what's too far in?

[S.Clancy]

buddies all know I’m not interested in packing a meat animal 10 miles, or even 5, for myself let alone them.

2 years ago my brother and a buddy shot a spike and a cow 6.5 and 6 miles from the truck, respectively. I didn't even have a tag anymore. I'm a moron

 

[ljalberta]

When you guys are leap frogging, are you emptying out your pack and then reloading and re-strapping everything down each time you move it a few hundred yards? Seems like you'd waste a good chunk of the day just on loading and unloading. Or am I missing something here?

 

[Hnthrdr]

When you guys are leap frogging, are you emptying out your pack and then reloading and re-strapping everything down each time you move it a few hundred yards? Seems like you'd waste a good chunk of the day just on loading and unloading. Or am I missing something here?

Likely not a few hundred yards… usually a mile maybe more, and yes you drop said quarter and go back to move the other up. I like pushing through, but sometimes it’s wiser to save your back and take more reasonable weights

 

[dtrkyman]

Good topic, have a January deer hunt this year, some of the unit is wilderness and I have been wondering about how deep I would kill a buck?

I am likely truck camping, no thanks spiking in January.

I would say difficult terrain with lots of off trail maybe 6 miles? Lots of trail maybe 10?

Anyone packing out an entire deer in one trip, doable without camp?

I had a 19 mile day looking for bears last month, 4k elevation but lots of trail miles, feet were pretty sore but no blisters or anything, calves were tight, hydrated like crazy before bed and felt surprisingly good in the morning, think I did less than 10 miles that day.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Good topic, have a January deer hunt this year, some of the unit is wilderness and I have been wondering about how deep I would kill a buck?

I am likely truck camping, no thanks spiking in January.

I would say difficult terrain with lots of off trail maybe 6 miles? Lots of trail maybe 10?

Anyone packing out an entire deer in one trip, doable without camp?

I had a 19 mile day looking for bears last month, 4k elevation but lots of trail miles, feet were pretty sore but no blisters or anything, calves were tight, hydrated like crazy before bed and felt surprisingly good in the morning, think I did less than 10 miles that day.

1trip Deer is doable without camp, but if it’s a big deer and lots of off trail, it will suck. A Lot!

 

[CorbLand]

2 years ago my brother and a buddy shot a spike and a cow 6.5 and 6 miles from the truck, respectively. I didn't even have a tag anymore. I'm a moron

Went archery deer hunting with guy that also had an elk tag. Spike or cow only. We were about 5.5 miles in and he looked at me and was like “what would you do if I shot a cow back here?” I said “it would be a long day…for you, because I am leaving your ass.”

 

[S.Clancy]

Went archery deer hunting with guy that also had an elk tag. Spike or cow only. We were about 5.5 miles in and he looked at me and was like “what would you do if I shot a cow back here?” I said “it would be a long day…for you, because I am leaving your ass.”

Just another excuse for fitness my friend.

 

[brian wagar]

Great pictures and cool country!

 

[Deucebump]

Great topic! I think a lot also depends on the individual. I am in pretty good shape, but I am a small guy at 5’7” and 150lbs. I have 1 tripped a deer without camp off trail a mile, and I dont know that I would want to do much further. All meat, head, gear, pack and rifle was well over 100lbs. I backpack a lot solo, and pretty much figure a deer is always going to be 2 trips. In Sept I killed a buck about 5 miles from the truck, and a mile from my camp. From where the deer fell, all in packing was just over 15 miles to get everything to the truck. 6 of it was off trail, 9 on trail. Shot it in the morning, butchered and packed 2 loads to camp and 1 load to the truck and hiked back to camp that day, spent the night at camp and hiked last load out at daylight the next morning. All in was around 24 hours.

When I was scouting for that hunt I was over 7 miles in for a bit and was adding up what it was going to be to pack out, 21 miles minimum, plus however far from camp I shot something. I decided then, that was going to be my max. I could do that, but for me personally, I would not want to be further.

This is also the reason I stopped elk hunting solo, just not feasible to get into where I would want to hunt elk and have to pack one out myself. Im sure there is younger (Im 45) and much stronger guys that can do a lot more, but one must know their limits.

 

[Wrench]

I've done camp and a boned out buck a few times. I swear downhill beats my knees up more than anything else.

 

[Hnthrdr]

I've done camp and a boned out buck a few times. I swear downhill beats my knees up more than anything else.

Trekking poles are your friend for down hills!

 

[Wrench]

Trust me....I have been using them for 20 years.

 

[IDMuleyKid]

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

For me, I’d say about 5 deep and 3000 + feet of elevation gain/loss for a deer. I regularly hiked in pretty deep this season and didn’t struggle.

For elk I wouldn’t do more than 3 miles from a road, I hunt solo or with one person, I’m not doing 5 trips deep lol.

My packs have a full water bladder and two 32 ounce electrolyte nalgenes.

I’ve been packing high calorie flour tortillas filled with peanut butter and any sugary contraption. Also, gummie candies and anything easily digestible.

Most importantly, I bring a garmin inreach, I can communicate with anyone and have SOS available if I do get hurt.

 

[mtwarden]

inReach also handy for getting ahold of a buddy to come help pack meat

 

[Wrench]

inReach also handy for getting ahold of a buddy to come help pack meat

I may or may not have hit the easy button last month....lol.

 

[willfrye027]

Too far is a good question..on trail, no risk of meat spoiling, and I’m in good shape…I know for myself that 100ish pounds I can do mostly downhill for 10 miles. Never again though

 

[3Esski]

One step further than needed to get the job done is too far. If I am alone I try to stay within 5 miles unless I know I can keep the meat in good shape. Unfortunately i think we've all seen a nice animal well beyond where we would have liked to be, but we were there and thats what makes memories.

 

[JRay]

Too many variables to list. But the short of it for me is that I don’t go farther than I can safely return to my starting point with meat in good condition.