Preparing for H

[mooretitan]

My son and dad should draw an H tag this year. He will be 63 and my son 16. Trying to really get a grasp on how much preparation I should be doing. We hunted 89 elk a couple years ago and understand the mountains we need to be able to climb. I guess my real questions are around how to plan for a 6-8 day back pack hunt. We have done a lot of 1-3 days backpack hunts but because of limited water we just cant go much longer out here where we hunt.
Not sure how many more of these hunts he will be able to do at 63 but he is still game, it just takes him a little longer. My son is on the small side but gets with it, not sure how much he can really pack in. Hopefully he hit another growth spurt but many he is skinny.

We have all the gear, packs, know how to hunt, have a few areas in mind. Just have not done much in the that 6-8 day range unless from a base camp. So for you guys that have hunted H any thing I might be missing that I should be preparing for.

Thanks

 

[wyo]

You really missed a prime opportunity by not titling this thread 'Preparation-H'.

 

[hunterjmj]

You really missed a prime opportunity by not titling this thread 'Preparation-H'.

I saw preparation H too.

 

[ManyBullets]

You click baited me with Preparation H
Maybe you can give that name to your hunt training program

 

[Nickofthewoods]

 

[robby denning]

to the posters before me.

back on track, if you at all ever wanted to do an outfitted hunt, this might be it. 63 on backpack hunt up there for 6-8 days is tough. But totally doable for some 63s.

If he's a whiner 16 like I was, another vote for outfitted hunt

If not the outfitted type, then study places you can get high with the least amount of effort. and try to stay high rather than base to top every day.

and if you want half or less the people. hunt mid season. Deer are more wary but i didn't read that you needed a giant.

That'd be what I know.

 

[mooretitan]

No need for a trophy but will be looking for a solid buck. This is about getting into good country and giving ourselves a chance at something special both in deer and memories.
At 63 he is still in pretty good shape but 6-8 days might be to much for him.
My 16 year old is a beast when it comes to hunting and can go anywhere I can for as long as I can he just is very thin and once weight starts to be added he gets him. Not sure how much I can put on his frame.
More than likely won’t do a guided hunt. For some reason my dad won’t go guided. Maybe I could organize some horses or lamas but I am really not a horse person.
We would have to do a backpack hunt. I thinking coming up from the bottom each day would be crazy. We did that in 89 elk and we just could not keep up with people on horses each day. By the end we found some nasty stuff away from the crowd but it was three hours in straight up. Just not doable each day.
I am telling both of them that we will do a pretty good test before I put them in just to make sure they know what they are getting into.
We have a few spots down on paper but I am sure everyone else has the same plan.

 

[197]

I would recommend getting two Llamas for what you are trying to do. You could get more and have a nicer camp, but then you have to deal with more llamas . Two should be enough that your father and son will not need to carry much and you could stay for the 6-8 days. The opener could discourage you with other camps/hunters in the same drainage, so going later could be nicer. Water and elevation are the key and spots with both are not simple to find.

 

[Muledeerfanatic]

You don't have to backpack hunt
Lot's of country to day hunt

 

[mxgust]

I agree with the llamas if you can do it. That would also let you haul a lot of water to the top if you needed. If that isn’t in the cards another thought would be break the trip into several smaller 2-3 day backpack trips. This would let you cover a lot of country and stay mobile if your first option doesnt pan out. If you get into something good you could just go back and get more food or whatever else you needed to stay longer and your son and dad could stay and wouldn’t have to do the in and out. Doing this can turn into a lot of miles quickly, but you also aren’t married to one drainage. If it’s my first time into a unit I really like doing this

 

[Or.hunter]

Me and my hunting partner will be in H this year as well. Plan on doing 3-4 days at a time based on animals and hunting pressure.


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[wyomingmuleyz]

I started hunting it out of a camper. We bring back pack tents in case but we have found a good base camp is our best way to hunt there. We get up high before day light and start glassing. Glass the nasty stuff don't walk it! Found that 50" rzr or 4 wheeler can help a guy cut a few miles off his feet as well. You guys will have an amazing hunt. Good luck

 

[Ridgerunner]

With only a two week season this year I expect pressure to be pretty high throughout the hunt. Lots of good suggestions given already. With 200 less tags it;'ll be interesting if there is a noticable drop in hunting pressure this year up there.