Making multiple trips to haul a kill back

[JMSZ]

Something I've been thinking about but been forgetting to post.

If I kill a buck, I'm most likely going to have to make a couple of trips to get it and my gear back. It will be October and at 10,000+ feet , so I'm not so worried about the temperature, etc.

I'll obviously have to hang any meat I can't take on the first trip.

But I will also have to leave my camp - tent, sleeping bag, pad, food, etc - behind.

I'll try and stash everything as best I can, but anybody have any ideas on that?

The other question is the head with the rack and tag (I'm going to have my first one mounted, so I'll have the head, cape, etc). I definitely don't want to leave it back with my gear unattended, I don't want to leave it sitting in the bed of my truck and if I run into DF&G and the second trip with any meat, I'll need it.

There's a pack horse operation at the trail head, if they're there, I may see if I can leave it with them, but I don't know if they're going to be open then (probably weather dependent).

The only thing I can think of is to carry it the whole time, but again, any ideas I might have missed?

 

[hardstalk]

Sounds like your hunting in compton!! Gear & head stay on first trip beside the gun, take that on the first trip. Get everything on ice, im assuming you'll have a couple coolers at the truck with dry ice/ wet ice mix. Come back for gear, head, hide on second trip. If you bump into df&g and they want to harass you on your pack out tell them to grab their packs and help a brotha out!

 

[Ikeepitcold]

Sounds like your hunting in compton!! Gear & head stay on first trip beside the gun, take that on the first trip. Get everything on ice, im assuming you'll have a couple coolers at the truck with dry ice/ wet ice mix. Come back for gear, head, hide on second trip. If you bump into df&g and they want to harass you on your pack out tell them to grab their packs and help a brotha out!

Solid advise. Good luck.

 

[JMSZ]

Sounds like your hunting in compton!! Gear & head stay on first trip beside the gun, take that on the first trip. Get everything on ice, im assuming you'll have a couple coolers at the truck with dry ice/ wet ice mix. Come back for gear, head, hide on second trip. If you bump into df&g and they want to harass you on your pack out tell them to grab their packs and help a brotha out!

Sounds like a plan, thanks. The main reason I'm worried is because I will be right by the Pacific Crest Trail and the trailhead is one of the routes into Mt Whitney, so they both see a good bit of traffic.

As far as we are from Compton, I'd like to think that I wouldn't have to worry, but we get a lot of people up from the L.A. area, so I wouldn't leave out anything that's not nailed down.

Gun is never more than arms-length away, no exceptions there.

Our chest freezer bit the dust this summer, so instead of junking it, it has a new life as an 7 cubic foot cooler. I'm going to have to add some locks to bear-proof it.

Thanks again.

 

[hardstalk]

Sounds like a plan, thanks. The main reason I'm worried is because I will be right by the Pacific Crest Trail and the trailhead is one of the routes into Mt Whitney, so they both see a good bit of traffic.

As far as we are from Compton, I'd like to think that I wouldn't have to worry, but we get a lot of people up from the L.A. area, so I wouldn't leave out anything that's not nailed down.

Gun is never more than arms-length away, no exceptions there.

Our chest freezer bit the dust this summer, so instead of junking it, it has a new life as an 7 cubic foot cooler. I'm going to have to add some locks to bear-proof it.

Thanks again.

Thats the ticket! Chest freezer, coolers rock!

 

[Fatrascal]

I have broken down my camp and stashed it in the past but normally I just leave it up. People passing by don't know if your close by and watching it, ready with your gun. Expensive optics go out on the first trip with deer head and cape. Get head and cape to town to a taxidermist then go back for meat, then the camp. fatrascal

 

[ivorytip]

yeah if its a trophy head you may not have it there when you go back, just be sure u have that meat off the ground and ina cool place.

 

[Elk Hunter]

I have packed out more than a few elk but I never have worried much about my camp or the antlers/cape. Not much to my camp, just a small, expensive, one man 4 season tent and some expensive gear inside. Unless you just walked up on it you would never know it was there. Except for the gun, my gear is the last thing on the list to go out. The boned out meat is the first thing out, with the rifle going out with the first load. I carry a .357 in a shoulder holster the remainder of the time. I pack in salt and a saw after the first load out and completely cape the elk and salt the cape, making it a lot easier to pack, hide, or whatever. After the meat is all out I take the cape/antlers. I never have worried about anyone bothering anything when it's 5 miles from the nearest road. Back that far reduces the number of suspects if someone did bother anything, and you will have pictures. Did have a bear unroll the cape once, but no damage was done. Just curious I think. I do take out as much gear as I can with each load if I know I don't need it anymore, keeping in mind that I will be spending each night at my camp. Leave the tag with the antlers, meat in the cooler, or whatever part of the animal it is to be with and I wouldn't expect any problems.

