Hunting season and your DCSB Taco

Wrong tool for the job.

I do it the easy way..

 

Nice buck

 

Thanks. We've got a pretty decent area with a nice pocket population of whitetails along the Missouri River reservoir complex. Our property is above the river / wetlands in the woods so we are the transition zone where they move from feeding to cover. Makes it pretty busy during pre-rut and rut.

One of mine from a few years ago


Another one a few years ago- wide rack but reallllly skinny. Not much mass.


Wife's buck a few years ago.


From loader to winch, lol.

 

I have some nice deer hunting where I live also along the mississippi river in the mississippi delta.

 

If you aren't field dressing and quartering an elk then u have been doing it wrong. I have packed out trophy bulls and even two elk at once in my short bed tacoma. I was taught by a elk guide of 35 years and his methods have made it way easier and worth the 1.5 hrs it takes. Plus u don't even touch the gut sac

 

This will be the first time out with my Taco. I do a lot of bird hunting now and my old rig was a 98.5 Dodge 2500 diesel with a camper on the back.





Going back to the tent or back of the Tacoma this year.

 

How the hell do you get a mature non field dressed elk out of the field?

 

I think one would field dress at a minimum. If I'm close to home and it's an easy drag I haul out whitetails as is. I get em hanging then I have a method to debone and dispose of the carcass guts and all without ever touching the gut sack. Super fast, super easy, no fuss no muss. Done well over 50 deer that way.

 

Dam thats a hell of a buck that kinda anantler growth dosent really happen in ct like that but ive always had a taco for my hunting rig except for the one year i used my gf at the times scion tc and I shot a big doe that year and had to strap it to the hood to get it home. "that was an argument that lasted like 3 months haha but all my tacos have been ACLB's. I'm planning on trying to do my first elk trip out west any recommendations as to a place that has a large piece of state that they allow you to drive in and hunt/camp anywhere. also somewhere that is an over the counter tag or somewhere that's easy to draw a tag I'm primarily a bow hunter but I don't mind using the rifle either any help or recommendations are greatly appreappreciated

 

I'm interested in learning more about this method unless it's like a well I can tell ya but then I'd have to kill ya type deals haha

 

There's a lot of public ground in Montana. A lot. The states Fish Wildlife and Parks web site has oodles of information on harvest information and areas where population numbers are good. You can get over the counter tags for a lot of areas, but there are also quite a bit of areas that do require lottery. You just have to check.

Honestly I'm not too big into elk hunting. I occasionally go but I found it more fun to bird hunt with my dogs. I can go hunt all day, shoot birds, eat them and go out again. And again. Just a lot more pleasurable in my book. Plus I can harvest enough whitetails to fill the freezer and not have to devote as much field time as I would have to for elk.

I have had friends come out 5x for elk and they have yet to bag that 'trophy'. That's a lot of time spent on the quarry. In my opinion I would have rather spent the $$ maybe twice on a good outfitter led trip. Just my opinion...

 

This seemed to work, granted it was only a mile and the closed road hadn't grown over. I'm sure the next one will come out in pieces on my back...

 

Merriams Rios and Goulds here in AZ. I have only gone after goulds and merriams. Both are tough birds to hunt and require a lot of patience. The Rios are smallest of the three species and Goulds are the largest and prettiest. Merriams are the most populous and Goulds only live in specific areas of South Eastern part of the state.

Here is a goulds a client shot

 

Well that was t a huge body wise elk, but where I hunt elk we don't hunt near roads and a cart would be a mofo to pack in miles let alone roll. We always debone and carry out. As far as white tails, I gut em on the spot, then hang em and debone while they are hanging

 

ya I'm primarily a deer hunter I actually got my start hunting with my father and the 2 best German weimaraners(not sure if that's how it's spelled ) anyone could ask for hunting pheasants and then I got into the white tail obsession haha. And I agree with you about the elk hunting honesty I'd rather try a mule deer trip out west in like Montana or Idaho or Colorado. I'm in the process of setting up my truck with a soft topper to make it like my base camp no need for a tent just a cot and sleeping bag

 

Ive put a whole (gutted) elk in the back of Polaris Rangers before. Usually they're on my back in a Kifaru pack. Last two though were on damage control tags and I used the bucket of my John Deere to haul them back.

 

quarter it up...you can still save the hide/skull for a cape mount

 

Same here.



Mud Buddy gun sleeve by the tailgate, lol.

 

North coast we have logging roads on top of logging roads and in most cases your usually not far. Most are closed where I hunt but are accessible with a bike. Here are some pics that I found of what I was thinking. Makes me wish I would have waited and gone with a long bed...