Bivi Hunt vs. Spike Camp ... Weight/Fatigue Considerations

[aion2come]

I consider myself not a gram counting weenie, but also someone who will make choices and spend some $$ to hit the sweet spot between lightweight and comfort. With that in mind, I have a question as to the fatigue factor that comes into play when carrying weight bivi hunting vs spike camp hunting.

So I've done some of both. More of the spike camp back in 2-3 miles.

My conundrum between these two styles has always come down to this: Will I feel more fatigued carrying a full pack all day (but being able to camp wherever I find myself) or will I feel more fatigued by walking 2-4 miles back to camp after hunting all day while still carrying 15-20 lbs that entire time? By fatigued, I'm not just talking about how you feel after the first day, but after day 7 or 8. Which creates greater wear and tear and fatigue on the body? I'd love to hear opinions from guys who have done both.

 

[dingleberns]

I hate the 2-4 mile hike back to a base camp, I always camp on the mountain so I don't have to worry where I go during the day and what time it is. When it gets dark, I walk away from the elk and set up camp. I did bivy/tarp 2 years ago (love the set up), just a tarp set up last year, and now I will be doing a nemo hornet. The bugs got to me scouting this season. I'm still torn between the bivy/tarp and the hornet but I will have the option to do both now.

 

[mlgc20]

Carrying a 7-8 day supply of food everyday (on top of everything else) is pretty tough IMO. Obviously, the weight is getting lower each day. But, those first few days you are going to have a very heavy pack. Personally, I find it tough to be fully focused on hunting with my whole camp on my pack, plus a lot of food. For me, the limit is about 3-4 days if I’m carrying everything. Then I need to head back to the truck to resupply.

 

[Hogyotedeer]

I dont like hunting carrying around anything at all on my back much less carrying camp. Maybe I hunt different than most but where i go no one is gonna go carrying a backpack. I carry everything I need in a fanny pack including a space blanket and a poncho with that if I find myself a long ways out come dark I just build a fire, eat a snack and use the ponch to make a tarp and sleep right there. if ive found elk that far away i will just move my camp a little closer and go from there. an hour away is about right for me, not so far it is a haul every morning but far enough to be out of the elk when at camp

 

[GunsAreFun]

In for this discussion. I too have struggled with this exact question. I think one element you have to add is the loss of sleep from having to spend a couple hours each morning and night walking in and out.

In my rookie mind (not new to backpacking but new to Backcountry hunting), 2-3 days of food and my lightweight sleep system only adds 7ish pounds to my kit. I’m still under 30 pounds in the pack with food and 2L of water. Does carrying an extra 7-8 pounds (30# total) for 7-10 miles per day for seven days use more energy than carrying 22lbs for 4-6 miles each day for seven days back to the truck plus your 7-10 miles of hunting mileage plus a loss of 2-4 hours of rest time?

So using the lowest mileage in the range, that is: 7 miles with 30# vs 9 miles with 20-22# with 2 hours less sleep.

I really don’t know. It sounds like there is an advantage to the former but I haven’t done it in the mountains yet

 

[dingleberns]

In for this discussion. I too have struggled with this exact question. I think one element you have to add is the loss of sleep from having to spend a couple hours each morning and night walking in and out.

In my rookie mind (not new to backpacking but new to Backcountry hunting), 2-3 days of food and my lightweight sleep system only adds 7ish pounds to my kit. I’m still under 30 pounds in the pack with food and 2L of water. Does carrying an extra 7-8 pounds (30# total) for 7-10 miles per day for seven days use more energy than carrying 22lbs for 4-6 miles each day for seven days back to the truck plus your 7-10 miles of hunting mileage plus a loss of 2-4 hours of rest time?

So using the lowest mileage in the range, that is: 7 miles with 30# vs 9 miles with 20-22# with 2 hours less sleep.

I really don’t know. It sounds like there is an advantage to the former but I haven’t done it in the mountains yet

I'm right at 30# with 5 days of food. get's lighter every time I eat. Obviously it depends on your physical abilities. I have no issues going 7-10 miles per day with 30# and I hike like a mountain goat. To each their own.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

So conditions play a big part in this. On one hunt the wind blew 24/7 with snow mixed in most of the time. Impossible to glass or find tracks. Had to keep moving and camp when I lost light. Selected a hammock for this bivy hunt because I hate looking for flat spots, hammering stakes in frozen ground and dealing with the wet gear in the morning. A hammock stays high & dry, sets up quickly and can be hung anywhere. I slept in a different spot each night on a second to last day, found my target at last light. Too late to set up a stalk so I pitched camp and started after him in the morning. Killed my bull at 7:30am. Never woulda happened if I had to hike back to a spike camp.

 

[Poser]

For me, the answer is always backpack/bivy hunt. Aesthetically, I much prefer it and I hate getting up stupid early (years of treestand hunting burned me out on 2:30 alarm clocks) and I hate getting a handful of hours of sleep even more. So yeah, the pack is “heavy” starting out. I just did a 6 day scouting trip with a spotting scope, some monster climbs, long days and, at 36 lbs, the pack was feeling heavy towards the end of the day. That being said, the effects of the pack are more of a discomfort issue as I do feel as if I can almost fully recover from a hard day with a proper night’s sleep and proper nutrition intake. Also, I keep the camp stationary when it makes sense, more often than not, come back and pack it up mid morning. Beyond the practicality, I love backpack hunting -I love the adventure aspect. You head out, maybe you have a plan, maybe you don’t, maybe your plan changes and you end up where you end up depending on what the animals you are hunting are doing. Maybe you sleep on an awesome, exposed vantage point where no person has ever camped one night and your in a mule deer bed under a stunted semi alpine, pine tree the next night.
Everything that you do from eating, to camping as simply and as light as possible, is forward momentum. Slogging back and forth just to have a few comforts sounds like lack of commitment to the cause to me and I’ll usually choose to bivy even on a overnighter 1.5 from the trailhead when I could just as easy sleep at home than any other method. I love it.

 

[tdot]

Even on a day hunt, I've always carried basic safety/comfort equipment so that I could make it through a night. Now I've optimized my gear to the point where my overnight gear is only couple of pounds heavier then my safety gear was. So now there is zero issue for me to have it with me 100% of the time. 1.5 pounds of food a day and a couple extra pounds of gear. Even if I have a basecamp setup, this gear goes with me. It's the best of both worlds, imo.

With a similar setup, there is minimal additional fatigue to have my camp with me. Even a short 2 mile hike back to a basecamp will be more fatiguing. However if a basecamp has a tent/stove, easy access to water, more appropriate cold weather or wet weather gear, then the hike back becomes worth burning the calories.

 

[NevadaZielmeister]

I guess I must be missing something or maybe some are overthinking this?

I pretty much backpack hunt all of the time. I would bring my 1 person tent and then spike. I would never rely on a tarp setup since I would only save like 8-10 ounces of weight. Then from there, I would head out to glassing areas before sunrise and get back to camp after dark. As for sleeping, well, when all of the deer and/or Elk are bedded down and things are slow, I take a nap, unless I am getting into a stalk. Sleep never seems a problem.

The biggest issues are access to water and terrain. I can hike to my areas within an hour, which is not that bad and really doesn't tire me out. And really, I just get more in shape and stronger as the hunt goes on, so maybe nutrition is a concern? Are we eating properly? If I am near water, I stay near it, since Archery seasons are usually warmer/hot and this dictates where the game is and where I need to be as opposed to want to be.

The only time I would move is if the conditions were poor (no game) or my hike back to the vehicle was just too dang far, think maybe 10 miles from the car is my limit for Elk, maybe 15 miles for Deer.