The hunt doesn't end when the shot is fired—that’s when the real work begins.
In this final installment of our 2026 Expert Roundtable series, we assume the tag is filled and focus on what it takes to successfully "complete the mission" in the backcountry.
From tracking and post-shot discipline to field dressing, caping, meat preservation, and high-mileage packout logistics, four seasoned outdoorsmen share their distinct perspectives on handling the aftermath of a successful hunt:
- Nate Simmons breaks down the mental game of blood-trailing, why you need an extraction plan before pulling the trigger, prioritizing meat care over filming, and using tech like temperature sensors to monitor meat during long drives home.
- Ben Reynolds discusses post-shot scope discipline, mechanical resets, managing multi-mile solo packouts through strategic load "shuttling," and techniques for keeping meat dry or chilled in extreme environments.
- Isaac Deuling brings a guide’s perspective on showing respect to harvested game, caping for the taxidermist, cutting meat by natural muscle sections, and tactics for keeping scavengers away from meat piles.
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Brad Brooks emphasizes staying locked in post-shot, knowing your physical limits before taking a shot, mapping terrain bottlenecks for efficient packout stages, and solo field-deboning strategies.
Whether you’re heading out on a solo backcountry elk hunt or guiding in remote terrain, this episode is packed with hard-earned wisdom to help you protect your harvest, stay safe, and execute a seamless packout.
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Key Takeaways
Nate Simmons: Post-Shot Mindset, Strategic Planning, and Transport Logistics
- Post-Shot Blood-Trailing Mindset: Simmons stresses the importance of mental preparation after a shot. Even after a seemingly perfect shot, he always waits at least 30 minutes to calm down and give the animal time to expire. He mentally prepares for a difficult, meticulous tracking job to avoid making reckless mistakes or stepping on subtle traces of blood out of overconfidence.
- Having an Execution Plan vs. Making One: He emphasizes that a hunter must have a detailed extraction plan before pulling the trigger, rather than coming up with one after the animal is down. He contrasts a mismanaged, 16-mile round-trip solo elk packout from his youth that ruined his feet with a highly organized 2023 Arizona elk hunt. On the Arizona hunt, he vetted and pre-selected licensed outfitters/packers and communicated with them via satellite immediately after the kill.
- Prioritizing Meat Care Over Filming: Simmons emphasizes that once an animal is down, meat preservation and safety take precedence over everything else, including filming. He preferred the gutless method and kept meat on the bone to maximize cooling. He also risked hanging meat lower to the ground in dense shade—accepting a minor risk from bears—to avoid sun exposure that would ruin the meat.
- Temperature Monitoring during Transport: To ensure meat stayed cool during a two-day drive in hot weather back home, he packed the meat in large, ice-filled coolers with a vapor barrier. He placed app-connected Bluetooth temperature sensors directly on top of the meat, allowing him to monitor cooler temperatures continuously without opening the lids and letting hot air in.
Ben Reynolds: Post-Shot Discipline, Shuttling, and Extreme Terrain
- Staying in the Scope Immediately Post-Shot: Reynolds points out that hunters often celebrate too early right after pulling the trigger. He advises staying in the scope, immediately cycling another round, resetting, and preparing for a follow-up shot until the animal is confirmed dead. Once safe, hunters should follow a consistent mechanical routine (safety on, dial back turrets, adjust scope zoom, top off magazine) to reset equipment for the next scenario.
- Meat Care Packaging: For extreme packouts, he uses a structured three-part system: breathable game bags for airflow, contractor bags to keep meat dry in wet conditions or protect gear from blood during transport, and structured fabric/load bags (such as Kuiu or Exo dry bags) to hold the shape on the pack frame.
- Strategic Load Shuttling: For long, solo mountain packouts, Reynolds advocates for "shuttling" or leapfrogging meat and gear in stages rather than attempting massive 120+ lb single carries or multi-mile solo trips. Shuttling keeps him close to his gear/shelter in volatile weather, prevents leaving meat unattended near predators for too long, and builds active recovery into the day (heavy 2-hour carries alternating with light return walks).
- Submerging or Burying Meat: In extreme heat with no shade, he notes that meat (or hides) packed inside waterproof contractor bags can be submerged in cold mountain streams to cool quickly. In cold or snowy conditions, meat can be buried under snowpacks to keep safely for up to a week.
Isaac Deuling: Guiding Etiquette, Respect, and Field Processing
- Showing Respect and Guiding Traditions: Drawing from traditions he observed in Germany, Deuling always places a piece of vegetation in the animal’s mouth and offers a quick moment of silence/thanks. As a guide, he always ensures the client walks up to the dead animal first (once deemed safe) and walks clients step-by-step through the breakdown process to involve and educate them.
- Caping and Meat Breakdown Stations: He creates clean, methodical field stations for meat processing. To save clients money at the taxidermist and preserve the hide, he takes extra care and works slowly during caping.
- Methodical Muscle-Section Butchering: Having learned from indigenous hunters in the Yukon, he cuts meat strictly along natural muscle seams and sections, working carefully to prevent cutting himself or wasting meat. He also checks if clients want to utilize traditional or organ meats (liver, heart, tongue, etc.).
- Camp Priorities and Meat Preservation Tactics: Upon returning to camp, meat, hide, and trophy care take absolute priority over making food or boiling water. On remote horse hunts or overnight stays, he covers meat piles with large moose or animal capes (over alder/tree branches for airflow) to protect the meat from birds, which can devastate an exposed carcass quickly.
Brad Brooks: Mental Lock-In, Efficiency, and Field Deboning
- Maintaining Focus Until Recovery: Brooks stresses that "it ain't over till it's over." Hunters must stay calm and locked in post-shot, as animals can quickly pop back up after being hit or knocked down. When bowhunting, he marks his exact standing location and the animal's position on GPS (such as OnX) before moving, gives animals time to expire, and logically tracks wounded game along natural terrain features (like low notches or side-hill routes).
- Realistic Range Limits and Want/Waste Responsibility: Hunters need to be realistic about their physical ability to pack out heavy animals before taking a shot. If a hunter cannot ethically pack out all required meat (including neck meat) or access a cooler before spoilage occurs, they should not hunt that far back.
- Topography-Based Shuttling: Rather than making full round-trips from high camp to the truck, he plans packouts around terrain and thermal layers. For example, he will shuttle meat down past the hardest terrain bottleneck, return to grab camp, and move everything in efficient stages. He also recommends hanging meat in cool, damp creek bottoms at night where cold air settles rather than on hot ridges.
- Deboning Strategies: Brooks usually debones meat when backpack hunting to shave weight. When hunting solo in warm weather, he recommends leaving quarters hanging in game bags with the outer rind intact to protect the meat, deboning each quarter individually right before loading it into the pack for each trip.