Had a great time, didn't harvest an Elk but saw a ton just nothing that met the size requirement. We had temps from -7 to -18*c
1) I need more space, I managed to get all the necessities in/on my ALPS 3800 CI pack plus a few extra layers I didn't use, I would ditch those but there are some other items I will be adding in and I don't want my sole reason for not bringing an item being "I can't fit it" Looking at the Kuiu 7000 CI pack.
2) Hydration pack was good and bad. It allowed me to take a quick sip during the hike in but on the second day eventually the hose froze which led me to trying to thaw it near the fire and an ash melted a hole in the bladder. I found a small company called One Bottle that allows hydration hose onto a Nalgene bottle so going to try that. We melted snow for water at night and that's just not possible in the bladder good thing I had another bottle.
3) Kuiu gear is sweet. I went with the Axis Hybrid pant and Jacket, their Heavy Weight 290 fleece mid layer and some old Merino base layers I had around. Never once was I cold. I will get to use this gear for other hunting adventures so I didn't mind spending the money and the water proof was key, it snowed the whole time.
4) Socks/ feet. I know it's a problem for me my feet sweat but then as you sit they get cold. I was using some heavy merino socks. Ultimately the biggest problem was at night when I didn't change them. In the future I will keep heavy socks for bed time and put some thinner ones on for the day. I ordered some of those puffy slipper booties for night also.
5) I over packed food, I now know what amount of food I will need to keep myself fed for this time. The other crappy thing is in these temps unless your adding hot water to a freeze dried meal your gonna have to warm the food up by the fire for a bit. Cliff bars are awful hard to eat when they are frozen.
6) Hand saw, buddy brought one and that was key for getting larger pieces of fire wood during the night. We only needed one but it is something I will be adding in.
7) The BRS-3000T mini stove works just as good as a jet boil. I made my own little cooking/ water boiling kit in a 700ml stainless cup worked great but again between us we only really needed one.
8) Coghlan's Fire Lighters came in key. There was a wicked snow storm the night before we hiked in and any wood was coated in ice/ snow and these helped us to be able to melt that off and get a fire going. I also tried the cotton balls in Vaseline and that worked well also.
9) Gloves. I had a lined deer skin Watson glove that I wore most of the time these were especially useful for tending the fire and while gathering firewood so you don't ruin your expensive synthetic gloves. The synthetic Kuiu ones worked well while out hunting also.
10) Boot Gaiters are an absolute must. We had 7" or more of snow, without them my boots would have been full of snow.
11) Warm up your water and sleep with it at night. Buddy had mentioned this to me but I forgot to put it in my sleep sack as I went to bed. In the morning part of the water flash froze when I took a sip, I had to thaw by the fire again.
12) I managed with bino's just fine but with a spotting scope it would have been easier to tell if a heard was worth getting close to or not, still not sure if I'd want to carry the extra weight.
1) I need more space, I managed to get all the necessities in/on my ALPS 3800 CI pack plus a few extra layers I didn't use, I would ditch those but there are some other items I will be adding in and I don't want my sole reason for not bringing an item being "I can't fit it" Looking at the Kuiu 7000 CI pack.
2) Hydration pack was good and bad. It allowed me to take a quick sip during the hike in but on the second day eventually the hose froze which led me to trying to thaw it near the fire and an ash melted a hole in the bladder. I found a small company called One Bottle that allows hydration hose onto a Nalgene bottle so going to try that. We melted snow for water at night and that's just not possible in the bladder good thing I had another bottle.
3) Kuiu gear is sweet. I went with the Axis Hybrid pant and Jacket, their Heavy Weight 290 fleece mid layer and some old Merino base layers I had around. Never once was I cold. I will get to use this gear for other hunting adventures so I didn't mind spending the money and the water proof was key, it snowed the whole time.
4) Socks/ feet. I know it's a problem for me my feet sweat but then as you sit they get cold. I was using some heavy merino socks. Ultimately the biggest problem was at night when I didn't change them. In the future I will keep heavy socks for bed time and put some thinner ones on for the day. I ordered some of those puffy slipper booties for night also.
5) I over packed food, I now know what amount of food I will need to keep myself fed for this time. The other crappy thing is in these temps unless your adding hot water to a freeze dried meal your gonna have to warm the food up by the fire for a bit. Cliff bars are awful hard to eat when they are frozen.
6) Hand saw, buddy brought one and that was key for getting larger pieces of fire wood during the night. We only needed one but it is something I will be adding in.
7) The BRS-3000T mini stove works just as good as a jet boil. I made my own little cooking/ water boiling kit in a 700ml stainless cup worked great but again between us we only really needed one.
8) Coghlan's Fire Lighters came in key. There was a wicked snow storm the night before we hiked in and any wood was coated in ice/ snow and these helped us to be able to melt that off and get a fire going. I also tried the cotton balls in Vaseline and that worked well also.
9) Gloves. I had a lined deer skin Watson glove that I wore most of the time these were especially useful for tending the fire and while gathering firewood so you don't ruin your expensive synthetic gloves. The synthetic Kuiu ones worked well while out hunting also.
10) Boot Gaiters are an absolute must. We had 7" or more of snow, without them my boots would have been full of snow.
11) Warm up your water and sleep with it at night. Buddy had mentioned this to me but I forgot to put it in my sleep sack as I went to bed. In the morning part of the water flash froze when I took a sip, I had to thaw by the fire again.
12) I managed with bino's just fine but with a spotting scope it would have been easier to tell if a heard was worth getting close to or not, still not sure if I'd want to carry the extra weight.
