Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Turkey Hunt a Good Intro to Backpack Hunting?

Hello,

I just found the site a few weeks ago and I'm loving it.

I am an Eastern hunter that desperately wants to start hunting out West. I am particularly interested in backpack hunting for big game. I have little to no backpack camping experience, but I'm not a dummy and I feel like I can figure a few things out as I go.

My question - do you guys think a backpacking trip for turkey be a good "practice run" before trying to go for Elk or Mule deer?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Yes, except it won't prepare you for hauling heavy loads of meat out.

That^^^

Yes, backpacking in general and hunting, even turkey hunting will help you prep for an out west hunt. Having done a few out west hunts and being from NC I can tell you the biggest challenge is getting your gear pared down to the minimum you NEED and then getting it out there. The other big problem is getting meat home. All that is assuming airline travel. If you're driving those issues are irrelevant...to a point.
Pack weight regardless of where you hunt or what you hunt is critical.
As I started out saying, any backpacking will be good experience for testing gear and learning what works for you and what doesn't, what are luxuries and what are necessities, what you need and what to leave behind.
A good pack, a good and lightweight shelter, a decent bag and pad, and a reasonably lightweight rifle,and good boots are critical IMHO.

Perhaps most critical is to get in shape.


Everything you need to know can be found in this forum.

It will be a good starting point and a lot will depend on style of both hunts. Backpacking in shoulder seasons will help. Backpacking at altitude , during shoulder seasons, with a fair amount of elevation gain will help more. Hauling a heavy load in the steeps will help even more. However, if you are fortunate to be successful on your first western big game DIY backcountry hunt, you will be one of the few. It does happen, but most people take a couple / few years to get it figured out.

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of spare time to get out there and practice my backpacking skills. I might be able to get up to the Ozarks for a long weekend or two, and I might try that.

My ultimate goal is to be a Western DIY big game hunter. It sounds like a DIY turkey hunt might be a good start down that path. Would you guys say a big game hunt with a guide would be a better start? It seems obvious that it would, but I'd like to get your take.

Sig:

Backpacking is one complicated activity all by itself. Route finding and staying found in the western wilderness is another. I see that you are from Louisiana and dealing with the altitude is something that has to be taken into consideration. AND you want to overlay big game hunting on top of all of that without first becoming proficient at the basics. That's a recipe for disaster.

That doesn't mean you can't do it. But you have to be prepared and learn the basics in Louisiana, before you commit to a DIY wilderness backpack hunt in the Rockies.

Things that you can learn how to do without leaving Louisiana include; camping, day hiking, backpacking, and staying found. I suppose that you can do all of those activities while turkey hunting in the Kisahatchie National Forest or the Sabine National Forest.

Dealing with the altitude is something that all flatlanders have to seriously consider. Don't underestimate the potential for altitude sickness.

I don't want to be one of the Search & Rescue guys that has to haul your butt out of the wilderness, so I suggest that you first learn what you can in Louisiana. Then do some big game hunting out of a base camp (car camp) in the Western mountains. Then overlay the complexity of backpacking onto those other activities.

KC

Sig:

Here's an excerpt from an article that might be useful.

ALTITUDE SICKNESS: The two most serious types of altitude sickness are HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema) and HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Edema). HAPE is fluid in the lungs and you can self-diagnose it when you feel gurgling in your lungs or pain in the chest. If your breath is condensing and your friends aren't condensing, then you may have fluid in your lungs. HACE is fluid on the brain. You can self-diagnose it when you get dizzy and stay dizzy for more than a couple of minutes. If one of your hunting partners goes unconscious or doesn't wake up in the morning, you need to transport him to lower elevation immediately to save his life. The only effective field remedy for HAPE and HACE requires an item called a Gamow Bag and you won't have one. So DECEND! DECEND! DECEND! Get to lower elevation immediately if you want to live. Fortunately HAPE and HACE are both rare (but not unheard of) below 10,000' elevation.

The most common type and the least severe is AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness). It's often associated with dehydration. Its' symptoms are similar to those of influenza and they may include mild headache, nausea, vomiting, lassitude, loss of appetite, and periodic breathing (waking up gasping for air). Common Aspirin and Tums can help because they coincidentally contains the just the kind of ingredients that your body needs and it is a mild astringent that reduces the effects of dehydration. Diamox is the brand name of a prescription drug that works for some people. Start taking it a couple of days before you begin to ascend. But it doesn't work for everyone and there are some potentially miserable side effects. I’ve heard that chicken soup helps and it can’t hurt. In most cases, if you rest for a couple of days, drink lots of liquids, and take Aspirin and Tums, AMS will subside and you can start enjoying yourself.

The best way to avoid altitude sickness is to ascend slowly, at the rate of 1,000' per day. But you don't have that much time. So get in good shape now. Good shape means strong heart and lungs. Good exercises include running stairs, swimming, bicycling, or any other kind of exercise that works the heart and lungs. However sometimes even the best athletes can get altitude sickness, so don't count on that being the cure all. Get to high elevation a few days early and just lounge around for a few days before you start exerting yourself. Stay hydrated, avoid alcohol and coffee or any other kind of diuretic. Take one Aspirin and one Tums each day. Be alert to the symptoms mentioned and react appropriately if they occur.

Also try to develop a technique called Alpinisti Breathing (pressure breathing). Essentially you consciously make your lungs inhale and exhale before you feel the need to breather heavy, you generate a rhythm between your body effort and your lungs so that you have air before you need it. If you wait until you need the air then it’s too late and you are always out of breath. It’s sometimes called the Rest Step (step-breathe-pause-breathe, step-breathe-pause-breathe, repeat, etc.)

KC

If your goal is DIY, then jump right in and do a DIY hunt, you'll learn more by not depending on someone else for gear, techniques, and figuring out where to hunt. I'd get a good handle on the backpacking part first, you can do that back east and that's a prerequisite. The weather, terrain, and loads you'll be carrying will be more unforgiving than an eastern turkey hunt. So if you want to learn how to be successful in a DIY western hunt, it's best not to be learning how to backpack at the same time.

This sounds like a heck of a plan.

I haven't been concerned about altitude sickness. I have snow skied Tahoe, Mammoth, Keystone, Park City, and others with no problems. I assume that translates?

Smoke pole, I like your advice too. I'm a "get out there and do it" type of guy, so that resonates.

Altitude sickness often takes a day or so to develop. So modern alpine style mountain climbers try to get up and down in the same day, to beat the onset of symptoms. A day of skiing is similar. Your lodge/motel may be at at low elevation, say 8,000' or 9,000'. You ski higher than that but you return to low elevation at the end of the day and beat the onset of symptoms. If you're camping and hunting at 11,000' symptoms may occur that you haven't seen before.

Once I helped carry out a guy that was unconscious with cerebral edema. He eventually recovered but he had permanent brain damage. He was a tri-athlete.

I've seen a couple of cases of pulmonary edema, and they both recovered with no long term effects, because we persuaded them to go back to town for a couple of days.

AMS is more common than people realize because it's often misdiagnosed as a migraine headache or influenza.

Smokey is right as usual. Just get out there and do it. But be smart about it.

KC

This! IMO, pronghorn hunts are near perfect for getting one's feet wet. Pretty easy tags to get with lots of public access and generally better weather conditions. Buy a point this year for WY and go hunt there next year.

I'd agree that a pronghorn hunt would be a good way to start, but.....an elk hunt would have you planning your next trip before you even finish the first one!

Truer words may have never been spoken.

Listen to this man.

October in the Rockies can be full of weather surprises. I've hunted early Oct and had 80+ or 10" of snow. I hunted elk one Labor day in 4" of snow. 2 days later, it was all gone and it was shirtsleeve weather. You have to be prepared for anything.

in rains a little too.....

Or, snows. Or, it's graham cracker fart dry. Or it's 80+ degrees. Or, <20 degrees. Or, the wind just might blow (or not).

Yep. A really good reason to start out with the early seasons in September (archery or ML). You can get by with less gear on your back too. Plus the fishing's good. And the aspens are at their peak.

The elk are bugling then, too. Smoke was probably saving that as a surprise for you, but you really ought to know. If you've never heard it, you should. It's beyond me to explain why.

This is a bunch of great advice. I truly appreciate it. I was thinking Pronghorn might be a good start. I watched a Steve Rinella Meateater show when he was in Wyoming with Pronghorn all over the place. It would be a good opportunity to practice the "stalk" as well. I'm planning to incorporate some still hunting in the Mississippi woods this year to practice as well (at least it will be more exciting than sitting in a stand all day).

September archery elk also sounds like a great idea. Are there any OTC cow elk archery tags?