A friend of mine and I headed into the high country for the high hunt for the first time...I read a lot on this site and some backpacking forums about gear and locations. We got all of our gear, distributed it between the two of us, took stuff out, reloaded our packs, and did it again. We were both around 50lbs going in, maybe 35-40 coming out.
Some things we learned...If you "think" you're in good enough shape, you're not. Both of us are in the military, and are in good shape, but flat ground is way different than wilderness.
Google maps doesn't compare to a topo!!! Enough said.
If you have a good boning knife, and your partner has a good skinning knife just go with the two.
Water sources...if you know your water sources are plentiful, don't carry so much water in!
Mountain house meals and a jet boil are really good when you're hungry! Chili Mac with beef is especially tasty!
We didn't see any animals, except chipmunks and birds, and neither did any of the people we saw up there, but the weather was not on our side. Both of us are looking forward to general season, and are already planning next years high buck hunt. It is very addicting, and hopefully we can connect next time. We didn't even see scat this year...old tracks, but no rubs, no scat, and no movement. We were in a good spot, but the high temps kept the deer way higher than we could get to due to our location.
Thanks for all the help, even though we never asked any questions we learned a ton just reading here!
