Sheep hunt gear: what to leave?

[Jimbob]

In a couple weeks I am headed out for a 10 day solo stone sheep hunt. Dialing in my gear and just trying to decide what to leave and what to bring. A couple questions for you seasoned sheep hunters

1. I always have used a head lamp but I heard a few guys say leave it at home. So bring my Petzyl Myo rxp at 5.1 oz (great light) or bring my petzyl elite at 1 oz (not a great light more for just in case).

2. Garmin GPS at 4.3 oz, ya or nah? I am bringing my iphone which has a GPS app but the battery does not last as long as the garmin. Tracking is not an option for the iphone.

If I cut out the headlamp and the GPS then I can leave the extra batteries behind which drops a total weight of 11 oz.

3. How many gas canisters for snowpeak giga stove? Can I get by on one 4oz canister? oatmeal and coffee in the am dehydrated meal at night. I am will be testing this out to get a more exact answer but thought you guys might already know.

4. How many bullets? I think 12 is plenty.

Without cutting those items my total pack weight with food and water is 48 lbs, rifle/bino chest pack/hiking poles weigh 10.7 lbs. Total carried weight is just over 58 lbs. This will get me out in the mountain for 11 days.

I am bringing a few luxury items that I can cut but I think they will help make the trip more enjoyable, I have never done 10 days solo.

Luxury items -
Helinox chair zero - 18 oz
dslr camera 25 oz

I would love your opinion on what you think. Thanks.

 

[Yellowknife]

1. I always have used a head lamp but I heard a few guys say leave it at home. So bring my Petzyl Myo rxp at 5.1 oz (great light) or bring my petzyl elite at 1 oz (not a great light more for just in case).

You want a headlamp of some variety IMO. Rams are fairly regularly killed late in the day as the come down for the evening feed, and particularly in BC I assume you will have some darkness for a few hrs. If you are positive it won't turn on in your pack, you can potentially skip spare batteries.

2. Garmin GPS at 4.3 oz, ya or nah? I am bringing my iphone which has a GPS app but the battery does not last as long as the garmin. Tracking is not an option for the iphone.

I like to have a GPS. It's less for daily navigation and more more re-locating specific points (meat cache, camp, crossings) in the dark or weather. If you aren't tracking every day, then a fresh set of lithiums will last the trip without replacements. If you are tracking daily, then a single set of replacement lithiums will work as long as you remember to turn it off when not in use.

Use of the phone is also fine, and I've done that too. You can't run it all the time without a way to regularly re-charge, but you can take occasional points and find them again.

3. How many gas canisters for snowpeak giga stove? Can I get by on one 4oz canister? oatmeal and coffee in the am dehydrated meal at night. I am will be testing this out to get a more exact answer but thought you guys might already know.

4. How many bullets? I think 12 is plenty.

W

I personally budget roughly one 8 oz canister/week/person. By cold soaking the oatmeal overnight and being careful to cook out of the wind I can stretch that, but no way will 4 oz cut it. For fly-in hunts I will cache a spare canister at the airstrip and just carry one with me.

I carry 10-12 rds.

Might swap the chair for a small foam pad. Most my sheep spotting locations are far to un-level for a chair, and hopefully you aren't killing too much time at camp.

 

[JFKinYK]

I used approximately half an 8oz canister last year - verified by the less than accurate floating in water method - for 11 days solo. I don't drink coffee and eat cold breakfast. Fire is my backup but takes time and hassle. I carry an 8oz for anything more than a few days.

Agree with everything YK says.

 

[Bambistew]

I always take a headlamp, and couldn't' imagine hunting sheep without one. More animals than not in my camp are cut up and packed out in the dark, including 6 of the lat 12 sheep. Even hunting above the arctic circle, I pack a lamp, and have used it. On overcast days it gets dark for a while.

