Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting ALL UP weight limit for 3 day hunting excursrions???

Well guys after a 15 year hiatus I am gathering up an ultralight Back pack Hunting setup again.

Went through the whole thing in the late 80s early 90s and looking around I have been surprised that as much as a few things have changed much has stayed the same.

Rather than a debate of which rifle ,pack, sleeping bag or pair of boots is best, I want to ask a very simple but very important question-

For a 3 day hunting trip with 4 season gear(meaning possible snow, rain in the fall) and PLENTY of food and enough fuel to cook it with(not depending on firewood) what would the ALL up weight limit be for all this combined ultra light gear-

Clothes on your back
Spare clothes
Boots
Coat raingear
Rifle/scope/ ammo
3 days of food
Tent and/or tarp
Sleeping gear
Cooking stove/utensils
Blades- knives/axe
Backpack
Sundries- small first aid kit, gun care items and game bags etc.

I am thinking 30 pounds total (remember- that is everything) doable- which was pretty light in 15 years ago.

What do of pack mules think??

35# and camping comfortably. 25-27# if your going UL and doing without a few things.

Here's my weight totals, taken straight from my gear list from a late Oct/early Nov muledeer hunt that I did in northern NM in fall of 2010:

Clothes on your back 7 lb
Spare clothes 3 lb
Boots 4 lb
Coat raingear included in spare clothes weight
Rifle/scope/ ammo 8 lb
3 days of food 4.5 lb
Tent and/or tarp 2 lb
Sleeping gear 5 lb
Cooking stove/utensils 0.75 lb
Blades- knives/axe 0.75 lb
Backpack 5 lb
small first aid kit 0.5 lb
gun care items 0.25 lb
game bags 0.3 lb

Total: About 41 lb (and most of my stuff is high-end UL backpacking gear)

Note, you didn't include water weight or a water container, so I left it off the list. Add 2.2 lb per liter of water and about 1/4 pound for a container. You may also need a filter (or use tablets to save weight).

When you're looking at skin-out weight (the backpacking term for "all-up" weight), I don't think it's possible to be even close to 30 lb without leaving some crucial stuff at home. UL backpackers can get down to ridiculous weights, but they are not hunters (less to carry, no need for a backpack that can carry 70-100 lb of meat), and many of them don't backpack in late fall like hunters do.

Scott

food and water?

Jim, you opened a great thread!
I'm trying to cut some weight here and need ideas...

Scott: do you mind to give details of each item you listed?
Also what gear/weight would you add if your trip will be very long e.g. 3+ weeks. (Sorry Jim if I'm messing up your original idea for this thread!!)

EDIT: obviously I mean what gear would you add for long trips, adding food goes without saying.
THANKS!
Matt

My last 3 day trip for deer my pack was about 30 pounds, HPG Kit bag 4 lb and rifle/ammo about 6 lb. That was with plenty of food and 100 oz's of water, but does not include the clothes I had on and my boots.

I was at 27 on my Elk hunt, including a 6 lb pack, 6 person tipi, large wood stove. I don't recall if that included ammo. It did not include the rifle.

cool thread. It's snowin and blowing here, so I'll have to put stuff on the scale while I wait for the Tebow game.

Thanks guys!!!

Keep the ideas coming!

I would be VERY interested to see the makes and models of the kit you are using, as Im planning something myself.

i'm about 45lbs (less water) for 5 days solo. Rifle Weight included. but I love my sleep - Tent, Bag and pad go 6lbs.

Here you go:

Clothes on your back 7 lb
-------------------------
Baselayer Top and Bottom - Icebreaker BodyFit 260 Merino Size M
Merino Wool Liner Socks - SmartWool
Merino Wool Socks - Icebreaker Mountaineer M
Midweight Gloves - Sitka Traverse Mossy Oak Treestand M
Stormy Kromer Cap
Filson Merino Wool Skull Cap
Welch Hopsack Suspenders (I like suspenders for backpacking)
Sitka Summit Zip T Shirt Size M
Sitka 90% Jacket Size M
Pants - Browning Pursuit Size M
Remington Mesh Blaze Orange Safety Vest

Spare clothes 3 lb
------------------
Down Jacket/Pants - MontBell UL Down Inner Size M
Frogg Toggs Pro Action Suit
Merino Wool Liner Socks - SmartWool
Merino Wool Socks - Icebreaker Mountaineer M

Boots 4 lb
----------
Kenetrek Mountain Extreme 400 Size 8.5 Med

Rifle/scope/ ammo 8 lb
----------------------
Custom Remington 700 6.5-284 w/ Leupold Ultralight 3-9x32

3 days of food 4.5 lb
---------------------
Various items - mainly Clif bars, GU gel, MH Pro-paks

Tent and/or tarp 2 lb
---------------------
Gossamer Gear SpinnTwinn tarp, trekking poles, stakes

Sleeping gear 5 lb
------------------
MontBell UL Pillow
Kookabay Custom Down Air Mattress
Big Agnes Pumphouse (for air mattress)
Western Mountaineering Lynx MF sleeping bag
Kifaru #1 Stuff Sack for Sleeping Bag
Titanium Goat Ptarmigan Bivy Bag

Cooking stove/utensils 0.75 lb
------------------------------
Monatauk Gnat Canister Cook Stove
Jet Boil 100g Fuel Canister
BackpackingLight.com Titanium SUL Spoon
Backpackinglight.com Firelite Titanium Trapper's Mug

Blades- knives/axe 0.75 lb
--------------------------
Kershaw Lockback (unknown model)
SOG Fusion Hunter Revolver Knife and Sheath
Smith's Pocket Sharpener

