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| weekend meat-cutting party in action |
This year on the elk hunt we harvested 3 elk, and everyone who participated ended up with around 90 pounds of high-quality packaged meat. After costs (fuel, permits, food etc) that should calculate out to well under 5 dollars a pound - pretty good for organic, free range meat!
It is only the second time in 18 hunts that we have harvested more than 2 elk. This year we had 6 hunters while we generally go with 4 or 5 people. With fewer people the work associated with an extra elk generally seems too high. But this year with 6 people to help carry the meat off of the mountain and with all the cutting and packaging, it seemed worthwhile to harvest an extra elk.
I also noticed while hiking with camping gear that a 6th person helps there too. The fixed weight cost of tent, stove, kitchen are the same whether you have 5 or 6 people - so with 6 everybody carries relatively less weight. There are more people to spread the load so to speak.
Nonetheless, I also think 6 people is the upper limit for an elk hunting party. For one thing, with 6 people it was pretty tight on the boat. But more importantly, I think with over 6 people on shore decision making and general 'hunting inertia' would suffer. It would get more difficult to come up with and carry out a plan. Patrick
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| Stalking the elk |
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| Brooks' Cow elk |
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| Andy's big bull |
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| Elk quarters hanging in the barn |
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