"Lightweight" backpack hunting is an exercise in frustration. Total weight?

[MTForester]

"We pack our insecurities"

Not sure who said this (Roman Dial maybe?) but it is spot on. The more trips you do and the more comfortable you get living out of your backpack, the less 'stuff' you will need.

You can spend a lot of money dialing in your gear, but at some point you just need to pack less of it.

Get comfortable building a fire in all types of weather, that will give you the confidence to pack less "extra" clothing.

Nothing wrong with getting stronger and fitter, but even the strongest will cover more ground and be more effective with a lighter load.

 

[Jimss]

I didn't have the chance to read all the posts. When I started hunting Alaska sheep and goats I totally went through all my clothes and equipment trying to dump weight. Not only did it save on bulk/wt but baggage charges getting up North!

The first thing I did was buy a scale to weigh everything I owned. Obviously the quickest way to loose weight was to change out the heaviest items I own....rifle, backpack, tent, sleeping bag, coat, spotting scope, tripod, etc. I also went through my clothes and picked pants, shirts, etc that were the lightest for the warmth/weight ratios, dried quickly, etc.

In regard to packs, I think you are on the right track! It is definitely worth having a pack that comfortably is capable of hauling 100+ lbs even though it may weigh more than ultra-light packs/frames. Even though a pack may weigh a chunk more my body certainly is better off at the end of a long day of hauling with a pack/frame designed for heavy/bulky loads! I actually picked Kifaru. Even though Kifaru was a tad heavier than Stone Glacier (my 2nd choice). I liked the fact that Kifaru offered a wide range of bags, lids, pouches and was available in camo.

Good luck in your choice! This is a great post!

 

[Muleyczy]

What’s in your 17.5 lb shooting/kill kit? I haven’t weighed mine but that just seems high. I upgraded some kit this summer and dropped 4 lbs. I went with stone glacier and am super happy. Its weight to strength ratio is awesome and I’ve take out a full deer in load shelf, leaving room for my kit as well. My full kit w/ 32 oz of water for hike in on 6 day hunt is 39 lbs.

 

[sgdevries]

Im a huge believer of smaller pack equals less weight. You just don't bring along the stuff you don't need.

 

[MtnOyster]

Add in a couple more Mtn house, granola bars and a couple pop tarts and minus the action cam and life straw mine weighed in around 35-38 lbs can’t quite remember exactly, that’s a Kifaru T2 with bikini frame I had to pack in a little over 2 miles 2017 season (not too bad) but I went through 3 days of hell with thunderstorms and wind but stayed dry at night though, didn’t have to this year, elk were closer to my base camp.

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[deerkiller]

I am at 55-60 lbs. But I pack in a stay 5-7 days.
Everything is in there from tent-heat stove- sleep items- cook items to processing animal items- to clean camp items in bear country, to navigation- to sanitary items to filming items. Depending on how, what and where you hunt this weight game gets to be a problem one way or another for sure.... You are going to pay up front , in the middle or at the end, but you are gonna pay.
I would rather pay a weight penalty on SOME items than a comfort penalty.

SO very true what you say …...

 

[deerkiller]

"Lightweight" backpack hunting is an exercise in frustration. Total weight?

I've been an ultralight backpacker and alpine climber a lot longer than I've been a hunter. I'm used to really light packs.

However, the longer I hunt, the harder it is for me to keep my carry weight low.

Even spending top dollar on lightweight gear, I can't come close to a carry weight that I'm used to for backpacking (or even climbing.)

Some of the biggest challenges:

Meat hauling. I'm typically solo, so when I'm hauling meat, I'm carrying a TON of weight. This means I've got to carry a pack with a substantial frame and hipbelt. I've tried lightweight packs. They don't cut it with 100 pound loads.
So, I'm stuck with carrying a pack that weighs almost 7 pounds empty.

Optics. Good glass is heavy. I started out carrying only light weight binos. However, the more I hunt (in the mountain West) the more I realize that I need to see long distances, and I can't get around the need for good glass. I went from small binos, to large binos, then back down to small binos combined with a spotting scope. A spotting scope means I've also got to carry a tripod. My 8x32 binos, while light, still weigh over a pound. My lightweight spotting scope weighs 2 pounds, my tripod and ball head weigh 2 pounds, and my rangefinder weighs half a pound.

Between the weight of empty pack and my optics, tripod and rangefinder, I'm already at the fully loaded weight of my typical ultralight backpacking pack.

Add the rifle, game bags, etc., and I'm no longer "lightweight."

