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Alamosa Offline OP
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You guys are the ultimate DIY.
Have you any stories to share of when it was just yourself a long way out there?
Epic weather, elk recoveries, knee or ankle 'surprises', improv navigation, bigfoot, ...?

Salute to you gentlemen who have the chutzpah to go it alone.

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[Linked Image]

This one.....3000' vertical drop pack out to the trailhead.

Late November, 1993. It was -25F. One the second trip back, I killed a 180" mule deer buck. So that made for one more trip.

Solo, public land, Montana. My knees hurt for several months after that deal, but well worth it!


Luck....is the residue of design...
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The rule is to never go anywhere where you can't or are unwilling to pack the meat out.


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― George Orwell

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Originally Posted by scenarshooter
[Linked Image]

This one.....3000' vertical drop pack out to the trailhead.

Late November, 1993. It was -25F. One the second trip back, I killed a 180" mule deer buck. So that made for one more trip.

Solo, public land, Montana. My knees hurt for several months after that deal, but well worth it!

Originally Posted by scenarshooter
[Linked Image]

This one.....3000' vertical drop pack out to the trailhead.

Late November, 1993. It was -25F. One the second trip back, I killed a 180" mule deer buck. So that made for one more trip.

Solo, public land, Montana. My knees hurt for several months after that deal, but well worth it!


Wow. Speechless.

Out of my league.


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Originally Posted by scenarshooter
[Linked Image]

This one.....3000' vertical drop pack out to the trailhead.

Late November, 1993. It was -25F. One the second trip back, I killed a 180" mule deer buck. So that made for one more trip.

Solo, public land, Montana. My knees hurt for several months after that deal, but well worth it!


I can see you were wearing the latest and greatest clothing technology as well...grin...


- Greg

Success is found at the intersection of planning, hard work, and stubbornness.
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Originally Posted by GregW


I can see you were wearing the latest and greatest clothing technology as well...grin...
Unless there's another one with the same initials, that shirt is from Treasure Valley Community College with branches in Caldwell, ID and Ontario, OR.


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Originally Posted by Rock Chuck
Originally Posted by GregW


I can see you were wearing the latest and greatest clothing technology as well...grin...
Unless there's another one with the same initials, that shirt is from Treasure Valley Community College with branches in Caldwell, ID and Ontario, OR.


My point was in -25 likely some sweat involved and a cotton sweatshirt. It was an attempt at humor as I've seen Pat with jeans way back in there, like I do occasionally.

Great bull Pat...


- Greg

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Alamosa Offline OP
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Originally Posted by scenarshooter
[Linked Image]

This one.....3000' vertical drop pack out to the trailhead.

Late November, 1993. It was -25F. One the second trip back, I killed a 180" mule deer buck. So that made for one more trip.

Solo, public land, Montana. My knees hurt for several months after that deal, but well worth it!



Holy Moly!
The vertical on that canyon is astonishing.
Deep snow.
Incredible bull.
Thank you for posting!

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A couple of years ago I broke my left foot for the second time, an acute metatarsal fracture. Six weeks later I took off on the first of three successive solo backpack hunts for elk in a pair of $10 ice climbing boots off a classified add...I needed something stiff enough to hold things together. A bunch of miles, a few lesser bulls, and a month later I killed a decent public land 6x6. It was a solid adventure.

The full write up is in The Journal of Mountain Hunting: Article Link




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Nothing compared to scenarshooter, but I packed my MT bull out by myself as my pard had to head home as he had a new baby to help take care of. 3 relatively easy miles to the truck; two trips over two days as I had the time. My dog Hank sure enjoyed the walks and even pointed a few sharptails on the way out.

[Linked Image]DSCN2274 by .com/photos/150924633N06/]Tyler Staggs, on [bleep]
[Linked Image]DSCN2276 by .com/photos/150924633N06/]Tyler Staggs, on [bleep]

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Oh what the hell is one more trip?...;) This buck was only 1/4 mile from where I killed the bull.


Luck....is the residue of design...
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Awesome!


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Pat’s vertical of 3’000 was almost exactly double mine from this year...but his was down and mine was up.

Plus, Pat is clearly a goat and I’m a soft, suburbia dad. That has to be factored in as well in terms of “epicness”.

2018 Idaho elk


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All my elk hunts are solo, on foot, public land, and have always involved a lot of climbing, navigating blow-down hell's, generally snow and cold, and a lot of long distance meat packing.


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An unhappy solo hunter....

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If you're not burning through batteries in your headlamp,...you're doing it wrong.
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I have hunted by myself many times but usually I pack in with a buddy and we go different direction out of our base camp. But if one kills an elk we both go to work packing. That's how I have hunted elk most of my life.

Some years I have sub-guided for others who own horse and mules and that makes the pack-outs nice. Myself however, I don't own pack animals. I have used back-packs.

I no longer hunt that way alone in the parts of the state where we have so many grizzlies. We get more every year too. If you are "way back" it's sure you can't get the whole elk out to a truck in one day and that means the bears get what you can't carry and some times you have to sleep out there a night or two. Doing that when you have blood sent on your clothing and body is not wise. I still hunt solo if it's in areas without grizzlies or large numbers of wolves.

So I only hunt in places with lots of wolves and grizzlies where I can get a whole elk out in one day or when I hunt with 2 partners or more, so I am not at as much of a risk in the night time hours. I am too old to do it all by myself (or maybe just got smart enough to quite risking such things)

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Originally Posted by Alamosa
Originally Posted by scenarshooter
[Linked Image]

This one.....3000' vertical drop pack out to the trailhead.

Late November, 1993. It was -25F. One the second trip back, I killed a 180" mule deer buck. So that made for one more trip.

Solo, public land, Montana. My knees hurt for several months after that deal, but well worth it!



Holy Moly!
The vertical on that canyon is astonishing.
Deep snow.
Incredible bull.
Thank you for posting!

That's very typical of much of Idaho and western MT. It's not as high as CO or NM but it's damn sure steep.


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Rarely plan on going alone but it has often worked out that way, at least for a few days most years. Seems I have more success when hunting alone, so not a bad thing except when I have to pack out by myself.

Wife did make me purchase a "Help I've fallen and can't get up" personal locator (Delorme InReach) a few years ago. Haven't needed it, thankfully, but it does let wife keep tabs on where I am. She gets a lot of comfort seeing me make it back to campa t night. (So do I. smile )

Last edited by Coyote_Hunter; 01/31/19. Reason: speknig and caps

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Originally Posted by scenarshooter
[Linked Image]

This one.....3000' vertical drop pack out to the trailhead.

Late November, 1993. It was -25F. One the second trip back, I killed a 180" mule deer buck. So that made for one more trip.

Solo, public land, Montana. My knees hurt for several months after that deal, but well worth it!


The guy sitting next to me on the plane looked over just now and said, "Holy MOLY! That's huge!"

I said, "It's not his biggest."

He said, "I'd build a new garage or man cave just to show that off, and I'd invite everyone I know to come look!"

Last edited by David_Walter; 01/30/19.

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Originally Posted by GregW

I can see you were wearing the latest and greatest clothing technology as well...grin...


Sitka Gear pro staff, no doubt. My longest was 4 miles and 2,000 vertical but not nearly as steep as the country Pat was in.

And I'm pretty sure my bull didn't weigh as much as that toad.




A wise man is frequently humbled.

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