Here is some video showing the sleds in action hauling  Dallen's cow elk off the mountain in December of 2010.

Our family prefers elk meat to beef and I have been fortunate to often draw late cow tags. My brother and friends have also drawn tags throughout the years so I have also been involved in helping them get their cow elk off the mountain. All in all I average assisting in hauling three cow elk a year out on foot. For years we tried a variety of methods, dragging, quartering, various sled types and calling in horse support. I needed to find a DIY way to haul an elk out in one trip, without needing to ask for help.

Sleds offered my best option as long as there was snow. I tried the roll-up variety one year. They were easy enough to carry around while hunting tied to my pack but they were horrible at keeping the meat bags on the sled unless I was on a nice flat trail. One year we used a long plastic toboggan style sled. Again this sled worked great as long as you were on a nice flat trail. The toboggan kept tipping overcoming out the bottom of a steep canyon and when we had to go around sidehills. This sled is also a pain to haul in as you have to drag it wherever you go which, also makes a lot of noise in the process. I tried saucer sleds one year and liked them for their ease in carrying strapped to the back of my pack. I also liked hauling the boned out meat in my meat bags with them. But again I had issues with going around steep sidehills as the bags of meat could not be tied in well enough to keep them on the saucer.

The following year I was back with the saucers but this time I had modified the sleds so I could run chord back and forth across the top of the sled creating a web over the meat. I could also tie two sleds together forming a clam-like dish that could flip over and be pulled with either side down.  At first I thought that I would need the two sleds tied together to go around steep sidehills but, with the saucers being round and with the low center of gravity they just don't flip over. They will slide around just about anything. This system has worked great.

I now stack a couple of these saucers on my back and away I go. With the saucer sleds, my meat bags and a few hour's time to bone out the elk, I can hunt just about whenever and wherever I want with the confidence that I can get an elk out without the need of friends and/or horses.

 Here are some notes on how I made and use my meat saucers while hunting.

• Heating up a nail I melt holes around the outer rim of the sled.
• I weave parachute cord or shoelaces around the rim of the sled.
• I take several canvas meat bags to place the meat in.
• After placing the bags on the sled I then weave chord back and forth across the bags creating a web to hold the bags on the sled.
• I stack a couple of sleds together and tie them to the back of my pack while hunting.
• A small cow or calf can easily fit on one saucer sled. I generally take two saucers per elk that I or my group could possibly be bringing off the mountain that day.
• I take my time and bone out the elk properly getting all the meat. 
• I make sure I have a headlamp or two with extra batteries and good technical hunting clothing so I can take my time coming out in the dark if necessary.
• I use at least a half-inch diameter rope or a one-inch flat rope for the handle area that I hold to pull with.
• I don't wrap the rope around my hands in case the meat decides to pull me down the mountain I won't get drug with it.
• If I need to pull two sleds I create a "train" by tying saucers together.
• I use caution and take my time in steep terrain.

Now if I could just get saucer sleds in white and hunter orange-colored varieties.

 My son Dallen in 2010 pulling a Meat Saucer Sled filled with his boned out cow elk meat.

Meat Saucer Sleds filled with Dallen's 2010 boned out cow elk ready to be hauled off the mountain.

A couple of Meat Saucers and two sizes of my homemade big game meat bags. I like to have at least six large bags and two or three smaller bags per elk. I use smaller bags for the tenderloin and back straps.

This photo shows a small 5 Point Bull elk boned out and hanging in my homemade DIY Heavy Duty Canvas Big Game Bags. Boned out meat in breathable canvas meat bags helps the meat cool faster buying time, keeping it from spoiling. In 2011 I found some manufactured big game bags that although not as rugged they should work even better at keeping the meat from spoiling.