Backpack Hunting

[bvanetten]

Yep, Bear scat every 10 yards in every direction for 3 acres. All that and I've never seen a live bear there! We reported a poached bear there last year. Someone poached a deer, hung it in a tree just high enough for a bear to reach if standing on it's hind legs. They took the hide and head and left the rest.

 

When the apples are dropping there is a lot of hiker traffic on the weekends.

[ac guy]

There can be, but the silver lining in that, is the deer get used to seeing humans, as I'm sure you noticed.

[COUESAZ]

A little bit of TMI going on on this one. Some times more the people the better but some times not the best for a spot.

[cmc]

I don't recall if I ever put up my pack list items from our hunt last year. This was what mine looked like before we left. There were some things subject to change depending on weather and or who was going to take what. The one thing we did, and will do again this year is to spread the load depending on who has to carry the rifle and other things.

 

 

Younghunter I'd shoot for putting a ton of money into a tent, bag, and tripod to get the lightest possible, at least the tent and bag. Figure once you make camp you won't be carrying those around each day unless you plan to. I'd really try to keep that pack weight under 50lbs or just at. Ya your young but having destroyed my knees at your age listen to those that now suffer for not tending to them years ago. Ya you can carry it but it's going to take a tole that's just not worth it. Besides you'll enjoy the hunt that much better.

 

I can not stress how important proper food and water consumption is on a pack in hunt. It can make or break you, but preparation with physical training can do just as good. Learn to listen to your body and eat before you get hungry. Don't over do it out there and rest when you can. It's not like you can easily say I'm done and exhausted and it's time to head home. The pack out is going to be just as nasty as the pack in was if not worse due to you'll be more tired.

 

Plan on what you'll do if you harvest an animal. Think about having coolers with ice back at the truck. Think about multiple trips to pack things out, leave camps as the last thing. Have some gear at the truck in case you pack out and need to stay the night there, say a sleeping bag and MRE. Think about first aid all the time. Think about what you'd do if you broke a leg, an arm, something bad. Think about that as you are about to jump across a stream vs. stepping over, or as you cut a piece of rope with a very sharp knife. You put a nasty gash in your arm back in there and it's going to be worse than cutting off the finger at home. Many hours to the ER room vs a quick phone call and sitting and waiting.

 

Get some trekking poles they are a god-sent!!!! They will help more than you can imagine.

 

I double stress finding out about reliable water sources before you even set foot. Call G&F & FS to see what they have to say.

 

Make sure you have necessary permits (FS/State/BLM) if any are needed.

 

Go with someone you can put your life in their hands. Make sure that if you go down they have the smarts to get the two of you out alive. Think about a SAT phone if you got the coin to drop on one.

 

Get and take more maps of the area than you think you'll ever need. Topo, FS, State land, BLM. Make copies of each and divvy out to who ever is going with ya. Upload routes, trails, every possible water source and stream, into your GPS.

 

Notify the local G&F WM and FS personal of your plans and what time they need to get worried if they see your truck at the trail head days after you planned to get out. Give them numbers to call and see if you're out or let family know somethings wrong.

 

I hope some of the info helps some and now that I've wrote it all I'm extremely excited to get back in there for Packers bear hunt in a few months.

 

It's a blast to pack in hunt.

 

cmc

[cmc]

After thinking a bit more....

 

Figure out how you'll pack your trash out. Ziplock bags worked well for us.

 

Speaking of ziplocks... pre package each days alloted food into one big bag. This will then allow you to easy see what you get to eat so that you don't over eat but even more important you don't under eat. Also gives you a trash bag for each day and lastly if you leave camp setup you can quickly just grab a days worth of food in one bag and not have to divvy up each day from large supplies.

 

Try eating for maybe three days straight at home & work a few weeks before your hunt the same food, and only that food (no cheating) you'd be taking on the hunt. I learned a few things by doing that. I can't eat the chili mac Mt. House meal as it's not nice on my tummy. Second I figured out what utensils & bowls I needed and didn't need. Even better is to give things a trial run on a camp trip or in the back yard in your tent so that way you can figure out how you can eat in your tent in a rain storm. Boiling water in a nylon tent, nylon sleeping bag, and polyfoam sleeping pad surrounding your burner seems easy at first but then figure in how extremely flammable everything is it's best to take your time and give it a trial run. I found out the mess kit I was going to take didn't do to well in transferring boiling water over to the Mt. House bag and require a heavy glove but even then the chance of spilling was high. (read that as 3rd degree burn in the boonies is not something to laugh over, let alone a soaking wet sleeping bag) Hashing out a mess kit before was a smart choice as I changed things up a few times before I got a nice working setup. Find a setup that allows you to store things inside one another to save pack space. Plan on a bowl to eat hot oatmeal, a pan with handle to boil water w/ a lid if possible (helps boil faster), a cup to drink from & a spork (spook/fork).

