Backpack hunting gear weight

[mad_angler]

I hear folks say, "just carry camp on your back. it is only a few pounds..."

Is it really just a few pounds? (right now, I am thinking of a two night test run during a truck/basecamp trip)

I think I have pretty light gear
- tent: 2 lbs (Big Agnes fly creek)
- pad: 1 lbs (Exped 5R)
- quilt: 1 lbs (Enlightened equipment down, 20F)
- jetboil: 1 lbs
- extra battery for phone: 1 lb
- food: 8 lbs (3lbs per day, 2 nights out)


That is 14 lbs in addition to my normal daypack/hunting gear.

Is that a reasonable gear list and weight?

Is carrying 14 lbs 24/7 really easier than hiking in and out every day?

 

[gtriple]

3lbs of food per day seems crazy unless you are a giant. I consume 2500cal/day and that weighs 1.5lbs total.

Everything else seems fine. It just depends on how far you are hiking in every day and night.

 

[GunsAreFun]

My backpack hunting weight for 2 nights and 3 days is 35#. I actually am pretty sure it’s a pound or two less than that but being conservative. I have been fine tuning it for years, and could actually still drop 2# if I switched to my KUIU pack. That is everything in the pack including food and 3l of water. Does not include bow or bino harness.

My day hunt weight would subtract:
- 20 ounce for tarp and stakes
- 20 oz for pad
- 24 oz for quilt
- 25oz of food (still going to have a days worth of food for day hunts)
- 8oz cook kit

That’s only six pounds. I might be forgetting a thing or two so call it seven. Not a meaningful difference, especially when I train with 60.

That said, we very rarely need to spike out. In fact, this year it would have been detrimental to our strategy because we had to get down into the valley in the morning to spot where the elk were exiting the private hay fields.

 

[TaperPin]

Is carrying 14 lbs 24/7 really easier than hiking in and out every day?

Don’t confuse easier with more effective. Even at my best fitness level when I could hike up and down the steepest country all day long from the trailhead, sleep was the deciding factor. It’s a lot better to be where you want to be at first and last light if you’re camped up closer. Hiking an extra 8 to 10 miles each day to be at the same spot you’d otherwise have to simply roll out of bed, adds up the more days your hunting. In a week, 50 miles of extra walking and 10,000’ of elevation gain vs carrying 25 to 30 lbs for half a day on the way up sounds more effective and easier.

I like a lot of food, some of which isn’t dehydrated, so your food weight doesn’t sound bad to me. Food weight is only carried the first half of the first day so it’s a non issue some spend way too much effort minimizing.

Teenage city girls who have never seen a mountain will carry 30% of their body weight or more on week-long group backpacking trips.

 

[chizelhead]

I highly recommend using lighterpack.com. It's free and a great way to dial in your setup and look for tradeoffs. It's also great to send to others for their feedback. Is it easier to spike vs not? It depends on if it gives you access to an area you couldn't otherwise. The quote above captures it well: "Hiking an extra 8 to 10 miles each day to be at the same spot you’d otherwise have to simply roll out of bed, adds up the more days your hunting. In a week, 50 miles of extra walking and 10,000’ of elevation gain vs carrying 25 to 30 lbs for half a day on the way up sounds more effective and easier."

 

[Poser]

It really just depends on how far (time or distance) it is to get into where you want to be at first light. I went through a stage for a number of years where, if I was out hunting, I was backpacking, but I've since backed off of that and do quite a bit of day hunts from home or a truck camp. I do still backpack when it makes sense: Higher probability spots that are deeper in the backcountry where I'm confident that time in that area is an asset. If I'm going to hunt several hours+ back in there for consecutive days then backpacking only makes sense. If I'm probing different areas where hunting is effective 0-90 minutes back in there or we're just talking about, say, a 30 minute hike, then I'm usually just going to go in and out with a day pack.

 

[mad_angler]

Don’t confuse easier with more effective. .. In a week, 50 miles of extra walking and 10,000’ of elevation gain vs carrying 25 to 30 lbs for half a day on the way up sounds more effective and easier....

I'm sorry for the confusion. I was talking about always having camp on my back.

Right now, I have just been basecamping at the truck.
I think you are talking about setting up a spike camp. I can see the benefits of that.

I was asking about backpack hunting with my camp on my back all day...

 

[mad_angler]

To clarify...

I was planning on base camping at my truck on a forest service road. I might drive 0-4 miles in the morning to a slightly different spot. Then, I would hike 1-3 miles to the morning spot. I might hike 3-7 miles total by the time I get back to my truck after dark.

I was trying to compare that with backpack hunting where I had my tent on my back all day and would just camp whenever and wherever I wanted...

 

[TaperPin]

I'm sorry for the confusion. I was talking about always having camp on my back.

Right now, I have just been basecamping at the truck.
I think you are talking about setting up a spike camp. I can see the benefits of that.

I was asking about backpack hunting with my camp on my back all day...

Oh…I misunderstood.

Carrying the extra weight all day every day is tough way to go, but I love making the most of weekend hunts and there is one spot in particular where being able to stay out all Friday and Saturday night is a big advantage, so I guess I have done that, more or less. A lot like backpacking a long trail with multiple camps along the way. Go for it.