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Author Topic: What's in your elk pack part 3 - Sustenance (Food and Drink)  (Read 2394 times)

Offline WapitiTalk1

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Let’s roll with part 3 of this super awesome series of threads on “what’s in your elk pack”.  What do you cats have in your elk pack for subsistence/food and drink?  For the purpose of these threads, let’s assume we’re talking about pack in hunts.   

I carry the following: 

Drink - 3 liter Platypus bladder in my pack.  Filter is normally a Katadyn Hiker Pro pump filter to purify H2O, or sometimes, the Katadyn Base Camp filter.
Food - I don’t' each much breakfast but I usually have a breakfast cookie (Erin Baker) and a cup of coffee (G7 3-in-1 coffee packets).  Day pack snacks/main lunch meal are all enclosed in a quart zip lock for each day and normally consist of (JIF PBtoGO or Starkist Tuna Packet on MRE bread, energy/protein bar(s), honey stinger waffles, pre-packed small jerky packets, trail mix, a couple of small snickers, and the little pre-packed wet ones).  Evening meals consist of a compilation of Mountain House, Paleo Meals to Go, and some Backpacker's Pantry; I'll throw in a few packets of hot sauce for the meals if I remember.

Chow gear consists of a Jet Boil Zip, enough fuel canisters to last the trip, "long" titanium spork (gotta have the long one), and a GSI Outdoors cup for coffee.       

Well, what's in your elk pack for food and drink? 
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Offline kselkhunter

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Re: What's in your elk pack part 3 - Sustenance (Food and Drink)
« Reply #1 on: May 14, 2018, 11:34:12 AM »
For elk, I usually go in for a week.   Food depends on if I'm solo or with a group, and how much weight I feel like carrying in.

Filtration - Katadyn base camp.
Food
* Breakfast - I usually make breakfasts in advance.  Typically protein rice krispies, or protein bars of some form.  Some years I'll be lazy and pack in pop tarts.  Starbucks via if I feel like coffee in the morning.
* Snacks.  Various granola bars and honey stinger energy chews.  Packaged sausages and cheese sticks sometimes as well.
* Lunch - Usually PBJ tortilla roll-ups, sometimes meat and cheese based.  I like the Green Belly meal2go bars as well.
* Dinner - Mountain House meals.  I worked there in college, so have tried every flavor, including the experimental ones that never see the market.  So I know what I like there.
Drink - usually some Nuun tablets to replace electrolytes and flavor the water.
JetBoil - have a few of them, I think I use the Sumo the most. 
Titanium cup for drinking.

If I'm with a group of guys for elk season, some years we've packed in my soft sided Yeti cooler full of frozen burgers/brats, eggs, etc.   Those are much more extravagant eating elk hunts in the backcountry.   

Offline Crunchy

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Re: What's in your elk pack part 3 - Sustenance (Food and Drink)
« Reply #2 on: May 14, 2018, 11:56:38 AM »
For breakfast- via starbucks coffee (mandatory) yogurt, and oatmeal packet.  Gets me purculating, and dont make if too far before .....

Snacks- PBJ, a bagel with creme cheese, candied nuts, and jerky.

Chow- hard to beat mountain house.

Offline WI to WA

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Re: What's in your elk pack part 3 - Sustenance (Food and Drink)
« Reply #3 on: May 14, 2018, 01:00:16 PM »
I usually backpack in for anywhere from four days to the whole week.
My meals consist of this:
Breakfast: Starbucks Via & Probar Whole Meal bar.  These things are awesome & light and generally last me until my first snack.

Snacks & Lunch: Snickers.  Really, I pack lots & lots of snickers bars & eat them all day. 250 calories a piece and they weigh next to nothing!

Dinner: Mountain House with a long blue REI spoon (actually just as light as titanium & if I lose it I'm only out $2.00).  I also keep a ziplock of chili cheese fritos in camp to eat and crush up into my mountain house.

Pre-sleep: .75 Platy bag of whiskey and some Mike & Ikes.  I am surprised whiskey hasn't made the list yet.  Going to bed after a nice pull of something strong really helps everything.  As long as you can ration this & not over do it on the first night, you're in good shape.  I'm not a fan of hunting with people who are hungover or worse (being in the backcountry & all) so it really is just one good pull & then rest.

Liquids: For water I use a sawyer squeeze and another of my party brings a gravity filter for camp water.  I also carry powdered Gatorade that I keep in one of my two smart water bottles.  One bottle is just water and the other is always Gatorade -- the electrolytes are awesome after chasing something up a ridge.

It's true that by the end of the trip most of my limited food choices make me sick but it's easier to pack & it's all really light. 

