rabidApache

Same here.......42-44 lbs tops for me with a gallon and a half of water. No tent, but a good 10'x10' tarp which I make a Plow point shelter. 15degree down bag with a fleece liner or wool blankie if I need it and a light weight foam pad I shortened just past the knee. A 42oz stainless steel pot w/ lid. I also carry my favorite Tomahawk (3 lbs). I may carry at times a MSR ceramic filter but I rarely used it so now I don't carry if I know where I'm going. I know quite a few spots exactly where to get water straight outta the ground throughout my land. I fill straight up since it travels about 1' from source. But unfamiliar area I bring a filter. I'm a "minimalist" when backpacking especially in familiar settings. I have a spot four miles "in" I cached dry goods and emergency items in two big ammo cans hidden in my fav. deer and antler hunting area. I started with one ammo can then two which I leave for the following years. In one ammo can dry food, other can a pot & utes, flint & steel, tarp, Wyoming saw, 50-80'p-cord, and a cheapy first aid kit. If ya find the cache, your welcome to use it, just replenish the food.

Good luck on the draw. There maybe more lions about but there's also more deer , can't have one without the other. One thing about predator and prey relationship is they keep each other in check. A Tommy lion is the ultimate deer, elk, coyote, feral horse, dog, cattle and the best lion killing machine on the planet.

I make my own "pemmican" food/energy bars. Its easy to make and lasts for weeks. My Apache "powerbar" is deer jerky minced/hammered into fine powdered jerky. Its then mixed with ground acorn and roasted pinion nuts and hand formed into cakes. I dry'em and wrap in paper towel. Awesome stuff for the back country....high calories packed into a small package and tastes great. There's plenty of info on the web if your interested in making your "pemmican". Carry a good Titanium or stainless pot w/ lid. When back at camp boil water to purify should anything happen to your Water purifier.

Patients and choosing only stalkable quarry. I choose to hunt in windy conditions, slight precip or moisture. Not all bucks are stalkable into my bow range (under 35yds).I know archers capable of slinging arrows over 70yds but in real hunt situation I think accuracy suffers.The bows of today is capable no doubt about that.. but human error increases at longer distance. Plus I hunt with primitive gear so my hunt begins at 70yds! I attempted four stalks and finally felt comfortable with a shot and I took a nice eater coues buck at 32yds this past hunt. Patients and confidence...good luck.

Used to be? It still is.....Unit D is my "backyard". Most hunters I've witnessed in unit D seem to pass some excellent country. Its rough as heck on your truck and legs but they're there. The roads are bad...I've been archery hunting in D this past few weeks. Alotta WT movement, rut seems to be getting into high gear. Within three days we found 6 different bucks. No teeners but some nice'uns. Long story short........there's one less buck in unit D this year. He's now in my freezer.

There's simply no fooling a deer nose. If a deer can smell a ripe acorn in the leaf litter at a couple feet or man at 300yds what's the point of no-scent solutions or scent gear. Animals "smell like we see". Instead of looking in a pot of stew to see what's all cooking, they simply take a big whiff. lol Wind kills or fills your freezer. A deer or elk may hear ya three times, see ya twice but it only needs to smells ya once.

Scent lock or scent eliminator= snake oil. lol

Last year I stalked four coues bucks all under 40yds, missed shots of course. When in the rut look for travel corridors, WAIT for stalkable conditions, can't stress this enough. In the rut I try to intercept bucks checking for hot does. They seemed more intent from going to A to B even in the wide open. I don't wear camo but too me the wind is everything.

I currently use a external pack with a removable pack. I also attached a small canvas bag containing saw, rice bag (meat bag), and 20'coil of P-cord and buckle straps aside from main gear pack. PROS- externals have excellent points to attach additional gear and lashing points. Less zippers to blow-out and generally a pretty rugged design. With a good heavy duty frame, it can/you can haul elk quarters. Easier to maintenance/clean. CONS- Noisy, a bit cumbersome in tight areas (low hanging brush). Proper Fitment is a must. Loads tend to shift left/right if not properly secured, unlike internals were load is secured tightly. Less pockets/compartments.

I find that if you start from the POI whether gun or archery and watch an animal expire. Don't waste a great opportunity to learn. I've learned tracking through experiences just like these. Look and learn on the tracks, don't just follow the blood. Blood is just the second insurance. Another thing is treat the immediate area almost like a crime scene. Don't let your buddies trample the area and disturb sign. Nothing worse than trying to track through people trash (disturbance). This goes especially at night, you (hunter) should be in front since you have first hand knowledge of what happened. Fresh gut matter on arrow usually will not have an odor until its dried completely if heavy blood is present. Blood smell tends to cover. Its these little attention to detail that makes the difference as a tracker.

Common on Dan, you're just messing with us. You duct taped an extra set of sheds on its head.!?Right. Lol Awesome buck! Instead of two ball sacs, I bet it had four.

heck yeah. My bro took his biggest coues 116" with this very same model gun. 300 Savage at 250yds! I love this rifle. We've killed a ton of venison with this gun.As I write this...we're getting ready to head out for SC tribal deer this AM!!!

heck yeah. My bro took his biggest coues 116" with this very same model gun. 300 Savage at 250yds! I love this rifle. We've killed a ton of venison with this gun.As I write this...we're getting ready to head out for SC tribal deer this AM!!!

Terrain is from rolling juniper hills into steep rugged canyon country. Also there's the drainages of the Black river area (Malay border to Apache NF and FAIR). Other areas of mix woodlands of pondi forest and thick oak and juniper flats. Hunter pressure consists of 5 tribal and 5 nonmembers per hunt. There's two hunts. Sept 1-15 second hunt from 16-end of sept. Excellent hunts which ever you choose IMO. I rarely encountered other hunters. Elk activity? It just depends....hit or miss. First hunt this year the bulls weren't active til the last week. Other years first hunt was awesome. Sometimes limited water sources or other times ponds everywhere. I personally like the first hunt. Still somewhat dry and water sitting can be productive. Bulls encountered this year....280-320" common. Grind it out 340-400+"! A few years back 402" Malay archery bull taken by nonmember. Most likely a Dry lake transient bull crossing the boundary. Which is very common when rut activity is high. Either way excellent hunts.

It just goes to show it's not equipment, not the "newest" calls on the market or any of that BS being aired. Just hunt. Develop tracking stalking skills know your quarry and especially the area and how they use it. 800# animal leaves alotta sign. Early in the season bulls weren't bugling so I was cutting tracks and following them. One thing I've come to know about hunting with a limited range equipment is I rely on ALL those skills all the time.