So, I guess I will just have to adjust my definitions of what lightweight means, spend more time in the gym and less in the kitchen, and just get used to carrying a heavy "lightweight" load.

This season's deer hunt, my weight (from skin out, including everything I wore and carried) was 45 pounds.

I wonder what other folks who are doing lightweight backpack hunting are carrying and wearing. What's your from skin out weight?

I'm longer in the tooth now so "backpack hunts" are largely a thing of the past for me but weight is weight and I've become a "lighter is better junkie" died in the wool ….. I was agonizing over the cost of a SG pack awhile back and had my finger hovering over the BUY button, relented one more time (but was resigned to buying one) then a buddy suggested I check out an eBay ad, which I did, "meat pack" the heading said I think - I thought "what the heck" for $125 I bought one, now ALL my hunting buddies, partners, outfitter friends, others have them - It's definitely not the end all of packs but for a simple cheap heavy load hauler that is quite versatile it fills a lot of niche's very well (I still long for a SG, maybe will have one yet ….)

 

[Beendare]

My last solo backpack early archery mule deer hunt in the mtns for 5 days i was at 36# including abkut 20oz water (enough to get me most of the way before filling up)

That didnt include my binos around my neck...or my good tripod and 15x60’s. I didnt bring those......another 6# +/-

If I’m going really light like that I typically use a cheap light 1# tripod or cut a stick to use as a monopod for my binos. My tent, pad and bag are 6#.

Going UL is cool almost like carrying a day pack...... and its amazing how much more nimble you feel while covering ground.

The old days of heavy frame pack plus another day pack to hunt in, too much clothes and a bunch of heavy camp gear are over

 

[Ndbowhunter]

Looking at your list, your clothing weight seems very heavy, but you dind't say what time of year or environment you are in and your shelter and sleeping gear seem very light, but at the end 49 pounds isn't bad at all. I would venture to say anywhere between 50-60 pounds all in with food, water, all gear for an early season hunt where you are not packing for extreme weather is fairly standard.

When you see people saying, my pack only weighs in at 32 pounds for 5 days, they are just keyboard hunters and probably have never done a backcountry hunt where every ounce of your gear is on your person.

Iu

5 day hunt

Been on heaps, haven't shouldered much more then 30 pounds in a long time.

Only Extra shit that isn't on my body day in and day out. Thermals, hat, board shorts, wool shirt, sox and boots I wear day in day out. Trekking poles and gaiters I exclude too. That's how I look at it. Not cherry picking data set, and will round up but here goes

Rifle 6.5lb
Bino 2lb
Harness plus range finder 1lb
Sleeping pad .75lb
Sleeping bag 1.25lb
Pack 4lbs
Jacket 1 lb
tent and all the stuff 2lb
Food 3.5lb
knife .24lb
Cooking stuff 1lb
Misc junk 2lb call it.
Extra clothes include rain pant, puffy and cotton comfy socks 2lb

Call it 64oz of water

 

[Ndbowhunter]

Totally forgot to add tripod at 1.5lb

but there's a bunch of rounding up so I don't think the real total number is far off the mark.

I've went down light as 9oz on jacket
14oz on shelter
5lb on the rifle
Bino and bungy straps at 20oz
Pack at 46oz

So there's room for improvement, but at the end of the day if my bladders at 60oz or 100oz, not a big difference.

the pack was fine but it didn't fit me as well as my older 1st gen kuiu with everything cut off.

The tent was a bit tight for getting socked in days at a time

8x32 bino's just dont work the same in the field off the tripod

No problems with the jacket, I just left it in a hut and didn't feel like going back and getting it so I tried something a bit more bomber.

And a 5lb rifle (ar15 lightweight build with lightweight optics) is just plain hard to shoot when you are unsteady and I just can't trust scopes in that weight category.

 

[twall13]

3.5 lbs. of food for a 5 day hunt would have me starving, unless you have some super high calorie per Oz. foods. I'd be at least double that for sure. Mind sharing your food list? I'm always looking to improve.

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[mtwarden]

hmmmmm 1.25-1.5 lbs food/day is about the bare minimum I've found and that's going pretty bare bones; even when adventure racing it doesn't go much below that- too many calories burned hunting (or racing) to go much lower

 

[snowcamoman]

I've gone lower than 1.2 a day, it just equates into some body mass loss on a trip. Gotta pick your foods carefully and make sure your system can deal with it. Make sure to test out prior to going into the field.

