Anybody go on multi-day hunts in the backcountry without a stove?

[mahonsr]

I agree. Some years ago I started a spreadsheet to track and "grade" the different FD foods from various manufacturers because I can never remember exactly which ones are downright awful and which ones are decent. I try to keep notes when in the field, but that only works out less than half the time. I'm also the trip organizer and leader for all our hunting and backpacking trips so it comes down to me to try to avoid the "awful" ones.

And whatever is leftover after a hunt - I get to keep and eat when backpacking / scouting the following year and the leftovers are usually the worst ones (I keep leftovers because usually I just buy everyone's food...cuz I'm normally buying all this stuff for family and best friend who contributes in other ways...). So it pays to be a little picky otherwise I just eat the garbage food the next summer.

Sometimes I post my FD food reviews on REI (because that's where I buy most of my FD food). I remember one was so bad I said something funny (to me) about that meal in my REI review. REI review handle is also "wapitispokes"

As far as FD food brands go, me and my hiking / hunting buds usually put Mountain House at the bottom of the heap in terms of taste and "gut impacts..." (you know what I mean), but their spaghetti and lasagna sure do hydrate quick and are edible enough. 30 years ago they owned the market, now - not so much.

So what are your top 3 actual meals?

 

[wapitispokes]

Mahonsr - Here is one of my lists - looks like it was initially put together for 2022 fall hunt and then repurposed - not sure how to attach the spreadsheet so I'll try to copy a section. I used a numeric score of 5 (best) to 1 (worst). 5 = good, 4 = edible, 3 = bad. I guess I am reserving the scores of 2 and 1 for really really awful stuff. In this case (below) I was going through my leftover inventory while also grading it out... Off hand I am not sure wha the red font scores mean...I havent' looked at this since planning the 2023 elk hunt. It is a multi- sheet spreadsheet and there could be another one floating around. The main takeaway was to avoid at all costs the Backpackers Pantry Chama Masala.

 

[wapitispokes]

So what are your top 3 actual meals?

Here's another page of that spreadsheet