milanuk
Well-Known Member
Hello there - please bear with the newbie questions (regarding backpacking and such) I grew up on a ranch with a freezer full of beef, and deer literally walking through the yard, so I didn't do much big game hunting back then. Since then... the few times I've gone hunting (and dropped something) it was typically somewhere that a reasonably motivated person could drag/carry a deer to someplace accessible by vehicle. After a nice weekend hike w/ the wife and plenty of time to think whilst on the trail... I got to thinking, and thought to myself - how in the hell would you get an animal back *out* of here (4+ miles in from Cottonwood - basically the 'end of the road' on the Entiat River road) - and thats not even that rough of a trail! Don't have a horse, and don't plan on getting one just to go hunting
I've been kinda interested in trying backpack hunting for a while now - if nothing else, to simply get away from the 'road' hunters from the coast. Problem is... I normally hunt solo when I hunt big game at all, and by the time I tally up everything I think I would need to make do in the great outdoors for even just a couple days 'roughing it'... my Kelty Redwing 3100 pack is getting pretty full. Then I get to thinkin'... assuming I *do* manage to drop an animal... how many friggin' trips is it going to take to get the meat, the hide, the antlers, etc. back out, even if I had a bigger pack?
Do you guys who backpack hunt typically hunt in teams (two, three, more?) and split the load going in and share the load coming out? Do you just take select cuts and maybe the rack and leave the rest of the carcass for the coyotes (they have to eat too!) ? Or do you just keep making multiple trips back and forth? Seems like keeping the remants clean and not gnawed on would present a problem?
Sorry if this seems like beginner 101 questions. Figured you guys might have the answers if anyone does.
TIA,
Monte
I've been kinda interested in trying backpack hunting for a while now - if nothing else, to simply get away from the 'road' hunters from the coast. Problem is... I normally hunt solo when I hunt big game at all, and by the time I tally up everything I think I would need to make do in the great outdoors for even just a couple days 'roughing it'... my Kelty Redwing 3100 pack is getting pretty full. Then I get to thinkin'... assuming I *do* manage to drop an animal... how many friggin' trips is it going to take to get the meat, the hide, the antlers, etc. back out, even if I had a bigger pack?
Do you guys who backpack hunt typically hunt in teams (two, three, more?) and split the load going in and share the load coming out? Do you just take select cuts and maybe the rack and leave the rest of the carcass for the coyotes (they have to eat too!) ? Or do you just keep making multiple trips back and forth? Seems like keeping the remants clean and not gnawed on would present a problem?
Sorry if this seems like beginner 101 questions. Figured you guys might have the answers if anyone does.
TIA,
Monte