 

[AK Troutbum]

3.5 lbs. of food for a 5 day hunt would have me starving, unless you have some super high calorie per Oz. foods. I'd be at least double that for sure. Mind sharing your food list? I'm always looking to improve.

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Agreed. I consider myself a pretty light eater when I’m in the back country and I can usually get it done with 1.5 pounds of food per day. With only allowing myself 11 ounces of food a day, I probably wouldn’t be able to lift my head up off the pillow after the second day or so.


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[Ndbowhunter]

I'm a bit busy now for a wee bit if anyone wants a breakdown on food pm me in a month or so.. did the quick math but I underestimated food. It's about 3.65lb for 5 days.

Eat breakfast before you hit the trail, eat dinner at the truck day you come out. 14oz for 3 days, 8 oz the other 2.

And to be honest I wouldn't be scared to eat a pound of food day one and taper off, you only carry that weight one day.

 

[Wrathchild]

Was 59 lbs with ten days of food, October in AK. No water. And before adding tent (Cimarron) so maybe 64 before water? Partner carried spotter. Was training with up to 70lbs, so wasn’t too much of a burden, and only gets lighter as the days go on. My motivation for upgrading various pieces of gear wasn’t so much for weight, but volume, and dual purpose.

Best advice is to make sure most of your gear serves multiple purposes. Having a ton of stuff that only does one thing makes your pack weight skyrocket.

 

[paulforward]

i'm not much of an internet contributor but i found this post and have been backpack hunting in Alaska for quite a few years, usually 30-50 days per year, mostly via backpack, usually solo.

I'm able to keep my 7 day september/october mountain hunting kit to 40lbs with weapon and water fairly easily.

First off, i've never found need for any shelter other than my HMG Ultamid 2 and i've tried over a dozen different shelter options. plenty of space and will endure any storm that AK can throw at you if guyed out correctly. if bugs are an issue just wear a headnet while sleeping but they almost never are during that time of year. similarly, a 19oz down quilt is plenty even for temps that freeze water. bring a good 12-15oz pad like the neo air x-therm. use the lightest pack you can find that is comfy packing out an animal. SG has served me well so far but always looking for something better.

This will be controversial but if you're hunting for adventure, don't bring a rifle. in my opinion, the only challenging part of sheep and goat hunting is usually getting into the places where they live. stalking to rifle range of either is pretty darned easy so why not make the hunt itself a bit of a challenge and bring a bow. I prefer a 16-20oz longbow and a light quiver with 5-6 arrows. the hard part of the hunt, the hike/climb, will be easier and the easy part will become a challenge. if you're relying on a mountain hunt for the winter meat supply then a rifle makes sense but otherwise I don't get why people do it if they want a good adventure. if you don't get one with a bow that's all the more incentive to come back next year and you get to hike out with a light pack and go do it again! more time in the field=more fun! again, i know it's controversial but it's the best place to drop weight and add enjoyment in my experience.

the rest if pretty easy. no change of clothes. go for the lightest outwear you can afford. even really light stuff will last one or two trips per year, more if you take care of it. 3lbs of raingear is overkill even for kodiak. go for foods that taste good but have the highest calorie to weight ratios. light boots are good too but are one of the places where i'm happy to pack an extra few ounces for comfort.

i do bring a bear spray sometimes and have packed a G20 before as well. both are probably just a result of paranoia though and would be the first thing to get left behind if pack was feeling heavy.

and spend time in the mountains especially if you're fortunate enough to live near them. 1-2 week hunting trips in summer/fall the feel pretty benign if you've spent the rest of the year playing in the mountains as much as possible. backcountry skiing a few days per week all winter is pretty great cross training and a great way to gain mtn experience. so is packrafting, whitewater kayaking (esp if you have to hike-in the heavy boat), alpine climbing, and mountaing biking. heck, even speedflying and paragliding would be pretty good training if you're hiking your gear to the tops of mountains all the time. it seems like the people who struggle the most are those who only venture into the big mountains during hunting season. i realize not everyone lives near mtns with the capabability to do this.

apologies for the rant. best of luck to everyone this season!

 

[Whaledriver]

Toss the scale, delete the spreadsheets and train your body. All a scale does is get in your mind when you are 5 miles in. Keep a journal and write what worked and what didnt after the hunt. That also keeps the good idea fairy in check.

 

[RyDog450r]

I second the journal idea but I didn’t pack one in! Lol took notes at the truck

 

[Beendare]

"We pack our insecurities"......dang that is a good saying....

I've hunted with guys that pack way too much chit.