Lets hear your Siwash stories

[mtwarden]

Siwash- has a few different meanings, but in this context- camp without tent or sleeping bag.

Would love to have guys share their siwash stories.

I'll share mine from the Brooks Range this summer. I had a long (almost three years) wait for my hunt, so I read as much as I could and reached out to several folks here on the site on what to expect. One of the things that stood out was that several folks ended up "sleeping" on the side of the mountain during their sheep hunt. As a dyed in the wool Boy Scout, I wanted to be prepared if such an event occurred on my hunt! I've had the "fortune" to spend a couple of unexpected nights here (Montana) that outright sucked, as such I'm a little more prepared now than I was prior to those events.

We (guide and I) started a stalk on two legal rams (and one younger ram) late in the afternoon. We knew it was going to take several hours to get to where we needed to be. We dumped shelters, sleeping bags, most of the food, stoves, etc prior to taking off. About 8 PM we finally got close enough to start our crawl to the edge of the ridge which should put the rams right below us. Well it was several crawls to the edge until we found them clear in the bottom of the basin. and starting up the other side. I was able to harvest a ram, the time close to 8:30 PM- we still had about a 30 minute climb down through a boulder field to finally get to the ram. The guide had inReached the other packer/guide (he had gone up another drainage to scout it), that we had a ram down. The other guide wasn't too far off (he was headed our way already, not finding any sheep in the other drainage) and he joined us while the guide was caping the ram; we started on boning the meat.

When it was all said and done (including quite a few photos! ) it was after 11:00 PM. As we had a long ways to go through a lot of rock with pretty heavy packs, we decided our best option was stay in the basin and head out at first light (about 5:00 AM). Now I said above I had planned for just such a contingency. Puffy jacket-check, puff pants- check, short pad (Z-Lite pad cut to 40")-check- I also had a 3-7' piece of Tyvek to process meat on and used that as a ground cloth. I also had an emergency bivy (SOL Escape bivy), a pair of Apex insulated booties and a warm hat. I put on my mid-layer over my base layer and then added all the above. While I wasn't toasty warm, I did get a little sleep.

The guides, not so much. They had puffy jackets/pants, but no pad or bivy (they did have a nice tarp that got up if it happened to rain, luckily it didn't). They got little to no sleep. The guide used the sheep cape as least some insulation .

They snapped a pic of me sleeping

We were all glad when 5:00 rolled around. We ate some bars and filled our water bottles and headed off the mountain w/ loaded packs. We definitely made the right choice, I'm pretty sure I would have injured myself w/o good light (almost did with good light!). Took us about three hours to get back to where we stashed our camp gear (the other packer/guide found our stuff and ditched his too). We celebrated w/ a couple hour siesta (after a hardy meal!).

We still had a long ways to go, but made it to our rendezvous spot with the float plane for the next morning unscathed (but sore!).

I don't think I'd do anything different in the same scenario- the puffy jacket/pants would have gone regardless. The pad weighs 8 oz and I used it a ton while glassing (also threw under my inflatable pad when camped); the bivy weighed 8 oz as well, the insulated booties 1 oz, so an extra 17 oz. Well worth it, just ask the guides

I should add that there was no source of firewood even close to where harvested the ram, so fire wasn't even an option. My best guess for temps that night were in the upper 30's.

I know I'm not the first (or last) to end up spending a night on the mountain, would love to hear others experiences!

 

[Sourdough]

I have had many and they all "SUCKED". Worst was far down the Alaska Peninsula guiding an archery caribou hunter.

 

[S-3 ranch]

Couple of times some by choice , others not
I had a airboat break down and we spent the night in the marsh, long sleepless night waiting for someone to come get us, next morning the dekes where out and the ducks were floating in so we hunted

had a couple of mule deer/ aoudad hunts in west Texas , it would have been inconvenient to return to camp so I just slept on the ground undef the truck
with a tarp folded in half as a taco tent with the dog as a heater & rice crispy Bars for supper and breakfast

 

[Marine4life]

I have had many but most have been in some shit hole across the pond. But I also had a night very similar to yours. For me they have helped make the total experience and provided a bit of bragging rights. Then I read a book about the frozen Chosin or Alaskas Wolf Man and I realize it could be a lot more uncomfortable. Lol.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

[justinspicher]

I have only done that during training and deployments in the military, mainly because I didn’t want to carry more than I needed to and knowing I wouldn’t be sleeping much anyway.

