Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting First backpacking adventure, I need some help! (sheep)

The last few years I have been buying stuff here and there and reading you all's posts. I have learned a great deal and have some major respect for a few of you out there that really seem to know there stuff.

Well with that being sad I have jumped off the deep end and its sink or swim! I am going Dall sheep hunting this august in the brooks!

Now comes the questions, I have not done a genuine backpack hunt, AND I have NEVER flown or been in an airport for that matter. I hunt all over every year and several states but we always drive.

August 19th-26th brooks range
tent hilleberg akto
pad neo air
bag montbell(not 100% set on this)
pack badlands 4500
rain gear chugach kuiu
boots kenetrek
underwear merino
base merino
knife havalon piranta


could use some help with the rest, I have lots of the core4element gear thinking of taking the assault pants and just using the merino baselayers undernearth them. As far as jackets/ coats I am not sure how heavy I'll need to go. I am waiting on specific gear list from outfitter.

This just popped up! I was kind of planning something like this in 2015 and I jumped on an oppertunity.

Sounds like a great trip! My advice is to get in really, really good shape.

Do hill sprints, tabata intervals, plyometric exercises several days a week, and mix in a long run or long hike with a pack one or two days a week.

Gear wise you look to be set. You may have some upgrade potential in your pack, but the rest looks pretty good.

I have a couple questions about the travel also, I have looked at the airlines site. I dont think my 4500 will be under the measurements for a carry on. So is it reccomended that I check the pack with my gun case and then what would some of you use for a carry on(what things do you carry on)? I am planning on stuffing and much as I can in my gun case as well. thanks!!

Things that would be on my list if I ever got to hunt sheep.

Puff Jacket
Synthetic Montbell bag
Kifaru pack

Good Luck!

I am taking a montbell spiral down hugger

I am on a budget but my badlands 4500 is brand new with the tags still on it I have never used it I just bought it cause I was in love with my 2200 its one tough pack! but I could always sell it and use the money from my 4500 towards another pack if everyone thinks I need something better.... like I said I am open to suggestions.

Might add I am taking a SKB gun case

I'd ditch the badlands and pick up an ILBE pack if on a budget.

I am not a badlands fan at all, so I'd ditch the 4500 in a hurry. But if it works for you, go for it. On a guided hunt, you will have a guy to do the heavy lifting, so might not need a crazy big pack.

I'd also ditch the down bag, as I look at a sleeping bag as a safety device, and down sucks in that regard. You may very well get wet and cold in the brooks, even in august. Or, you may be way too hot the whole time. The rest of your gear list looks good to me...

On travel, you are on the right track. Stuff everything you can in your gun case. If you can get a big, cheap duffel bag to stuff your pack in, that will save throwers ripping straps off it. A cheap day pack works for a carry on - keep all your optics, cameras, and other valuables in that.

I haven't used Core4 stuff, so can't speak to your choices there. Best advice I could give you would be to keep your thinking flexible... you might be hiking in shorts, and you might be wearing every layer you have.

First of all, get rid of the tent. Your guide will have what you need for camp gear. Can't comment on the sleeping bag - not familiar with it but you don't want/need anything rated below about +10 deg. Temps in the Brooks in Aug. are really not that cold. we hunt the Brooks all the time. One piece of gear you'll really need is a quality pair of binos. Sheep hunting is mostly done by sitting on your posterior. Finally, keep in mind weight. Basically, if you take it, you haul it. Your guide/packer don't haul client gear. Your pack, IMHO, should be an external frame style and as to a jacket, something light weight but something you can stuff into a stuff sack. We prefer the Integral Designs jacket, sadly available only thru Barney's in Anchorage as far as I know. Expensive but light weight & stays warm even when wet. Make sure your jacket has a hood as well. Good luck & enjoy.
Bear in Fairbanks

Agree on the binocular. I haven't been sheep hunting yet, but I've done other hunting that involved a lot of glassing, and you want the best quality binoc that you can afford. Don't depend on your guide to find all the sheep - take your own binocular and actively glass whenever your guide is glassing because you might see one he doesn't (and you can be looking at different areas at the same time).

On the topic of optics: I put my optics - binocular(s), spotting scope, rangefinder (and camera) - in my carry on. If you get the opportunity to watch the baggage handlers at the airport, you'll soon see why I would rather carry my optics with me than let them throw them around.

Also on the topic of what to put in your carry on - consider how much hunt-critical clothes and gear you can put on your person and in your carry-on without weighing yourself down (or being over the airline's limit). If you can pack for your trip such that you could walk off the plane with your carry on, pick up your gun, and go hunting, you've eliminated one potential problem - the airline losing your hunt-critical gear. You have to trust the airline with your gun, but I try to limit the risk to my hunt in terms of what the airline could possibly lose that would prevent me from going on my hunt when I arrived at my destination. Your guide could probably scrounge up a spare sleeping bag and pad (or you could buy one if the airline lost yours), but boots that fit you and have been broken in to conform to YOUR feet aren't available off the shelf at the store or from your guide's spare gear closet.

First congrats on the hunt. Next get in shape. I'd say talk with your guide about equipment needs vs. wants. I've camped in Denali in August and it got down to high 20's so make sure you have enough bag. A good set of bins would be high on my list. Talk with Doug if you don't already have them.

