. What do you do to keep the meat cold?

sniper7
09-21-2010, 11:49
So do you just leave the rest of the animal (all the blood, guts, bones, etc) in a neat little pile for the scavengers to eat? I suppose without like 80% of the animal, it'd be much lighter. What do you do to keep the meat cold?

the meat is everything you take with you. the only thing left are the ribs, which are mostly bone and little meat and the tenderloins on the inside (you have to gut the animal to get to them.

Inevitably some scavengers show up, mostly camp robbers (birds) and I always toss them lots of the excess fat or junk meat (where the bullet went in and out and contaminated the meat or it is destroyed with blood that has been pumping out of the animal.

as for cooling, try to keep it in the shade while you are working, direct sunlight is the worst for it. the temps are usually cooler up high so not too much to worry about and if you get it out quick it isn't an issue. biggest thing is getting the hide off so the meat cools quickly. the hide can keep in a lot of heat, and will decrease the time that carcass takes to bloat.

all my shots have been through the heart and lungs on elk and deer and antelope (except my first antelope i shot archery through the liver and then the gut) so some air escapes the cavity, but once you cut into the gut and puncture a stomach or intestine...the smell can be pretty awful.
I can handle elk and deer fine, but I have found antelope to have some of the nastiest smelling internals out there.

I have gone back to the carcass a day or a few days after the kill and most of it has been spread out if a bear finds it, a lot is eaten away by the bears and coyotes or lynx or mountain lion etc. I have gone back a year later and found almost no trace a carcass ever existed where I killed it, just bones strewn about, bleach white.
mother nature definitely takes care of the rest. I never feel like I waste anything, just give some back to the rest of the creatures that I almost never see.