 

I also recommend taking Emergen-C and some sort of power electrolyte mixes. Figure two per day. Morning and evening. They will help you recover quickly when hiking hard in a day.

 

cmc

[mattys281]

I divvied up my food into daily rations this year using the 1 gal. zip lock bags & it works great. Also included a multi-vitamin, vitamin C, & calcium supplement. I don't set up a base camp, I tend to wander w/ my camp on me at all times. That extra 50-60 lbs. is hard on your legs goin up hill & hard on your joints coming down. Your body will consume your resources, so make sure you can replenish them. One good thing about late season backpacking is that the nights are so long & cold, you spend a lot of time rolled into your sack. You may get dehydrated & malnourished, buy I never got sleepy!

[DesertBull]

I have found the best option for me is to pack all the food (stuff you will not be packing back out) on the last scouting trip and stashing it. I know you will be making several scouting trips, so once you lock down a spot, you can bring in a little at a time. Make sure you stash it REAL good though, because if you get there on opening day and your stuff is gone, you're going to be very unhappy and the coyotes will be very fat, thanks to you!

 

The upside is, you can pack in some stuff like canned stew, chili, bottled water etc, that you wouldn't be able to if you were packing it all in one trip.

 

The only thing NASTIER than those freeze dried meals are MRE's. Maybe it is because I once ate those things everyday for 7 months straight, but I cannot choke them down.

 

You can smash down the empty cans and cut up the water bottles for the pack out and save space.

[mattys281]

I have found the best option for me is to pack all the food (stuff you will not be packing back out) on the last scouting trip and stashing it. I know you will be making several scouting trips, so once you lock down a spot, you can bring in a little at a time. Make sure you stash it REAL good though, because if you get there on opening day and your stuff is gone, you're going to be very unhappy and the coyotes will be very fat, thanks to you!

 

The upside is, you can pack in some stuff like canned stew, chili, bottled water etc, that you wouldn't be able to if you were packing it all in one trip.

 

The only thing NASTIER than those freeze dried meals are MRE's. Maybe it is because I once ate those things everyday for 7 months straight, but I cannot choke them down.

 

You can smash down the empty cans and cut up the water bottles for the pack out and save space.

 

I think the Mountain House meals are pretty good. Tast like hamburger helper & they're vacuum packed so they take up less space. They also sell a bear canister at pretty much any place that sells backpacking gear that is designed for backpackers. Weighs less than 2.5 lbs & is garuanteed to keep out bruins. You could stash your stuff in one of those.

 

Matt S.

[ac guy]

Some people make this way too complicated. Take your gun, your sleeping bag, some food, a way to get water, and a first aid kit. Leave the stoves, and pots, and fancy pants, and radios and all that stuff.that wasn't invented 50 years ago. The wilderness will provide you a lot more than you think. I'm surprised some people aren't listing TV's and microwaves.

[AZP&Y]

YH,

Great topic, in fact one of my favorite things to do besides hunt is hike some miles.

 

CMC posted some real nice information and you've got to do the same for your gear inventory. What you take on each hunt will vary based on conditions, weather and season. Here are a few items that have allowed me to push 100 miles each year and not break my back (Love the PIC of RR and the serious Steel frame packs!)

 

First is shelter

I use the MSR Trekker tarp and insert. It's 2 seperate tents in 1. The insert is fine mesh with a bathtub bottom to keep out sand and dirt and is also water proof. The tarp is the best i've found for 2 men scouting and camping. There is enough room to sleep 2 with backpacks fully underneath the tarp (something to consider). If the bugs arent' thick then just the tarp comes along.

MSR trekker Tarp- 2lbs 6oz *Red bag in the picture

MSR trekker Insert- 2lbs 3oz*Orange bag in the picture

MSR ultralight needle stakes and guy lines - 8oz for 8 stakes and carry bag.

Trekking pole - 9oz (this is used in place of tent poles).

The purple Naglene bottle (32oz) is so you can see how small each one is.

Sleeping

You need to find a sleeping bag about 2lbs or slightly more. Bags with no zippers weigh less. Decide if you can sleep like that. I have 2 down bags. 1 is a 40 degree ultralight and the other is a hardcore winter down bag (5 degrees).

Go Lite - Featherweight down - +40 degree -700 fill. - 1lb 10 ozs.* black bag in pic

Thermarest - Prolight full length -3 season- 1lb 4oz * orange bag in picture

Pillow- I stuff clothes into the silicon bag that holds the sleeping bag and works for me

 

Cooking and Lighting

As mentioned Iso/Propane/butane is the way to go. More than 1 stove on the market but the ultralight choice is the MSR pocket rocket. Also titanium is the way to go as i learned after many years of carrying steel cookware. The drawback to isopro is that it does not do well in extreme cold weather. Also the pocketrocket does NOT like strong wind. But we use them inside the tent which is better than my whitegas backup which can turn into a raging inferno in seconds if the white gas is spilled.