 

[In God We Trust]

I carry para cord with me and stash the head, antlers and cape in a tree about 150 yards from camp. I sometimes leave just my tent up and wrap the rest of my gear in my brown 4 X 6 tarp and tie it to the trunk of a tree near camp with para cord as well. I figure if someone does come up and look at my camp all they will see is an empty tent and move on. I have expensive gear adn try to keep it out of sight out of mind if I am done and packing meat out.

 

[25contender]

I have just always left my camp up until the end of the hunt. I always pack out the meat first gear and horns last. Over twenty years I have never had anything stolen. If packing out on the same trail wouldn't you have to pass them coming and going?

 

[tim]

have 2 sleeping bags, one is left at the truck. Just incase.

 

[tttoadman]

Take photos of all the rigs you see at the trailhead. You never know when that could come in handy.

 

[ChadH]

Sounds like your hunting in compton!! Gear & head stay on first trip beside the gun, take that on the first trip. Get everything on ice, im assuming you'll have a couple coolers at the truck with dry ice/ wet ice mix. Come back for gear, head, hide on second trip. If you bump into df&g and they want to harass you on your pack out tell them to grab their packs and help a brotha out!

Emphasis on the "Grab your pack and help a brotha out..." THey aren't going to give you a hard time if everything is legit. I will say that in Washington state I believe your tag is supposed to stay with the "largest portion of meat". Which I guess means at some point there is a transfer that needs to happen, but the legistics of that never make sense to me (largest portion is now at the truck, but I am carrying the SMALLEST portion left, on my back ... with the tag, on my way from the MEDIUM portion, until I can get it to the new largest portion...). It just seems stupid to me, and seems like it was written by a politician not a hunter. And, I don't really know anyone who actually does it. People just leave the tag on the horns and take the horns last (no one can accuse you of wanton waste that way either). But you had better check the game regulations for the state you are hunting. Some states, I believe, tell you the head and horns MUST come out last (wanton waste deal again, I think). Plus, you must keep evidence of sex as per each states regulation.

 

[weigand]

Decent plastic sled. Put a few items in it on the pack in. Drag it behind you. (Yes sleds do just fine on dry ground). I usually basecamp and day hike out from it. leaving the sled at camp. Then you get your deer back to camp, Put your gear in your pack, and drag it all out in one load. Tough and slow, but beats going back in.

 

[wolftalonID]

Wrap that tag on the antlers.. The pack out does not constitute transport....its being packed out. Once at your vehicle then secure your tag where it best represents your harvest requirements. At that point as you drive away, you have begun "transport" of the harvested animal. If any LE officer wants to be stupid about it and try to cite you...kick em in the nuts so at least that citation has SOME validity!

 

[Musket Man]

Where is JMSZ these days?

 

[Alabama]

Wrap that tag on the antlers.. The pack out does not constitute transport....its being packed out. Once at your vehicle then secure your tag where it best represents your harvest requirements. At that point as you drive away, you have begun "transport" of the harvested animal. If any LE officer wants to be stupid about it and try to cite you...kick em in the nuts so at least that citation has SOME validity!

Awesome post wolftalon! laughed my a$$ off when I read the last line.

 

[AKaviator]

Be careful if you hunt Alaska...It is illegal to "transport" from the killsite, the horns or antlers until ALL edible meat is salvaged and transported out of the field to a departure point from the field; except that the horns or antlers may come out with the last load of edible meat. Keep the validated tag with you, and your firearm, you may need it on the return trip if in bear country.
Assaulting the warden may not work out that well for you either, and yeah, I've helped guys pack way more than my fair share of their game meat back to the camp, when it didn't alter my patrol plans.

 

[ssliger]

Be careful if you hunt Alaska...It is illegal to "transport" from the killsite, the horns or antlers until ALL edible meat is salvaged and transported out of the field to a departure point from the field; except that the horns or antlers may come out with the last load of edible meat.

I wish this was the law in all states. I understand we all hunt for different reasons, meat hunting vs trophy hunting. But if we don't take care of the meat first, we are just killing, not hunting.

 

[Alabama]

Assaulting the warden may not work out that well for you either

I think you missed the point. It was a joke!