Backcountry Hunting with Extreme Dietary Restrictions (PKU)

[Brenton96]

Myself and a buddy have accumulated a few deer points in Wyoming, and are planning on a rifle mule deer hunt in Wyoming next fall. We want to make it a backcountry backpack style hunt. The issue I am facing is that I have a genetic disorder called Phenylketonuria (PKU). This disorder prohibits my liver from converting a specific amino acid found in protein, phenylalanine (phe) into tyrosine, causing the phe to build up in my bloodstream and block transmissions to the brain. Short term effects are a foggy mind, drowsiness, mood swings, etc. Long term effects can be severe brain damage.

So, what it all comes down to is a very strict low protein diet. Right now my dietician recommends no more than 7g of protein per day. We all know that a human can't survive on just 7g of protein a day, so I have a supplemental formula, in the form of powder, that I mix up with water and drink each day. This provides the equivalent of about 70g of protein and about 900 calories. The formula must be mixed with water, and must be kept and served cold once mixed, as it spoils fairly quickly at room temperature.

My question is; how feasible would it be to pack in pre-measured baggies of my powder, boil water, mix it up, and let it cool over night in order to have to drink the following day? This will be a mid October hunt. Will it be cold enough at night to cool this down enough to drink the following morning? I'm assuming yes, and also hoping so, as I don't see a hunt like this being possible for me without bringing my formula.

Another thing I want to mention is; if any of you can think of some low protein, say <5g per serving, foods that are higher in calories to take on a backpack hunt, please give me suggestions. I know this is kind of opposite of what most of you think about when planning a hunt, but thought it might be good to see if there were some things out there that I haven't thought of.

Thank you! I look forward to any input, and any questions you might have!

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

Seems tough but possible. Biggest hiccup is no way to know if mid October will be cool enough or not. But you could play elevation to help with that. Go higher if it might not get cool enough. But that may not be feasible in every location.

Back up thought would be dry ice, if you could keep it in a cooler of small size that might be able to help if it's not cool enough out? Not ideal, but maybe a fall back?

 

[BirdManMike]

Is boiling the water required in this process? If not, you just a need a filter to filter any water then mix, right?

 

[huntnpack]

Do you own or can you get your hands on a dehydrator? With some planning you could dehydrate certain foods/meals you eat at home and bring them with you. My first thought was to use instant mashed potatoes, but it looks like they contain more protein than I anticipated.

 

[Clam]

Creeks. Cool the beverage (and others) in a creek. Have a backup hotel plan.

 

[JLS]

Is boiling the water required in this process? If not, you just a need a filter to filter any water then mix, right?

My thought as well. Don’t boil it. Just keep a Nalgene bottle of filtered water and mix as you need to.

 

[Brenton96]

My thought as well. Don’t boil it. Just keep a Nalgene bottle of filtered water and mix as you need to.

Yeah

My thought as well. Don’t boil it. Just keep a Nalgene bottle of filtered water and mix as you need to.

True, boiling is not necessary, but the powder defines mixes better when the water is warm. But, yes it would probably be better to just use already cool, filtered water.

 

[JLS]

Take a Blender Bottle

 

[Bulldog0156]

I wish you the best, but some things aren't worth messing your body up over.

I bailed on my opening week elk hunt after two days because diabetes and I were not getting along. It gets harder every year and I'm at the point where it is time to reevaluate my elk hunting plan.