The next area I am going to cover on backcountry hunting is water and water filtration. You cannot get through a backpack hunt without water, so this is not something to turn your nose up at.
When I was a kid, I remember longing to drink straight from a creek or other wild body of water. Like hunting for your own food, it was one of those things that captivated me. I loved adventure movies that took place in the mountains and watched folks more than once, reach down into a stream with cupped hands, bring that ice cold mountain water up to their mouths, and drink it in. Man, I wanted to do that! Eventually, my wild dreams would come true!
Food in the backcountry is one of those things that can both lift your spirit and your performance. Having a nice hot meal at the end of a long day just plain makes me feel better. When I might be feeling discouraged in the middle of the day, a cup of coffee just has a way of improving my overall mood. For that reason, I think it is important to not just throw a bunch of random stuff in a bag and call it good. You need to know how much food to bring, what food to bring, and you need to actually like what you are planning to eat. Backpack hunting is a strenuous game that demands refueling, so it is our job to do just that.
The 2017 Fall hunting season is dangling out ahead of us and is nearly in reach. Some of us, myself included, have already started doing the necessary homework to try and ensure our best chances of success. Burning holes with our eyes into our maps, working on our shooting, and buying new gear. For some of you, this might be your first season jumping into the world that is backcountry hunting. Let me say, I am excited for you! It’s a whole new look on things when you have camp on your back and bow in hand.
The discussion of boots is a fickle one, but one that every hunter needs to have with themselves. You might try on 10 pairs of boots before you find one that you like. Then when you do find that one, is it gonna be able to withstand the rigors of the mountains? Are they going to give you blisters after hiking 10 miles? Are they truly waterproof? Only time will tell that.
After trying a half dozen or so boots over the years and dealing with issues ranging from hot spots, faulty waterproofing, and literally walking the sole off of a boot, I was ready for a change. Taking care of our feet and having a good pair of boots is imperative and I was feeling that. The research began and I landed on the Salomon Quest 4D 2 GTX backpacking boot. I’ve put in about a year and a half of use on these and WELL over 300 miles of hiking. Now, that I’ve gotten to know this boot like I have, I think it’s time I give you all a review.
As I’ve gone down the road of this blog, one of the things that I’ve gotten asked the most is “what are you bringing on your backpack hunts?” In light of that, I have decided to post up my current backcountry gear list for 2017. My gear list is forever growing and shrinking, but hopefully you can get the gist of what is usually in my backpack. This list is going to be for an archery hunt in the early fall. If it were later in the year, I would just be bringing some extra layers along. I am by no means an ounce junkie, so I can’t tell you the EXACT weight of my pack and all of the contents in it. For most hunts, I am sitting in the 35 pound range though, depending on how much water I am packing in. That number will increase with the amount of days I am planning to be out, simply because of food. Each one of my food bags is in the realm of 2 pounds per day containing about 2500-3000 calories in each one. Besides food and water, everything else pretty much stays the same. If you have any questions, feel free to ask below in the comments.
I don’t know about you, but whenever I miss an animal and lose an arrow, I start hoping I don’t run out of arrows. I know that might sound hilarious, but it’s the truth for me. Probably just a mental thing really. This is especially true when I am backpacked into an area and have only the arrows that are in my quiver. Like a lot of folks, I have been carrying a 5 arrow quiver for quite some time and as of a few years ago, that quiver has always been a TightSpot. I loved the idea of the quiver being so much more closer to the riser, which would make it a lot easier to lay my bow in my lap while crab crawling my way down to a bedded mule deer. Just this past December, I was able to do just that and brought home my first archery buck. It was a day to remember for sure.
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for life.” This quote encompasses the very gift that comes from the struggle one may experience when learning how to hunt. It mentions fish, but I think this translates quite nicely into hunting, as well as into everyday life. While the natural instinct to hunt might swim through our DNA, we are not born knowing all things hunting. What many of us are born with though, is the desire to learn how to hunt, along with feasting on our harvest when the hunt comes to a close. Whether we choose to act on those desires is another story entirely.
It seems that every backpack hunt or backpacking trip I go on, I am trying to figure out how to lighten the weight of my pack. There was a time when I would bring things just to bring them, and quite honestly, I probably still do it some. Over the years though, I’ve gotten more comfortable and in tune with my gear to really start realizing what I need and what I don’t need. I quiver when I hear guys carrying 70-80 pounds of gear into the backcountry. If you want to do that, that is totally fine, but I just don’t, especially when I am planning on hauling out loads of fresh meat. Now, I am by no means a backcountry minimalist and for sure enjoy some creature comforts. Here are some things though that I have learned and ways that I have been able to cut down the weight of my pack.
I am sure we have all heard about the threats facing our beloved public lands. These are the places you and I have been making precious memories for years. That first time you heard a bull bugling during the month of September and how it sent shivers down your spine. How you watched a black bear meticulously pick acorns off of a tree or bush. The first time you watched an arrow sail into the vitals of your quarry. These are just examples of some of the things that you might have witnessed while out and about on public land. If we didn’t have public lands or access to them, I seriously question if I would even be telling you this.
My first year ever really hitting this hunting thing hard was about 4 years ago. Of all things that I could hunt, I chose to chase black bears here in Arizona. One of the primary general seasons here lands right in the middle of August. For people in Arizona, that means 2 things. It’s deathly hot out and it’s monsoon season. Yes, it does in fact rain here, unlike what most people think. We aren’t all sand and cacti. This posed a potential problem for me on my hunt. My problem being, I could get rained out. I know. What a wimp right? I was a noob, what can I say!?
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