Dropping pack to stalk...

[Ross]

No plans to ever drop my pack unless punching my tag and beginning the fun stuff

 

[S.Clancy]

My pack is going everywhere, except maybe the last 60-70 yards of an archery stalk

 

[35WhelenAI]

OP, thanks for the clarification. Are you camped nearby where you dive off into the thick stuff, are you covering miles and miles to get there, wasn't sure from your post.

A stalk, which you talk about, implies you are intending to move slow, deliberate and with control. A frame by itself even with just the small items is not conducive.

I would add many of the things mentioned. Fire starter, first aid, cord to tie the animal off while cleaning, headlamp, etc. Fire starter would be very much at the top of the list. A fellow can get through any night with a fire. What TaperPin said in post #9 is damn good to live by. I am a rocky mountain fellow as well. Makes me feel sorry for folks and frustrated at folks thinking they are prepared but they are not. Read about it all the time. Not saying that would be you, but don't let it happen.

If you are camped not far from where you dive off into the thick stuff, i'm gonna tell you to get a good sized fanny pack to carry what you're talking about. If you get something, swing a quarter over your shoulder, then hike back to camp and get a pack. Give yourself a reason to create a problem for hauling meat, but not skimping on necessary items, by getting an animal, and you'll be happy every step of the way.

 

[TWHrunner]

I dropped mine one time on a bighorn hunt. It was an external frame pack that weighed about 30 pounds with all my stuff in it including my spotting scope. I dropped it to be more stealthy and crawled down the mountain to get within shooting position. There was tons of snow and actually huge drifts alongside the ridge I was going sideways along. The rams moved on my way down. Light was fading. I never was able to confirm legality. I had to abandon the shot and climb back up to my pack and that took half an hour. I hadn’t realized how far I moved. I now have a lighter weight pack and it never comes off.

 

[spike camp]

Dropping the correct pack, makes zero sense.

Stone Glacier Evo frame and the Access Bag weigh <3 pounds…yet carries all essentials ultra comfortably, and still yet-will haul 250 pounds easily.

You’re not saving anything, if you practice how you hunt.
That’s just my opinion.

 

[eshunt]

I have dropped my pack in the past and ended up regretting the decision. With elk, I usually keep pack with me and might take it off for the final few yards is all. It took a few times of either getting too far away from my pack and having a long ways to go back to get it, or having to break away from moving elk in order to drop back and grab my pack. Either way, it ended up being a pain in the butt and usually lost opportunities on the elk.

Archery mule deer - well that's a whole different game, with making as little noise as possible trying to sneak in on bedded, stationary animals I usually will drop the pack for the final 200 yds.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

No plans to ever drop my pack unless punching my tag and beginning the fun stuff

Yep! Hunt and kill enough when solo and you’ll learn that it never gets dropped.

With a buddy spotting for me things can change…

I always have fire starter, head lamp, kill kit, and water when stalking in with a pack left behind with somebody. If it’s very cold I’ll suck it up and wear a hooded warm puffy opened up or tied around waist. Bino harness carries everything but the water and kill kit. Kill kit in pocket, Nalgene clipped to harness or hand carried.

Puffy has saved me more than once when I got pinned down until after dark and needed to get warm asap. Fire doesn’t always start and keep burning in snow and rain.

 

[squid-freshprints]

When you dont plan to drop your pack, you might not be ready to. Emergency situations, and clover leaf, or downhill grid searches come to mind as points where dropping your pack can become necessary quick. Having split packs makes it simple and balances better on long slogs.(the load balance advantage to chest pack is big.) I always have what I need to nav. com. record. and be hydrated and safe on my chest.

 

[Marble]

I do not stray far from my pack. If I drop in to a canyon, it goes with.

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk

 

[Gerbdog]

Things happen too fast for me usually, maybe thats inexperience so things havent slowed down yet... but every elk ive arrowed has been with the pack and bino harness on. I also like to think it breaks up my human form when i've got things hanging off of my back.

 

[prm]

Compass. It’s tied to my pack. I am never without it and two headlamps. I never drop my pack.

 

[35WhelenAI]

Compass. It’s tied to my pack. I am never without it and two headlamps. I never drop my pack.

I'll add a physical copy of a topo map with that compass, technology is only as good as the batteries powering it.

 

[taskswap]

Add a medical kit and your list matches my own, although I no longer "drop" for because that 2000' vertical adventure... I don't want to have to re-climb it just to get my pack back. That's me.

Agree on the reflective flagging, so many of my pack-outs have ended up being at night. In our hunt group we have a general rule that we all help each other with pack-outs but only at night, because we don't stop hunting during the day just to pack. It's also much easier to see from a distance if it's snowing. I WILL say I bought into those reflective "thumbtacks" some vendors sell but ended up switching back to flagging because it's lighter and doesn't hurt the trees.

 

[MallardSX2]

I wonder how many elk are saved by guys wearing big packs trudging around like cavemen through the national forest every year. My wife and I chuckle when we see people on TV carrying camp on their back throughout the day. lol

I could never hunt elk like that. I barely carry anything in my daypack, and I slip through the timber like a ghost. Strap a 50-pound huge pack to my back and I am sure I would run every elk off the mountain. My shoulders would be toast by day 2.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Solo, pack stays on. I have regretted several times dropping it while chasing a herd of elk… if I am hunting with a buddy for elk or had a buddy spotting while hunting mule deer, that could be a different story, dropped packs a time or two in the final approach and my buddy will drop his while I’m calling for him

 

[Scoot]

Muleys- I usually drop my pack in the final stalk of a bedded deer. I don't drop my pack when I'm working a deer that is on its feet.

Elk- never drop my pack.

 

[prm]

I guess I consider what to have in my day pack and what I want with me on an extended stalk as the same thing. My day pack consists of the things I consider important to have at all times, and nothing, or very little, more. It does not impede my ability to stalk (typically in timber) thus it would make no sense to drop it. A backpack is a rather efficient way to carry what is most important. To each his own.

 

[Hnthrdr]

I wonder how many elk are saved by guys wearing big packs trudging around like cavemen through the national forest every year. My wife and I chuckle when we see people on TV carrying camp on their back throughout the day. lol

I could never hunt elk like that. I barely carry anything in my daypack, and I slip through the timber like a ghost. Strap a 50-pound huge pack to my back and I am sure I would run every elk off the mountain. My shoulders would be toast by day 2.

It way easier to move around with a day pack, but if you are backpack hunting them, it is super nice to be able to not have to hike all the way back to camp especially if you are into elk a few drainages from camp… done both, but more and more I prefer to have a good spike camp and hunt as light as possible…

 

[Jn78]

If you kill an elk at the bottom and of that 2k vertical hell hole, you might get out until midnight. Twist an ankle and it could be longer than that. I need every single thing in my pack. What would you have in your pack that you wouldn’t need in either of those scenarios?

 

[wiarcher]

I've never dropped my pack. I keep it with me at all times.