 

[Bambistew]

Done it twice after shooting rams, both times was nice weather, or light rain. I always carry a space blanket, trekker poles and a little paracord to make a make shift shelter, or bring a small sil-nylon tarp, as well as puffy cloths. First one I killed a ram right at dark (mid night) in the Brooks, spent 2-3hrs taking care of it. took a nap on the ground and hit the trail at 430pm when I could see well enough to get out of the cliffs. It was a long ass day, as my wife shot a bear that morning and I took care of it before going sheep hunting about 6 miles up a valley that evening... Oh to be young and tough again.

Second time was similar in the AK range. Wife and I shot two rams near dark, took care of them through the night slept a bit on ground between butcher sessions. packed them back to camp the next day.

I did camp out on on a group of rams one night, but had camp with, just pulled out the sleeping bag and pad and waited for dawn. No rain either.

 

[william schmaltz]

Once. Sucked. In the Brooks probably 2 days into the season. Watched two feeding cycles of a group of 12 rams. At least two looked very legal but we needed a closer look. When they would go down to feed in the bowl, they would make it so they/we were out of sight. So the third time they fed at about 11PM, we hiked up the valley and up an adjacent peak to get into position to make a shot early the following morning when they would do their routine. Left the tent and bags behind and we went up with rain gear, wool layers, and puffy layers and it was COLD. Clear skies, everything had frost on it, water bottles were iced over. Not fun and no sleep. We got to the top around midnight and the rams were bedded high at 600 yds. It was just too dark to judge rams so we sat and waited. As expected, rams stood up at about 4:30 AM and started moving down into position. Shortly after, a wolf trotted up the valley and blew em out. That was not a fun walk down the mountain.

 

[mtwarden]

Great stories Gents! Everyone likes to hear about other folks suffering

 

[Rufus]

Siwash- has a few different meanings, but in this context- camp without tent or sleeping bag.

Would love to have guys share their siwash stories.

I'll share mine from the Brooks Range this summer. I had a long (almost three years) wait for my hunt, so I read as much as I could and reached out to several folks here on the site on what to expect. One of the things that stood out was that several folks ended up "sleeping" on the side of the mountain during their sheep hunt. As a dyed in the wool Boy Scout, I wanted to be prepared if such an event occurred on my hunt! I've had the "fortune" to spend a couple of unexpected nights here (Montana) that outright sucked, as such I'm a little more prepared now than I was prior to those events.

We (guide and I) started a stalk on two legal rams (and one younger ram) late in the afternoon. We knew it was going to take several hours to get to where we needed to be. We dumped shelters, sleeping bags, most of the food, stoves, etc prior to taking off. About 8 PM we finally got close enough to start our crawl to the edge of the ridge which should put the rams right below us. Well it was several crawls to the edge until we found them clear in the bottom of the basin. and starting up the other side. I was able to harvest a ram, the time close to 8:30 PM- we still had about a 30 minute climb down through a boulder field to finally get to the ram. The guide had inReached the other packer/guide (he had gone up another drainage to scout it), that we had a ram down. The other guide wasn't too far off (he was headed our way already, not finding any sheep in the other drainage) and he joined us while the guide was caping the ram; we started on boning the meat.

When it was all said and done (including quite a few photos! ) it was after 11:00 PM. As we had a long ways to go through a lot of rock with pretty heavy packs, we decided our best option was stay in the basin and head out at first light (about 5:00 AM). Now I said above I had planned for just such a contingency. Puffy jacket-check, puff pants- check, short pad (Z-Lite pad cut to 40")-check- I also had a 3-7' piece of Tyvek to process meat on and used that as a ground cloth. I also had an emergency bivy (SOL Escape bivy), a pair of Apex insulated booties and a warm hat. I put on my mid-layer over my base layer and then added all the above. While I wasn't toasty warm, I did get a little sleep.

The guides, not so much. They had puffy jackets/pants, but no pad or bivy (they did have a nice tarp that got up if it happened to rain, luckily it didn't). They got little to no sleep. The guide used the sheep cape as least some insulation .

They snapped a pic of me sleeping

We were all glad when 5:00 rolled around. We ate some bars and filled our water bottles and headed off the mountain w/ loaded packs. We definitely made the right choice, I'm pretty sure I would have injured myself w/o good light (almost did with good light!). Took us about three hours to get back to where we stashed our camp gear (the other packer/guide found our stuff and ditched his too). We celebrated w/ a couple hour siesta (after a hardy meal!).

We still had a long ways to go, but made it to our rendezvous spot with the float plane for the next morning unscathed (but sore!).

