Long distance solo packouts

[Sneaker]

If you were to split the load in half, that ends up being 3x the walking distance to get out. 20 miles becomes 60 miles… done by one guy that far in sounds near impossible doing either full load or leapfrogging. You would have to truly be one of the strongest fittest men on earth to get it done in a few days, in my opinion.

 

[ssor77]

have done the solo sheep packout twice, never that distance. I'm a big guy in decent shape, and its definitely a great physical and mental challenge. 20 miles is a long damn way-but a mile on a pack trail is way different that a mile on loose shale or boulders. I'd recommend loading up your pack w/ ~130lb and doing a training hike just to understand how your body and pack take it. A rolled ankle with that much weight can make things go bad really quick.

As for the solo vs leapfrogging, it sucks either way. I haven't yet had any bear troubles with the meat fortunately. Stash the meat somewhere you have good sightlines when approaching. Doesn't hurt to leave a marker or hang a ribbon if possible so you know exactly where the meat is located when coming back to it.

Solo hunting sheep is an awesome adventure, just go slow and be methodical with your thinking.

 

[Bambistew]

Hey what about RMBS weight for an average ram (Colorado). What would you say packiut weight would be for MoB meat? Rack and As a bonus complete Hide (for a rug)? Thnx

I've weighed about a dozen fresh dall sheep skulls, meat trimmed, but brain in. The heaviest was 22lbs, lightest was 14. I'd say average was around 18-19lbs.

My experience is most BHS are not as big as people think. The giants have really heavy skulls like 30lb skulls, but most are 20 if that, and are not any bigger than many dall rams shot each year. They are a little bigger body wise than dalls, but not much. Most boned out sheep have weighed between 65-75lbs depending on shrinkage/drying and other loss and eating a little of it. The most meat I've got of a ram was 84lbs of boned out meat.

I've packed a few bone in quarters, the last two rams actually. The total bone weight was ~5lbs for all front and rear leg bones. They are not big animals and have light bones.

Capes on sheep, if dry and properly fleshed don't weigh much, 3-4 lbs at most a LS cape is about 8-10lbs. you can easily trim off a pound of meat off most capes.

 

[chasewild]

I've weighed about a dozen fresh dall sheep skulls, meat trimmed, but brain in. The heaviest was 22lbs, lightest was 14. I'd say average was around 18-19lbs.

My experience is most BHS are not as big as people think. The giants have really heavy skulls like 30lb skulls, but most are 20 if that, and are not any bigger than many dall rams shot each year. They are a little bigger body wise than dalls, but not much. Most boned out sheep have weighed between 65-75lbs depending on shrinkage/drying and other loss and eating a little of it. The most meat I've got of a ram was 84lbs of boned out meat.

I've packed a few bone in quarters, the last two rams actually. The total bone weight was ~5lbs for all front and rear leg bones. They are not big animals and have light bones.

Capes on sheep, if dry and properly fleshed don't weigh much, 3-4 lbs at most a LS cape is about 8-10lbs. you can easily trim off a pound of meat off most capes.

This is good insight.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[CMF]

Capes on sheep, if dry and properly fleshed don't weigh much, 3-4 lbs at most a LS cape is about 8-10lbs. you can easily trim off a pound of meat off most capes.

So, do you lay out the cape to dry while packing the meat out?

Seems like a good idea if the temps are cool enough, although, I can't imagine saving more than a couple pounds, but that can make a difference on a long haul. It's something I've never considered, but I haven't hauled many capes out either...

 

[jack88]

Buy a horse

 

[Marine4life]

Hey what about RMBS weight for an average ram (Colorado). What would you say packiut weight would be for MoB meat? Rack and As a bonus complete Hide (for a rug)? Thnx

Not Colorado but my Nevada Cali bighorn total pack weight was 132 lbs when I weighed it. EXO pack with items for a day hunt, deboned meat and, shoulder cap, skull, horns and rifle. That is with no water as my bladder was out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[PORK]

I enjoy 1 trip out. Little nose sugar and some MTN OPS and it’s really not a big deal. Body can handle a lot, rest is just mental.

 

[JDT1982]

Not Colorado but my Nevada Cali bighorn total pack weight was 132 lbs when I weighed it. EXO pack with items for a day hunt, deboned meat and, shoulder cap, skull, horns and rifle. That is with no water as my bladder was out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

How many miles for the pack out?

 

[Elkangle]

This is ambitious, pretty cool

Im not a sheep hunter but have spent time with weight... odds are youl be under 2 mph speeds..like a 1-1.7mph speed in any type of country besides the gravy....20 miles with that kind of weight would be 2- 10 mile days..5 miles in the morning..5 miles in the evening.. i like to break it down into smaller goals...esp on climbs...just a 100ft at a time !

Good luck

 

[JFKinYK]

I’ve done many solo pack outs and I think 4 all in one load. Just measured my longest at about 12 miles. I admittedly was younger and tougher and probably dumber back then.

