Elk hunting takes your breath away and jacks up your adrenalin.  You get the chance to hunt these big beauties, scout like a madman, wait for the perfect shot, and drop your elk.  The world stops for a few moments and then the rush of realization pushes you towards your kill. 

You make your way to the glory spot, grinning ‘til your face hurts, and take in this spectacular animal. 

This huge, 600 to 1200 pound, spectacular animal. 

Your grin relaxes and the reality of the task now before you hits home.  You stare back up the steep hill you just scrambled down and even full of adrenalin, you know this is gonna be hard. 

Even when you have a tentative exit plan for you and your kill, the reality of moving an elk of several hundred pounds nearly always exceeds those plans. 

Many hunters have found that the most sensible way to handle moving a large game animal is by quartering the carcass and packing them out in the manageable portions of shoulders, hams, and loins.  Field quartering is less time-consuming than field dressing such a large animal and there is less chance of contaminating the meat.  Quartering also allows the meat to begin cooling off more quickly than if the carcass is brought out whole. 

The following steps show how to use this technique in the field. 

1. You can quarter your elk with the hide on if you will be able to get your meat processed quickly and the air temperature is under 40°, such as it might be during the winter hunting season.  If the weather is unseasonably warm, as it can be during some fall seasons, the hide should be removed before quartering.  The hide and the fat under it insulate the meat and slow the cooling process, which heightens the chances for meat spoilage.  Elk are too large to have the cooling effect of bags of ice in the chest cavity reach the hindquarters.
2. To skin the elk, lay it on one side and make a cut down the spine from the tail to the head.  Next, cut the hide from the muscle across and down the side until you reach the second joint on the legs.  Have one person pull the hide and another cut the connective tissues.  This takes skilful knife work – you don’t want to slice your helper.
3. Cut around each fore and hind leg, just below the joint.  Remove the hide.
4. Using a bone saw, cut through the bone below the second joint, leaving the major tendon intact on the rear leg.  Cut a slit between this tendon and the leg bone.  You will hang the rear quarter from this opening.
5. Next, lift the front leg away from the body and cut under the leg cutting close to the ribcage.  The shoulder is not attached by any joint, so once you cut up to the spine – carefully!  you don’t want to cut into the back loins – the shoulder will come off, ready to go in a game bag.
6. You are now ready to remove the back loin.  This is done just like when you dress out a deer.  The back loins lay on either side of the spine and look like long tubular muscles.  Cut across this muscle at the base of the neck.  Slide your knife blade next to the spine, cutting parallel to it down the spine.  Next, cut the loin from the ribcage and finally cut across the bottom of the loin to remove it.  The connective tissue on loins is easily stripped away, so you may want to test it with your fingers first to see if it will pull away with a minimum of cutting.  Drop the loin into a game bag for transport.
7. Removing the hindquarters is best done with a saw, going through the pelvic bone between the hindquarters first, and then sawing across the spine where the back loin meets the hindquarter.  The carcass is now split in half.  Your last cut will be to split the spine from the tail and back to where you first cut across the spine.  Using a saw is preferable so the meat can be moved more quickly.
8. Remove the rib and neck meat and pack in a separate game bag.
9. Flip the carcass over and repeat the steps until all the meat is removed and bagged.

Each time you quarter your elk, it will become easier.  And, you will keep your grin intact all the way to your truck.