Food for a week

[406]

String cheese, tuna packs, lots of tuna, it comes in all kinds of flavors some chicken packs as well. I like to mix the chicken with some ramen. Also some jack links beef sticks to go with the cheese. Dehydrated Apricots too.

+1 on tuna packs. I hoarde hotsauce packets for this purpose. When a place has Cholula it's 100% guaranteed that I'm walking out with a pocket full.

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[AKMAN]

Oatmeal/granola/etc for breakfast. Jerky. Small waxed cheeses. Cashews. Fruit snacks. Snack Size candy bar. One (1) Mountain House two (2) person dinner before bed.

Too much more than that and you'll be carrying it back out with you. It's five days. Unless you're training for a power lifting competition 2 days after your hunt, (comma) your muscles are going to be just fine without the calories.

When I carried two mountain houses per day for a sheep hunt (also the caribou hunt, and the other sheep hunt, and the other sheep hunt) my appetite went down and most importantly....

... I never want to take the time to drag out a stove, boil my hard earned (carried) water, and pour it all over Chicken Polynesian, and eat more than I need... right when the sheep are bedding up for their naps.

 

[archer wapiti]

I basically snack all day until I have a hot meal (usually Mountain House, but working on dehydrating my own meals). I take 1 Probar per day (cuz they're expensive), a snack bag of some sort of high-calorie cold cereal with dried milk (add some water), Lara bars, kind bars, etc to get me to lunch. I tend to hit the ground with a probar in my hand before dawn and hunt til it slows down, then break out the cereal and have a quick meal mid-morning. Not worth getting up earlier to boil water in my opinion.

With a bit of research and some time, you can probably make diy versions of all of those bars yourself. Just make sure to go for variety. I found out on my second elk hunt that eating the same bar recipe every day was brutal. Haven't wanted one from that recipe since. Recently, in lieu of cereal, I found I like a mix of equal parts walnut/pecan pieces, almond slices, and shelled roasted pumpkin seeds, 1/2 of one of those parts of coconut and about 2/3 of one of those parts of dried fruit (blueberries, raisins, cherries) with milk, a bit of honey and a sprinkle of cinnamon. I'm going to take this for breakfast on my next hunt. I eat about 1/3 cup with whole milk for breakfast at home (microwaved so it's warm), and it sticks with me great until lunch time.

For lunch, I used to take dried hummus, but it's not available locally anymore. I'd alternate that every other day with refried beans (dried). Spread either of those on a tortilla and it's a nice change of pace. I always have some jerky for mid-day, or tuna/pink salmon packets, plus various trail mixes. I also like dried veggie chips you can buy in bulk in some grocery stores, I found I like dates, dried candied ginger, other dried fruits for snacking as well. I also like Baby Bel cheeses. The wax can make a nice candle if you have wick material.
Get yourself a kitchen scale so you know how much you're packing for each day. Especially important for dividing up expensive things like jerky.
A MH or other hot meal finishes my day when I get back to camp, and I love the fun-size snickers for a treat after a long day.

 

[stratofisher]

One large size mountain house at the end of the day worked well. Breakfast is usually oatmeal with some trail mix. During the day hiking it is bars. I did loose about 10 lbs over the week, and packed our all the lunch and breakfast mountain house I brought. Thankfully the horses carried most of the weight.

 

[ozyclint]

If you eat 18 mountain house in 6 days you will never do it again... Because you will die.

Below is what I will eat on a daily basis, obviously mix type up and more days then not I will only eat 2 of the 3 bars, or I'll swap a bar for a tube of nuts or something. I'll swap the oatmeal for grits or a bagel with PBJ and honey as well.

i assume that's a typo? should read black fart chilli

 

[AKMAN]

i assume that's a typo? should read black fart chilli

Haha word. Those will tax your relationships with hunting partners REAL quick...
On the flip side, if you spend 15 nights in a Bibler ElDo with your future wife on a sheep hunt, you'll know for a fact she loves you.

 

[Hunthigh1]

Like others said. Buy a dehydrator and you will be eating like a king in the backcountry. Without the expense and gut wreck. I just can't do more than 2-3 mtn house over 5 day hunt anymore. On hunts where water is an issue like sheep. mountain house is just not an option because it forces me to drink so much damn water from the sodium bomb.


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[mfllood3800]

Talking to the wife yesterday about this, I'm going to have her save me some of the chili she cooks so I can dehydrate it and same with some of our meals we eat through this summer. That way I can begin to make my own dehydrated meals of my choice. Guys smarter than me insist on 1.5 lbs per day, and a high caloric intake. I will heed their advice and not rely on Mtn House type to get there- too much sodium and cholesterol.

I know the Mtn Ops "Ammo" is suppose to be fridged after opening, but would think for a 3-5 day it would be alright. I'm thinking of taking some in as well.

But with us dehydrating our own stuff, I may not need it.

 

[Molon Labe]

18 MH in 5 days would be some kind of record. You will get the worse case of Butt mud you could ever imagine. You will get so sick of it you will end up not eating it.
.

I would suggest trying out your week long planned hunt diet before you hunt. Some time this spring or summer eat exactly what you would be doing on your hunt. Purely as a system check. Buddies of mine could not eat more than one mountain house a day because of the GI issues. I am fine with 2 MH a day and there is no change to my bowel movements. I also add rice/couscous/noodles to my pouches though. Try some other pouch foods as well variety is good for some people. When you get back to camp cold and worn out nice hot pouch of mountain house between your thighs heat goes straight to your femoral arteries and warms you up nicely!

I need to have 1.5-1.75lbs of food a day at least on a hunt but I have nothing extra to burn 6ft 160lbs so I am always hungry. Snacking all day between meals. Try to concentrate on foods that provide over 125cal/oz. nuts/nut butters all hover in that 160+ range so they help bring your ratio up against carbs. Make sure to get at least 1 gram of protein/day per lb that you weigh at the minimum. I usually get this from bars and dehydrated venison or salmon. I just dehydrate the meat not putting cure or salt in it. Doesn't taste like "jerky" but I have learned to love this pure protein. Sounds weird but you can dip the meat in sesame oil to add some variety/flavor. Sesame oil is around 225cal/oz I think.
I also dehydrate peppers, morels/chanterelles, fruits. Adding the peppers and shrooms to meals. Oatmeal with the fruit is awesome in the morning. The calories per oz is horrible on veg/fruit so I bring 2oz per day max. Dehydrated apples are amazing just don't eat a ton of them at once...

I think I burn 6-8000 calories a day on tough hunts. Intake around 4000 cal/day still puts me at a significant deficit. Yes it seems like you are just eating all day but you will not be giving 100% if you are not taking in the calories.
I also eat candy bars 160cal/oz. I don't really like the taste of candy/chocolate and never eat it in normal life but on hunts it is fast calories.

 

[deertrout]

I have used the 5 day plan spelled out in the link below on backpacking trips with good results. He targets 2lbs and 3500 calories per day, but you can cut some stuff out pretty easy if you want to cut calories or weight.

5-Day Ultralight Backpacking Meal Plan - Erik The Black's Backpacking Blog

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[GotDraw?]

I found Erik's blog a couple years ago and LOVE it. It's chock full of good intel...

JL

I have used the 5 day plan spelled out in the link below on backpacking trips with good results. He targets 2lbs and 3500 calories per day, but you can cut some stuff out pretty easy if you want to cut calories or weight.

5-Day Ultralight Backpacking Meal Plan - Erik The Black's Backpacking Blog

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