Backpacking old dudes

[mtnwrunner]

Kind of nice hanging out near the bottom of the forum categories. I think fuzzy wuzzy planned it that way.
Shit, we should be at the top!

So, for those of us that are qualified to be here......how many of you backpack?? Hunting and otherwise?

Kind of my passion and I still do it every year and I hope to do it till I can't.

Randy

 

[EdP]

Yup, love to backpack hunt in the mtns. Just do it in the east though. Love and still do backpacking in general, but at 67, not as much as I used to. Not really due to age or fitness but other hobbies taking up my time, like spending it with grandkids too young to BP yet. Improved pack designs have helped keep me in the game.

 

[Salmonchaser]

Yep, well sort of, the last 20 I was guiding in Alaska and always carrying stuff for the clients. Kept the body use to the work. We live about a mile outside the Eagle Cap wilderness, now that I’m retired we are really looking forward to spending some time up there this summer. The better half would go up with the grands every summer while I was in AK, hike their butts off. Makes me throw an overnight pack on when I run the dogs so that I’m ready.

 

[BluMtn]

I try and get out 4or5 times during the spring, summer, and of course more during the fall. Don't do the overnight camping anymore but the way my life is going lately I may start up again.

 

[BBob]

I started backpacking with the scouts at 13 for fun. That morphed into a nice tool for backpack hunting later on. Hardly anyone did it anywhere we hunted back then and it was great for many many years while that lasted. It's still the best way to get away from the masses though but no guaranty you'll be alone anymore. It was a super fun feeling to run into horse-packed drop camp hunters in high elevation mule deer camps when they realized we walked in with packs on our backs They were stuck in their little spot and we could roam where we pleased. Still going mostly for hunting but an occasional why not trip with non-hunting friends.

 

[mtwarden]

Have been backpacking for decades. I even once had a job that paid paid me to backpack (well actually two)- did two seasons as a Wilderness Ranger in the Great Bear Wilderness- ten days on and four off. Also I'd usually get a couple of backpacking trips in checking backcountry fishermen every year as a game warden.

It's my preferred way to big game hunt. Enjoy the seclusion and find myself much more immersed than when I'm day hunting.

I've been doing this the last several years; not exactly "fun" but keeps me well focused on staying in backcountry shape


https://bedrockandparadox.com/bob-marshall-wilderness-open/

The last couple of years have been taking my grandson (along with my wife) on summer trips, this year my granddaughter is going to be old enough to go as well. Fun introducing kids to backpacking, they take to it very naturally.

 

[eaglemountainman]

I still dayhunt with a pack. And I pack what I need in case I unexpectedly need to spend a night out. I try to keep pack out loads to 55-60 pounds these days.

Since my partners are no longer willing to spike out, I've given it up, also. But not by choice.

I must admit, the last couple of years, it's been nice coming back to a dry heated lodge, with real food, a hot shower and a nice bed to sleep on.

 

[Still Hunter]

Primarily Truck Base camp and venture out each day early with a day pack. Always carry enough every day for at least an over night stay. Probably average 7-8 miles a day out and back, all depends on where or if I find elk. Each year I tend to have to make longer treks every day to find the elk.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Prior to Covid I could PB in several miles before setting up camp but they closed the Sierras in 2020 and I was unable to draw any tags or find free time in 2021 and this year this far. Now I am fat and outta shape. Gotta get back on the trails and rebuild myself. Have a Bakcou Mule 1000 ebike for private property hunts so I can haul game solo.

 

[*zap*]

Justdoit

 

[frank church guy]

Been doing it since my dad put one of those external frames on my back at six. Man packs have come a long ways. All over Colorado as a kid and Idaho the last twenty years, and now the frank. Mt warden, cant wait until you post 2023! Keep pushing!

 

[Ross]

Oh yes don’t miss the crappy pack frames and boots from the 70s and spend $ freely on something that will shave some weight or add comfort

 

[frank church guy]

OOOOhhhh the boots! A long break in and usually blisters. The backcountry stuff has come a long ways

 

[mtwarden]

Memorial Day weekend- 80-ish miles, just under 10k of ascent, on snow at least half the miles, too many icy (and sketchy) fords to count, too many blowdown wrecked areas to count BUT what a great trip!

https://www.rokslide.com/forums/threads/one-tough-trip-the-sequel.265706/

 

[mtnwrunner]

Looks like backpack season is just around the corner for the high mountain lakes. Get some!

Randy

 

[JPD350]

That's Awesome mtwarden, looks like you are well on your way to your goal!

Backpack hunting is all I want to do, I can't pack in as far as I use to but I do pretty well. The issue for me is with the distance of packing an animal out in a timely manner since I am usually by myself.
Hopefully they open the NM forests someday soon otherwise I am not going to get much backpack scouting in this summer, over 600,000 acres have burned and we aren't even in the burn season yet!

 

[BCSojourner]

Kind of nice hanging out near the bottom of the forum categories. I think fuzzy wuzzy planned it that way.
Shit, we should be at the top!

So, for those of us that are qualified to be here......how many of you backpack?? Hunting and otherwise?

Kind of my passion and I still do it every year and I hope to do it till I can't.

Randy

Yep, backpack and trek with my llamas. They keep me going strong at 69 and sure make for some really comfortable backcountry camps from June through September with family and hunting partner(s). We have learned to focus more on the journey while enjoying the Colorado high country and its unique ecosystem. Always have to chuckle when watching Youtube videos and noticing that a lot of the amateur videographers can't tell the difference between a pine tree and a spruce or fir tree. I'll keep trekking and learning as long as I can-the llamas help a bunch as they keep me more active around home as well.

 

[SliverShooter]

Yep, 64 and still doing it. My avatar is me packing last years final load from my moose to the pickup lake. AK, Solo, with a selfbow, 1 1/4 miles from where I arrowed the moose to the pickup lake. Takes me a little longer now, but I still manage to get it done.

 

[FLATHEAD]

OOOOhhhh the boots! A long break in and usually blisters. The backcountry stuff has come a long ways

Anybody ever have a pair of Herman Survivor's ?

 

[squirrel]

Ironically Ive done a lot more backpacking lately during the hunting seasons as all my wooly guys are rented out and I still want to go. My wife says this is definitive proof of stupidity, but what does she know anyway? Summer trips are almost all llamas all the time as I have so many that need conditioning that I have to take extra stuff just so they carry some weight. At least these long walks without a pack get a little lard worn off my belly so when I decide to go hunting with an empty pasture I dont suffer catastrophic failure. Loads of over 70# really suck lately I've noticed, as do days over 12 miles.