Healthy hunting snacks?

[WYO_ELK]

I know this has been covered a bunch, but just wondering what healthy snacks you guys bring out hunting with you. I will be going back to the camper every evening, so I can keep stuff cool. thus year I plan on taking healthier, higher protein, higher good carb snacks with me out hunting. I am thinking maybe some trout jerky,packaged tuna, canned oysters or sardines, sweet potato chips, nuts, home dried fruits, I might also look in to making some energy balls or homemade granola bars to throw in the pack for the day as well. does anybody have a good recipe they recommend trying?

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[buglebrush]

String cheese, Mandarin oranges, and I love spreading chunky pb, honey, and generous amounts of bacon on a tortilla and rolling it up.

[Ryan Conkle]

Granola Bars, a couple pieces' of hard candy, for a quick pick me up, and a smashed Peanut Butter and Honey sandwich are my favorites'...and you don't even have to pre-squish the sandwich, as a day on the mountain usually accomplishes that for me. lol

[Elkhunttoo]

I'm with you on the smashed pb&h . My wife started archery hunting with me a couple of years ago. Don't know what we are going to have but I've ate healthier/better then I ever have up hunting. Last year she made tacos for lunch, she froze pre made tacos and then by lunch they were ready to eat

[JKaboom]

I buy these at Costco and though it is a premade bar it specs out pretty good in my opinion - http://www.generalmills.com/~/media/Ima ... olate.ashx

I use them when fishing and camping for day stuff and have to say they give a good punch for the package...

[Brendan]

Breakfast and Dinner I do either Mountain House or Heather's Choice. Trying Heather's choice this year, but it's more expensive.

Snacks and Lunch I carry a lot of mixed nuts. I really like Pro Bars and Justin's Nut Butter:
http://shop.theprobar.com/Products/PROBAR-Meal
http://shop.justins.com/Nut-Butters/c/J ... NutButters

Trying these this year as well:

http://www.heatherschoice.com/collections/packaroons
http://www.paleolifefoods.com/collectio ... t-box-of-8
http://www.thegranillabar.com/mixed-dozen/

[Tigger]

"....trout jerky,packaged tuna, canned oysters or sardines, sweet potato chips...."

Wyoelk- I would starve to death if those were my snacks! It sure is interesting to see what people like for food. I will bring some Clif bars and other bars, a smashed PB&J and maybe a smashed meat sandwich. I will also have a good old Snickers candy bar along. Most of that I will take out again on Day 2 as I seem to have trouble eating while elk hunting. I wish that were the case while not elk hunting...

[Osprey]

I don't eat anything while on a western hunting trip that wasn't orginally thought out to some extent this ensures I'm hunting as strong on day 9 as I am on day 1 without crashing during periods of the day. Last year for Lunch I ate 2 cliff bars and at min 1 cup of trail mix this packed well and didn't require a lot of time to eat or prepare yet was filling. This also gave me a lot of calories for what I was eating. Trail mix packs a TON of calories which is much needed on hunts. I try for 3500 daily which I was luck to get 2700 and still lost like 10 pounds and I was only 170# at 5' 11" came back as 160# and haven't gained much of any back due to my healthy lifestyle eating and excercise. I ate mountain house and backcountry pantry for Dinner next hunt I'm going to try some of heathers choice to mix things up. Breakfast I just ate some cerial mix I made up with powdered milk that all I needed to do was add water it was nice to wake up add some cold or hot water whatever I chose real fast eat and start my day. Don't really care for dehydrated eggs and I was hunting 3 miles in so I was limited on gear. I think I might look into some freeze dried breakfast next hunt to mix it up cold cereal and cliff bars with trail mix gets kinda old after 7 days but I don't really mind eating it if my dinners are decent which they were!!! Reminds me of the movie the matrix when they were eating that goup stuff and they said it has everything the body needs!!!

[Osprey]

WYO ELK do you make your own trout jerky? If so how do you prepare it? I do a lot of salmon and trout fishing and have a smoker and dehydrator I smoke salmon but haven't turned em into jerky this would be nice to have on the trail. I could mix it with Elk jerky

[Lefty]

I started looking nutrition labels. A lot of what is out there is loaded with salt, nitrates, sugars.

I pack at camp what ever is in season, I have a mixed orchard. apples, sweet plums , Italian prunes, pears, peppers, tomatoes.

Low sodium fish, tuna and salmon.
On nearly every day pack I hunt I have apples in the pack, I feel their weight is worth it
I buy most of my pack food from Walmart or Costco. Kirkland trail mix only has 2 % daily sodium, and I buy a lot of their dried fruit

Really need to watch the granola bars, some have way too much of the bad fats, sugars

[Osprey]

I agree a lot of whats out there has a ton of salt or sugar however a lot of alternatives low in salt and sugar also don't have enough calories as well. For me 2000 calories per day aint gona cut it so calories is kinda high on my list while trying to keep things healthy. Its tough to find somthing that packs enough calories, low in sodium, low in sugar, low in bad fats, and can be backpacked on a 7-10 day hunt without having to eat a ridiculous amount of food as well. If day hunting from a road it should be a little bit easier as weight and bulk for a weeks supply of snacks doesn't become an issue. Most of my hunting is done just past where day hunters can get so my food is backpacked I'm always exploring new things to bring but its def a balance between calories, weight, and how healthy an item is. Freeze dried stuff is ridiculous with sodium and quite a few bars are packed with sugar like equavelent to 1 can of pop but calorie to weight is really hard to beat and weight. I guess since I eat mostly healty on 90% of my meals at home I don't really mind a week of less than ideal. I think if things get too healthy the calories will be too low. My favorite snack that seems to find a good balance for what I want is trail mix I ate at least 1 cup each day this past season, I got a large container at Target relatively cheap I believe someone else mentioned Cosco mine was unsalted, I removed most chocolates I think mine had M & Ms to cut down on sugar and those things at 10 degrees become like tiny rocks, I think 1 cup of trail mix is around 600 calories.

[WYO_ELK]

WYO ELK do you make your own trout jerky? If so how do you prepare it? I do a lot of salmon and trout fishing and have a smoker and dehydrator I smoke salmon but haven't turned em into jerky this would be nice to have on the trail. I could mix it with Elk jerky

osprey, I haven't actually made it before. just thinking about some healthy snacks that are packed in flavor and nutrition, trout jerky came to mind. need to go catch a few wild rainbows before I put any recipes to the test.

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[Roj]

Osprey- have you considered a different bar other than clif bars, something that might be lower in sugars? Quest bars come to mind, with no added sugars and even more protein.

I ask this because it appears you have your stuff figured out & I'm in search of a good meal/protein bar that will pack well and keep me fueled. Thanks

[WYO_ELK]

quest bars have come up time and time again when I have been looking for stuff to take along. I might need to look in to them.

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[Rangerz]

If you want to try some homemade stuff, google "homemade lara bars".

Lot of options you could add into the recipe.

p.s. I am a big fan of the squished PB and Honey sandwich as well!

[Navesgane]

Bacon, lots of bacon. Fried in organic olive oil of course.

[js80138]

Daily snacks include mixed nuts and seeds, Protein Bar and two cuties (oranges). I am a big fan of almond butter and natural marmalade sandwiches. I usually carry small chocolate with me for late afternoons. I also put powdered energy drink mix into my camel back instead of just water. Its a rare day that I actually finish everything in my pack. I know that I need to hydrate much more than I normally do.

[Osprey]

Just came across this and remembered this thread. Kuiu has a DIY easy to make high calorie bar recipe posted up thats worth checking out.

http://hunt.kuiu.com/?p=481