How far do you hike??

[southpaw]

I have a good topic for ya fellas.......when your waking up in the wee morning, grabbing a bite to eat, putting the camos on, getting the truck warmed up and then your heading to your spot.............how far in do you guys hike to get to your honey hole?? my spot in 36a i hike in from the truck about 1 1/2 miles to my glassing hill for the morning hunt......then if nothing special is spotted i head further in, about 3/4s or a mile for the evening hunt....theres a small tank up in a ravine and right in that area is my honey hole( great glassing spot and many hills and pockets to spot some toads).....saw a lion in there last december which was pretty cool......anyways im interested in hearing how much strain you guys put on your legs to get to your pot of gold...

mark

[galiuro mountain man]

If it is just a day trip I go in 2 to 4 miles. If I am backpacking, I have been as far as 19 miles from my truck. I havent been able to backpack in for a couple of years though.

 

GMM

[bcoover]

That is a good question. I would say I don't go any further, than 4 miles. I don't think I would want to cary a animal longer than 4 miles.

[25-06]

This is a great topic, I have to hike about 4.5 miles in and 4.5 out of my new honey hole I know if I get drawn I will have one heck of a day,s work ahead of me (I HOPE)I hear these deer weigh as much as 900 pounds after a hike like this.

[wklman]

boy you guys do a lot of walking .I walk about 75 yards and start glassing in one my hot spots. other wise I take the badlands pack and go in about a mile.I finally figured out its a heck of a lot easier to skin and debone a deer out in the field instead of carrying the whole carcass on my back.

[az4life]

I guess 2-3 miles with a max of 4 miles. I feel that when the "hiking" outweighs the "hunting" the chance of a benefit shrinks considerably.

 

I prefer to Hike up slower in te AM as it is not uncommon to spook deer as you make your way in the dark to your stand. Then I stay put or move just a few times in the day just a short distance to change the view when things get slow or the wind changes direction. Pack a lunch and plan to stay all day and you will have the best chances, unlike the guys who go back to camp for lunch and then go back out for the last couple hours.

[25-06]

Great advice az4life, I have learned to stay out there all day the last season. About 1 p.m.ish I noticed deer get up and stretch and water. Never again will I go back to camp for lunch

[azcouesandelk]

I will go in about 250 yards start glassing and then just keep moving further and further till about 2 miles away. This year I will be going further and further back maybe up to 5 miles in tops.

[ultramag]

it depends on how much beer i drank the night before. just kidding as far as the terrain will allow my legs to go and the deer activity.

[KGAINES]

Up until a few years ago I walked way to far and hunted way too little, I walked as far as 15 miles in one day, now I might walk around 3 to 4 miles, I was in a lot better shape when I did all that walking. I think the younger or less experienced hunters probably waste a lot of time and energy when knowledge and good glass can do just as good with less physical effort. This is all thrown out the door on a backpack hunt.

[ultramag]

I agree kgaines you should spend more time glassing than walking.but that depends on where your glassing area is from a road.the farther the better.but stay there for a long time and let your legs rest.

[azpackhorse]

I don't usually walk that far when Coues hunting, maybe 1-4 miles. I just pick a good glassing point and pick apart the hills and see if there's something worth walking for.

[Red Rabbit]

Normally I hike in about an hour~2 miles. Last season, I only went in about a mile, but still had too many other hunters to contend with, so I guess that was not far enough, as they spooked then shot at a nice buck we were stalking.

 

Doug

[coueshunter]

It will depend on where I am hunting but typically I walk about 1/2 hour to an hour to get set up. I dont hike all over, I glass my butt off and find the deer first then plan a stalk if there is a big enough buck.........Allen.....

[firstcoueswas80]

it depends for me, my dad is an old man (nearly 50) with arthritus(sp) in his hips so we cant walk all that far but he still does pretty well. for the most part we let our big glass do the walking for us but we have been known to put 3-4 miles between us and the truck. it also depends where we hunt, in one of our honey holes, the best glassing spot isnt more than 1/4 mile from camp and the area to hunt is not that big. in another one of our spots, we have a TON of ground to cover so we usually lace the boots up nice and tight when we hunt there.