Offline Holg3107

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Re: What's in your elk pack part 3 - Sustenance (Food and Drink)
« Reply #4 on: May 14, 2018, 01:41:36 PM »
Heres a rough breakdown for what I use for a 5+ day solo hunt as far as sustenance goes.

Water - [1] 16oz. Nalgene for hiking, [1] 5 liter bota bag for camp water (optional depending on location)

Breakfast - [2] instant oatmeals, [2] starbucks vias

Lunch / Day Food - [1] Peanut butter / Honey / Bacon sandwich on whole wheat, [1] snickers bar, [1] fruit leather, [1] Goo energy pack, 3 oz. of dried apricotts or chocolate covered raisins, 2 oz. hard cheese, 3 oz. salami

Dinner - Mountain house, hot herbal tea (I like a hot beverage before bed), post workout drink.

Heres how I pack my day food from my 7 day solo hunt this year (bad pic but you get the idea) as well as all of my gear laid out for the same 7 day hunt (does not include dinners, not sure why?)
« Last Edit: May 14, 2018, 01:55:24 PM by Holg3107 »

Offline JimmyHoffa

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Re: What's in your elk pack part 3 - Sustenance (Food and Drink)
« Reply #5 on: May 14, 2018, 03:00:20 PM »
candy bars, water, jerky, trail mix, beer

Offline Jake T

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Re: What's in your elk pack part 3 - Sustenance (Food and Drink)
« Reply #6 on: May 16, 2018, 11:38:48 AM »
instant oatmeal for breakfast.  i use 2 packs and add some of that peanut butter powder, some dried fruit, and some powdered whey protein.  and a starbucks via

for snacks during the day i go with some combination of jerky, honey stinger, cliff bar, some other sort of bar, crackers, pep sticks, trail mix.  basically something i don't have to sit down to cook and can eat while glassing or walking

dinner varies between mountain house, or heather's choice.  sometimes i'll take some of those tuna foil packets and combine them with top ramen noodles.  or tuna and instant rice.  something that i just add hot water.

desert is some sort of candy.  jelly beans, swedish fish, orange slices, etc.  not a lot, just a little sugar before bed.  then a pull (or two) from the whiskey bottle.  somebody said it before, in moderation for sure.

i use a brunton stove and a steri pen

Offline csaaphill

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Re: What's in your elk pack part 3 - Sustenance (Food and Drink)
« Reply #7 on: May 21, 2018, 08:03:59 PM »
Day pack mainly any more, but the time or two I did back pack was 2-3 canteens of water, and packets of those meals that you can use the cardboard box to heat it up with.
First time out was my downfall had tons of can goods in my pack ouch carrying :chuckle: but after that used like I said.
Now any more I just pack something in the cooler ham and cheese sandwich, or other slices meat. pop and maybe a candy bar or so.
"When my bow falls, so shall the world. When me heart ceases to pump blood to my body, it will all come crashing down. As a hunter, we are bound by duty, nay, bound by our very soul to this world. When a hunter dies we feel it, we sense it, and the world trembles with sorrow. When I die, so shall the world, from the shock of loosing such a great part of ones soul." Ezekiel, Okeanos Hunter

Offline pd

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Re: What's in your elk pack part 3 - Sustenance (Food and Drink)
« Reply #8 on: May 21, 2018, 08:47:37 PM »
“If I'm with a group of guys for elk season, some years we've packed in my soft sided Yeti cooler full of frozen burgers/brats, eggs, etc. ”

Awesome!! 
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Offline yakimanoob

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Re: What's in your elk pack part 3 - Sustenance (Food and Drink)
« Reply #9 on: May 22, 2018, 07:00:07 PM »
For backpack hunts:

Gear:
- Jetboil Sol
- Ti cup from Snopeak
- Long spoon
- MSR Mugmate (except that I have the MUCH cheaper non-MSR version)

Breakfast:
- Instant oatmeal
- sometimes trail mix and honey added to the oatmeal
- Coffee

Lunch options:
- summer sausage
- jerky
- flatbread sammiches with peanut butter and honey
- fruit
- cheese and crakers
- anything i happen to have on hand when I'm leaving and have forgotten to plan lunches

Dinner:
- Mtn House (I keep trying other brands and keep getting disappointed. I haven't splurged on the high-end stuff like Heather's Choice yet, but I'm thinking about it).