I've gone back and forth with a GPS. I don't think phones (at least mine) are as accurate, and a cheap GPS is way easier to use and more reliable, IMO. I really only use it to find things I've cached, the tent, or strip. No tracking or navigation, usually.

One large bottle of fuel should be plenty. A small one will burn out about day 5 in my experience.

I'd leave the chair, and take a foam pad as mentioned. use your pack as a backrest if you need one. Pad is also quite handy for glassing in sharp rocks, wet grass/snow, and lining your pack.

On the fence with a big camera. I usually don't take one other than my phone.

 

[Wapiti1]

The foam pad (1/2 of a Z-rest or equivalent) also makes a really nice place to kneel as you get stuff in and out of your shelter, keep your feet dry as you put on your boots, among other useful things.

If you have trekking poles, they work to prop your pack for a comfy backrest.

Jeremy

 

[bcimport]

Don’t leave the headlamp.
I would skip the chair, I have one and love it but I’m not taking it on a sheep hunt.
If you’re happy with your phone gps skip the stand alone but do take a battery bank.
One 8 oz bottle of fuel and just go easy with the stove.
Have fun, a solo sheep trip for your first time is a big stretch. Be careful and have fun.

 

[AK Troutbum]

I agree with everything that's been said here except I have no experience with the stove, so I can't speak to that. I always bring my iPhone (mainly just for pictures, but I also have topo's downloaded on a GPS app and occasionally use that too), and I always bring a GPS, headlamp for sure (you never know when the unexpected night thing may happen, packing animal/hiking in the dark, breaking down animal in the dark, bear in camp at night, etc.), and no on the chair. As far as the camera goes, that's a tough call. When I used to take a camera, I took less pictures than I do now with my phone. The reason being is because my camera was never in a super convenient place, and I rarely took the time to stop, take my pack off, then dig through my pack to get to it. My phone is either carried in my front pocket or in a belt pocket on my pack. The last few years I've gotten into doing a little digiscoping and, although this requires taking my pack off, I have my Phoneskope and spotter easily accessible in a spotter pocket with the tripod always attached.

 

[Wapiti1]

The camera is a tough one. I am never without one, and take the best I can for the size. Panasonic's ZS100 is what I take these days. One extra battery and a 32 gig card will handle a 2 week trip. It stays in a small bag attached to my pack's waist belt and is never out of quick reach. One thing I learned long ago is to not care what happens to the camera. Baby it and you never have it handy.

Just my way of doing it. I like to relive the hunt through my photos and share it with others.

Jeremy

 

[Blockcaver]

I take an ounce of fuel per person per day for my MSR pocket rocket...proven over a lot of trips, weighing canisters before and after. Usually just heating tea or coffee water in the morning and Mt House and hot tang, tea or gatoraid in the evening. Rainy/foggy days brings the stove into play during lunch too. So...11 days, I'd take at least an 8 ounce container and you decide if you want to augment that with a 4 ounce backup canister.

I just use the iPhone for everything (camera, gps, etc), shutting it off at anytime I am not using it. I'd take a small charge-pack for it, but you can get by without it. I use an InReach too so like the backup, although the InReach does not use much battery, probably 20% of the phone the way I use them.

I take a small headlamp. I've packed rams out in the dark on two occasions and returned back to camp on dark nights many times. Even in August it is dark for a few hours.

I'd take a glassing pad and leave behind the chair. Mine is 4 sections of a Z-lite pad....weighs 4 ounces (1 ounce per section...3 sections as a minimum for sitting and 5 sections for luxury lounging/napping at noon). The Z-lite is great to stand and sit on in the vestibule of the tent when taking off or putting your shoes, etc.

Your pack weight isn't bad. Good luck..would be great if you got a ram your first year! It took most of us a lot longer!

 

[Jimbob]

Ok, headlamp and GPS stay. I'll evaluate how much I use them and see if my elite and iphone would be good enough alternatives. I have an inreach as well so I have a 4.3 oz power pack as a back up.

