Manosteel
WKR
Came back from a scouting trip for sheep (elk and mule deer secondary but in area) last week and figured I would post up my thoughts on gear and what happened.
Took my son out scouting with me, he is 17 and it was his first time in the mountains on a hunting related trip with me. He plays elite level hockey, trains year round and he usually starts pre-training camp 3rd week in August and main training camp 1st week in September and hockey season goes until April. Since he was 13 he has not been able to come out hunting with me. So this was big deal for him and me.
I can’t believe how fast kids grow up, I was afraid my son wouldn’t keep up and/or would slow me down. The opposite is what happened. I keep myself in good shape, train year round but I am in my 40’s now and never felt my age until this week. I am usually the one pushing the pace with my hunting partners and have only found one hunting partner who had the same drive as me. But this trip I felt old and slow. My son was a monster, when the trail was well defined and he know which way we were going he led the way and left me behind by an easy 2-300 yards on average without breaking a sweat. On the mountains I lead the way but my son followed without missing a beat. Man to be young again. Out of all the new fangled gear I took and was excited to test, he was my biggest surprise and I couldn’t be a prouder dad.
We went up for two nights. Got to give all my gear a good test, but the biggest test came for my new BT1 pack. We saw a lot of animals, which was great for my son! Taught him how to scout from a distance, keep a low profile and learn the land. He had a great time watching an small heard of elk two basins away. It was a group of 8 cows and a bachelor group of 3 bulls, one a big bodied 6 point. We saw sheep both days. Got on top of a group of 5 rams. We spotted them just on the other side of a nearby ridge, none were shooters, so I decided to show my son how to stalk up on them by playing the wind, staying out of sight, and coming from behind and up on over them. We got as close as close at 82 yards before they had an enough and busted out.
No animal photos, sorry… never been big on taking pictures in the field and digascoping is a mystery to me. Tried to put my iphone to the spotting scope by hand but no dice.
On the last day I could see a thunder storm heading our way quick, so we packed up quick. We were camped just off the first main ridge into the mountain range we where scouting. It was a good 1.5 miles on the ridge before a steep drop in elevation for half a mile and then a gradual drop in elevation for another 3/4 mile or so. When we headed out the thunder sounded like it was already on top of us and shortly there after the rain and lighting came. Nothing makes you feel closer to God and more insignificant at the same time than a thunder storm on a ridge in the mountains. You can feel it in your bones.
My BT1 Pack, which had my full gear loaded for a normal 5 day hunt, was awesome! It was load to about 44 lbs plus 4 litters of water. I had no hot spots and it carried easy. It performed as advertised. With day hunt gear it felt like I wasn’t carrying a full fledged pack, it compressed down nice and was easy to carry. I felt the 25lbs going up and down valleys and peaks but it was easy to carry and easy to forget about (hard to describe, your legs know there is an extra 25 lbs on your body but your back shoulders and hips don’t know they are carrying anything substantial).
The real test for the BT1 came when we headed back down the trail to the truck, in the pouring rain. When we got near the bottom of the ridge I was talking about earlier, my son spotted something up ahead. It turned out to be another hunter, scouting the same area. First time I saw anyone else out their ever. He was sitting on the side of the trail with his pack beside him. When he saw us he started yelling and waving his hands wildly. Apparently he had twisted his ankle really bad on the trail. He could limp around on it but there was no way he was going to walk on it with his pack on. He had a frame pack with older gear which he said was about 60-65 lbs of gear. The rain was coming down good now, so I told him to empty his pack out and I would put his gear in my pack and my son would strap his pack frame with bag on the badlands 4500 he was using.
So off we went in the rain, when we came off the mountains we had to cross two muskeg/swampy areas before we got to the trail head. We hiked with heavy packs, and limping hunter, for the next 2 miles, getting wet, sinking into muskeg every step for about ¼ of that time. My pack had to weigh a 100+ lbs. The guy we helped wouldn’t stop thanking us, telling us he had sat there for about 2 hours praying his ankle would get better and he could make it out back to his truck. He knew it wasn’t a real bad sprain but bad enough he couldn’t hike with his pack.
