Eastmans tv show

[CrimsonArrow]

I just saw the episode of eastmans where Dan pickar is bowhunting elk in Idaho. Within the show was a subscriber video of two guys hunting elk in Arizona. They shot two giants at or above 400". The second guy left his overnight, and when they recovered it, the first thing they did was waste valuable time scoring the damn antlers. It was obviously warm out. Antlers can be scored anytime, and it speaks volumes about some people's motives for hunting. It's a small matter, but it sickened me enough to rant about it here where I know some of you feel the same way about wild game and the meat it provides.

 

[cmbbulldog]

Yep, that meat would surely be bad. Cant leave elk overnight with the skin on it very often, certainly not in September in AZ.

 

[Ikeepitcold]

The priority of some hunters is not what it should be. Wasting any animal is absurd in m opinion. Like you said the horns can be scored anytime.

 

[buckbull]

I know alot of these TV shows leave the animal for the next day; and I thinks its really a disservice. I try to do everything I can to get the meat out soon after the kill. The few times I've left animals overnight it never turned out well. My sister shot a nice 140" whitetail right at dark. It started to rain and we lost the trail and gave up around midnight. Found the buck the next morning with its eyes and ass end ate out by the coyotes. The other time we found the deer frozen and turned gutting, skinning, and deboning into a real chore. And both of these times it was cold enough to not worry about spoilage. I can't imagine even thinking about leaving an animal overnight in warm weather.

 

[westenvy]

I saw that too and thought it was pretty unnecessary given the circumstances.

 

[Gr8bawana]

I'm always surprised at how many times they leave an animal overnight on tv hunting shows. On many of them I suspect it's because of poor shot placement. Even if there is snow on the ground an ungutted animal is going to spoil from the inside out.

 

[Truckpainter]

I agree I live in Idaho it's bad enough to see all the elk that get wasted by wolves! But a few times we have come across guys packing antlers out and go back for the meat later makes me sick they are more worried about the antlers being stolen than getting the meat taken care of!!


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[mgorm16640]

Many states it's actually illegal to bring head out before the meat.

 

[Awise1]

Never understood leaving an elk lay all night. I think they don't realize the insulating capability of an elk's hollow hair. Many years ago in Colorado, I was camped near a hunter who shot a small bull at last light and looked for him until about 11 that night. Like me, he was by himself so when I awoke the next morning he was standing in my camp asking if I would help him find it. There was about a foot of snow on the ground so we figured the meat would be in good shape if we found him. There wasn't a lot of blood, just occasional drops and the small herd had torn up the ground pretty good. In the dark he had missed where the bull had swung off from the herd and he had only went 150 yards and dropped. The coyotes had eaten the genitals and part of the rear but the rest was intact. We got the shoulder, hindquarter and backstrap off one side and there was no bad smell to the meat. The neck was an entirely different story. The meat was warm as toast and already soured. This was an elk laying in snow with temperature in single digits at night. I've never had to do it but if I ever have to hunt for an animal after dark, I'll continue the search all night if necessary.

 

[mntnguide]

I have had to leave elk overnight due to the fact, its not safe to work on an elk in the dark in the thick of grizzly country. . but we always gut and drag the pile as far away as possible, and the most important thing that gets forgot, is taking the ENTIRE wind pipe out of them. The wind pipe holds so much heat, that meat can spoil even when it is late fall. . A Big problem currently i think, and i know some people are not going like this to much but its true, the whole DIY backpack hunter who is so gung ho to get 5+ miles from the trailhead and prove how tough a hunter they are...There is NO way an entire elk worth of meat is gonna get packed out of there without spoilage if you dont have horses or a pile of friends to help immediately. If you cant get an entire elk out from where it was killed in under 24...48 AT MOST hours, you shouldnt be hunting there. . I passed up an opportunity with my bow on a 340 bull this past fall, because I was alone, with a pack and far enough in that I knew I would not get that bull out no matter how hard I went on back and forth trips, So he got to live another year. I hunt for meat and because its what I love, if i dont harvest, its not the end of the world, but if I harvest just for horns and let meat spoil, I might as well be a poacher.

 

[NE69]

Some times it doesn't work out like you would like it. Nephew shot a bull in WY with a bow just before dark. He was excited and hit it in the ham. We waited 30 minutes and slowly followed the good blood trail with flashlights. About 100 yards later, he heard what he thought was the elk moving off. We backed out and came back just at first light. We took up the trail and 30 yards later the bull was dead. He had heard the bull go down and slide down the mountain. Lucky for us he was laying on his back with all 4 legs in the air against a log so there was some air flow. Maybe 25 degrees that night. Got it broke down immediately and packed out in 2 hours. Headed back to Worland and we processed same day. It was all fine yet.

 

[CrimsonArrow]

My main gripe was not with the fact that it was left overnight, which is bad enough, but that when they did recover it, they should have immediately began breaking him down to salvage as much meat as possible.

 

[laxwyo]

The hunting shows where they make a great shot, see the animal fall and still wait overnight or give it two hours always makes me laugh. If the animal crumbles, it's over. Most of my kills , I've walked up to the animal 2 minutes later. It can take days to die from gut shot. The people I've know that have gut shot went back the next morning and found the animal laying down alive and not dead and had to sneak in. A high lung shot is good to let them lay down and pool up inside. A gut shot at dark I'd definitely wait until the next day. I think they take the whole waiting thing way too far on tv.

 

[ivorytip]

yeah, if ones left over night wind pipe is always cut out, pretty scary doings when it gets dark in grizz country

 

[bigmoose]

I might add that in addition to getting the wind pipe out you should tie the front legs away from the body especially if you have shot the animal behind the shoulder. I've seen them spoil when the animal is laying on its side where the exit hole was. I've always tried to get them on their back with the legs tied apart if I have to leave them overnight. I will also try to get a log or whatever under them to get air flow going. Splitting the rib cage will also help. Elk have thick hides and will hold the heat in and it does not take long for them to spoil even in sub-freezing weather.

 

[ivorytip]

did they leave it as is, no field dressing?

 

[CrimsonArrow]

did they leave it as is, no field dressing?

They measured the rack before field dressing or anything.

 

[Fink]

The only reason tv guys leave animal overnight, is to take advantage of the better camera light in the morning. It has nothing to do with a 'marginal' shot, and risking bumping the animal.

 

[Gr8bawana]

The only reason tv guys leave animal overnight, is to take advantage of the better camera light in the morning. It has nothing to do with a 'marginal' shot, and risking bumping the animal.

That's right. Those tv guys and gals never make bad shots.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

That's right. Those tv guys and gals never make bad shots.

I don't believe that for a minute! None of them ever get air time.