Serious AK Remote Hunting Question

[Where's Bruce?]

So you're being dropped off with a raft and your camp/hunting gear in the middle of nowhere with a predetermined exfil location many miles south of your starting point. During your two week hunt you return to camp and discover that bears somehow got past your electric fence (maybe it failed) and destroyed your shelter, packrafts and gear. Your food is gone. Weather is moving in making an emergency extraction unlikely. What did you put in your hunting pack that will keep you alive through the incoming storm until a plane can get to? That may take days. BTW...it may have been marmots or a wolverine or any number of critters, even weather or rising stream water that destroyed your campsite (something unforeseen) so the question is about what comes next, not so much the cause.

 

[Russp17]

I usually move a 1-2 days worth a food away from camp a little bit...due to some situation taking place. I figure both getting destroyed is unlikely. In the pack I always carry, my inreach, my puffies, hat glove and rain gear. I also keep my tarp. Won't be a fun few days but early season hunts I should make it.....

 

[Nick Muche]

My puffy jacket and paratarp that I always have in my backpack.

 

[Kronos]

I carry emergency provisions in my pack. Shelter, food, water...

 

[VernAK]

What we now consider an emergency requiring extraction was the every day bush travel of he trappers and prospectors of yore. We have become very dependent on some form of rescue triggered by some sort of emergency device that we carry. A couple weeks of rain/snow/wind is usually more of a psychological emergency rather than a physical emergency.

Keep in mind; if you require extraction by heli, your gear stays in the bush!

A lightweight tarp and good fire building skills will go a long way and usually get you out of the bush. Even a torn tent can usually be of use of some use as a shelter.

A small axe is very useful.

I can't think of a float trip river that doesn't have abundant grayling or fish of some sort. A piece of line and a few flies or a Mepps will often fill the fry pan. I'll admit that a week of eating grayling is almost an emergency.

Study the maps and terrain as you fly in. Ask the pilot to mark alternative pickup points that you may hike to even if it belongs to a different air service.

IMO, an animal tearing up my inflatable boat would be a serious issue.

Over the years, I've had only two issues with bears causing problems with my camp and one was while I was sleeping........that was before last week when I had a black bear come to my trout camp while we were sitting around the fire.......he scared off quite easily but three days later a big boar grizzly wandered into our camp; again while we were sitting around the campfire, mid day. He didn't scare easily until all six of us made a ruckus. It was very near trigger time as he was very close and bold. Not comforting.

I've come to like Critter Gitters as a bear deterrent around camp. I've witnessed an approaching black bear reverse and run as the alarm went off.

 

[mlgc20]

My daughter and I just had a similar conversation on our recent hike into the Wyoming wilderness. At our furthest point, we were at least a 3 day hike from civilization. It wouldn’t have been the end of the world if a bear got our food. But, it wouldn’t have been ideal. We decided to hang our food in two different locations. Just as an extra precaution.

 

[AlaskaMark]

Never put all your eggs in one basket. Don't cook/eat close to your tent. Find a tree to hang gear/food from. Sil-tarp, spare gloves, wool beanie and puffy always in my daypack. Fire is always on my person (lighter & striker) and in pack. Good strong knife always on my person too along with a rifle. Most essential is warmth, know how to make a shelter. Second is water and never a problem in AK finding water. You can go days without food, but you can typically always find something to eat or take the edge off hunger until help arrives.

Been in some pretty extreme situations in the bush, you learn you have only one person to depend on: YOU. You learn to be extra careful doing the most mundane things...like how you leave camp when you wander off!

 

[Stubborn_bowhunter]

My puffy jacket and paratarp that I always have in my backpack.

This is a good idea. I need to be more proactive on keeping a tarp in my pack.

 

[HuntHarder]

Similar to Nick, I always have a tarp, puffy, emergency blanket, water purifier tablets, source of fire and Inreach in my pack. Once I started carrying a tarp all the time, I realized how much I use it just to rest under or glass under. It has saved my ass a few times when storms hit unexpectedly as well.

 

[IdahoElk]

I have KUIU on, nothing and I mean nothing is going to stop you no matter what your up against if you're wearing Kuiu!

 

[hodgeman]

The loss of the pack raft would be a bad, bad deal since you'll have to be picked up where you're at, or close by.

I keep a small tarp, rain gear and a light puffy in my hunting pack. Most of us can go quite a few days without food without serious damage...shelter would be much higher on the list. You could tough it out quite a while if you can stay warm and dry.

 

[Kronos]

Similar to Nick, I always have a tarp, puffy, emergency blanket, water purifier tablets, source of fire and Inreach in my pack. Once I started carrying a tarp all the time, I realized how much I use it just to rest under or glass under. It has saved my ass a few times when storms hit unexpectedly as well.

