how many guys backpack hunt?

[340wby]

by that I mean hunt while living from the backpack for a few days at a time? for example, my normal ELK hunting involves parking the trucks and backpacking into a good area, that allows me to be carefully cold, (no fires, no trace) camping miles from the roads on opening day and I seldom return to the trucks except for a brief resupply about every three days untill we get an ELK, this allows use to scout a great deal more area simply because we camp where ever we find ourselves when darkness falls.
the camp is super low impact,(no fires, no cooking) even in snow and rain a large plastic lean-to type shelter placed deep in the conifers for less chance of being spoted by other hunters or elk, and sleeping bags are the comon camp
now most years we have a second or third team that does stay and camp at the trucks also, and its not uncomon for some members of the ELK camp to swap teams several times durring the hunting trip, to rest up or enhance thier chances by changing areas hunted several times  
BTW you can always tell the NEW guys their pack weights twice as much

[foxcaller]

Oh yeah! I'm leaving in the morning to backpack into the Superstition Wilderness here in AZ in search of a nice Coues deer. We will be staying till Tuesday. Tough going with minimal gear but I like like getting away from the hoards of hunters. I think most hunters hunt within a mile or so of a driveable road so hiking a few miles away from a road usually gets me to areas where the deer are not pressured much. In the past few years the number of hunters using ATV's seems to have exploded and they like to hunt off of them meaning any little dirt  two track is in need of a traffic light almost! That's cool with me as they like to stay near their machines for the most part and that means they won't be hiking into areas that are off limits to motorized travel which means a whole lot less hunters and better odds for me.

[alpini]

To me, the backpack hunt is always the most satisfying. I too go low impact. I don't care what form of weapon I use, in the end it's all the same( I had a great time).
  I also feel that the game knows when hunting season comes because of the increased motorized activity going on. I find game more active in the backcountry where most hunters don't go. I also feel more in-tune with my surroundings, I mean more a part of rather than just visiting. I always seem to have a much more enjoyable hunt instead of bummed out by all the ATVs.

[Rusty]

I backpack into my hunting areas to get away from the numerous "sluggo" hunters.  Sometimes I will take a small propane stove to heat up water for tea or coffee.  I would like to try pack horses sometime, to pack in more food and gear to stay longer in some prime areas.

[targshooter]

I backpack hunt here in northern Minnesota in the Iron Range. Used to backpack hunt in the north central part of Maine. Have also backpack hunted in Manitoba. The real work starts once the game is down.

[mrfisher]

i too love to backpack on my hunts...we started in 1989 backpacking the adirondack mountains around the "mud mountain" region. we park the truck and hike till almost dark and set up camp...hahaha "tarps"we are usely around 12-15 mile deep in the forest and dead tired the first night. i have been going there for 20+ yrs and have never even seen someone elses foot print other than our own. oh and you are so right! the work begans when you drop a big buck. i shot a very large 8 point three yrs ago-had a inside spread of 23" and dressed out at 213lbs. it took me three trips to the truck after completely de-boning the monster. but it is still my favorite way to hunt. now living in wyoming and not knowing the area i guess i will be asking alot of questions in the future.any help would be greatly appreciated.
Happy Hunting!!

[MarkJ_Thompson]

Getting old and lazy...I really like sleeping and eating at home every night.

But it is only a 30 minute ride to go hunting...

[m14dan]

I have backpack hunted but now I prefer to take my mule along. I ride and he can carry a much larger pack than me also. Plus the greatest bennefit is nothing gets past his nose and those huge ears. This weekend he spotted about 20 mule deer and at least 50 turkey for me that I may not have seen till it was too late.

[Shane in WI]

At home here in WI, I hunt whitetail and turkey out my back door, but this fall in CO we are going on a backpack hunt for Elk.  I'm not sure exacltly what to expect, but I know it will be harder than other years when we stayed in campers and had ATV's to get us near the area we hunted.  I'm really looking forward to this hunt.  Been working out, but I know it won't be enough come Oct.  All I need is a bull in my scope and I'll be very happy.

[james]

I have back packed for high country mulies in Colo a few times but I usually muzzle loader hunt for elk in Sept.  The weather is often warm and the meat could spoil before I could pack it out of some wilderness areas.    For that reason I am limited to no more than a half day hike into a hunting area.    I will admit, the elk I find are usually in the most inacessible places.   My advice to you youngsters is to run up and down the mountain every chance you get because age can sneak up on you. I suspect I will be antelope hunting more in the future, where the hills are not as steep.
good hunting
James

[TopGun]

Typically, 4 of us load our Bul-Pacs (Great frame btw) with 6 MRE/s grannola bars, gear for comfortable cold, backpacker stove to have coffee, and go. We each take a 2 man tent that is really only good for a man and small boy so each is comfortable. Our packs with bags and gear typically weigh in about 60lbs but we rarely hike into teh wilderness  more than 6 miles and hunt anywhere from 6-7 miles from camp. We have had to pick up and move to find Elk. That's what's fun about being portable. I shot my 6x6 12 miles from the truck-we did a side hill pack-out and saved almost 3 miles but ti was tough. This gets harder and harder each year. I turned 50 this year and it is a bear to stay in that kind of shape! I can't wait until October!!!! Topgun! PS-I hunt with a 375JDJ cuz it only weighs 4lbs and will stop anything I want to hunt. It's tough to get an Elk rifle/scope/ammo under an honest 8lbs. It's just more for your shoulder!