I'll ditch the extra lithium batteries as I wasn't planning on tracking with the GPS much.

I removed the lower sections of my tripod and nocked off almost 8 oz. Still plenty of height to glass sitting.

I have a z-rest sit pad that is coming for sure (I use a shorty thermorest to it works to extend the length of that as well)

8 oz of fuel for sure, kinda had a brain cramp thinking about 4 oz. Day 1 no gas needed and day 11 only breakfast.

So with adding extra fuel but removing other stuff I am right at 58.2 lbs.

I think the chair is staying. Glassing from it is so comfy, plus the idea of unlacing the boots and eating a hot meal while lounging in a chair is just so appealing. I think it will be one of those things that recharges me and gives me a boost on a challenging hunt.

The camera is killing me though. Pack the DSLR or buy a new lightweight point and shoot? This will save me 17 ozs and that is significant.

 

[AK Troutbum]

Ok, headlamp and GPS stay. I'll evaluate how much I use them and see if my elite and iphone would be good enough alternatives. I have an inreach as well so I have a 4.3 oz power pack as a back up.

I'll ditch the extra lithium batteries as I wasn't planning on tracking with the GPS much.

I removed the lower sections of my tripod and nocked off almost 8 oz. Still plenty of height to glass sitting.

I have a z-rest sit pad that is coming for sure (I use a shorty thermorest to it works to extend the length of that as well)

8 oz of fuel for sure, kinda had a brain cramp thinking about 4 oz. Day 1 no gas needed and day 11 only breakfast.

So with adding extra fuel but removing other stuff I am right at 58.2 lbs.

I think the chair is staying. Glassing from it is so comfy, plus the idea of unlacing the boots and eating a hot meal while lounging in a chair is just so appealing. I think it will be one of those things that recharges me and gives me a boost on a challenging hunt.

The camera is killing me though. Pack the DSLR or buy a new lightweight point and shoot? This will save me 17 ozs and that is significant.

So it sounds like your set with everything and the only hiccup being whether or not to take the DSLR. So, ask yourself this, at the end of the day, is it going to be 25 oz. that makes or breaks your hunt? Obviously you can’t think that way when you start packing, or you’d probably end up with a pack wt. that a mule would struggle under, but when it’s the last thing and you’ve skimped and shaved wt. with every possible thing, will adding an additional 25 oz. keep you from accomplishing your goal? Anyway, just a little food for thought.
Good luck, enjoy your alone time, and have a great hunt!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BRWNBR]

A sheep hunters nightmare is his own mind. Trim the straps on your pack. Take a crap each morning. Loose two pounds before the hunt. Ditch the rest of the spotter tripod and the chair, shoot lighter bullets with less powder. Don’t bring a whole roll of TP, wear short socks, skip under wear, shorten boot laces and lace every other eyelet, cut your gun barrel down, don’t bring a sling, buy a kids sleeping bag, just use one flosser instead of a toothbrush, don’t bring a sleeping bag st all, just use your cloths and wrap in a space blanket and game
Bags. The list goes on forever.
Cut yourself some slack. 58lbs? Really? Aren’t you ultimately trying to add 50lbs to this pack? Once you hit a loaded pack with your ram on it, having a meal of back strap will save you more weight. And besides. You will be carrying less bullets. I go in well over 58lbs. And loving coming out with twice that! Means something went right. If you wanna Hunt Sheep and be good at it. More than once. you gotta learn to crave the “temporary” discomfort.

 

[Jimbob]

I am doing something that I think is pretty ambitious so I want to plan right. I have pared things down to the nitty gritty now and I understand that a pound here or there is not going to make or break my hunt. I just wanted some opinions on the last few items and a few things I have read. Also by cutting more weight in gear I can take more weight in food. I have no strict schedule (whole summer off as a teacher) so if I want to stay longer I can.

I know that if I am lucky enough to get a ram that the pack out is going to be brutal, but I will love every second.

