Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Greenhorn need some Questions from you experts

Here are the questions that I have.(This to target elk in thick timber on BLM land. )Looking for solo or partner advice. I am trying to gain info on future archery in Colorado and rifle season pertaining to first through fourth season. (Mid to late archery and 1st-4th season rifle)

1. Weight of your backpack? (Daypack VS a seven day stay)
(I know what to put in my pack from previous posts.)

2. How far do you hike in to set up camp?
(Just seeing how far you have gone to get past the mainstream of hunters?)

3. Once you have set up camp, how far do you go in to hunt?


4. What's the time do you head out into the woods to hunt?
(Again, this is CO late season archery, early season rifle)

5. Glass Wear? (Thick timber and a budjet of 350.00?)

6. Interior clothing? What's best for hiking up and once you start to sweat? I am always freezing after I have made my ridge and start to wait. What's best for sweat control and to stay warm?

7. Rangefinder necessary in thick timber? Extra weight?

8. Water bottles VS hydration packs? Worth the costs? Do you know of a hydration pack that can pack out meat?

9. GPS? Your favorite?

10. Protection? Bear and mountain lion? (Especially after your kill or if you have any advice what you use if any throughout your travels.)

I know this has been covered throughout posts, but I was hoping to make it simple with ten questions for this greenhorn. Thanks for all that respond. I greatly appreciate it. Rich

I've only hunted elk twice- once near Carbondale. But I have backpack hunted extensively in Alaska, so, for what it's worth, here is my take:

10. You have a weapon. Hang your meat if possible beyond reach of bear, bobcat or raccoon. if you want it undamaged. Don't sweat the lion.

9. Whatever. I'm still using a Garmin 45 from the early 90's- 8 track. It works. I use and trust my compass and map more, tho.

8. Humping in, a hydration pack may be useful - for hunting, if you need a hydration pack - you are moving waaaay to fast... bottles will do you fine.

7. No, unless you are archery hunting- then it's questionable if you will have opportunity to use it before the shot must be taken, or are stand hunting.

6. Good luck on this one! Layering, controlled movement is the answer. If you are going to hump hard to get somewhere then wait, you need to start out "underdressed", and work to no morethan a slight sweat, if that. Sweat/wet is your enemy. Consider carrying and changing into all dry clothes once on your ridge. Down is your warmest/lightest bet for over-clothes, if you keep it dry. (this from a guy that has put a snow machine through overflow miles from home in the Arctic a couple times, but had a complete change of dry clothes in a water-proof container both times. Saved my azz!)

5. Quality binoculars are a must at any range/habitat!

4. Can see to can't see in your hunting area is best.

3. Wherever the critters are. I've shot moose from 30 feet out from my tarp shelter camp, and out several miles away... A friend once shot his moose from his sleeping bag at daybreak.

2. "Where" is more important than "far". Often times by studying maps, one can find "pockets" or in your case, mountainsides where the game will move to after being pushed away from trails, horse-accessible ridge lines, etc. "Hell-holes" are good... "Blocks"- such as a deep canyon, with the nearest roads a couple miles away can work well. If horse-hunters are working the ridge lines, look for steep, horse-inaccessible slopes a couple thousand feet below. I successfully took a cow elk off such a place a few years ago in CO, near Carbondale, on a one day hunt- tho I had a week... there were 17 other cows and 4 bulls in the bunch, and I was only two hours hike from the trail-head, and an additional 5 or 10 minutes from our heated, gas-heated cabin. Hunting smart is better than hunting hard, but that ain't bad either!

1. Pack what you need, and no more, on a back-pack hunt. You decide what you "need".

1. My day packs run about 22 lbs. plus. I wouldn't pack all I needed for a seven day stay unless I had a long way to go to get to my hunting area. I'd pack just what I needed for a couple of days and plan on resupplying. You may also decide that the spot you picked out doesn't have the elk that you expected. I've seen that alot. If that happens, you need to find the elk first.
2. I find that if I walk over a ridge, maybe down through a canyon and up on another, or just take a long, uphill ridge for 2-3 miles, I've left everybody but the horse hunters behind.
3. I find the elk and hunt there. Either by seeing the animals at a distance, or finding fresh sign. That can be within a quater of a mile of a trailhead, or, more often, 2-3 miles back in.
4. About 2-2.5 hrs before legal shooting time. I need to be where I expect to find the elk at the first of the legal light. That usually means a long walk in the dark.
5. For heavy timber, I prefer my Leupold 6X30 Yosemites ( about $80). For more open country, I prefer my Nikon 8X32 LX.
6. I peel off whatever I must to keep from getting too wet from exertion. When I stop, or slow way down to still hunt, I add whatever I need to stay warm. I use Patagonia Capliene for a base layer. Wool pants and Patagonia Regulator Fleece for uppper body insulation as needed. DAS or Micro Puff Pullover when I stop to glass.
7. I don't bother with a range finder much, even in open country. But I do carry one for use on a stand or for a stalk.
8. All of my packs are designed to take a 2-3L hydration pack. I drink anywhere from 1.5-2 L's of water even in really cold weather. If it's really warm, say in the 70-80's, then I pack either a 3L bladder or a smaller one and my filter.
9. I use a compass and custom made topo maps. No GPS.
10. The rifles I pack are plenty for any bear or lion. If packing meat, then I carry either a .357 or a 10mm. E