I started out with the idea to leap frog but couldn’t wrap my brain around climbing back UPHILL to get the second load. So at first I said - well I’ll only carry it all for the downhill parts. And just sort of kept going. Luckily I didn’t have much uphill to battle. Lots of bushwhacking and wet and boulders and and and…

It took 2 days. At some point your body simply gives up. Your feet hurt so bad, your brain and nervous system yell STOP and I get nauseous to the point I can’t eat and recover calories.

If you are going to do it, I found it easier to carry my rifle and only use one trekking pole. Takes a chunk of weight off your back. Go extremely slow and measure each and every step. Know that each step is getting everything one step closer to the truck/lake/plane saving the triple distance of leap frog so even going slow saves massive amounts of time. Take rests on every log and rock you come upon that is the right height to rest the bottom of your pack on. It is not a race. You are already winning by moving it all together.

I had a smile on my face most of the time. Enjoy it. Sitting here I wish I could do it again but realize it’s not the best idea! Good luck out there.

 

[chasewild]

It's awesome to see the level of encouragement and good advice here.

I just broke down my hopeful pack-out strategy by miles, weight, and route and it immediately changed my thoughts on how to get in shape, mentally and physically.

 

[Bado20]

I’ve solo’d out a couple goats and my partner and I had a double last year so each packed an animal. I’ve always one tripped it, but I’m usually 8ish miles deep, not 20. I’m also going very slowly and cautiously and taking lots of short breaks to minimize risk of injury, it wouldn’t take much to misstep and get hurt.

It sucks, leap frogging might be better. My worry has always been once I drop below treeline it can be hard to tell if a grizz is on your meat until you’re pretty close.

 

[Snowwolfe]

The calorie burn alone will be tremendous meaning you have to carry more food than you thought, like 5-7,000 calories a day. Another concern will be how long will the meat last confined in the pack ?
Wish you luck in this adventure but a 20 mile hike with a 120 pound pack? That’s tough.

 

[Kentk]

It sounds like I am a bit smaller than you. I always thought once I had a sheep down I would try the one trip idea and see how it goes. I didn’t make it 100yards before realizing I needed to make two trips. 13 miles from the truck made it a 14 hour 39 mile day. First trip was 80-90lbs and second trip was about 60 lbs. It’s tough but as others have said it’s mostly mental passed a certain point.
The biggest lesson I learned is how important electrolytes are on those long days. You can’t get enough salt in you.

I’ve heard from others to put a sweaty T-shirt on the meat sacks to leave your scent around for other predators. I don’t think it would stop a hungry bear but it doesn’t hurt if you half a spare layer.

 

[Vek]

Did one approaching that length...a little over 18 miles as the crow flies. Leapfrogged the front half and one-tripped the back half. Started the one-trip slog when the walking got better. Slow going in that part of the world...I got to the airstrip at about 1:00 pm on day 4 of the job. Add up the crow-flying mileage and it's about 36, so per my schedule below I made less than 1mph. The crow walking in that part of the world doesn't go straight, and the footing is quite poor.

I did basically 3 "shifts" of 3-4 hours per day. Ate a good amount at the break, refilled the 3L water bladder, and saved a snack for halfway through the shift. There was precious little downtime that wasn't spent preparing dinner or sleeping. Went in about 225lbs, and weighed 208lbs when I got home.

Hindsight, 15 years hence, I'd have 2-tripped everything. I was pushing my pickup date and the 1-trip decision got me there a half day early. Would have been right on time and less hurt if I stuck to the plan.

 

[taskswap]

Wow!

Solo hiking 20+ miles one way while carrying over 100 pounds?

That is either very very impressive, or outright reckless depending on one's point of view.

For frame of reference I consider myself fairly fit without being a bodybuilder or runner or anything like that. 5'11 185lbs. Two years ago I helped a buddy with an 18mi round trip packout (9.2 each way). I was carrying about 8lbs empty when I set out (basically water and the meat hauling pack itself). I packed a front quarter and figure it was about 50lbs - it was a good sized bull, not deboned. 2600' or so of elevation gain each way (it was up and over a ridge, only good way to get there).

Everyone thought I was crazy. I got it done but I wouldn't do it again, not even for family. It took about a month to recover from the damage. I think I left at around noon and didn't get back until past midnight.

Can you get some llamas?

 

[chasewild]

Did one approaching that length...a little over 18 miles as the crow flies. Leapfrogged the front half and one-tripped the back half. Started the one-trip slog when the walking got better. Slow going in that part of the world...I got to the airstrip at about 1:00 pm on day 4 of the job. Add up the crow-flying mileage and it's about 36, so per my schedule below I made less than 1mph. The crow walking in that part of the world doesn't go straight, and the footing is quite poor.

I did basically 3 "shifts" of 3-4 hours per day. Ate a good amount at the break, refilled the 3L water bladder, and saved a snack for halfway through the shift. There was precious little downtime that wasn't spent preparing dinner or sleeping. Went in about 225lbs, and weighed 208lbs when I got home.

Hindsight, 15 years hence, I'd have 2-tripped everything. I was pushing my pickup date and the 1-trip decision got me there a half day early. Would have been right on time and less hurt if I stuck to the plan.

This is really good insight here


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk