Favorite foods on your elk hunt

[Steelhead]

At home I usually don't eat until noon, but I force myself to eat breakfast in the woods. There is a point when my body & brain starts demanding food and I never want that happening when stuff starts getting real. Oatmeal with nuts and coconut for fat and a bit of protein powder to round it off, Also add stuff like dried berries or chocolate chips. I also fill in zip-lok baggies of this mix and dump it in the pot once I've boiled water for coffee...which is fairly critical. This while I'm getting my gear set in the dark, takes maybe 5 minutes to slug it down with a coffee chaser and I'm good to go. During the day I can then just chomp on jerkey or other snacks and don't eat again until the day is done.

 

[Luziana Feller]

personally i really like fresh tenderloin on my elk hunts...oatmeal and protein powder are for pansies

 

[Newtosavage]

You can make yourself like it if you want, I hated oatmeal but always thought it would be a good breakfast food, always smelled and looked good. One day, because of some new dietary restrictions, I just started choking it down and now I actually enjoy it. It helps to do the steel cut, the texture is better and therefore not as bad.

I'm an oatmeal every morning guy.

Two packets of Quaker instant (usually brown sugar and cinammon or apple) with a handful of walnuts and another handful of raisins. Quick and easy and filling.

Usually a Clif bar around mid-morning

Single slice "spamburger" on pita bread or a roll, apple and a little chocolate for lunch

Trail mix mid-afternoon

MH meal or Can of stew and Little Debbie for supper depending on where I'm at.

Hasn't failed me yet.

 

[rodney482]

 

[Wmmichael20]

I mix it up,some days I put peanut butter on a cherry unfrosted poptart and make a sammich, other days, instant oats with nuts and dried cherries or if I have time pancakes fried up in bacon grease ...and coffee is a darn requirement sometimes three cups throughout the day, I use the Folgers tea bag style and keep them in my pack.

 

[JustJustin]

Cliff has a delicious granola... put some powdered milk & French vanilla coffee creamer in the bag with it. Just add water when you're ready to eat it. Peanut butter is a great staple- anytime, anywhere with any food. Lots of good fats and protein.

 

[shadow]

Sour patch kids. Lots and lots of sour patch kids.

 

[DenverCountryBoy]

Any alternatives for oatmeal? Never been a fan but I like the simplicity of it

Instant quinoa. Almost twice the calories and protein of oatmeal. If you can't find instant, you can cook regular quinoa at home then dehydrate.

 

[5MilesBack]

personally i really like fresh tenderloin on my elk hunts...

Not enough fat content for my tastes and preferences. Pork ribs and prime ribeyes are where it's at.

 

[Prestjd]

If you wrap them in waxed paper or parchment before wrapping in foil, the tortilla won't stick to the foil.
Golden advice!

 

[Apollo117]

Any alternatives for oatmeal? Never been a fan but I like the simplicity of it

Powdered milk and your favorite brand of cereal (Cheerios, Honey Bunches of Oats, etc). As mentioned previously, protein shakes are great when you don't want to use your stove.

 

[juan trueno]

AM coffee and bagel (with or without peanut butter depending) plus possibly or sub possibly grits or oatmeal

Throughout day salami or jerky, nuts, dried fruit, probably some chocolate chips or something

Night never elaborate. Start with a hot drink without caffeine and add powdered milk and drink however much of a Nalgene bottle is left after i use what I need to cook some kind of “instan” more or less soup with or like beans and rice. I add potato flakes to the soup if I go that route. I add jerky or salmi either to my mouth hole directly or to the soup. I’ll usually eat a bunch of chocolate and a fair handful or banana chips. I don’t like bananas chips during the day too spiky but they’re good in the system overnight. I might use a mountain house one night and I always have steaks one night and Brats one night if near the truck.


I don’t like my camp at the truck to be elaborate or comfortable or perishable enough to mandate using it and I don’t want the camp I carry to be so heavy or elaborate as to mandate using it. I am always going for maximum flexibility and mobility and sometimes that means moving by truck at night, sometimes by foot, sometimes sleeping at camp, sometimes the hill- but it should never be second thought of a tough decision which- it’s whatever leads most directly to full meat bags at the time.

