Caching water

[Broken Compass]

Not sure if this is the right place for this but I was wondering if anyone else caches water? 2 years ago I was hunting and stalking across snow fields, and last year hunting the same spot at the same time of year the closest water was 2 hours away. Last year I was able to cache a few liters but I got up there a little late in the spring, more like early summer, what little water was left was pretty muddy, but it worked.
This year there is a little more snow pack than last year but not near as much as two years ago, so I am going up soon to try to stash a few gallons, I am thinking if I can get up there soon enough I should be able to get some pretty clear water.
Does anyone have any tips on doing this? Do you treat it for long term storage or just treat it as you use it in the fall?
Any tips or comments are appreciated.

 

[CrzyTrekker]

Never done it but I came across a large cache of water last year above timberline. Was scouting two weeks before the season opener and found the cache on the side of a mountain. Two one-gallon milk jugs. Considered drinking it and leaving a thank-you note. haha.

 

[unm1136]

I will be caching in the future, if I can. This spring I went after turkey and humped 3 gallons a coulple of miles. That won't happen again. Pack weight was not quite 80 pounds, including shotgun. I am learning to go ultra lightweight when I can, lightweight where I can and grunt it out where I can't. The last three years in the only areas I could get drawn in all springs and streams were bone dry by October. As my kids get older I will be able to scout more, leave a day or so earlier, and pre position my water. The summer Extreme Elk has an article on packing, treating, and caching water.

pat

 

[larryschwartz]

" The summer Extreme Elk has an article on packing, treating, and caching water." It would be nice if we could get it reprinted here for those of us who don't elk hunt or subscribe to that fine publication.

Broken Compass, I read a thread on a lightweight backpacking forum about someone doing a desert through-hike who had their water cache used by some @#$% who found it, took the water, and then left a nice note saying sorry we needed the water. Sooo, if you are going to cache water, which is a good idea if the situation warrants it, make sure that you have more than one cache AND make sure you hide it well and don't put it near a trail or othe obvious travel route. Also, on the same forum they talked about caches made from plastic milk bottle leaking over time so that when the cache'ers got there they were empty. Apparently some brands of milk bottles are not designed to be long term storage containers and the seam along the bottom of this brand would split causing the slow leak. So, finding other water containers that are obviously designed for long term storage might be a good idea.

 

[DADSGOTTAHUNT]

I have considered it where I hunt in the Missouri breaks here in eastern Montana. There is plenty of water where I hunt but it is so alkaline that if you drink it and you aren't used to it it causes a laxative effect. We end up walking out every couple days to resupply with water. We use some block management land to access BLM land. I asked the landowner to haul in water for me for a fee when he moves his cows to winter pasture. He questioned my sanity for chasing elk so far from the road. I am still waiting for his answer.

 

[actionshooter]

There is an area I have hunted in the central Cascades, up on the ridge where I camped, the closest water was several hundred yards downhill right through where I was glassing. Didn't want to disturb the area, so that water was off limits.
On scouting trips I packed in 16.9 oz water bottles and cached them.
They were only there for 4-5 months and it worked great. I would only use sealed bottles.

 

[larryschwartz]

Out of curiousity I looked up how much water weighed since I too am thinking of caching some on a mountain hunt. One gallon weighs around 8.333 pounds, so three gallons is 25 pounds.

 

[slim9300]

Out of curiousity I looked up how much water weighed since I too am thinking of caching some on a mountain hunt. One gallon weighs around 8.333 pounds, so three gallons is 25 pounds.

No doubt that packing extra water = pain.