My list is similar, I always carry rain gear. The puffy pants and jacket are in a waterproof compression sack, a few pro bars, waters tablets, means to start a fire, tarp, small first aid kit, pocket knife, and inreach are the bare minimum in my pack.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Never put all your eggs in one basket. Don't cook/eat close to your tent. Find a tree to hang gear/food from. Sil-tarp, spare gloves, wool beanie and puffy always in my daypack. Fire is always on my person (lighter & striker) and in pack. Good strong knife always on my person too along with a rifle. Most essential is warmth, know how to make a shelter. Second is water and never a problem in AK finding water. You can go days without food, but you can typically always find something to eat or take the edge off hunger until help arrives.

Been in some pretty extreme situations in the bush, you learn you have only one person to depend on: YOU. You learn to be extra careful doing the most mundane things...like how you leave camp when you wander off!

This part of the Brooks Range has no trees because it is north of the timberline, where it is too cold for tree growth. An abundance of fish so a fishing rod and reel with some tackle in the hunting pack makes sense. How would you modify your survival plan for this region? BTW...I too always carry rain gear & mid-layers with a tarp, Inreach Explorer, ProBars, NUUN tabs, firestarters, etc...in case I get stuck in the woods overnight but in this possible scenario I'm looking for wisdom for serious weather for an extended time without aid. Not much to build a shelter with, pretty much digging a hole into a hillside. A folding shovel is in the revised line-up of gear.

 

[Nick Muche]

Lol… no trees in the Brooks range.

 

[204guy]

Lol… no trees in the Brooks range.

We're going with hypotheticals here, let's just say no trees for the sake of conversation...

I don't know if you'd know me but I think you where there when we ate sheep ribs cooked over a fire in the brooks. Good thing Jonah hauled the firewood up from Wasilla.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Lol… no trees in the Brooks range.

This area specifically. https://www.fs.fed.us/land/ecosysmgmt/colorimagemap/images/m121.html

 

[mcseal2]

My pack in AK next trip will have all this. This is what I keep in it that could help, not what stays in camp. Its what I’ve done in the past adjusted for new purchases.

Pathfinder TI canteen with nesting cup
Seek DST tarp, guylines, stakes
5 sections of a Thermarest Z lite pad (sitting pad)
Puffy pants and jacket
Rain gear if I’m not wearing it
Trekking poles
Tripod
Wiggy waders (if I’m not wearing waders)
Battery charger pack
Rechargeable headlamp
Steripen
I phone w/ Onx maps downloaded for area, (10 and 150 mile versions)
300 win mag rifle
Few rounds of Rifle and pistol ammo
Bahco laplander saw if its a bone-in unit

On my person
2 Wetfire cubes
4 3/4” fixed blade knife
ZT 452CF folding knife
Sig 10mm
Few rounds of rifle and pistol ammo.
Mini Bic lighter (in small ziplock)
Exotac Firesteel

Emergency/Med/Repair kit in my pack has:
Small fishing and snare kit (under 2oz)
Repair needle
Cordage
Petzyl E lite
AAA batteries to fit rechargeable headlamp
Minimal med kit
Knife sharpener
SOL XL emergency blanket
Synthetic bandana
Bug head net
Bootlace
Vaseline coated cotton balls
Compass
Zip ties
Safety pins
7 wetfire cubes
Rechargeable lighter
Mini Bic lighter
Single use superglue
Tenacious tape

Its a lot of stuff, but weighs less than you think. The whole emergency/med/repair kit is around 22oz. Everything else I’ve used at some point. Hardcast 10mm is less damaging to small game than the rifle. Its to much I’m sure, but it has worked for me.

I should add that both the guys I’ve hunted AK with have an In Reach. I’m usually fairly close to at least one of them. If that was not the case I’d have one. We also might divide up this list after someone tags out, the guy not packing a rifle can take the tarp, spotter, etc.

 

[SJ-AK]

If you have the space and weight capacity, bear canisters work. I stash them away from base camp when I leave. A lot of times I bring a small spare tent as well if I have the space, only have had to use it once. You could stuff it in a bear canister as well if you are in an area with a lot of bears.

On a sheep hunt a couple weeks ago I was in a bear infested area. They tried get into my bear canister to no avail. However they did go through my electric fence and chewed on my plane tire. Always nice to hike out and find a flat tire on your plane. Luckily that is all they did though.

 

[Nick Muche]

We had a plane get torn up pretty good this past spring, likely because the belly pod was full of donuts

Brought out a E-fence and they never messed with it again, even though there were more donuts inside the fenced in area.

Moth balls don't work, sometimes a fence doesn't either!

 

[Gunnersdad49]

If a plane can drop you off there, they can pick you up there (eventually). A lot of folks look to the InReach as a SOS device only. We get our pilot's InReach address and if we have to adjust the plan, can do so via text.

If there is a river, as mentioned above, there are likely fish to eat. Carpets of berries aren't too uncommon to survive on either. You can burn driftwood and little branches from the alders and such. Regardless of AK or the back 40, I've always got a couple of ways to start a fire, a knife, and some cordage.

You can improvise a shelter with your trekking poles, pack frame, rocks, etc. Utilize your pack cover, game bags, meat tarp, rain gear, etc.

Being stuck for a few days is a bummer. Bigger bummer without food, but it will make for a great story to tell when you get home.