How far is too far?

[desertcj]

Just so I'm clear, road to 500yds and I'm a lazy, fat ass road hunter. Over 5 miles from the truck and I turn into a flat billed peckerwood. The optimal lazy ass to peckerwood ratio then is between 500yds and 5 miles from the truck? Lol. 5 miles is a pretty good hump loaded with meat.

 

[WRO]

Just so I'm clear, road to 500yds and I'm a lazy, fat ass road hunter. Over 5 miles from the truck and I turn into a flat billed peckerwood. The optimal lazy ass to peckerwood ratio then is between 500yds and 5 miles from the truck? Lol. 5 miles is a pretty good hump loaded with meat.

Not all wildness hunters are peckerwoods, there is just a higher incidence of running into them in the oregon wilderness. You are correct on the general peckerwood to distance ratio though.

 

[TJ]

Why do they have to be peckerwoods?

Maybe it's just me but why knock guys for wanting to get out off the roads and hunt deep? At least the effort, drive, and desire is there. Much better than the guys you see driving around all day. To each there own though

Not directly to the topic, but I agree anyone who hauls his own ass in there to hunt does not have to be a "peckerwood".

I think someone needs to go out and find a tree to rake!

 

[jfive613]

I think if you have to ask the question, is that too far to pack an elk out, the answer is gonna be yes. I hunt solo, in New Mexico in September so I figure I have to have my elk out by the next night. I hunt accordingly. If you have a packer lined up, I really hope he doesn't bail on you. That's been known to happen. Realize that your own back may be a contingency plan.

I'd just like to add, if your not from the west and you're planning a hunt here with us, I wouldn't go overboard with your planning for your first time. Mountains kick your ass a lot harder than you think they will.

I also find you run into most elk within a couple miles of the road. Just don't hike up a trail head. Bushwack yourself up to a shelf or a peak close to the road and see what's on the other side. I think you'll be surprised at the lack of people and the amount of elk sign.

 

[_RJ_]

I only go as far as the elk are. Hunting where there's no elk but your 15 miles in is called hiking/camping. I hunt, so the animals dictate where I go; not the other way around.

 

[Jarrod Renaud]

"Just so I'm clear, road to 500yds and I'm a lazy, fat ass road hunter. Over 5 miles from the truck and I turn into a flat billed peckerwood. The optimal lazy ass to peckerwood ratio then is between 500yds and 5 miles from the truck? Lol. 5 miles is a pretty good hump loaded with meat."


haha i love this post.

Sometimes Im 10 miles in sometimes Im 1 mile in. Won't ever forget that time I was walking out of an OTC area with my head down from being rained on for 2 days (torrential downpour) and only seeing a group of 4 cows... I came to the edge of the timber where it met a sage brush sidehill and could see my truck a good 300 yards parked on the side of a highway... I heard something and looked up to see a GIANT bull turn around about 10 yards from me and run across that sidehill.

That changed my perspective and made me a smart hunter and less worried about being a backcountry warrior. Elk are everywhere, on the other hand a lot of times the further you go in the more epic the country, which I also love.

Depends on how much time I've got.

 

[dangerousD]

I've always considered the flat bills as the peckerwoods.

The flat bill = peckerwood equation works for me.
Who exactly is the "OG" hunter responsible for this trend?

From what I've seen locally, every peckerwood cameron hanes wanna be heads into the wilderness. We get a fair bit of the non wildness of road areas to our selves. The area between 500 yards and 2 miles is relatively peckerwood free and there are plenty of elk.

Made me laugh. I'm old enough to remember that it wasn't too many years ago it was the rolled bill hat punks that were the peckerheads to the old curmudgeons. And maybe I'm one of those peckerheads again since I added an Elkshape flatty to my massive collection of curved hats. And I like Cam Hanes.....Shoot, I'm doomed now. LOL

That said, I just want to hunt wherever the elk are and even though I work out and put in a lot of TUP (time under pack) during training, my flatlander ass would rather pack it as short a distance as possible. When I hunted Oregon last year, the elk we found weren't but a 1/4 mile from the truck/road. We found them after we had put in several miles and glassing canyons, etc and were on our way back to the truck... Go figure. Didn't get one killed though. Both last year and this year we killed elk in Utah about a mile from an ATV trail that was four miles from the trailhead.

 

[IdahoElk]

Here is my advice to the youngsters, read Cam Haines back country bow hunter book, find the biggest steepest wilderness you can find, take tons of selfies, and go in hard. Don't forget you hoochie momma and terminator bugle.

Let the chubby guys have the no mans land next to the roads..

Ha,This is funny!