Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Backpack Hunting Tips

I want to share a few tips for backpack hunters I have picked up and ask others to do the same. Please chime in. Your tip may seem trivial to you but someone will find it useful. Here goes a few of mine:

SIT ON BOTTOM OF BACKPACK
If you put your sleeping bag in the bottom of your backpack, you can sit on the bottom of the pack without breaking anything. It provides a dry clean comfortable seat to glass or when taking a break.

MOUNTAIN HOUSE SLEEPING BAG WARMER
After eating a Mountain House meal, the container can be rinsed out and filled with warm water. This makes a great warmer for your sleeping bag and a good foot or hand warmer. You do have to be careful with it, but if closed properly, they are pretty tough to break open.

USE MUMMY BAG AS A QUILT
I don't like the feel of a mummy bag but it is the compromise of light weight and warmth. However, on nights that are not real cold, you can use it as a quilt. I put my feet in the foot box and leave the bag unzipped. It is much more comfortable to me.

SMART WATER BOTTLES
I think these are the perfect water bottle. They are tough, lightweight, fairly quiet, and cheap. Too, they slide in and out of a backpack pocket pretty easily.

WEAR LAYERS TO BED
I wear extra layers of warm clothes to bed. This requires me to carry a lighter sleeping bag and it makes it easier to crawl out of the sack in the morning. Midnight nature calls are easier also when you are warm.

I am by far not an expert. I do consider backpack hunting for big game essentially an alpha sport , using a culmination of skills , often somewhat isolated in varying conditions. Add in solo and you up the ante.

Here are a few tidbits I have that may help

- Pack light but don't sacrifice your ability to carry weight, stay warm, and keep dry.
- A light pack to me makes the most sense, it is always worn
- Reduction of equipment is as important as anything else to save weight.
- Move to where the game is , but keep pack outs realistic depending on weather conditions , help , angle of slope etc
- Don't kill yourself energy wise. Realize a pack out can take a lot of effort. Save enough effort to get it done when it counts

TO me the biggest advantage of backpack hunting around here is conserving energy. Getting up at 4 am and gaining 2000 ft of vert everyday saps your energy and often leaves you missing out on the best opportunities. By backpacking you can get near game (and possibly only carry 15 lbs more on the hike in) hunt early, hunt late , and if you need a break mid day then take it. There are also a lot of other advantages (hearing game at night) etc.

Kevin

Always carry at least two lights, one compass, a waterproof map and a way to start a fire (Fall/Winter trips).

Carry several Ziplock FREEZER bags (they're tougher than storage bags). There's an infinite number of ways to use them. The OP suggested using a Mtn House bag as a bed warmer. I suggest putting it inside a Ziplock for extra safety. A wet bed doesn't sleep well.

Extra flashlight? Ever tried changing a bulb in the dark? At least LED's rarely need changing but even batteries can be a trick when you're blind.

Don't use super light plastic headlamps in the cold, they can break and be a frustration

I have tried to change batteries on a moonless night in the woods. Not easy. Nor is walking a couple miles at night without a GPS, in an unfamiliar area, and raining hard. A simple compass on a watchband becomes REALLY nice to have!

Compasses? A few years ago I bought my wife and I 2 bargain basement sets of trekking poles to try out. They had compasses in the handles. At any given time the 4 compasses pointed in 4 different directions. REALLY useful.

That said, a good compass and a map is imperative. A GPS is a machine that can fail. They're great but not nearly as foolproof as a compass.

Add in a couple Cyalume sticks to the inventory. One over your kill site works wonders on finding it in less than ideal light. They also work great to help change batteries/bulbs, and on the back of your pack (or your buddies) provides an easy visual reference as to location in the dark. They weigh almost nothing, take up very little space, and when needed, they are more than worth it.

Keep your TP dry!

I collect 1/2 rolls from the bathroom and put them in qt freezer bags. A partial roll flattened out fits just fine. They stay dry and are easy to pack.

Baby wipes. You'll thank me later.

Ditto on FREEZER Ziplock bags. They are great for many things as mentioned including a spare canteen, phone/camera protection, or even a trash sack.

BRING LESS USELESS CRAP! I know this sounds reactionary and over simplified but I have taken a few first timers and although they asked me what to bring , most showed up with way more than needed.
I would add:
1.A little travel bottle of shampoo. (its nice to feel human)
2.A travel bottle of dish washing liquid. (its nice to eat out of a clean bowl)
+1 on the baby wipes

Don't wait until you are up on a mountain miles from anywhere to see how good your gear works.

Dishwahing soap is shampoo and is supposed to kill fleas and ticks. I've always used it when packing, even pre-internet... some old person showed me that when I was young... lol

Kent

Gotta love the internet....ok one or the other then...lol

I like to do a lot of base camp / spike camp / bivy camp if needed and feasible.

Sometimes it is nice to set up a good base by your entry point, hopefully for pack out comfort if you end up packing something out in the night.

Other times, I often have a bivy camp capability that I can pull out from my backcountry location if needed , or if I'm suspecting / slash hoping it will be a long night.

Granted , I could probably help myself by being more lazy at times.

I'm a firm believer in letting your age and physical condition define how you backpack hunt. I'm an older guy in decent physical condition and still like to backpack hunt in CO�.as long as I can horseback into a base camp (with an outfitter). I'm in my mid-60's and I'm quite capable of hiking and climbing 5 to 7 miles a day from a mountain base camp with a daypack. I'm just not capable packing out an elk several more miles back to my truck.

If using a stove to heat water for freeze dried grub or melting snow for water you should be prepared and practiced at doing it in your tent during storms. If planning on using a bivy sac this should be a consideration.

mike r

The best way to get in shape for carrying heavy loads on your back in the hills is to carry heavy loads on your back in the hills. Nothing will increase your odds of success more than pre-season scouting and the best way to test your gear is on a pre-season scouting trip. Pre-season trips are also great in helping you figure out what you can do without. Because the more gear you leave in the truck, the better off you'll be.

Sometimes, it's better to forget about the place you found on the map that's 7 miles in, and hunt the place that's 2-3 miles in. The animals are where you find them, not where you think they should be.