So I bought a small camera and I am going to ditch the dslr here are the reasons:

1. the dslr is my wife's and she is not thrilled when I take it in the back country
2. to save weight on it I only bring a 35mm prime so no zoom, even at 25 oz I am sacrificing camera functionality
3. not accessible with pack on
4. heavy

Thanks for everyone's opinion I truly appreciate it.

 

[ndbuck09]

Get a sony RX100 camera. Under 9 oz and takes awesome pictures in a really fast f1.8 Zeiss lens. Has a 1 inch sensor. Not sure what DSLR you have but this sony can rival any cropped sensor dslr's. You can find RX100ii and iii's in the $400 range on ebay and other places

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 III | eBay

 

[Jimbob]

Get a sony RX100 camera. Under 9 oz and takes awesome pictures in a really fast f1.8 Zeiss lens. Has a 1 inch sensor. Not sure what DSLR you have but this sony can rival any cropped sensor dslr's. You can find RX100ii and iii's in the $400 range on ebay and other places

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 III | eBay

HA HA That's what I bought. I still wanted high quality pics and manual controls so that camera seems to come out on top for size, affordability and quality.

 

[Nick Muche]

58 including weapon and what you are wearing is not bad at all and very managable! Best of luck on your sheep hunt and I hope you get one, then come tell us about it!

 

[huntcoop]

As a fellow BC resident, enjoy the time alone in our awesome backcountry. Take lots of pictures and please report back with a successful story. That Helinox will come in handy on many an evenings thought, I have the Ground chair and don't leave home without it.

 

[Blockcaver]

Do you have a phone skope for the iPhone/spotting scope? Sure is nice to get some stills and video of rams, ewes, lambs, bears, etc!

 

[ColeyG]

Nothing new to add really over what has been said already. In case you are still shopping for additional perspective and opinions, here are a couple more thoughts.

1. Headlamp. I always bring one even when darkness is essentially non-existent here in AK. Even if you don't expect to navigate in the dark, looking into dark places and/or looking at maps, books, etc in the tent is a nice capability to have. I am big fan of the Black Diamond Storm headlamps. Lots of functionality plus 350 lumens in a super lightweight package. You can lock it out so it won't turn on in your pack.


2. A GPS has saved my rear a number of times in the hills. The primary function I use it for is finding my way back to some place or some thing rather than navigation into new terrain, but it serves a variety of fairly critical functions and it is a rare day I leave the GPS at home. The phone seems like an item you might consider ditching. If you can get all of your devices on the same program for batteries (AAA vs AA) you can bring one spare set of batteries to cover a couple of devices for a little piece of mind. As others have said, if used sparingly, fresh batts in your headlamp and GPS should last the whole trip.

3. Definitely two 4oz canisters and another at the strip in an emergency cache if you are flying in.

4. Twelve sounds about right. I usually bring ten-ish but after an experience last year, I am going to bring a few more on my next extended backpack hunt.

I'd say ditch the chair and the SLR. Sony, Canon, and Panasonic make some incredible compact point-and-shoots that can match the quality of most DSLR's. Not only will the camera add weight and be one more thing to deal with, the chances of ruining it on a trip like this are pretty good.


How much does your food weigh? Two pounds per day is a decent formula though I wind up with more like 1.5 i'd say. I like my gear to weigh no more than about 35lbs for these types of trips, but I'm usually splitting some group gear with a partner which you won't have the luxury of. 58lbs seems pretty daunting out of the gate, especially when you think about adding an animal to that load.

Are you taking any "extra" clothing, meaning more than one of anything other than socks?

 

[pacific-23]

Don't overthink this, to be at that total weight for this amount of time you are doing well. 10 days of food is minimum 15 and more likely closer to 18 or 20 pounds. Add a bag of water and you have an easy 25 pounds weight that can be pared way down once an animal is taken. I am doing my second sheep hunt and first solo 10 day sheep hunt next month, My total weight should be in the same ball park. good luck!