Anyway think I gained a new best friend and the bikini handled the weight just great. That was easily the most weight I had in the pack since I got it back in June. Again, it works as advertized. My hips and legs could tell their was easily twice as much weight in the bag but again, no sore shoulders or back
yes….!! Once on and adjusted tight, I did not have to readjust on the hike out. I could feel 80-90% of the weight on my hips and no pull on my shoulders. The only problem I had with the BT1 was that the right hip belt strap twisted(on the power pull), when tightening down hard with the heavy load, didn’t affect use or function but I will be giving Aaron a call later to discuss. It could have been just me yanking to hard on the hip belt strap. Only regret I have is that I wish I had the BT1 pack last year!!!! The moose and elk I humped out wouldn’t have wiped me out so bad, my shoulders and back hurt for weeks after those two.
I have been using and playing with most of this gear all spring but this was the first test in hunting conditions. I got sun, wind and rain on this trip so it was a good test. This is my preliminary thoughts on the gear I tested.
Gear that was great!
BT1 – as advertised, I highly recommend, I am glade I went with this bag rather than the 7000, the side pockets were awesome. I was able to organize all my gear and it turns out I can pack out two whole camps with it!
Delorme In-reach – My wife would not let me take out son out without the ability for two way communication everyday. The device worked great. We were able to text back and forth each day. Its’ not quick two way txting, It takes a few minutes to get the “sent” confirmation, anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes. And getting a response was about the same amount of time. Also be aware there is 160 character limit per text and your plan is based on amount of txts sent, so I tried to say as much as I could in every txt. Every txt I sent got out and I received a response. It was nice to have a real conversation with the wife and it made me feel safer having that ability especially with my son with me. I travel a lot for work in northern parts of Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC where cell service is spotty. I will never leave home without this little unit!
Mountain Smith LT- first time with a floorless shelter and it was great. Will not be going back to a traditional tent this year. Light, went up quick and had enough room for two guys and all their gear.
Primus micronlatern - 4oz of comfort and cozyness. It gives off a soft light that is bright enough to really light up your tent and also gives off some heat. My son loved it as it gave off both light and heat. It reminded me of home with my folks and my son said it reminded him of his days as a baby camping with his grandparents (he only did it once from what I can recall but he remembers) This will too will always be in my pack.
Kryptek Katos Primoaloft jacket - Kyptek Valhalla Minimalist Shirt 245 1/4-ZIP – were great and will be my go to clothing for this season.
Sawyer 3-Way Inline Water Filter – been using this all through training hikes. Can be used in multiply ways. Awesome unit and it only weighs 2 oz’s
APUC level Gore-tex Ultralight Rain Jacket – waterproof – check, lightweight- check, pit zips – check.! Will be my go to rain jacket this year.
Trekking poles – never used them before but will always pack them now. I used a cheap aluminum set off ebay and they worked well enough to keep them in my pack.
Not-so great
Kryptek Alaios Pants – it is serviceable but the fit around the crotch area was a little tight for me and when I would bend or stretch in awkward directions the button would pop off. I got the 32 inch waist but had to use suspenders to keep other from viewing my plumbers crack Will wear them this year but will alternate with a lightweight more stretchable Cabales Hunt-tech mid-base pants I have. Will be looking to upgrade this item next year.
Scorpion Rangefinder – got this in a trade and while it’s a nice compact unit. It will not read reliable past 250 yards on animals. It has angle compensation which works great but the lack of distance sucks. Not really a big deal with bow hunters but I might not be able to use a bow this year.
Nikon XLII Spotting scope – while it is light weight, slick slim profile, the glass is lacking the HD quality I am now getting used to. This item will be replaced for next year.
Propper MIL Gor-tex Rain Pant - heavy , nosey and fit is baggy. Will be upgrading. They weight 21.1 oz’s.
