Ramshead
Lil-Rokslider
Last year on a sheep/goat hunt I was at 47 lbs for 9 days, excluding rifle and water only. The 47 lbs included 17 lbs of food and 2 lbs caping salt.
...I agree it can be a bad idea for a new guy to try and go too light and thus not bring things they might need. But that is not something anyone should be learning during the season anyway.
Cause it's cooler to say you are training with sandbags
Jumping on Justin's comment here, I have never understood why people don't make practice trips with their gear in the offseason so they know how the weight feels, if their pack rides well, and what they actually do need for a multi-day trip. You can learn all of this by going to your local campground.
~ Walk or drive to your campsite,
~ Then with your pack on your back hike on the local hiking trails for an hour or two to see how the weight feels and how your pack rides,
~ After that, set up your campsite like you plan to in your hunting area,
~ Hike around the campground up and down hills, if they have them, with your daypack on,
~ Sit on a hillside with your spotting gear and watching whatever is in the woods around you for an hour or two,
~ Then return to camp to cook your evening meal,
~ Then clean up your gear for the day and prepare for tomorrow,
~ Then head to bed and see what works and what doesn't in terms of temperature and comfort, try out that sleeping bag liner to see if it really does help or should be left at home. Check to see if your sleeping pad deflates halfway through the night. Does sleeping with socks/knit cap/gloves help or not.
~ Get up the next day and do it all over again with different gear tests.
Larry
I do the exact same thing when training. The stuff that I always carry in my pack probably weighs around 25-30 lbs. than throw in several gallons of water for up the mountain and pour it out before heading back down.Man I wish I trained with those cool sandbags .
I use 1 gallon water jugs with 60-70lbs but pour a couple out for my downhill mountain descents. Too much wear and tear on my knees
3 years ago i was right at 65# all up going sheep hunting for 10 days. That's rifle, 3L water, binos etc. if I have to carry it, it counts IMO. I have spent lots of money lightening my gear/rifle since, now I just pack more crap...