I travel a lot for work. Since you haven't traveled try to have the least number of flights with reasonable time for each layover. Put your large pack in a duffle to save the straps, etc. Carry your optics, gps, camera, etc. in your smaller carry on pack (buy one) - but not too big, 1500/1800 ci - this will allow you to put it under the seat in front of you if the overhead is full.

When booking your flight think about whether you want the window or aisle if you want/need the restroom or need the shoulder room, aisle is the way to go. If you can purchase priority boarding do it - if you have long legs the ability to put your carry on above for long flights is worth the $35/50 each way. When possible I try to put my backpack (I don't carry a briefcase for work) in the overhead directly across from me so I can see and monitor it's access.

Good luck.

Thank you for the travel tips, I will use your info, as I am planning on wearing my kene's on the plane. For the trip back, any of you ever carried your ram horns as your carry on in a duffel?

I've flown multiple times with my 7200ci backpack and I put it one of these. No damage or problems to date.

http://www.rei.com/product/787296/rei-pack-duffel-bag

I carry on my Timberline which is a 5200. If you don't overpack it, you can carry a back pack on with no issues is my experience. Congrats on the hunt, jealous here. Course we'll be sheep hunting in August also:)

I agree with ditching the tent, guides should have that covered but....

I agree with the down issues RE survival, synthetic all the way.

RE bag temp rating, you have to know how you are... my wife gets cold at 20 in a 20 degree bag, we always upgrade her about 20 degrees.. Just FYI. And its easier to open a bag than wish for more. Being that we can have about 9 monhts of 90-100 degrees here, and I don't know a single month of the year that we haven't hit a mid to high 90 at some point, it depends on what you are used to as noted.

Understand all your personal hunting gear is carried by you, so be prepared for that weight and maybe half a sheep too...

Generally you get limited to 50 pounds of weight plus you on cubs etc...

Also we use our packs as carry on, I can compress them to meet the size, and stuff it in the overheads...

Dry bags inside the pack help protect too....I keep our clothes in a small thin dry bag in the tents, in case of disaster the clothes may still be dry.

Also be aware that RE carry on vs checked, I've never been charged to check baggage at the gate... kind of a free deal there FWIW if you don't want the hassle, though on hunting trips we never check the backpacks unless its a straigth through flight.

deerslayer:

I sent you a couple of PMs. Not all of the info will pertain to your hunt but al lot of it will so they are worth reading.

I have one major piece of advice for you. DON'T GO HUNTING ON YOUR FIRST BACKPACK TRIP. Specially not in a place as remote as the Brooks Range. You are asking for trouble. There's just too much to learn and you could get yourself into a lot of trouble real easy if you don't know what you are doing. There's a lot more to backpacking than just having the right kind of gear. You need to throw all of your shiney new gear into your truck and go backpacking several times before you go to Alaska.

You can start with a trip to Black Kettle National Grasslands. That's an easy place to get started. Then head east on I-40 until you get to Clarksville. Drive north into the National Forest and do some backpacking there. When you get back from that trip, drive west on I-40 until you get to the mountains in New Mexico. Go backpacking in the Pecos Wilderness. Spend several days on each trip and make a bunch of mistakes and learn from your mistakes.

KC

My personal "outdoors" experience started in the small, mountain town in BC where I was born and raised 61 years ago, when, age 6, I caught my first trout. I started hiking in what was then and still is wilderness around there in 1956, aged 10 and backpacking in June, 1964, aged 17.

I started working, often alone for days to as long as 3 months, with no break, in the BC mountains, April, 1965 and all of this has taught me that the previous post, by "KC" is THE BEST advice given you here so far and I could not agree more.

"KC" is one guy here, whom I ALWAYS listen to and his comments to you may well someday save you from an unpleasant or even deadly situation out in the "boonies". So, no offence intended, but, take heed of his words.

Nice posts by KC and Kutenay. Sheep hunting is the hardest hunting there is. It is hard enough without being a newby from the Flatlands.

More people should focus on physical and mental ability and experience and much less on equipment.

Right, that is why SOF warriors use mostly cast-off, worn out ancient gear.

IE, you CAN use a De Sade style ALICE pack to hump a LOT of weight. BTDT and have the C-spine X-rays to demonstrate that it ain't to bright to do so.

Lots of good advice already provided....heed it....most good guides will have the basics you need but don't depend on that.... ..sheep hunting can be grueling so get into the best shape possible and keep a positive attitude....think ppine above said it best in his last Sentance. Have spent several Alpine hunts in a tent for numerous days, last one for 72 hrs straight... Take a few paperback books with you, you can only stare at the roof of a tent for so long before losing your mind. Enjoy your hunt, and take lots of pictures

Thanks, for all the advice so far, I've been running few miles in the mornings and packing fifty lbs on my back while I check cows in the canyons in the evenings. I've bought nice rain gear and an ultralight jacket and some dry sacks, right now I'm focusing on getting in shape and working with the equipment I have.

I'm not using a scabbard on my pack, so I'm torn between scope flip up covers and bikini style cover..... Rifle will be on my sling or strapped to back of pack with muzzle tapped.