How Heavy is Your 13 day Sheep Pack

[Bambistew]

The spotting scope would be left out or left with the cache of food for me too. I hear Dall's are relatively easy to spot (being white and all) and the 10x binocs might be enough?

I had a conversation with a NV sheep guide one time who insisted that dall sheep were so easy to find and kill because they were white. I asked if they are so easy to find and kill then why is the success rate for them on DIY hunts 22-23%, vs 99% on desert rams?

I'd leave my binos before my spotter,even on an "any ram" hunt.

 

[Bambistew]

I was just looking at Silnylon tarps... I was trying to decide where I could get one and how much it would be.

I have a RAB, but there are many to choose from. I just bought what I could find local at the time. I think I paid $80 for it? I'm leery of buying sigh unseen, the weight of the silnylon seems to vary, and the "Chinese" version seem to be quite thick/bulky.

 

[recurveman]

So for a backpack hunt my pack weighs in at #38 pounds before a gun, food and water. My gun weighs in at 7# so that brings me up to 45#. That does account for my 15 power swaro's and a BTX scope with a tripod. Plan on 2#'s of food a day. Then just add food weight to the pack for the amount of days you will be going in for. So a 14 day hunt would be a pack weight of 45# plus (14 X 2 =28) for a total or 73#. Guess I could cut food down a bit and get my pack down to 70#'s but that looks to be about what it is. Good news is your pack will get lighter each day until it gets really heavy.

I would only bring one extra pair of socks and liners and maybe one pair of extra underwear. Would think about a thin and heavy pair of gloves and leave the mittens at home. Didn't see a knife on the list. Didn't see a headlamp. I would leave the pen light home. You have a phone and should have a head lamp. I do bring an extra headlamp too. You are going to need a decent batter bank to charge items up when they die. I use an anker 20,000 mah battery bank. That will get me through the 10+ days and charge my phone, inreach, headlamp, ect. I bring a "sheep tarp" by Kifaru. Weighs about 11 oz but let me tell you. If the rain or wind picks up it is super nice to get under. Your pad and pillow are costing you quite a few ounces. My pillow is maybe 4oz and I use the therm a rest pad. All in about a pound. There is some super crazy sticky tape that I can't think of right now that I would also bring. Sticks to anything forever. Your first aid kit seems a bit heavy too. I'm all about safety but I think you can bring a few bandages and a good sticky wrap, ect. You don't need a ton of them just a few of quite a few items. Your tent is a bit heavy. Should be solid but at least 1-2 pounds heavy. Get some pyro putty. Not sure how starting a fire is where you are going but that stuff works great and is super light. A few extra small bic lighters. Put a few in different parts of your pack and have one in a dry bag. Keep your down in dry bags when you aren't wearing it.

Go have fun. 15 miles in one day seems like a ton to me. Hopefully you are young and in great shape. My knees and back hurt just thinking about it. Good luck and go kill one!!!!!!!

 

[ThunderNocked]

So for a backpack hunt my pack weighs in at #38 pounds before a gun, food and water. My gun weighs in at 7# so that brings me up to 45#. That does account for my 15 power swaro's and a BTX scope with a tripod. Plan on 2#'s of food a day. Then just add food weight to the pack for the amount of days you will be going in for. So a 14 day hunt would be a pack weight of 45# plus (14 X 2 =28) for a total or 73#. Guess I could cut food down a bit and get my pack down to 70#'s but that looks to be about what it is. Good news is your pack will get lighter each day until it gets really heavy.

