Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Snubbie & Rock Chuck's pack hunt (Long & pic heavy)

Looks like a beautiful area to hunt. Really enjoyed the photos and story. Congratulations!

Great story and pics! Thanks for sharing.

Back from my unsuccessful elk hunting trip. Here are a couple more looks at the mountains around where we were, although taken from the road. The last pic is that shoulder Snubbie told you about. I've used Partitions a number of times but I've never seen devastation like this from one. We never figured out if it exited the top of the back or if it just blew apart inside and we missed it. Snubbie had split the hide down the back before we realized what we had so we don't know if there was an exit hole or not. It would have been right where he cut the hide. Just under the hide was a gory mess. There wasn't a pound of decent meat left on it.

It was a great trip. I've been wanting to pack in to hunt for years but this is the 1st year that I've had both the critters and the time to do it. Snubbie and I compared our equipment and we both learned a few things. Our techniques differed in some things...like how to pack out a small deer in the NC woods vs packing a larger one a whole lot farther in very steep country. You have to vary your techniques to fit the situation.

About Snubbie's statement:

He had a whole creek to wash his socks and underwear. What can one expect anyway?

Great country, that.

Great hunt, thanks for sharing. Great to see you make the trip back to Idaho Snubbie. Real glad you filled your tag!

Steve

Thanks for sharing the pics & story (congrats).

I have 2 long time hunting partners who are both older than me. I'm 65 and they're 68 & 69. You couldn't dynamite either one out of their campers so it was really nice to find someone who wants to pack in and use a tent, etc. I hate to do it alone. My health is still very good and I can hike all day with an occasional rest although recovering from a strenuous climb takes a whole lot longer than it used to.

Good for you. Gives me hope I can keep this up for years to come.

I was trying to put my finger on the coolness factor of this hunt, but couldn't do it til I browsed all the other posts. It's the lack of camo as one guy said. Old school all the way. One of the best reports I've read period. Way to get out there and get it done gentlemen.

A tip of the hat to you.

I won't spend a nickle extra for camo anything unless it doesn't come in any other color. I have very little of it and haven't found a need for it. The plaids we wore worked very nicely, thank you. While Snubbie's wool pants were considerably more expensive than mine and will last him far longer, my $7 milsurp pants kept me plenty warm. You have to admit, though, that my pants will be in vogue in any society.

He's being a bit humble ^here^. While the llamas do take a lot of the strain off of packing in(and out), and affords some luxuries that would otherwise be left behind, Rock Chuck is tough as nails! He has 12 years on me and he wore my butt off climbing those mountains. At one point I told him if we broke something, where we were would require a chopper to get us out, and that was going to be dang expensive! He laughed and suggested quartering me and packing me out on the llamas. I was extra careful after that! I was impressed with his willingness to climb, and his endurance. Those western dudes are tough!
I crawled in the tent at night, so sore and tired I had a difficult time even sleeping. I'm still trying to catch up on my sleep!

re camo: I have some of those mil/surp pants and I'm not sure my more expensive woolies are any better! Heck, those things were built for war! I've not bought much of any camo the past year or so, on purpose. I'm convinced that camo, while perhaps useful in some situations, is for the most part, intended to impress and catch the consumer, not the game. I even hunted wild turkeys without camo this past spring (horrors!) and was successful in bagging an mature gobbler at about 15 yards after being caught in a mostly open pasture with only the shadow and trunk of a pine to break my outline. I think plaid and subdued colors work just as well and movement/noise/wind is 100% more important in concealing the hunter from the hunted. So I'm UN-sold on camo and totally sold on wool. Most of the photos, however, show me in the Kuiu Attack pants. Which I love but feel are grossly overpriced.

re techniques: We did compare notes on western mulies vs eastern woods whitetails. There is a world of difference between the two, and at the same time, they are very similar. Biggest thing is mulies typically have a much longer line of sight just because of terrain whereas whitetails in eastern woods is a close range game. Most of our whitetails produce half the meat of a mulie (of course there are exceptions) I believe we weighed 80+ pounds of meat we packed from my smallish mulie and that is without one front shoulder. A typical whitetail would produce probably 20 pounds less unless he was a "big" deer. A big mulie...wow, I would have hated to have dragged him off that mountain. I would have hated to pack out solo the deer I shot. Glad I had a partner with me and even more glad we had llamas!

re strange odors from my backpack: For your sake I DID rinse my socks out in that creek if you'll recall! I think the underwear was the problem. If anyone says merino wool boxers don't stink, well, be careful because they may have a bridge for sale!

Mine don't stink. On the way in.

If you're game next year, just say the word! I'm already strategizing changes to traveling and gear changes I'd make.

Good job guys! Looks like a fun trip!

My concession to being a member of the Old Fahts Club. This set of devices weighs about 9.5 lb and is easily carried in panniers when folded. Snubbie was HIGHLY impressed by my version of camp comfort. His camera's autofocus was acting up and his pic of this stuff came out blurry or he'd have posted it before.
WARNING: Don't get the Stansport version of that privy seat. They're very weak and can break unexpectedly with unpleasant results. This one is rated for 300lb and I honestly believe it could handle that much. The only problem is that the seat would be too small for a 300lb person. It's small for me at 200.

The table & chairs are from Sportmans Whs. Table $35, stools $20 each. Privy from Amazon for $23. The legs on the table collapse to about 1/2 that height and it fits nicely in a SL5 tent.

You'd probably want the privy seat heated. I saw you brushing off the frost.

HA! Yeah, while I learned a new level of "tough" on this trip, I'm not tough enough to sit on a frost covered seat!


That table was the cat's meow especially in the tent. Nice to have a place to put your stuff off the ground and cook breakfast in the morning while lazing in a warm bag!

Speaking of frost, we used a GoLite SL5 and did indeed get condensation, which was actually frost inside in the the mornings.
I'm considering the woodstove option.
Only thing is, I'd only use it out west. Can't see I'd use it here...dunno, maybe I'd take up winter camping "just because" if I had a stove.
Condensation wasn't a big issue, just an issue. We got some moisture on our bags, and everthing dried out during the day. Otherwise, it wasn't much of an issue. I could see it WOULD become an issue if rainy weather set in though.

The SL5's lack of a sod skirt became a minor issue when it snowed. The snow sort of rolled under the sides. If it was more snow followed by a warm spell, melting snow would have got our gear wet. As we discussed, it would be a simple task to sew a skirt on it. I just don't know why Golite left off such an obvious useful item.

I found those stools very useful. I'm too stiff at my age to put on my boots while sitting on the ground.