Thread: Be Honest - How do people carry out meat and large weight

Good to see the walking poles in use !

A must have with a heavy load I reckon.

Saves the knees and great for keeping balance

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Originally Posted by Stocky

Yeh but most i know can't carry shit by their mid 30s and have replacement knees by 40. The amount of my mates i grew up with that pig hunt that have had joint issues (hips, knees, ankles etc) is exceptionally high and thats in the central north island no way it would work int he country i hunt down south (above treeline). They all seem to regret it now just for the glory so they can weigh it and compare.

Personally I find it all situational and doing dumb stuff is the way to find out. I usually take backsteaks and a few rump cuts areas dependent if I'm in the tops. If I'm near a riverbed with a flat walk I'll grab signifcantly more. Its descending elevation I avoid. Even pack training I use water in bladders for weight and then dump it at the top to save my knees and joints.

My exception is in the states where full meat recovery is required. Then it becomes a function of how many trips vs how much weight at a time.

Here's an entire mule deer after I offloading the hunting gear to my partner. Was enough to be unpleasant descending a few thousand feet but we had glassed up 2 bears in the catchment and didn't want to lose the meat. Its easy to forget how dense meat is.

Attachment 273117

Actually I think the worst thing I did for my body, was the redbands. I can't hardly wear them now. Any prolonged period in therm now, sees my knees start too hurt.

Originally Posted by whanahuia

I think Pig hunting teaches you how to carry weight. It's a strange sport and really only hunting where boning out on the spot just isn't really done. Part of the culture and story behind catching a big boar is the carry too.

I would shoot him before I let him ride me

As @NIMROD said there’s no easy way. I use a Tatonka bison and find it comfortable for heavy loads. My biggest in recent times was 3 boned out hind quarters and 6 backstraps in a meat bag in the centre of the pack. Rifle strapped to the side and a walking stick as a third leg. Had a 6 hour grind with that. Plenty of water and some music from the iPhone to take my mind off the pain and drudgery

Originally Posted by whanahuia

I think Pig hunting teaches you how to carry weight. It's a strange sport and really only hunting where boning out on the spot just isn't really done. Part of the culture and story behind catching a big boar is the carry too.

Always wonder what those big boars taste like? Do the boys eat them after they’ve finished driving around town with it on the back of the ute?

I usually keep that opinion to myself but i totally agree.
The first pair of redbands i ever got i wore for a year and a half as my main footwear (living and working rural you can do that) until they got a hole. But I’ll never get another pair. Big soft heel. Completely changed the way i walk and gave me knee and back pain. I was figuring it out towards the end.

No shade if they work for you though. That was just my experience. Footwear can do subtle things to you and is pretty relevant for this topic

Originally Posted by Bush Basher

Always wonder what those big boars taste like? Do the boys eat them after they’ve finished driving around town with it on the back of the ute?

Nothing particularly wrong with them, but not fantastic either. We usually stored them for the local Marae's, and they seemed to come up pretty well when cooked in a Hangi. Or made them into sausages for ourselves. There are though, only so many sausages you could eat. But we had the choice of good pork from younger pigs. There were always members of the community who were very appreciative of any meat you could spare.

Originally Posted by MSL

Mature stag, four legs boned out, plus the back steaks. Pack was definitely 40kg plus, with a bit of kit having to be strapped to the outside.


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No gutting needed ?

I hardly gut an animal anymore. No need unless you really want the eye fillets.

It’s been posted here before somewhere, my preference is to remove both back legs, leaving the skin intact between them across the rump.
So many upsides:
- very little meat exposed to flys leaves & dirt
- it’s lighter to carry as you’re not carrying the pelvic bone
- it’s quite comfortable sitting on your shoulders, just soft meat, no bones
- clean to carry you don’t have blood running down your neck like you tend to carrying hindquarters intact
- cools faster than a whole hindquarter

No gutting required but each to their own. This was boned out withouteven removing the legs from the carcass.

18kg of trimmed venison with about 1kg of scraps for dog food. A bit of care on the hill makes it much easier back home.

Originally Posted by Lauries Hut

I hardly gut an animal anymore. No need unless you really want the eye fillets.

Easy enough to get the eye fillets out without gutting mate.

Once back straps are removed, find the short ribs, carefully cut in under those the ease the eye fillets out.

I find i can usually do it mostly with my hands so no chance of nicking the gut bag with the knife



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Originally Posted by oneipete

No gutting needed ?

I don't shoot many deer and I don't bother with gutting. front legs are toast usually.

cut the back steaks off leaving the skin attached to the rear legs

use a machete to hack through the spine and remove the rear legs. or you can muck around with the ball joints and remove them from the body.

tie up into a backpack.

reach in and cut the eye fillets out.

Originally Posted by kukuwai

Easy enough to get the eye fillets out without gutting mate.

Once back straps are removed, find the short ribs, carefully cut in under those the ease the eye fillets out.

I find i can usually do it mostly with my hands so no chance of nicking the gut bag with the knife



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Never knew that, will give it a go.

Originally Posted by ANTSMAN

There's a point- during that grinding plod- who subconsciously sings the saaaaame fucken song in their heads? Something that by the time you get to ya vehicle, has been played 1958 times over?
For some unknown reason the track playing inside my brain is "Escape" the pina colada song by Rupert Holmes, great great song.

Bwaahaha..... yeah, at some point during the plod out a song ends up earwigging me, and "hey cab driver, once more round the block" has to be the cruelest one.
I always think I should book my room in the dribbly bin when I get home.

Originally Posted by SmokeyJason

I would shoot him before I let him ride me

Hell that’s a nice pig what was the weight…..at the time fecken heavy enough would have been the thoughts coming from the grey matter I’m guessing!
Yep them red bands offf a lot to answer for!