I don’t like food spoiling in a cooler keeping me near camp and eating when I should be hungry and in pursuit. And I can’t stand an inadequate fuel supply causing deterioration in performance, decision making, etc prematurely

 

[Bld6159]

Pop tarts are my go to in the mornings. Quick and easy. I also bring some prepackaged oatmeal if I want to change things up some.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

 

[noisy]

^^Yep. Pop Tarts and coffee for breakfast.

Deer jerky and Goldfish for snacks.

 

[woodson]

Like many, I portion all of my food by meal and by day using sandwich bags contained in a gallon ziplock bag. I mix in a little variety within each day, but I truly believe having everything pre-packaged beforehand expedites the morning routine and helps counteract the "decision fatigue" that comes with the unknowns of backcountry hunting. If you take away decisions about what to eat and what to wear (have reduced my clothing kit drastically over the years), then all that is left is where to go. I go lighter on calories at lunch, and heavy at night before bed. This mirrors my normal routine as I am a surgeon and don't eat much during the day when in clinic or the OR.

Some typical meal lists for me:

Breakfast
-Instant Coffee (2 packs)
-Carnation Instant breakfast pack in Vanilla or Chocolate (makes a great warm drink when mixed with coffee)
-Instant oatmeal pack
-2 small beef snack sticks (Simms, Slim Jim, Jack Links, etc)
-Small apple or orange (pack 3 or so per trip)

Lunch
JIF Peanut Butter Pack
Clif Bar
-2 more small beef snack sticks (Simms, Slim Jim, Jack Links, etc)
-1L of water to catch up on hydration

Snacks
Clif Bar
JIF Peanut Butter Pack
CANDY (best morale boost ever). I like Starburst FavoReds and Jolly Rancher Chews
Pepperoni slices if I'm still hungry

Dinner
-1 packet of Idahoan Instant potatoes (I get a different flavor for every day)
-1 Mountain House (2.5 servings, usually eat it all).
- Ramen (I pack 3-4 of these for a 7 day hunt and eat them every other night to get extra carbs and sodium.
-1 L of Water

*I carry out all of the trash and leave no trace.

** I have also found that if we come out (either to take a kill to the freezer) or to relocate, a cold beer and some tacos do wonders for morale.

***The notorious bagel sandwich with honey, bacon, and peanut butter is the best thing ever, but I usually have to drive or fly out west from Missouri and don't usually make it ahead of time for those hunts. It is a tree stand hunt or duck blind staple.

 

[mastercaller70]

We are really roughing it where we hunt as we have power, running water, etc
I have a blender and we make smoothies to drink as we drive to where we need to go. Use a variety of frozen fruit, yogurt and protein powder.

 

[dr.derek]

Next mile meals made the cut for my backpack this year

 

[Hucklebear]

The snack size snickers are great. Rather than jerky, I really like landjager as it packs well and isn't quite as dry. Always have some H2Ors to mix into Nalgenes after long hikes to re-hydrate, really good to hit one before bed.

 

[Rockin'A]

	Grams	Calories
Protein	155​	601​
oats	40​	150​
Hemp hearts	30​	180​
Pbfit	12​	71​
Flax Seed	14​	70​
total	251​	1072​

Just remember to bring stuff to be able to wash out your shaker bottle with...it gets kinda ripe in early seasons

 

[Southforkguy]

Always the question of what to bring for food on the mountain. Here is my 2019 strategy.
Breakfast
1- Premade, frozen, reheated breakfast burrito from the local gas station. real egg. sausage and cheese.
1-protein shake.
water
Been on the trail awhile. need a break time.
1-trail nugget bar
1-dark timber instant coffee
1-some sort of jerky, sausage cheese combo
Lunch
1-self heating meal probably OMeals beef
Late Snack
1-big sur bar
1-FBomb
Late Supper
Hopefully camp chef has something hot.