After dinner:
- sometimes chocolate
- sometimes herbal tea

Offline ScottE

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Re: What's in your elk pack part 3 - Sustenance (Food and Drink)
« Reply #10 on: May 27, 2018, 10:51:15 PM »
The last few years I've been bringing instant oatmeal packets for breakfast and not even once have I eaten one, seems there's always a bull bugleing some where. So it's usually some kind of bars, pro, clif, granola ect.. for breakfast and throughout the day with candy bars, nuts, craisons or the kid fruit snacks and or beanutbutter crackers mixed in, usually mountain house for dinner but it's nice to have some ramen now and then, l also bring jerky and snack sticks for snacks and tuna and chicken pouches to mix with dinners. Stove and pot are a cheep combo I got off Amazon for less than $20, weighs less than a pound with a medium fuel canister. 3 litre camofire water bladder and a couple smart water bottles with a Sawyer mini, also bring some electrolyte drink mix,and a long handle spork

Offline Limhangerslayer

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Re: What's in your elk pack part 3 - Sustenance (Food and Drink)
« Reply #11 on: May 27, 2018, 11:04:54 PM »
A lot of the same, but I always pack in a couple steaks!  I also pack in a small 12"x12"grate.  Hard to beat a mountain fire steak.
And of course Idahoan instant potatoes.  Not an Itemizer, just did the basics.

Offline colersu22

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Re: What's in your elk pack part 3 - Sustenance (Food and Drink)
« Reply #12 on: May 28, 2018, 09:09:47 AM »
Gear

Jetboil zip
3l platypus big zip in pack and for camp water
1 31oz nalgene
Long spork
One of the cheap reusable Starbucks cups
Steripen adventurer for filter

Breakfast

Instant oatmeal
Starbucks via

Lunch/snacks

Hard to stop and eat lunch so i mainly snack throughput the day

Fruit leather
Probar
Trail mix
Beef jerky
Those cliff bar gel shots
Honey stinger waffles
Jack links Beef and cheese sticks

Dinner

Some kind of meal like alpine aire, backpackers pantry or mountain house
Snickers


I pack everything in 1 gallon zip locks and have to force myself to eat everything.  I started getting the backcountry fuel box when they first started a couple months ago and that thing is sweet, gives me a chance to try new things while I’m out.  I like to make a bunch of 1 gallon bags so it can just be a grab and go deal and I know I need one for each day I’ll be out.  I think I have 6 ready to go now and planning on making more for this upcoming season in a month or 2.  They are nice to have ready for when me and my wife backpack in and camp during the summer too.

Offline Stein

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Re: What's in your elk pack part 3 - Sustenance (Food and Drink)
« Reply #13 on: May 30, 2018, 10:14:58 AM »
3 liter Source bladder with BeFree filter for drinks.  I take coffee and sometimes tea.

No breakfast except maybe coffee if I have time.

Lunch is nuts, meat, cheese either as a meal or snacked on.

Dinner is mountain house, homemade or some type of foil meat plus other stuff concoction.

I typically run a pretty serious calorie deficit hunting, but it works well for me.  I usually don't have much of an appetite and it doesn't make sense to pack half the food back out.

Offline boneill

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Re: What's in your elk pack part 3 - Sustenance (Food and Drink)
« Reply #14 on: May 31, 2018, 06:32:54 PM »
Depends how long I'm living out of my pack and what my mood is when prepping. If I'm in for 7+ days, I usually go pretty light on the food. If I'm just doing a 1-3 day hunt, I'll pack a bit more luxury items.

In general this is what I typically pack:

Bfast- 2 packets oatmeal, sliced almonds, PB, honey, 1-2 Via coffee packets

Pre lunch snack- Some combo of GORP, Mini-Snickers, granola bar, jerkey/smoked steelhead, apple or orange/dried mango, apricots, dates, etc

Lunch- Tortilla, PB & J, or Tortilla, cream cheese, and summer sausage

Post Lunch Snack- Some combo of GORP, Mini Snickers, granola bar, jerkey/smoked steelhead, apple or orange/dried mango, apricots, dates, etc

Dinner- Ramen noodle packet (I don't use the spice packet), fresh or dried onion, garlic, carrots, green pepper, summer sausage. Snickers for desert. A few pulls from a flask of Makers Mark for a post dinner treat.

Water: Steri Pen, sometimes MSR water filter if I'm hunting in an area with cows or a lot of substrate in the water. If you haven't keyed in on the steri pen, I HIGHLY recommend one. I've used one in the backcountry for years, and I also travel internationally with it, makes drinking tap water safe and means you don't have to buy a bunch of plastic water bottles. I specifically remember one kayaking trip in Nepal where we literally saw locals dumping human feces by the bag full into the river we were getting our water from. No one ever got sick using just the steri pen.

Stove: MSR Whisperlight International. Always fires up, can burn just about any type of fuel and don't have to deal with the empty canisters. You can also cook on lower heat than a JetBoil, makes eggs a reality.

I find having fruits and veggies while in the backcountry make my dinners much more enjoyable....meat, cheese, and grains get pretty old pretty fast for me.

I enjoyed reading everyone else's posts. Always good to get new ideas!


 


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