Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game How much water?

Interesting. Ya, that will be hot & tough. Dang.

Best of luck!

Guy

there has been a lot of talk about water filtration systems in this conversation. are there any brands or styles that people like the most?

Water ain’t hard to find when hunting in Arkansas..

I hydrate before i go. Carry two bottles of water or a gatorade and a water. Leave a case in the truck.

Me too. I used to just drink a bunch of water, but you've got to keep pace with technology. As far as how much to carry, I'd go with a minimum of 3 liters a day if I wasn't sure about finding water. But it all depends pn what you're doing.

Walking a mile or less and plopping down in November isn't the same as walking 8 or 10 in the mountains during the early season when it's warm, climbing, and then packing out an animal if you're successful. Running out of water at the end of a long day like that is no fun.

As far as filter types I like a sawyer, full-sized or mini. No moving parts and lightweight, but you need to have something in your pack to dip water out of the source and pour it in the squeeze bag.

My #3 son, Angus, competes in bagpipe competitions. He got a rude education on the subject of proper hydration starting about age 10. Bagpiping is kind of a worst-case deal. You dress up in a lot of wool, and then go out in the hot sun and march, while trying to do the equivalent of blowing up a truck tire.

It just isn't a competition without pipers falling over. Angus himself spent a couple of afternoons with the EMT's. His seniors in the band did quite a bit of educating. He's since gone to work in at a sheet metal fabricators and can stand a 10 hour shift in 100F.

#1 Hydrate 2 days before. Anything you do the day of exertion is pretty much wasted if you're not set up ahead of time.

#2 Don't fill up. It's about small constant doses rather than filling your belly.

At 60, my water requirements are dramatically different over what they were at 25 or even 40. Up until 40, I could take off with 2 1 quart canteens for an overnight backpack and be fairly happy. By 40, that would have killed me. I'm now a bottomless hole when it comes to hydration.

If on a backpack type hunt with lots of climbing, etc. 3 liters a day including some for cooking is barely a break even for me. Four is better and no rationing...

I also never know when a late night packout might happen. Need water for this.

I've had two bouts of severe dehydration on hunts. I mean severe. One in AZ and one in CO where temps never got above 30. Scary stuff....

i try to pack in enough water to handle the days hunt and one trip out with a meat pack to the truck. Heading back in for the next meat load, I’m dropping off water and beverages along the way at rest stops.

By the time I’m back on my fur, I’ve got a couple waters left in my camelbak bladder. Enough to get me to my first rest stop where a beverage awaits.

This works for me, but I’m within 2-3 miles of my truck, typically.

I’ve run out of water enough times to give serious consideration to preventing it from happening again. 😎

I grew up in the A zone. When backpacking into wilderness the minimum I took was 6 qts. Also had a filter but there is not always a water source. I kept 3 gallons in the vehicle. Hydrate before. For those that haven't been there, rifle season opens 2nd Saturday of August. It is not uncommon for the temps to be in the 90-100 degree range. I only ran out of water once when in my teens. After that I carried enough for all conditions. My criteria heading into wilderness was carry enough that if I broke my leg I could survive. When I was older I knew I could lose 7-10 lbs of body fat to offset the wt difference. If hunting near a vehicle you could get by with 3-4 qts easily in most places. Most of the A zone is hot, dry and without much water. You can experience some incredible hunting there but you have to work for it. Good luck!