I would only bring one extra pair of socks and liners and maybe one pair of extra underwear. Would think about a thin and heavy pair of gloves and leave the mittens at home. Didn't see a knife on the list. Didn't see a headlamp. I would leave the pen light home. You have a phone and should have a head lamp. I do bring an extra headlamp too. You are going to need a decent batter bank to charge items up when they die. I use an anker 20,000 mah battery bank. That will get me through the 10+ days and charge my phone, inreach, headlamp, ect. I bring a "sheep tarp" by Kifaru. Weighs about 11 oz but let me tell you. If the rain or wind picks up it is super nice to get under. Your pad and pillow are costing you quite a few ounces. My pillow is maybe 4oz and I use the therm a rest pad. All in about a pound. There is some super crazy sticky tape that I can't think of right now that I would also bring. Sticks to anything forever. Your first aid kit seems a bit heavy too. I'm all about safety but I think you can bring a few bandages and a good sticky wrap, ect. You don't need a ton of them just a few of quite a few items. Your tent is a bit heavy. Should be solid but at least 1-2 pounds heavy. Get some pyro putty. Not sure how starting a fire is where you are going but that stuff works great and is super light. A few extra small bic lighters. Put a few in different parts of your pack and have one in a dry bag. Keep your down in dry bags when you aren't wearing it.

Go have fun. 15 miles in one day seems like a ton to me. Hopefully you are young and in great shape. My knees and back hurt just thinking about it. Good luck and go kill one!!!!!!!

I have a knife on the list but my main knife may not make it back so i'll probably have to go with a backup (not a bad thing when dabbling in knife collecting I guess). I have a knife and a headlamp. I was going to bring the pen light just in case something happened to the headlamp and to keep from killing my phone as quickly. I am bringing the RAVPower 25,000 MaH Solar battery Bank. To charge my phone and inReach. I guess if I do that maybe skipping the light and batteries all together is my best bet. My Headlamp (Black Diamond Spot) is not rechargeable. I needed a four season tent because of weather in the Chugach's (could see heavy coastal snow) so the tent is the lightest I could get in a 4 season 2 man (new Stone Glacier Skyscraper) but that includes the 12 stakes, 10 guy lines, and footprint. I do have a little bit heavier emergency/survival kit - they are vacuum sealed but I'll weigh them and take a look.My biggest reason of thinking with 2 extra socks and underwear is not that heavy and it could literally rain and snow for the entire 12-13 days we are out there. October in the Chugach's could be sunny and 55, it could be 35 and snowing. Hard to prepare for the wide range of possibilities. Fire fuel is going to be minimal as we are planning on being high up, but I do have some emergency fire starters just in case that are light weight in the kit. I am vacuum sealing both my puffy layers to keep them dry and small on the pack in. I figured anything I can stick in the vacuum sealer I will. I'll eat my way into more room for the pack out. Thanks for your input!

 

[ThunderNocked]

How heavy is your tarp? I can't do $100 plus on a tarp.... i'm pretty much tapped for funds on this. I'm down to just needing food and that is it so I am needing to be careful.
I am looking at like the Kelty Noah's Tarp on enwild.

 

[JLS]

@recurveman you thinking of Tenacious Tape?

 

[recurveman]

@recurveman you thinking of Tenacious Tape?

Thank you!!!!! Tenacious tape is a must have in every pack. This stuff makes duct tape look like scotch tape. It is super bad ass and is a must have. A small section of tape goes a long ways.

 

[recurveman]

How heavy is your tarp? I can't do $100 plus on a tarp.... i'm pretty much tapped for funds on this. I'm down to just needing food and that is it so I am needing to be careful.
I am looking at like the Kelty Noah's Tarp on enwild.

My tarp weighs 11 ounces.

