Post by: huntingdog16 on January 14, 2016, 06:05:23 PM
Post by: TomT on January 14, 2016, 06:10:38 PM
http://blog.eastmans.com/benchmarks-and-baselines/
Post by: huntingdog16 on January 14, 2016, 06:14:20 PM
Post by: blackveltbowhunter on January 15, 2016, 11:35:22 PM
I wish I had read that list when starting out, would have saved a lot of time. Most likely you will refine your own list after a few hunts. Have you backpacked before?
Personally I couldn't live on guys food list :chuckle: and I am shocked at only 2 game bags. But each their own. Theirs other things I do differently, I pack a lot less clothes, and my pack is 3 pounds lighter. Just a couple things.
As far as scouting, once I have located an area I want to check out, I start with a day and night rule, meaning once I'm there I want to spend a minimum of a day and night checking things out. That usually gives me three first light glassing sessions and a day to check other stuff like timber for wallows, rubs and water. If nothing is producing I move on, to another spot. And do the same till I get the results I'm looking for. Rules like.everything are made to be broken, so I don't hesitate to move mid day if what I'm seeing isn't what I expected.
Post by: RadSav on January 16, 2016, 12:39:50 AM
One of the things that frustrate me is when I see guys passing up sign on their way to scout the back country. You have a goal to kill an elk, right? Does it have to be the exact location of where you spotted a meadow or slide on Google? I see guys caught up in the whole extreme hunting idea. They will bust through willows and scrub alder completely destroyed by bulls on there way deeper or higher up on the mountain. They will pick the poo from their boots after walking through an area completely littered with scat and torn up by tracks all to venture further into the wilderness. Be sure to ask yourself, "Am I scouting for elk or scouting for extreme hunter status?" If your main goal is status as the most extreme hunter in Washington then by all means push forward. But if you are scouting with the hope of killing an elk or a bull...scout where the elk are!!
I have a bear spot in the north cascades. Wonderful spot. When I first found it I was working in Redmond and living in Issaquah. I could work a full day, leave work at 4 or 4:30, and get a full hours worth of hunting each night in the high country. That's not because I was a mountain goat in my youth. It was because I wasn't hunting very far from the trail head. I don't recall a single trip up there when I did not see a good deer while glassing for bear. I always expected to have company when the high hunt would start. But I never did. At one of my glassing spots I could see the main trail about a quarter mile away. Hunter after hunter would go through that spot I could see. I don't ever recall ever seeing a hunter glass back at the knob I was sitting on. Not even when there were bucks in the open 30 yards from where I sat glassing! They were intent on going deeper and higher. Passing up clear sign on the trail that bucks and bear were using it regularly. While it was nice for my enjoyment it always left me shaking my head.
In all my years of tagging bear up there I never once had someone dismiss my success because I didn't work hard enough for my trophies. Though I did talk to plenty of guys at the trail head that wanted to see what my bear looked like. Then telling me of how they spent ten days at XXXX elevation, five, six, seven miles back and that they hadn't seen a deer or a bear or much sign. I know for certain that had they been looking for sign at the half mile mark they would have seen plenty of sign...and a gut pile not much further than that!! :chuckle:
Secret to my back country success...Hunting where the animals are! Sometimes it's as simple as that. ;)
Post by: fillthefreezer on January 16, 2016, 10:20:50 AM
overall i think its much simpler to just list everything and count it.
Post by: blackpowderhunter on January 16, 2016, 10:38:40 AM
put your pack together like you'll be going on a hunt, and take it like that on your scouting trip and spend a night or two out there while scouting.
the last thing you want to do is take what works for someone else and try it for the first time on your hunt. it would be terrible to hike any amount of miles into the back country and find yourself un prepared on night one.
spend this summer doing some backpacking/scouting trips and you will find what will and won't work for YOU in a hurry.
just remember to have fun and not get too wrapped up in having the latest, greatest, lightest gear. use what you have, upgrade as you see fit.
good luck :tup:
Post by: kentrek on January 16, 2016, 10:50:06 AM
Post by: blackpowderhunter on January 16, 2016, 02:16:21 PM
Take lots of game bags....elk can get big ! :tup:i like to vac pack my game bags too..might seem silly but you can really pack those up pretty small!
Post by: 7mag. on January 16, 2016, 05:20:02 PM
Post by: fisheral87 on January 16, 2016, 05:44:06 PM
I used them for my solo hunt this year and I'll never do another hunt without them.
Al
Post by: huntingdog16 on January 16, 2016, 07:41:45 PM
Post by: swanny on January 19, 2016, 09:09:09 AM
Once you backpack a couple of weekends, you will get a really good idea of what you actually need, don't need, and want/need to upgrade. You will actually be surprised at how little you need for a few nights in the woods.
Post by: RadSav on January 19, 2016, 09:37:40 AM
Once you backpack a couple of weekends, you will get a really good idea of what you actually need, don't need, and want/need to upgrade. You will actually be surprised at how little you need for a few nights in the woods.
My first back country hunt was a joke. About every mile I left a cache of stuff off the trail I decided I didn't need. :chuckle: Then about two days into the hunt I was back down the trail trying to find where I stashed half that stuff! :o
Scouting and backpacking before your hunt is a good tip. I think it took me about four to six trips before I got the hang of it. Also good to make a trip or two, not too deep, in the rain. That's a different ball game and one you should have experience with before you go deep!
Post by: Kyle1112 on January 21, 2016, 08:18:07 AM
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