Archery Talk

Camo was good

 

Ya got that right!!! Really liked that pattern at the time.

Not much need for camo anymore since I no longer bow hunt or turkey hunt. Deer gun only - usually colder weather, so all my lightweight stuff just hangs in my "huntin'-stuff closet". Occasionally wear some just for shits and giggles.

Current favorite patterns:

Mathews Lost Camo for ground sitting in fall

Mossy Oak NEW Bottomland for blending with a tree

 

Another early season tag filled. High country mule deer.

 

congrats

 

Nice, what state is this?

 

congrats bro!!

 

Congrats!!

 

Congrats!!

 

Congrats!

 

What state?

 

Sierra Nevada on the California side with my brother in law.

109 yard shot.
80 lb bow with a 450 gr arrow going 290 fps.

4 mile hike out. About 45 lbs of meat deboned.

4 days prior I shot a cow in Nevada after hunting that for 2 weeks. I didn’t mess with photos because I was by myself and was rushing to get the meat out. It was a rough one.

next up is Idaho and I got another tag for elk in Washington that I might skip

Yes I use the gutless method for western hunting, something I’m sure is not common in the east and Midwest where a lot of you seem to be from. So all butchering and even deboning is done in the field. A common question i get is how I get the tenderloin that way. I simply reach up and pull it out. If it’s tough, I move the guts down and carefully get a knife in there until I can get a better grip on it. I only use one knife (to keep backpacking weight down) which is a benchmade altitude, and is made of s90v. I’ve had it for like 5 years and haven’t needed to sharpen it. The down side is s90v is really hard to sharpen.

 

Backcountry hunts, I’ve always deboned in the field. Screw hauling the weight of bones back lol

 

The weight isn’t a huge concern. At least for me. Deer don’t weight that much bone or no bones.

It’s the fact that it takes hours to get back to the truck cooler.

The bones keep a lot of heat. Especially bigger game like elk. Deboning ensures you don’t get bone sour. In particular when it’s all pressed up in your load shelf.

I mean it wasn’t a super concern since it was like 33 degrees that night in this recent kill, but I do it the same way every time 1) because I'm fast at it and 2) a lot hunts like in Nevada it was pretty hot. About 100F during the day next to the sawtooths and goose mountains. When I was younger I’ve had elk meat bone sour in the snow. Ever since, I’ve just pulled it all apart and hang as I go to get air around the meat to cool it as fast as possible.

 

Nice, yeah, I have zero need for gutless or deboning in the field but I do know the process. Best thing I ever did as a hunter was learn the proper way to process all that beautiful meat. For getting back straps with gutless, you can just pop a couple ribs below the spine too.