How to Quarter and Pack Game out of the Backcountry - Conservation Field Notes with Steven Rinella

a lot of hunters feel uneasy about hunting back country public land because they're worried what's going to happen when they get a deer or elk down on the ground a mile or more away from their rig. At that distance dragging an animal is tough to do and game carts are often made impractical by rugged terrain but the thing is public land hunting often doesn't even get good until you get this far away from the road the hunting pressure drops off because fewer people are willing to walk this far and the animals know that this is where you often begin to find deer and elk. So they move to places where people aren't. If you want to consistently harvest good buxom you need to be willing to hunt away from from your vehicle but hunting the backcountry requires some additional skills because if you don't have pack stock like horses or mules or llamas that animal is going to have to come out on your back and I'm going to give you a few tips on how to break an animal down and get it out on your own the first thing you want to do when you get an animal down is get it gutted out you make an incision that runs from the anus all the way up to the brisket and you get the guts and everything out of there. Make sure you save the heart and the eliver because they offer some fine eating. from there make your skin incisions one up the back leg one up the front leg connect these into your main gutting incision and peel that half of the animal skin away now you can remove the back and the front shoulder the tenderloin, the back strap and you can either saw away or ax the way the rib cage now repeat the process on the other side make a skinning cut up the rear leg, a skinny cup out the front leg up to your main gutting incision peel that side back, remove another leg the front leg the loin, the tenderloin, the rib slab. Now the last piece of meat you want to grab out is the neck roast. I cut some of the front of the last rib, to right behind the animal's ear's, and I usually bring that out as one piece. If you want to save on weight go ahead and bone out the ribs making sure to remove all the meat from the bone now the key is to put that into breathable mesh bags where it can shed some of the body heat but also stay clean. From here on out the goal is keeping clean, cool, dry meat. Load it onto your backpack. Once you get used to carrying heavy packs, you can carry up to eighty, ninety, a hundred pounds. But start all small. Try to haul fifty pounds at a time and take it slow. Be especially careful going downhill because it can be hard on your knees. Using this skinning and butchering method is gonna to help you hunt farther away from the road in places where the hunting is simply better. Whenever I get into a situation where I can butcher my own animal in the backcountry, I remember why it is so important that these lands are conserved. I'd generally seem more animals, fewer people and enjoy great country. If you learn to take care of your animals in the backcountry you can enjoy these great hunts too. To to learn more about western public lands and what you can do to make sure they are conserved for fish wildlife and sportsmen, pay a visit to www.trcp.org

Channel: MeatEater

Views: 2,541,827

Rating: 4.5653305 out of 5

Keywords: steven rinella, quartering wild game, hunting, wild game, conservation field notes, backcountry hunt, how to, meateater

Id: Htf6m6fI018

Length: 3min 34sec (214 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 29 2013