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When you're dressing out an elk, you've got to decide whether or not you want to take the bones with you. If you do, it helps to be close to camp, to make the moving process a lot easier. To start the process, you need to get the meat cooling down as quickly as possible by opening up the cavity and removing the internal organs. Elk are extremely heavy animals, making it difficult to drag a whole carcass back to camp, if you're in the back country. For this reason, it's common to just harvest the meat, leaving the bones and the guts in the field. This method is discussed in the following section. Start just below the sternum, where the layer of hide and muscle gives you the most space from the guts. Use one hand to pinch the hide and pull it up and away from the ribs, using your other hand to make a small incision with the knife just under the sternum. Make the cut shallow, but make sure it's deep enough to get through the hide and into the membrane below, which attaches to the tissue below. Listen for a whoosh of air or a hissing sound, which is a sign that you've punctured the stomach. If you have, this means you need to work very quickly to get the cavity open and get the stomach out of there, to avoid tainting the meat. It'll be fine as long as you work quickly and carefully, and rinse it off when you're finished. Elk hide is thick, and the muscle is thicker. Below that, you're still not all the way to the organs, but the final layer separating them from your knifeand from spoiled meatis a thin membrane, which you can feel for with your fingers. Pull upward, to separate the membrane, muscle, and hide from the organs and give your knife enough clearance to work. When you've got your fingers between the membrane and the muscle, you can pull the hide up and away, insert your knife, and work it down safely, knowing that you won't be cutting through into the guts. Be very careful of your fingers, working slowly and smoothly. Continue making your incision straight down the belly until you get just above the anus. You should stop when you can feel your knife touching the pelvis arch, the bone near the hips of the animal. If you've got a bull elk, cut around the penis, just deep enough to separate it from the skin. Do not cut the urethra that leads to the bladder or pull it loose. Instead, cut it free and let it hang. This and the bladder will all come out together later with the rest of the guts. You don't need to worry about puncturing anything in the upper-half of the animal. The best tool for this job is a combination hunting saw and knife, like a Gerber E-Z saw. These are small, portable, and lightweight, making them ideal for backcountry work. Use the toothed edge to work in between the seam, where the ribs connect and close the chest cavity, then pull the ribcage apart to open up the interior and work. When you get to the top, it's also a good idea to go ahead and separate the wind-pipe at the neck. You can be sure that everything is separated on the inside and you can just start pulling things loose and discarding them (or saving what you want). There's no big secret to gutting the animal at this pointjust start pulling the "train" loose and making small cuts along the abdominal walls to separate them, where they're attached, if necessary. Everything, for the most part, should come out in one big clump, which you can start piling between the animal's back legs as you work, being careful not to puncture anything. Don't cut through the intestines to separate them. The intestinal tract of the animal will probably still contain feces, which will spoil your meat. Pile the innards between the hind legs of the animal and move to the next step to separate them safely. Special care needs to be taken to avoid accidentally puncturing the intestines or the bladder, which will expose the meat to waste and spoilage. To do this, you'll need to split the pelvic arch and expose them more readily. Use the hacksaw or a hatchet to remove a chunk from the top of the pelvic bone and open up space to work the intestines free safely. Insert your thumb into the anus and use the knife to cut around your thumb. You can use a zip-tie to secure it and keep any waste from coming out, then pull the intestines up and free from the inside of the carcass. A plastic plug called a "Butt Out" is also available to do this, if you're uncomfortable playing elk proctologist.. If you've left the penis intact, the bladder should now come loose easily, along with everything else. Be very careful not to let it split or pop as you're working. Handle it gently and you should be fine. The cavity will likely be fairly damp and bloody, but it should be starting to cool down efficiently at this point. Some hunters like to turn the carcass over to allow it to drain some, promoting drying and cooling more effectively. If it's possible, you can hang the carcass and rinse it out with clean water if you're close enough to camp to have some to spare. Elk are extremely heavy. Even if you're very close to camp, it's usually best to break it down some, separating the hindquarters from the torso, just under the ribs, making it easier to pack out. Alternatively, you can also separate the meat and leave the bones in the field. It won't take long.
Use this method when you're close to camp. Make your first incision just below the sternum. Insert your fingers and feel for the membrane. Continue cutting all the way down to just above the anus. Use a saw to separate the ribcage. Make small cuts to separate organs from the cavity walls. Split the pelvic arch to remove the bladder and rectum. Drain the carcass and pack it out.