I don't think I'd do anything different in the same scenario- the puffy jacket/pants would have gone regardless. The pad weighs 8 oz and I used it a ton while glassing (also threw under my inflatable pad when camped); the bivy weighed 8 oz as well, the insulated booties 1 oz, so an extra 17 oz. Well worth it, just ask the guides

I should add that there was no source of firewood even close to where harvested the ram, so fire wasn't even an option. My best guess for temps that night were in the upper 30's.

I know I'm not the first (or last) to end up spending a night on the mountain, would love to hear others experiences!

Hello mtwarden. What are your thoughts on the SOL bivy? Been considering one. Curious how it worked for you and if you would take it again or if there is something else you would recommend. Thank you. -Rufus

 

[mtwarden]

Hello mtwarden. What are your thoughts on the SOL bivy? Been considering one. Curious how it worked for you and if you would take it again or if there is something else you would recommend. Thank you. -Rufus

Yeah it's pretty decent, especially for the price; I don't think I'd use it other than unexpected nights out. If I know I'm going to be bivying I use a more expensive (and heavier) eVent bivy from MLD.

They (SOL) have a few, the one I have is this one

https://www.surviveoutdoorslonger.com/products/escape-bivvy-orange

 

[Rufus]

Yeah it's pretty decent, especially for the price; I don't think I'd use it other than unexpected nights out. If I know I'm going to be bivying I use a more expensive (and heavier) eVent bivy from MLD.

They (SOL) have a few, the one I have is this one

https://www.surviveoutdoorslonger.com/products/escape-bivvy-orange

Thank you sir. Enjoy your evening. -Rufus

 

[adventure907]

Siwashing is my favorite tactic that I love to hate. I've got quite a few siwash stories, especially from the last couple sheep seasons. When I get a little time and am recovered from the fall, I'll sit down and write up a few of those experiences.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

Only experience where I have done this on purpose was when I discovered a high country lake with huge cutthroat trout and became obsessed with catching them. The lake was between 11k and 12k and was about a 3.5 mile hike with right around 2.5k elevation gain. I would pass the trailhead on my way home from work So I decided to go fast and light in order to fish the lake before and after work a sometimes. After work I would speed hike up with just a day pack and fly rod and sleep by the shore of the lake in a small emergency bivy. It was July and August but still pretty chilly up there. Needless to say I did not sleep well. I also never did catch any. They were huge super selective eaters, and I think I determined there were only about 4 of them in the entire lake, but they all looked to be 5-8 lbs. This was before the Colorado Front range mountains became completely overrun. I never saw anybody at that lake back then. Hiked up there a few years ago and there were 2 guys fishing it and a family of about 8 having some kind of formal photo shoot.

 

[Tod osier]

I don't recommend doing it with children. . Camped on an elk kill on a rainy night in the Frank with wife, son and dog. Good times.

 

[mtwarden]

They'll never forget that!

 

[Luke S]

I never did it hunting but I thought about it a few times. I used to have an 11oz synthetic quilt. That plus a jacket would have got you through a pretty chilly night.

Now once in Canada my friend and I both lost our rafts. We thought pushing SOS was the only option but realistically a rescue probably wouldn't have got there until the next day. So we ran along the river and found my friends raft. Everything had water forced in by the force of the river. A fire didn't help in the cold rain. I got the soggy down jacket and wrapped up in the deflated raft. My friend got a wet down sleeping bag. Neither of us was warm. Apparently my shivering woke my friend up once. We survived and got home. Our 5 day trip only took 11 days to complete.

 

[MattB]

Killed a ram and had my guide injure his ankle bringing our packs the ~3/4 mile to the kill site. Luckily there was fire wood, but our fire worked its way ~15 feet over the course of the night. There was very little sleep to be had. The outfitter flew in the next AM, he and I split my sheep, and we packed it out.

Luckily it was late July and the sun wasn’t down for long.

 

[mtwarden]

I never did it hunting but I thought about it a few times. I used to have an 11oz synthetic quilt. That plus a jacket would have got you through a pretty chilly night.

Now once in Canada my friend and I both lost our rafts. We thought pushing SOS was the only option but realistically a rescue probably wouldn't have got there until the next day. So we ran along the river and found my friends raft. Everything had water forced in by the force of the river. A fire didn't help in the cold rain. I got the soggy down jacket and wrapped up in the deflated raft. My friend got a wet down sleeping bag. Neither of us was warm. Apparently my shivering woke my friend up once. We survived and got home. Our 5 day trip only took 11 days to complete.

Luke I remember reading your account of that trip some years back- quite an adventure to be sure!

 

[Luke S]

Yeah Mike, it was after that trip that someone invited me to try an adventure race. Somehow I wasn't motivated to feel that way again!