Jet Sled off the Dalton

[will16_]

Anyone ever take a Jet Sled for use off the Dalton? Plan on making the death march this year, and have been wondering about pulling gear in the sled while I pack out a bou (hopefully). Thoughts? Anyone have experience? Planning on hitting the opener thru about the 10th.

Also, would hip boots or a muck style boot be worth any consideration, as your every day boot?

And, any weather predictions for that time of year?

 

[Geewhiz]

Personally I think it would be way more work to tow a sled than just carry your gear on your back and if you think you could bring twice as much gear because you will be towing half of it, I think you may be disappointed. I ran into some guys last year that tried to tow a sled in addition to their fully loaded packs and they had 2 guys hitched up to the sled and they were stopping about every 20 ft to rest. If you think you can pack out a whole caribou and tow all your gear in a sled over the tundra you’re much more of a man than me. Would not recommend but ymmv.

Due to the lack of ankle support I would not even consider muck boots on the tundra.

 

[dallen]

Personally I think it would be way more work to tow a sled than just carry your gear on your back and if you think you could bring twice as much gear because you will be towing half of it, I think you may be disappointed. I ran into some guys last year that tried to tow a sled in addition to their fully loaded packs and they had 2 guys hitched up to the sled and they were stopping about every 20 ft to rest. If you think you can pack out a whole caribou and tow all your gear in a sled over the tundra you’re much more of a man than me. Would not recommend but ymmv.

Due to the lack of ankle support I would not even consider muck boots on the tundra.

Same ^^^
That terrain really varies depending on how far north you end up going to find them. Weather……could be rain, sun, snow, foggy…..buggy. Wind is good.

 

[Nick Muche]

I've worn Mucks for weeks at a time while hunting caribou up there, no issues at all.

 

[CMF]

For the guys who don't recommend mucks, is it because of ankle support or just the general discomfort of a rubber boot?

 

[Geewhiz]

For the guys who don't recommend mucks, is it because of ankle support or just the general discomfort of a rubber boot?

For me it would be ankle support. I’ve always had week ankles but if I went up there and hiked through tussocks in muck boots my ankles would be trashed.

If you’re running the gravel bars along the rivers ambushing while they cross or stalking with archery gear from your pickup without a full pack it might be different.

 

[MacGyver]

Thinking out of the box, I knew a guy who made a rickshaw using two large truck tires “tubes” to haul out a moose over tundra. Or you could use two fat bike tires; another option is to make tires using aluminum. Using EMT for the frame and canvas for the bed, it would weigh only a few pounds.

 

[Geewhiz]

Thinking out of the box, I knew a guy who made a rickshaw using two large truck tires “tubes” to haul out a moose over tundra. Or you could use two fat bike tires; another option is to make tires using aluminum. Using EMT for the frame and canvas for the bed, it would weigh only a few pounds.

I don’t think you would be able to physically pull anything with a wheel/tire through the tundra. At least the tundra that I’ve been on.

 

[HuntInWild88]

Jet sleds are only beneficial if there is enough snow to also want snowshoes. Know a guy who hunts late September early October every year. If your north of PS#2 I wouldn't want to wear anything that doesn't have decent ankle support.

 

[llynbrmm]

I did a caribou hunt this August, i would 100% recommend using muck boots. I had a 1 year old pair of Danner Pronghorn that up to that point had been great waterproof-wise. Buddy was wearing 1 year old crispis. Both were soaked through day 1 and never got completely dry. I had a pair of ankle height deck boots I took for around camp that I ended up wearing for probably 5 days along with gaitors and it worked way better except that there are random pockets of standing water under the tussox that you can’t see, and overtopped my boots a few times. Ankle support was the tradeoff, but I walked with hiking sticks the whole time. Still took a few good tumbles. Did 17 miles one day, left camp at 8 am and didn’t get back until 3am. Didn’t have feeling in one toe for about a month but it’s all back to normal now…

Nothing is smooth. From the road it looks flat but you’re basically walking on a field of bowling ball sized grass clumps. Pulling a sled would be a nightmare IMO, sled would get hung up on the grass or want to tip constantly. Plus every drainage you cross is waist-to-chest high thick brush that would snag everything in the sled. Almost have to just plan a dedicated trip out for each animal. We timed every packout and expect to get about 1-1.5 mph.

 

[Nick Muche]

If your north of PS#2 I wouldn't want to wear anything that doesn't have decent ankle support.

That's exactly where Mucks would shine... If you are twisting your ankle on tundra, you're walking too fast.

 

[HuntInWild88]

That's exactly where Mucks would shine... If you are twisting your ankle on tundra, you're walking too fast.

I agree... to an extent.. last time I was up there I used Kuiu's mud boot and it was perfect! But I was also archery hunting and not carrying a 65lb+ pack 5+miles.

 

[LongWayAround]

A guy could always pick up a couple "x wrap" ankle braces if he was really worried about support and wanted to wear muck boots.

Also worth mentioning is that some boot models fit better around the feet/ankles than others.