Christine's Elk-Rig
 

Used my Blazer to haul a cow elk out of the woods!

First, I used the Blazer to pull it up a 60 foot, 45 degree brushy incline by daisy-chaining a couple tow straps and extra rope, then a come-along to load it in to the trailer, followed by driving it out on the trailer on a mile long old skid road. Glad I did the small suspension lift and installed upgraded tires.

Feeling very resourceful as I did this all by myself.

Yes, I will contend my Blazer IS an Idaho Elk-Rig!

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Of course, instead of taking three steps up hill, the elk took three steps in the other direction and tumbled down the incline. One way or another, elk make you pay for the privilege for the opportunity to put them in the freezer!


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In the trailer backed into the garage about to be raised up on the gambrel and skinned.

Nice kill! It sure didn't make it easy for you though. What caliber rifle did you use? Hard to tell from the picture, but it looks to be 30-06 or 308?

Great job getting it out of there on your own too! These blazers are good trucks for things like that

Thanks!

I always say that elk make you earn it one way or the other! This was as far as elk go, still a relatively easy recovery. At worst I would have boned her out and lugged the meat up the 60 feet to the truck. Some folks after the boning out still have miles to go to walk.

The one I got two years ago was 30% larger but it was easier to get to. However I had forgotten to fully inflate the trailer tires and blew one out, thankfully while still on the back roads. I had to drive back home, find the spare, get it inflated, drive back to the trailer, mount it, then slowly drive the the closest town that had a gas station that (hopefully) had an air pump, then inflate the other tire, and then go home. I did have a pump but it had broken and as you might notice, I carried my spare trailer tire this time. The blown tire cost me about 2 hours at least. LOL

As for the gun, it is 7mm Rem. Mag in Mauser 98 action. The shot was 168 yards. That is a long shot for me as I normally hunt in more timbered areas. For some people 250 yards out to 450 is more typical.

Around here (N. Idaho) for dedicated elk rifles people like the 300 mags and .338 mags. I like the 7mm for its flat shooting, plenty of energy for the ranges I would hunt, and milder recoil. The '06 and .308 are pretty popular too for those who want a deer/elk gun.

Nice job on getting your elk! My wife has thought for years the hunting was "fun".

This year I hunted for nine days, morning and evening, putting in about 3-5 miles on each hunt. The only elk I saw were running across the forest road in thick timber. None of them stopped...lol

I did get my deer, though. Easy drag compared to an elk for sure. My wife got to find out part of the "work" this year when we deboned, cubed and ground up the deer and made sausage. I told her this is the "clean" work. The real work starts once you drop an animal.

Oh, I thought when I read the title that you put the elk in the back of your Blazer. I've done that a few times including when I had less than 2000 miles on mine and less than a month old. I now use my utility trailer as it is MUCH easier to get an elk on the trailer than in the back of the Blazer. And, yes, you really can get a full grown cow in the back of a 2dr with the seats down. No way to do it with a bull unless you cut the antlers/head off.

Thanks! Yes, the joke I have with my hunting partner is that there is elk-hunting fit but then there is elk-hauling fit!

I've put a deer in the back of this Blazer but that flexible ungainly dead weight is not easy to deal with. The trailer is about the same vintage as the Blazer and has been the best $300 I've ever spent! I also recently purchased a rear carrier for the truck just for deer.

Might be able to sneak out for a couple more days of deer hunting. We'll see how work goes.

Nice hunt and recovery.
Wish we could do that over here. I remember a legendary spaghetti Bolognese sauce made with ground Elk in Canada.

Nicely done. That should be plenty of meat in the freezer this winter.

Thanks. It was a satisfying day; Hunting/stalking, reading sign, trying to anticipate the critters' moves, navigating the woods, application of of my marksmanship skills, and some good problem solving to get the critter up that hill!

Yes, I'll have plenty of meat or as I prefer to call it my "organically-grown, free-range meat."

I'll also be able to give some to a few of my friends. I gave the heart and liver to one of them as a treat (to be spread over time) for her Great Pyrenees dog. I'll also donate a couple leg bones for her dog. I've tried both elk/deer heart and liver at its freshest and I didn't really like it so I'm glad it will be used. :)

Nice work! Remind me never to argue with you about slipped timing chains!! ;)

Thanks! BTW, I was very glad I was wrong about the timing chain! :)