I don't consider myself an expert but I can answer your questions.

1) Depends on the season, during early seasons I go lighter. Also depends on whether I'm just going in a few miles to dump everything and hunt from a fixed camp or planning on moving around. Generally 35-50 lbs.

2) 2-4 miles if the camp stays in one place.

3) As far as another 1-2 miles, generally, but I also hunt near camp.

4) In the morning I like to be near (but not right at) where I think the elk will be when it gets light enough to move without making a lot of noise. You can blow out a lot of game in the dark, even if you're moving quietly, because you can walk right up on 'em and never know they're there until it's too late. I also like to hunt in the evening so I'll head out for evening hunts about three hours before dark.

5) Lots of decent binos for $350-$400, I like compact, lightweight 8 X 20s.

6) What those guys said. Don't wear cotton, especially next to your skin. I like my Mtn. Hardwear Chugach jacket for insulation. In early seasons, a MontBell Thermawrap jacket.

7) I'd say no, but you never know when you might get a long shot in a meadow or opening.

8) I used to use bottles, now I'm partial to hydration bladders especially in the early seasons when it can be warm. Having that hose clipped to your shoulder strap makes it so quick and convenient to drink that I find myself drinking a lot more often and staying better hydrated which is one of the best things you can do for yourself. On hikes/climbs where I used to go through a liter with a bottle, I'll now go through two and not even know it until the bladder is empty. In cold weather though, you need a bottle, the hoses freeze up too easily.

Plenty of good packs that use bladders and haul meat well. I like Kifaru packs, but there are other good brands like Mystery Ranch.

9) I like everything as compact and lightweight as possible, and I don't use all the bells, whistles, and downloadable maps so for me it's the Garmin Foretrex 101. Very handy for stumbling back to a new (and strange) camp in the dark, and you should be out hunting until it gets dark. Also very handy if you get one down back in the boonies, because you will need to go back. You can even send a buddy to your animal if he has a GPS too. You didn't ask, but I'd get a Petzl Tikka XP headlamp, you'll need one.

10) When I bow-hunt or after I've got one down and I'm going back to the kill site I carry a S&W Mountain Light .357. The main thing is, if you're going back to a kill site, be careful and don't go barging in unannounced. Try to get a good look from a distance.

Thanks for the info. I'm glad that have been doing things in the right direction. My first season out last year I saw one hunter with a huge packframe that had to weigh as much as he did. We both started from our trucks so I know he wasn't packing in. I know he didn't shoot an elk yet, it was the first morning on the first day of the season. I can't imagine what was in his pack. It didn't make sense. Then on the other scale, I ran into another hunter couple days later with only a hip pack. Maybe he had different back up plan to pack one out. Anyways, just wanted to reassure my game plans and supplies, limit my weight on unuseful items and have the right gear for the situation. Thanks for you input on what you do.

Each hunter's plan is (usually) different than every others. As Randy (1AK) says it only has to work for you.

It's great to get advice on how other guys do things, but then take what works for your situation and style and leave the rest. Nothing wrong with another guys idea if it works for him, just different.

JMHO.

If you drain the feeder line for the hydration bladder every time you use it, you won't have any problems with the line freezing. I just hold mine up in the air and pinch the bite valve open for a few seconds to drain the water back into the bladder.
I also like to load it with warm water on really cold days. The extra clothing in the pack tends to keep it warm during the day. It's nice to have a drink of water that isn't freezing cold when you are trying to stay warm. E

Remarkably good answers to your queries. I'd just add emphasis that it is not the distance from a road etc. that is important but getting into a good game-holding area that for some reason most other hunters bypass. Backpacking allows you to be there aat the most important minute of first light and last light.

Geography sometimes hides a spot not all that far from a road, such as a super pocket we discovered hidden about 1 1/2 mile from a paved highway. Also, we've found that horse hunters don't seem to feel justified until they get 7-10 miles or more back in, and they often bypass some good pockets closer to the road.