For lighting I take along the New Colemen exponent and Brunton Liberty mantless lantern that runs on the same fuel as the stove. The liberty puts out about as much light as a 60 watt light bulb and is a great source of radiant light.

MSR pocket rocket stove- 4.2 oz

Lexan spoon - 1 oz

MSR titanium kettle- 4.2 oz

MSR coffee filter - 2 oz

MSR titanium cup - 1.8 oz

Brunton Liberty lantern - 8.3 oz

2 iso pro cannisters - 7 oz

Coleman exponent backpack lantern ( 8oz) with 4 AA batteries.

** You could leave one of these at home and substitute your headlamp...

 

Water and Filtration

I use the MSR drom bags 4 litre and 6 litre. I can carry up 10Litres which is 2.64 gallons. These bags are puncture proof and you have the ability to cache (store) water without worrying too much about critters getting to them. They also allow the water filter (msr miniworks -weighs 1lb) screws right into the cap so you can draw water straight into the drom bag. I also carry water tabs which work great in certain spring fed areas.

 

Hopefully this has given you some ideas and how you may reduce the weight of your pack contents. Usually in March (2008) the backpacker gear guide comes out and tests thousands of products with some great review information. I've left out lots things such as food and you'll find out as many have stated what works and through trial and error find out what suits your individual needs. With that said, - "the basic pieces of equipment above will go on every trip"...

 

Good luck and hope to see you in 33!

 

AzP&Y

Doug

[hunter4life]

Good topic Younghunter. I like to backpack hunt and I also do quite a bit of backpacking in the summer.

 

I do not have a breakdown of the weight of each piece of gear I take, but I can tell you that my full pack weight is usually between 35-50 pounds (not including the weight of my gun, because I carry that in my hands). The range is due to what type of weather I expect (cold, rain vs. hot, dry), whether I bring a stove or not, and whether I bring a tripod and spotting scope. I like to keep my pack at this weight because I want to be able to carry out all of my stuff plus a deer in a single trip. If you are packed in very far it is much nicer to make one trip than to have to make two trips. I weighed the last two coues deer I shot and after boning out the front shoulders, but leaving the bones in the hindquarters I came out with 40 pounds of meat. The cape and head probably weigh another 10 pounds (I forgot to weigh them). I like to hike in and set up a base camp near water (so I don't have to carry gallons of water) and then hunt from there. This usually means that you need a good daypack in addition to your large backpack.

 

Some prior posts had good lists of gear. Here are a few things that I like: LED headlamp, plastic insulated mug and titanium spork (The only things I carry to eat/drink from/with for breakfast and dinner. There is no need for a seperate plate, bowl, cup and utensils.), 2or3 Liter platypus or nalgene collapsible water bladders (The clear ones don't impart the plastic taste to your water like the MSR dromedary bags seem to. I leave these at camp and their main purpose is so I don't have to pump water so often through the filter.) I would also recommend looking into REI gear as their stuff is fairly reasonably priced and it is good gear that holds up well.

 

Here is a picture of my pack from this year loaded with all my gear plus the meat, cape, and head of my coues deer. I did carry a tripod and spotting scope on this trip because I enjoy digiscoping pictures through it.

[mattys281]

Sounds to me like there's enough of us into this, that we need to orchestrate a CWT.com summer trip. How does the Blue Range in the White Mountains sound this May? I've done some day hikes in there, but would like to do a 30 mile or so loop. I'd also be interested in thru hiking the Mazatzal (the short ways, not length wise - at least not yet). Any takers on that?

 

Matt S.

[COUESAZ]

The blue is not a good area. Stay out of it and hike the mazatzals.

[JasCald02]

Great post! This is something that I have been trying for three years now. Out of four seperate trips I am yet to stay the entire time that I had planned. I bailed on two trips early becuase Jason and lightning don't mix well at 12,000 feet.....I had to get out of there! And for the other two....... I just lacked the "mental toughness" to make it to the end hopefully this is my year!

[mattys281]

Great post! This is something that I have been trying for three years now. Out of four seperate trips I am yet to stay the entire time that I had planned. I bailed on two trips early becuase Jason and lightning don't mix well at 12,000 feet.....I had to get out of there! And for the other two....... I just lacked the "mental toughness" to make it to the end hopefully this is my year!

 

You're not alone there. I really think that mental toughness is the #1 factor to a solo trip of any length. I can tent camp indefinetely on my own. It's easy when you can jump in your truck & head to town for a beer & burger. Being alone in the mountains is a different story. 4 days is my longest solo trip so far, but I'll beat that this year.