10+ Mile Days

[gelton]

Lots of comments assuming one is going 10 miles in. It's very easy to go 3.5 miles in and work a 7-10 mile loop round trip without being more than 5-6 miles in.

 

[orionsbrother]

Not that hard to end up doing that. Hike in a couple of miles in the dark in the morning. Move around a little with a few set ups. Maybe put the elk to bed and hike out before wind becomes an issue. Grab some food and maybe a nap. Hike back the two miles to set up on the elk you located. Hike back out after dark. If you blanked, you’re not that far from ten miles total. If you’re packing meat, you’re over.

But, I agree with many. Many guys overstate the distances they covered and the weight they packed.

And... there have been times that I’ve covered more ground and packed more weight. Most of those times I chalk up to poor decisions.

 

[tdhanses]

I say BS - 10 miles in some places you’re already close to another road

Well 2 miles north, 3 miles east, 4 miles south and 2 miles west will help you skip all roads and get over 10 miles in a day. But if you only hunt in a straight line and get picked up on a different road might be good that road is there.

 

[Rackmaster77]

I avg 12 a day elk hunting, most of that is getting to the holes I intend to hunt and bato camp. I hike at a pace of 2.3mph and usually about 5 miles from camp is as far as you can get from any road in the area I hunt. The other 2 miles are vertical. Last day of last season I was 7 miles from camp at sundown, on 3 screamers and a growler, git within 80 yds myself and my son got two about 60 yds and a cliff kept him from closing the distance. That was a long hike back to camp knowing season was over.

 

[trophyhill]

Run n gun guys do it all the time. I’d rather bring (call) them my way

 

[rclouse79]

I don't usually keep track, but I probably top ten miles some days. In the past I was guilty of hanging around areas where I had found elk in previous years, banking that they would show back up. Now I usually go light and opt for doing a big loop as opposed to hauling in a heavy camp to hunt a smaller area for an extended time. If I don't find elk in spot A I load up in the car and head to spot B for the next day. I don't have enough patience or September hunting days to wait around and hope.
Guys who make a point to brag about how many miles they hike in a day are the same guys who bragged about how many beers they drank a night in college. I find both annoying.

 

[IdahoElk]

I see a ton of posts about people saying that they cover 10 or more miles a day, in the mountains. Is this for real or is this people walking a couple miles and grossly overestimating or exaggerating how much ground they actually cover? Especially with a 50lb pack on.

I remember back to last season where I climbed 1,500ft at 4:00am, glassed a bit, walked a bit, glassed a bit, napped a bit, and ended up back at camp at dark. All covering about 3 miles, and that was a big day.

I have a buddy that tells me every time he goes hunting that he walks like 10 miles, and then he tells me where was and it was more like 1 mile. He’s a tool…hahaha.


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I did 8 miles and 1300k vertical today according to ONX tracker, I'm wrecked, that was hitting the trailhead at 2pm

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

I did 8 miles and 1300k vertical today according to ONX tracker, I'm wrecked, that was hitting the trailhead at 2pm

That’s just over 246 miles of elevation change. Impressive.

 

[rclouse79]

That’s just over 246 miles of elevation change. Impressive.

Not necessarily. He might have been talking about 1300k millimeters. I guess it is hard to judge without a unit.

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Not necessarily. He might have been talking about 1300k millimeters. I guess it is hard to judge without a unit.

Was having fun. More than likely it was 1300 feet.

 

[b0nes]

It happens. Here in n.Idaho the most I’ve done was a 17 mile day(logging roads) and 10 isn’t that uncommon. Not my most productive days by any means though. If I haven’t been hiking I’m sore the next day and it becomes a 3-5 mile day for a couple day and I’m a short little fat guy. Embrace the suck and it’s amazing what can be done. I do quite a few out of state hunts and 5 to 12 miles isn’t that uncommon. Biggest climb I’ve done is 2.2 miles for 2900 feet of elevation in hells canyon and it felt like 20 miles! Elevation is brutal when you get into the 1000’s of feet.

 

[rclouse79]

Was having fun. More than likely it was 1300 feet.

Ha! I was having fun too. Imagine. A kilo-milli meter is equal to a meter. Usually SI prefixes are not used with U.S. measurements. At least I have never heard of a kilofoot or a centi-inch.

 

[Preston]

I do several 10 mile days and never get over 2 miles from the road as a crow flys. I go pretty minimal, bc I’m lazy and hate packing extra weight. Most days I don’t even carry a backpack, Beside rifle/ammo, I take knife, sharpner, hatchet, binos, fire starter, water, and lunch/snacks. The area I hunt has a lot of roads

 

[Btaylor]

Ha! I was having fun too. Imagine. A kilo-milli meter is equal to a meter. Usually SI prefixes are not used with U.S. measurements. At least I have never heard of a kilofoot or a centi-inch.

The centipede feels slighted.

 

[IdahoElk]

That’s just over 246 miles of elevation change. Impressive.

I was so tired when I wrote that,Ha!

 

[trophyhill]

I did 7 miles one way in the Gila once into a great looking area. As the storm approached at my furthest point I was looking for a place to take cover when I jumped up what at the time was the biggest bull I’d seen up close and personal where I was aiming to take cover. It happened so fast I didn’t have time ti even think about nocking an arrow. Glad I didn’t kill him that far in

 

[Rich M]

Whitetail hunting - avg. 5-6 miles a day into stand and back out morning & evening.

Should be pretty easy to put 10+ miles on per day out west.

 

[Jakerex]

Pretty sure I don’t care enough to kill a critter of any sort of it requires 10 mile days…..hell, even 5 mile days!


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[psp8ball]

As others have said, a lot of times people "feel" how hard a hunt is and throw out 10 as a big number. That said, our average day is probably 7-10 miles. It's not as bad as it sounds though. Most of our hunts consist of a 2 miles in, 2 miles out loop. Do one of those in the morning and one in the evening, and you're at 8. We know the area we hunt extremely well, which helps out with knowing the most efficient ways to handle/keep elevation as well.
The more elk we run into, the less miles we put on. So it's a win-win.

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Pretty sure I don’t care enough to kill a critter or any sort of it requires 10 mile days…..hell, even 5 mile days!


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Does make you wonder how many people leave behind meat due to laziness, exhaustion, and/or it going bad before they can get it all packed out. Not to mention how often the cape and rack is packed out before the meat.