Some pics of the area;
View from camp
Getting camp set up
Took my son out scouting with me, he is 17 and it was his first time in the mountains on a hunting related trip with me. He plays elite level hockey, trains year round and he usually starts pre-training camp 3rd week in August and main training camp 1st week in September and hockey season goes until April. Since he was 13 he has not been able to come out hunting with me. So this was big deal for him and me.
I can’t believe how fast kids grow up, I was afraid my son wouldn’t keep up and/or would slow me down. The opposite is what happened. I keep myself in good shape, train year round but I am in my 40’s now and never felt my age until this week. I am usually the one pushing the pace with my hunting partners and have only found one hunting partner who had the same drive as me. But this trip I felt old and slow. My son was a monster, when the trail was well defined and he know which way we were going he led the way and left me behind by an easy 2-300 yards on average without breaking a sweat. On the mountains I lead the way but my son followed without missing a beat. Man to be young again. Out of all the new fangled gear I took and was excited to test, he was my biggest surprise and I couldn’t be a prouder dad.
We went up for two nights. Got to give all my gear a good test, but the biggest test came for my new BT1 pack. We saw a lot of animals, which was great for my son! Taught him how to scout from a distance, keep a low profile and learn the land. He had a great time watching an small heard of elk two basins away. It was a group of 8 cows and a bachelor group of 3 bulls, one a big bodied 6 point. We saw sheep both days. Got on top of a group of 5 rams. We spotted them just on the other side of a nearby ridge, none were shooters, so I decided to show my son how to stalk up on them by playing the wind, staying out of sight, and coming from behind and up on over them. We got as close as close at 82 yards before they had an enough and busted out.
No animal photos, sorry… never been big on taking pictures in the field and digascoping is a mystery to me. Tried to put my iphone to the spotting scope by hand but no dice.
On the last day I could see a thunder storm heading our way quick, so we packed up quick. We were camped just off the first main ridge into the mountain range we where scouting. It was a good 1.5 miles on the ridge before a steep drop in elevation for half a mile and then a gradual drop in elevation for another 3/4 mile or so. When we headed out the thunder sounded like it was already on top of us and shortly there after the rain and lighting came. Nothing makes you feel closer to God and more insignificant at the same time than a thunder storm on a ridge in the mountains. You can feel it in your bones.
My BT1 Pack, which had my full gear loaded for a normal 5 day hunt, was awesome! It was load to about 44 lbs plus 4 litters of water. I had no hot spots and it carried easy. It performed as advertised. With day hunt gear it felt like I wasn’t carrying a full fledged pack, it compressed down nice and was easy to carry. I felt the 25lbs going up and down valleys and peaks but it was easy to carry and easy to forget about (hard to describe, your legs know there is an extra 25 lbs on your body but your back shoulders and hips don’t know they are carrying anything substantial).
The real test for the BT1 came when we headed back down the trail to the truck, in the pouring rain. When we got near the bottom of the ridge I was talking about earlier, my son spotted something up ahead. It turned out to be another hunter, scouting the same area. First time I saw anyone else out their ever. He was sitting on the side of the trail with his pack beside him. When he saw us he started yelling and waving his hands wildly. Apparently he had twisted his ankle really bad on the trail. He could limp around on it but there was no way he was going to walk on it with his pack on. He had a frame pack with older gear which he said was about 60-65 lbs of gear. The rain was coming down good now, so I told him to empty his pack out and I would put his gear in my pack and my son would strap his pack frame with bag on the badlands 4500 he was using.
So off we went in the rain, when we came off the mountains we had to cross two muskeg/swampy areas before we got to the trail head. We hiked with heavy packs, and limping hunter, for the next 2 miles, getting wet, sinking into muskeg every step for about ¼ of that time. My pack had to weigh a 100+ lbs. The guy we helped wouldn’t stop thanking us, telling us he had sat there for about 2 hours praying his ankle would get better and he could make it out back to his truck. He knew it wasn’t a real bad sprain but bad enough he couldn’t hike with his pack.
