2018 High Buck PACK SHAKEDOWN

[yakimanoob]

  How many backcountry hunts have you done Noob?

One, technically; last year's high buck.  But I have a few dozen backpacking trips under my belt, so I'm pretty familiar with the logistics. 

[yakimanoob]

. I've gone down the ultralight ounce counting road and I've kept some of the items and philosophy, but gone away in other areas as it just doesn't matter that much if I'm 42, 45, or 48#, for gods sake I'm a 200+ pound man, not a dainty thru hiker😂😉

This is exactly where I am with my backpacking setup.  I'm somewhere around 28-30# dry weight, and cutting ounces from there is negligible considering the surplus 30# of fat I'm packing. 

But when I add all the hunting gear to that, things get pretty hefty and it has me in the mood to get creative. 

To Karl's point: I 100% agree that packing weight on my back and hoofing it up and down mountains is a far more productive method of preparing for the high hunt than worrying about the odd ounce in my pack.  But I get bored at work sometimes so why not worry about the odd ounce when I can't be in the hills 

[addicted]

On the spotter:

My next big upgrade (which may happen next year or the year after) is to get one of the little Vortex Razor 11-33x spotters.  I have enough high country experience to know that little guy could save me a LOT of walking.

I have the little razor. It's nice, I can fit that spotter and my kuiu tent in the spotter pocket of my pack

[pd]

I finally finished reading the others' posts.  Leatherman, et. al. has been beating to death.  If I could chime in:

Don't bring extra clothing.  Nothing.  One set of whatever you will need.  Colville is correct, if you are that close to the rig, you won't need anything extra.  And don't worry about wet anything!  Get in your bag wet, you will be dry in the morning (I don't mean soaking wet, of course---you have rain gear, so you won't be THAT wet!).  I am an alpine climber first, this is how we roll. 

Yes on the heat source.  Vias are fine.  Something warm can save your life. 

Yes on the sunglasses.  You bring floss/toothpaste/toothbrush because you care about your teeth, right?  Trust me, your eyes are even more important than your teeth.

TP is utterly unnecessary.  Baby wipes for everything.

The others touched on the first aid kit--have some courage, you don't need 90% of that.

Otherwise, you are doing great.

What is your weight goal?  Karl said to not worry about it.  I say WORRY about it.  Your backpack is already too big and too heavy, but you own it, so use it.  For 2 or 3 days in the high country, not counting water, aim for 25#.  Seriously.

[Karl Blanchard]

I didn't say don't worry about it, I said don't sacrifice quality sleep and food to achieve some magic number.  Pack what you need, leave what you dont.  Noob even stated above that he's carrying around an extra 30lb of body weight.  I'd be trimming there not cutting off my tooth brush handle and drilling holes in stuff.  I'm personally a big fan of my tooth brush handle and would never wish to do it harm

[pd]

I didn't say don't worry about it, I said don't sacrifice quality sleep and food to achieve some magic number.  Pack what you need, leave what you dont.  Noob even stated above that he's carrying around an extra 30lb of body weight.  I'd be trimming there not cutting off my tooth brush handle and drilling holes in stuff.  I'm personally a big fan of my tooth brush handle and would never wish to do it harm

Fair enough.

30# extra on the midriff is an issue, but not my business. Next year’s goal I would say.

[yakimanoob]

I've never understood the drilled/filed toothbrush thing. I mean, to each his own, but how much are you actually saving there?  0.5oz? 

And y'all aren't wrong about the extra 30#.  But thankfully one of my close friends is a professional trainer and designed 3 months of workouts for me, and my wife and I are already on a diet.  Plus, those things are less fun to talk about on the internet.  WAY more fun to argue about gear   

[Stickerbush]

Good discussion of this on the hunt Backcountry podcast https://exomountaingear.com/elk-hunting-gear-list-for-beginners/

[shallowforks]

On the spotter:


My next big upgrade (which may happen next year or the year after) is to get one of the little Vortex Razor 11-33x spotters.  I have enough high country experience to know that little guy could save me a LOT of walking. 

would you be interested in a Nikon fieldscope ed 50. same size as the vortex and from what ive read just as quality glass. id let it go for pretty cheap. Its been a great backpacking spotter for me but I just don't use it much any more.

[Magnum_Willys]

I've never understood the drilled/filed toothbrush thing. I mean, to each his own, but how much are you actually saving there?  0.5oz? 

And y'all aren't wrong about the extra 30#.  But thankfully one of my close friends is a professional trainer and designed 3 months of workouts for me, and my wife and I are already on a diet.  Plus, those things are less fun to talk about on the internet.  WAY more fun to argue about gear   

The age old backpackers joke was how they cut the handle off their tooth brush to save weight.   . Some people took it literally and made “like the pro’s”.    From most people toothbrush mods are spoken with a chuckle.     

[yakimanoob]

Fair enough 

[Odell]

I didn't say don't worry about it, I said don't sacrifice quality sleep and food to achieve some magic number.  Pack what you need, leave what you dont.  Noob even stated above that he's carrying around an extra 30lb of body weight.  I'd be trimming there not cutting off my tooth brush handle and drilling holes in stuff.  I'm personally a big fan of my tooth brush handle and would never wish to do it harm

This is great advice, but it takes a few trips to convince yourself "I don't need this." Usually killing a buck and figuring out how to fit it and carry down drives that lesson home. My first high buck hunt I had 5 knives and 4 ways to make fire. Never killed a buck or made a fire lol.

The other advice on clothing is spot on. Currently all I take is a one complete outfit plus one extra change of socks. So if its pouring rain and cold I have everything on. Granted, my full layered outfit is still more than some guys as I bring an insulation layer of down pants/puffy. If there is a problem I can just walk out, like you we are usually 5-7 miles from the truck. I keep an extra sleeping bag and set of clothes in the truck in case I want to go back in.

In a serious survival situation I'd be using one of my four fire starting devices to stay warm hahaha.

[hunter399]

First off I would not carry all that stuff for a overnighter so be commented to the two nights -three days.

Honestly I don't think I would bring half that stuff .
First aid gone
Tooth brush gone
Trecking poles gone
Leatherman gone
Floss gone
Headphones gone
- Duece of Spades trowel gone
 2 pair nitrile gloves gone
About half the clothing gone
Food +water keep
Electrical tape and part of clean cloth make a bandaid if you cut yourself.
I would have at least ten rounds of ammo

[blackveltbowhunter]

" ounces make pounds, pounds make pain." As long as your doing a weight benefit analysis after you're trip, you will be dialed in before you know it. Everyone has different ideas, and levels of tolerance to discomfort. I never pack anything " cuz it only weighs an ounce", but I also never leave anything I know will make me miserable if I don't have it. I like clean teeth. I take brush, floss and exactly the amount of paste. I don't tolerate wet feet well, so I always have extra socks. Sometimes I don't use them. Oh well, when I have they have kept me hunting longer and harder. I try  hard to be very close on my food and clothing needs as these are where it's easy get into trouble with redundant items. If I have eaten every scrap of food, and worn the bulk of my items a significant portion of time when I get back to the rig feel like I am on the right track.

If your going to pack a significant amount of weight in glass, make sure you pack clothes and equipment YOU need to stay comfortable while stationary and without cover. The most expensive swaro spotter is useless if your eye isn't in it.

[chef bama]

Figure out how much you can comfortably carry every day. For me, that's 27 pounds. I took my hunting pack to work every day for a year, walking (or running) for the bus, transferring downtown, and walking another mile each way. I didn't carry the same gear, but I learned exactly how much I could carry and how far I could go with it not be sore the next day. Take the glass, take the raingear, wear the wool clothes.