what's too far in?

[mtwarden]

I think I probably hit that point last week. Three day hunt that ended with a 14 mile hike out, mostly trails, but not all. Part of me is glad I didn't see a nice buck. With two people would have been very doable (more doable anyways ).

I did have an extra day of food to make it a two day pack out; but there wasn't any water near the trail out which obviously complicates things and adding another 6-ish lbs of water to everything else isn't overly appealing either.

The country was pretty anyways and I did see a big boar grizzly (safe distance away!) and three really (really) nice Bighorn rams

 

[Customweld]

You are a glutton for punishment, but you do get some awesome pics!

 

[go_deep]

It's never to far, and even if you only have so many days of vacation, work can wait.

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

It’s only too far if the meat will spoil, anything else is just time!

 

[Schoolhousegrizz]

Any pics of the Grizz?

 

[mtwarden]

Any pics of the Grizz?

No- I've got to get a digiscope for my spotter; can't tell you how many cool things I've could have saved.

 

[MT_Wyatt]

No- I've got to get a digiscope for my spotter; can't tell you how many cool things I've could have saved.

I just started using the Ollin one - works super duper well. My kids really like being able to see stuff on the screen vs eye piece, as it just ends up being a lot easier.

I think it obviously matters on the animal and amount of people, but a ton on training as well. Packing out whole mule deer is always a bit of a grind solo, but that's how I end up doing it a lot b/c most people I know don't hunt from a backpack. Realistically I think for me, it's 3.5mi for elk hunting and ~6mi for deer hunting most of the time. Throw in overnight/multi-day and I'd start to feel like I needed to stop 7-8 from the truck when after deer. I do like to do loop hunts though when out for the day.

 

[Schoolhousegrizz]

No- I've got to get a digiscope for my spotter; can't tell you how many cool things I've could have saved.

You should get one for sure, thanks for responding?

 

[mtwarden]

I just started using the Ollin one - works super duper well. My kids really like being able to see stuff on the screen vs eye piece, as it just ends up being a lot easier.

I think it obviously matters on the animal and amount of people, but a ton on training as well. Packing out whole mule deer is always a bit of a grind solo, but that's how I end up doing it a lot b/c most people I know don't hunt from a backpack. Realistically I think for me, it's 3.5mi for elk hunting and ~6mi for deer hunting most of the time. Throw in overnight/multi-day and I'd start to feel like I needed to stop 7-8 from the truck when after deer. I do like to do loop hunts though when out for the day.

Those are reasonable distances for solo hunting imo. If I hunt that area again for deer I'll have someone along and we can flip a coin for being the shooter. For elk I'd need to bug friends that have stock

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

Two of us packed a buck out 11.5 miles in 2022. The last 6 miles were on a relatively level trail. With about 3 left I couldn't stop or else I'd start feeling pain in my feet again. Keep moving and they would stay numb.

There have been several places we've hiked into and on the hike out thought, "I'm glad we didn't kill anything". Seems to be about the 7 mile and 2,500' of elevation change mark.

 

[mtwarden]

Sounds like a “good” hump!

 

[ljalberta]

I don’t know if I love deer enough to hump them the same distance I do for sheep, but I did a 14 mile solo ram and 38 miles with 2 bighorns between 3 guys. A solid 3 day pack out that beat up the feet pretty good, but I’m dumb enough to do it again. It’s a much better experience when you’re sharing the journey with some fellows.

 

[Clark33]

Shared misery builds comradery

 

[mtwarden]

Shared misery builds comradery

Indeed!

 

[Hnthrdr]

Mule deer… there is almost no where too far or too nasty… elk that is a whole different story for sure.

 

[NickT406]

Is it worth doing two trips? Everytime I decide I would rather suffer really bad once. That being said, my hunting partner and I both shot deer 9.5 miles from the truck in breaks country. We both had a deer + camp on our back and tried to hammer through it. Got two miles from the truck and had to drop the pack and come back in the morning. That's as far as I will go.

 

[mt terry d]

Rather than doing two trips try leapfrogging. Pack a few hundred yards or whatever and rest up going back empty for the other load. No worry about something getting into the load left behind. Psychologically it’s easier also.

 

[mtwarden]

^ Ouch!

I killed a buck a couple of years back that was just under 8 miles and I had all of my camping gear/optics/etc w/ me- it was day 2 of the trip (packed for 4 days). I loaded up about 25-ish lbs of meat and the head and hung the other bag of meat, probably 40-ish lbs in the second bag. My pack was probably was in the 70 lb range (rifle was loaded too as I needed two trekking poles to negotiate the terrain). It was a long packout, not helped by the terrain. The last couple of miles were in my headlamp and then an hour drive home.

Was up early the next morning w/ a very stripped pack (probably 10 lbs total) hiked in the 8 miles, loaded the pack w/ the remaining meat and again arrived at the trailhead in the dark . 16 mile day, not fun.

I'm pretty sure that packing out 100-ish lbs out 8 miles would have bordered on the impossible.

That might have been a good scenario to try leap frogging?- definitely wouldn't have made it out that night, which was fine as I had 4 days worth of food and water was pretty plentiful.

 

[TaperPin]

That might have been a good scenario to try leap frogging?- definitely wouldn't have made it out that night, which was fine as I had 4 days worth of food and water was pretty plentiful.

As you know the great thing about leap frogging is you’re able to plan the day quite closely, no wasted mileage, and it avoids death-march distances one day and short distances the next. Meat or camp can be leap frogged as much or as little as needed to put camp in the ideal position for that day.

I’d much rather pick a spot along the route with nice views to enjoy and spend the night on the hill than pull into the trailhead at midnight and sleep on the bench seat of a pickup.

Leap frogging an elk I’ve even come across a decent buck to shoot.

Distance is a great topic - often I’ve found myself planning a hunt like many of us fly fish - the fish HAS to be out there as far as we can cast, forgetting to fish the water close in before going way out there. On his first backpack hunt, a buddy stayed close to the tent because we were in such a nice location and shot a nice boxy 29” wide deer 600 yards from the tent, while I was another mile away come sun up.

My rule of thumb is 6 miles in eliminates most hunters sleeping at the trailhead and is where horse hunters often set up camp. In really big wilderness areas it is extra special to get way in, but I’d only shoot an extra large buck or bull - hunting buddies all know I’m not interested in packing a meat animal 10 miles, or even 5, for myself let alone them. If the only huntable area has good horse access for 10 miles, you almost have to go that far in to set up camp just to get away from the horse hunters.

 

[S.Clancy]

I think it more so depends on on trail vs off trail. With a trail, I kind of think I would pack a deer a long, long way. Off trail, with 10" of snow, was a shade over 6 miles for the longest. Trail makes everything so much easier.