Backpack 5 lb
-------------
Kifaru G2 Molle Express with Omni Padded Pals Small Belt

small first aid kit 0.5 lb
--------------------------
Custom kit I put together

gun care items 0.25 lb
----------------------
Atsko Rapid Rod
Rem Oil Wipes

game bags 0.3 lb
----------------
(2) 48" Alaskan Quarter Bag
Kifaru Meat Baggie

I personally take a fair amount more than this. My skin-out weight for a three-day hunt would be about 65 lb. The additional items are numerous, and most don't weigh much individually, but when you add them up, they do. Also, you can't compare skin-out weight to pack weight, as the clothes and boots you wear weigh more than you think. Also, your rifle and optics (rifle scope, binocs, spotting scope) weigh more than you think. I challenge anyone who thinks they can do a three-day backpack hunt with a 30 lb skin-out weight to post their gear list, because I've been seriously concentrating on reducing gear weight for a few years (I've spent way too much money on gear, and I've got a spreadsheet with almost 600 weighed items in it), and there's no way I could do it at 30 lb, unless I left something vital out (boots, rifle, pack, sleeping bag, etc.).

On longer hunts, I really don't take any extra items, just more food. I mainly change my gear list to suit the expected weather conditions, and whether or not I have a hunting partner(s) with whom I can share some items.

Scott

Thanks Sir!!!

Matt

Water is heavy; if you are camping near water, you don't need to carry any. But for 3+ days in an area without water, plan on 2 gallons at 8 pounds each.

Scott, Thanks again, I already got some ideas what to improve in my gear!
One question though: with your listed gear how low temperatures you are comfortable? I'm guessing those down jacket/pants are pretty warm.

Matt

Thanks for starting this thread, Jim. I am starting to put together gear for backpack hunting, and the info in this thread will be very helpful. A couple things I noticed weren't on your list:
- light source (headlamp/flashlight)
- navigation gear (e.g., compass and map)
- optics (at least a binocular)

I guess you don't need any navigation gear if you are familiar with an area, but I would think a compass would be considered emergency safety gear (like a signal mirror, whistle, and some type of light source) if nothing else. Since one doesn't absolutely have to have optics to hunt, I guess the binocular could be left at home if one is counting ounces, but depending on where one is hunting, a binocular can save a lot of walking.

I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the input on this thread.

Matt:

The down jacket and pants are not as warm as they sound. They are a thin, lightweight garment designed as an alternative to a heavyweight fleece midlayer. Think of them as the replacement for a fleece liner with the advantage of light weight.

I've used those items down to about 10�F and don't think I could go too much lower. As far as the sleep system goes, I also have a Western Mountaineering Versalite bag, which weighs over a half-pound less than the Lynx. Wearing the merino wool baselayer and the down jacket and pants inside that bag, and with the down air mattress beneath me, I was too cold at 10�F. That's why I bought the Lynx bag. However, I'm a lanky guy, and I definitely sleep cold. Other people have told me they've been comfortable in the Versalite at that temp.

The only way you know what works for you is to use the gear and evaluate it for yourself. But be careful - you'll end up like a crack addict with gear if you're not careful!

Hope that helps,
Scott

Great stuff Scott!
I'm far behind you. First of all I can see you are size M. I'm size XL or XXL, boot size 13(6'3",185lbs). I estimate if I'd have the exact same clothes it would be 15-20% more due to the size.

My Meindl/Cabelas Alaskan hunters size 13 are 5.2lbs
I also sleep cold, my down bag is rated -40, 4.6lbs
My old fashioned Coleman stove 422 is over 2lbs (including 3days fuel)
etc...etc...

I have made some investments like Kuiu Guide jacket XXL (1.75lbs)
recently. I think in my case the most important thing is to cut all redundancy what I seem to pack "just in case"...

AND: The rain Gear!! Do you recommend Frogg Toggs? (mine is HH Impertech)
Thanks again!
Matt

You might consider going lighter on the bag. A common "newbie" mistake is to go too warm with your sleeping bag. I took the opposite approach. I started with a 2.3 lb bag and moved to a 3.0 lb bag. It all depends upon where you're hunting, what season your hunting, and your personal "heat zone". You don't know exactly what you need until you do some field testing. It's also nice to have multiple bags so that you take only the weight you need.



I haven't hunted any rainy environments, so I haven't had a need for heavy-duty rain gear. The Frog Toggs are basic rain gear that is breathable and relatively light weight. They will not survive hunting heavy timber, as they will rip apart. I think your Impertech gear is not at all breathable, and made for less active activities (but I could be wrong). This can be a problem with backpack hunting because you sweat a lot while moving, and then you sit and glass. Trapping that moisture in is downright uncomfortable, and in extreme cases, it could be fatal. I hear a lot of guys that use the Marmot Precip gear like it, but I've never used it myself. Most any rain gear from a mountaineering clothing supplier would suffice, as mountaineering and backpack hunting are similar athletic endeavors.

Regards,
Scott

If you use your rain gear lots then find some good stuff. Rain gear needs to work or your trip will suck. You need to protect from the outside but just as importantly from the INNER storm. it needs to breath or you need to be still while wearing it.

I would say look at rain gear made from goretex paclite, Event or the toray fabric that Kuiu uses.

I have a Westcomb Specter Lt event jacket and it is amazing. Personally I would look for a jacket made form Event .

I had a marmot precip and I was not impressed.

A spreadsheet with all gear listed and weighed is the key to go lighter. It will surprise the heck out of how some items add up in weight.