Sam prefers the gutless method for quartering elk and went to work in speedy fashion. I held hoofs out as he cut away the quarters and Mark went to work cutting off the lower legs after we had them removed from the body. Cody stood guard with his .44 and Derek assisted back and forth as we finished side one by removing the most beautiful back-strap I'd ever laid eyes on. We flipped him over and repeated the process on side two before reaching in and pulling the tenderloins out. All that was left was the head, which Sam made quick work of after finding the joint in the spinal column. I had decided on a euro mount unless I shot a real giant (I don't really have room for a shoulder mount anyway) so not having to cape him out expedited the process. Within 45 minutes all that was left was a carcass and we were loading meat into canvas bags and strapping them to the mules.
