Pack weight

[snake]

I am going to be hunting for approximately 5-7 days. I am planning on packing in everything on my back. As it is right now, I believe that I am going to have approximately 40 something lbs going in on my back. Is this about right for the length of hunt or should I look at lightening up somehow? If I am to cut some weight, where do you start? Thanks.

[RockChucker30]

Snake,

It all depends on what kind of gear you've got, what you feel comfortable leaving at the trailhead, and how large your budget is.

I know guys that can get down into the 20's for a 5-7 day hunt. This year I expect to be in the low 30's without bow weight and without water weight.

You have to find a balance between comfort, functionality, and efficiency. A lot of guys take a ton of gear to help them survive and process an elk if they get one, but especially for Easterners we're pushing ourselves physically the moment we get there just by dealing with the altitude. If you throw on a bunch of extra weight you will actually reduce your chances of killing an elk. It's kind of a take less stuff, be less comfortable, increase the suck factor if an elk goes down, or take more stuff, be more tired, have less chance of killing one.

[ElkNut1]

40#-45# is about right for that length of time when you consider tent, sleeping bag & pad, that's a pretty solid wt there. Bow & water weight is in the equation. I start with 80oz & refill when needed.

ElkNut1

[snake]

Just wanted to add that the 40ish lbs will include bow weight and 3 liters of water going in.

[kevin_t]

I've done in the upper 20's with tripod, spotter, and rifle in early November for a weekend. It was a stretch, but for early season, I would think low 30's is pretty reasonable.

[pointysticks]

seriously?

i just did a 9 day. got my pack down to 35lbs with two nalgene bottles full of water.
and this is sharing cooking gear, water filter, and tent with my brother.

doing it solo. and add bow, arrows, rangefinder, release, binos, game bags, small daypack thing (maybe my camelback)..and knife stuff..i bet it all goes north of 50!

last time on my rookie hunt. i had heavy gear. my pack was 70! i made it tho.

[pointysticks]

I've done in the upper 20's with tripod, spotter, and rifle in early November for a weekend. It was a stretch, but for early season, I would think low 30's is pretty reasonable.

my rifle with scope, spotter, and binos would be 14lbs.. i would die with 6 lbs of remaining gear

[kevin_t]

Small Minox spotter, Snipepod, Tikka T3 and range finder is 10 lbs. I had about 15 - 17 of gear, clothing and food

20 degree Quilt and insulated bivy plus sleeping pad (evo and therma rest prolite torso)3.5 lbs
Pack a bit over 2 lbs
Lil Bug Out tent 1.5 lbs
Sawyer bottle and gravity for water (ounces)
Alcohol Stove minimal plus ti cup (ounces)
Food mostly nuts and Jerky (2 lbs or so)
Some clothes, a Mora knife, ... basic stuff to sort of stay warm in 10 degrees.

It's doable. Good water was all along the route and near camp. We camped at about 11000 in the Elks. Saw Elk when we were 50 ft from the tent in the morning but failed to close the deal in time. Saw a nice Ram as well. It was November and chilly at times (most of the time).

My opinion ? It would cost a lot of money to get much lower weight than that. It would mostly be in the rifle at that point.
Kevin

[BrentLaBere]

My weight for a 9 roughly 10 day trip this year will be 60 lbs including all me gear with 64 oz of water to start. I am bringing my day pack which is 500 cu in. for just my everyday needs. Water, snacks, knife, tags, gps, rope to name a few things for my day pack.

[one_elk]

For a 5 day solo trip 45# is what I expect to carry. This includes tripod and spotting scope…

[kevin_t]

I really think mid 30's is a decent weight for a few days. On my high 20 plus trip the only thing I would have changed was add more food and a sibling stove since the cold evening temps were not easily warmed by a campfire. I used everything .. except shooting on that trip, but in reality the spotter was of little use. I thought the elk that were not on private would be holed up in one of two spots you could not see into and sure enough that seemed to be the where we found them. If I wanted to add more comfort, I could have added four or five pounds and been at 31 -32. This would be with me carrying the shelter and stove for 2 people (I always seem to get sherpa duty).

[dapper]

Last year our packs were 73# apiece for a 14 day hunt. We took a lot of stuff we didn't use, like bows, arrows, knives, game bags etc.
We had heavy sleeping bags, probably close to 6 lbs each. We each had about 20# of food and 8lbs of water. This year we can shed some of the water since we know areas where we'll be able to fill up. I'm hoping we'll drop at least 10 lbs this year.

[Broken arrow]

12 days 53 lb pack 62 with everything bow clothes boots on my body etc. That includes 2l of water. This will be my first trip (hunting that is) I have spent months researching low weight high cal foods eliminating stuff that isn't really needed and trying to get things to the bare minimum. I'm there to hunt not eat luxurious foods and have a weeks worth of clothes. It helps that my bow/ arrow combo (recurve) weights less than a compound w/out accessories. Sacrifice for elk meat that's my thought process. If I want a vacation I'll go to cancun! My .02 as a rookie