Glacier Peak high buck question

[hillbillyhunting]

No matter how light you think your pack will be, you are wrong if you are prepared.  It doesnt matter how light your tent, sleeping bag, pad, and stove are.  The things that you need for an extended backpacking trip add up quick.  Especially because I would not waste my time up there without a pair of binoculars and a spotting scope, you need to pack for extreme weather on both ends,  I almost guarantee you will not pack up as much food as you wish you would have, etc.  I guess all I am saying is be prepared.

Also, I would consider leaving your backpacking supplies up in the woods and pack the meat out first.  I would pack out the meat and rifle then go back for the rest if the temps were that high.  But, we have shot a deer 20mi back in really warm weather and still hunted for two days before packing it out.  We hung it over night then put the boned out meat into a couple of those huge ziploc bags and put those into a really cold spring.  Meat was great. 

Also, you might want to think about packing one deer out for 10+ miles and possibly taking two trips in one or two days before you decide to shoot two animals in the back country.   

 

[fillthefreezer]

to continue on this subject, i know it depends on the person but for the backcountry veterans how much weight do you rely on yourself to carry on the trip out?

[sirmissalot]

to continue on this subject, i know it depends on the person but for the backcountry veterans how much weight do you rely on yourself to carry on the trip out?

With a good pack frame I can handle 100lbs without too much problem, just take it slow and use both hands to ascend. I packed half a bear out this year, right around 100lbs, with my eberlestock day pack, it was a bad idea and I was sore for days... just something to think about.

[fillthefreezer]

With a good pack frame I can handle 100lbs without too much problem, just take it slow and use both hands to ascend. I packed half a bear out this year, right around 100lbs, with my eberlestock day pack, it was a bad idea and I was sore for days... just something to think about.

and how are far do you feel you are capable of carrying that 100lb load?

[sirmissalot]

I guess the answer to that question would depend on a lot of differant variables. The bear I packed out last year was only about a 1/4mile pack, it was going to approach 90 degrees that day and we opted to do it in one heavy load to save the cape and meat, although it was a short hike it was steep, rocky, commercially thinned and VERY thorny, I hated my life that day to say the least. On the other hand, an area we hunted last year in wyoming was about 10 miles into the shoshone national forest, it was easy walking with a gradual grade and well traveled stock trail, a 100lb pack out there was very doable, with plenty of water breaks.

[redalder]

Hillbilly; yeah, I know it will add up, and leaving the camp gear and packing meat out first is exactly what we had in mind. I've carried 100# before, but at lower elevation and not for as many miles as we're contemplating. I would rather just take the extra time and make the extra trips than try to take a whole lot of weight and only make one trip.

[fillthefreezer]

with the woods seeming to get more and more crowded, do you worry about the gear or meat you stached?

[JimmyHoffa]

Just a little.  I cover it with something dark/camo and hide it from obvious human sight.  But I take meat, water, and guns on the first trip.  come back later for tent/sleeping bag.  Also, packing out at night avoids people and keeps meat cool.  I would say that with meat, a pack around 100 lbs seems to feel about as much as I'd want.  It took about 3 hours to hike out with that pack over 5 miles.

[nwdp]

I hunt the GPW and everyone has covered your questions pretty well.  Be ready for snow or mid 80's, don't rely on a weather forecast.  I use an internal frame pack b/c it's lighter and the weight going in is 50-55lbs and on the way out i have had it up to 80lbs (about all the bag could take).  I bring  light stuff sacks from REI or cheese cloth for the meat and a large plastic sack.  I use the plastic sack to cool the meat in the stream then hang the meat in the stuff sack and use the plastic sack to line my pack on the way out.  If your trying to save weight you can stash your food ahead of time, just do your best to make sure a bear won't smell it.  Be prepared for the amount of people up there, it seems like every year the number of hunters grows exponentially.  I would concentrate more on the elevation gain than miles from the road.  Further the better, but steeper is better yet.  Since your on foot go to a place a person on a horse wouldn't.  With two guys your done hunting when you get one, I would still shoot one on the way out but the priority should be getting the deer in a cooler.  Last tip is that a spotting scope is a must.     

[75johndeere]

its year was my first year doing the high hunt and while i agree with alot of the stuff said it just depends on you we had way to much food and to many changes of cloths we could have probably cut 15 pounds each out of our packs. another thing is take your time when boneing out the deer we got home and i probable cut a god 10 pounds of fat off of each bag of meat. i dont agree that you should stop hunting after one deer there is always a glacier or snow field or cold creek within a few miles up there and the meat can be cold i think people over think the get it to the cooler asap thing just keep it dry and cool and you will be fine we ended up packing out two deer 13 miles with 150 packs. im in my late 20's so that might make up for that alittle bit but either way your life will suck for a few days after i wouldnt have made it back up to where we got the deer even if we had stashed some camping stuff. you need good optics and a very good pack i can recomend the elberstock j107 it performed wonderfully and my buddys badlands 4500 did very good aswell he was pleased with it.

[romaknows]

Hey   75johndeer  150 lb pack over 13 miles.....   WOW       is all i can say about that

[fillthefreezer]

 

ive done like 115 on the flats for like 2mi and thought i was gonna die and im in my mid20s and do physical work for a living...

[muleracks2]

As for weather:  Cold rain and snow is common but usually the snow is not that deep (a foot is uncommon) and it usually melts out the next day after the storm.  Most of the time the weather is nice.  Clear nights will get cold so let the meat cool but keep it in the shade during sunny days.  If you bone out, make sure that all of the blood shot is trimmed out and let the meat dry a little before putting it in a water proof bags (heavy garbage bags) and anchor securely in cold water (creek).  We keep meat (skinned and hung dry or boned out) for up to a week without any detectable quality loss.