Anyway think I gained a new best friend and the bikini handled the weight just great. That was easily the most weight I had in the pack since I got it back in June. Again, it works as advertized. My hips and legs could tell their was easily twice as much weight in the bag but again, no sore shoulders or back
yes….!! Once on and adjusted tight, I did not have to readjust on the hike out. I could feel 80-90% of the weight on my hips and no pull on my shoulders. The only problem I had with the BT1 was that the right hip belt strap twisted(on the power pull), when tightening down hard with the heavy load, didn’t affect use or function but I will be giving Aaron a call later to discuss. It could have been just me yanking to hard on the hip belt strap. Only regret I have is that I wish I had the BT1 pack last year!!!! The moose and elk I humped out wouldn’t have wiped me out so bad, my shoulders and back hurt for weeks after those two. I have been using and playing with most of this gear all spring but this was the first test in hunting conditions. I got sun, wind and rain on this trip so it was a good test. This is my preliminary thoughts on the gear I tested.
Gear that was great!
BT1 – as advertised, I highly recommend, I am glade I went with this bag rather than the 7000, the side pockets were awesome. I was able to organize all my gear and it turns out I can pack out two whole camps with it!
Delorme In-reach – My wife would not let me take out son out without the ability for two way communication everyday. The device worked great. We were able to text back and forth each day. Its’ not quick two way txting, It takes a few minutes to get the “sent” confirmation, anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes. And getting a response was about the same amount of time. Also be aware there is 160 character limit per text and your plan is based on amount of txts sent, so I tried to say as much as I could in every txt. Every txt I sent got out and I received a response. It was nice to have a real conversation with the wife and it made me feel safer having that ability especially with my son with me. I travel a lot for work in northern parts of Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC where cell service is spotty. I will never leave home without this little unit!
Mountain Smith LT- first time with a floorless shelter and it was great. Will not be going back to a traditional tent this year. Light, went up quick and had enough room for two guys and all their gear.
Primus micronlatern - 4oz of comfort and cozyness. It gives off a soft light that is bright enough to really light up your tent and also gives off some heat. My son loved it as it gave off both light and heat. It reminded me of home with my folks and my son said it reminded him of his days as a baby camping with his grandparents (he only did it once from what I can recall but he remembers) This will too will always be in my pack.
Kryptek Katos Primoaloft jacket - Kyptek Valhalla Minimalist Shirt 245 1/4-ZIP – were great and will be my go to clothing for this season.
Sawyer 3-Way Inline Water Filter – been using this all through training hikes. Can be used in multiply ways. Awesome unit and it only weighs 2 oz’s
APUC level Gore-tex Ultralight Rain Jacket – waterproof – check, lightweight- check, pit zips – check.! Will be my go to rain jacket this year.
Trekking poles – never used them before but will always pack them now. I used a cheap aluminum set off ebay and they worked well enough to keep them in my pack.
Not-so great
Kryptek Alaios Pants – it is serviceable but the fit around the crotch area was a little tight for me and when I would bend or stretch in awkward directions the button would pop off. I got the 32 inch waist but had to use suspenders to keep other from viewing my plumbers crack
Will wear them this year but will alternate with a lightweight more stretchable Cabales Hunt-tech mid-base pants I have. Will be looking to upgrade this item next year. Scorpion Rangefinder – got this in a trade and while it’s a nice compact unit. It will not read reliable past 250 yards on animals. It has angle compensation which works great but the lack of distance sucks. Not really a big deal with bow hunters but I might not be able to use a bow this year.
Nikon XLII Spotting scope – while it is light weight, slick slim profile, the glass is lacking the HD quality I am now getting used to. This item will be replaced for next year.
Propper MIL Gor-tex Rain Pant - heavy , nosey and fit is baggy. Will be upgrading. They weight 21.1 oz’s.
Some pics of the area;
View from camp
Getting camp set up
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