 

[recurveman]

I have a knife on the list but my main knife may not make it back so i'll probably have to go with a backup (not a bad thing when dabbling in knife collecting I guess). I have a knife and a headlamp. I was going to bring the pen light just in case something happened to the headlamp and to keep from killing my phone as quickly. I am bringing the RAVPower 25,000 MaH Solar battery Bank. To charge my phone and inReach. I guess if I do that maybe skipping the light and batteries all together is my best bet. My Headlamp (Black Diamond Spot) is not rechargeable. I needed a four season tent because of weather in the Chugach's (could see heavy coastal snow) so the tent is the lightest I could get in a 4 season 2 man (new Stone Glacier Skyscraper) but that includes the 12 stakes, 10 guy lines, and footprint. I do have a little bit heavier emergency/survival kit - they are vacuum sealed but I'll weigh them and take a look.My biggest reason of thinking with 2 extra socks and underwear is not that heavy and it could literally rain and snow for the entire 12-13 days we are out there. October in the Chugach's could be sunny and 55, it could be 35 and snowing. Hard to prepare for the wide range of possibilities. Fire fuel is going to be minimal as we are planning on being high up, but I do have some emergency fire starters just in case that are light weight in the kit. I am vacuum sealing both my puffy layers to keep them dry and small on the pack in. I figured anything I can stick in the vacuum sealer I will. I'll eat my way into more room for the pack out. Thanks for your input!

It looks like you have most everything under control. You will want to have a dry bag for your down. A vacuum seal is a one use bag basically and you will put your down in and out of a dry bag many, many, many times. Sometimes I put mine in and out of a dry bag 2-3 times a day........or more. The small dry bags are cheap and weigh almost nothing. Worth having for sure. For that matter.......Everything in my pack that I don't want to get wet goes in a dry bag......extra clothes, down, sleeping bag, med kit, fire starter, gloves, warm hat, neck gator, ect. I have a bunch of dry bags in my pack. Lots of smaller bags are better than bigger bags to make sure everything fits in you pack. Really helps with being organized too.......that isn't one of my strengths so that helps.

 

[N_8]

Looks pretty good to me. Lots of solid advice here. I'd ditch the Nalgene in favor of two small plastic juice bottles. I drink more water when I have a small bottle handy in my pocket. Also if you are in your tent, it is pounding rain, everything is wet but you are basically dry....well it sure is nice to pee in one. Just make sure you can tell them apart

If i was going Chugach is October I'd err on the side of gear and food i was confident in rather than worrying too much about shaving a few ounces.

 

[npaden]

Sorry for some of the confusion:
I am leaving a change of clothes with my truck. On me I will have:
bottoms - 1 pair wool base layer, 1 pair SG De Havilland Pants, 1 Puffy Insulation Pant and 1 Rain Pant.
tops - 1 Wool tshirt, 1 wool longsleeve base, 1 midweight 1/4 zip 'softshell', 1 puffy insulation jacket, 1 rain jacket.
2 or 3 total underwear, 2 or 3 total pairs of sock, 1 beanie, 1 ball cap, 2 thin gloves and the mittens for glassing in sub freezing conditions.
I also realized I didn't upgrade this list but my pack is acutally the Stone Glacier Sky Guide 7900 because I couldn't fit enough in my Eberlestock. Iwas at 5500ish cubic inches, fit everything but 0 food.

I think that's where several of us got confused. I think most people don't count the clothes they plan on wearing the entire time, but count the extra clothes that they may or may not be wearing the entire time.

I doubt you will be wearing your puffy pants and puffy jacket on the way in but you need to bring them, so most would count those as pack weight. Good chance you actually will be wearing the pants and rain pants on the way in along with the gaiters so most people wouldn't count them in the weight of the pack. Most would count the base layers as part of the pack weight as well. Just like your boots, you don't have them in the weight because you will be wearing them. I agree that you have probably 3 or 4 pounds of clothes you will be wearing that wouldn't count as pack weight. That gets you closer to the 50 pounds plus food that most people are talking about. Heavy items on the list are your tent and spotting scope but you've already explained why you need those.

Have fun and good luck!

 

[ThunderNocked]

Thanks guys, went through and changed my spread sheet a little bit and need to still weigh and cut a couple things but I'm at 53 pounds.
I'd like to keep that as close to 50 as you all are stating, and then food - i'm thinking about 20 pounds in food which will put me in the 70 to 75 pound range going in. I like it.

Thank you all so much for the advice. My friend and I are both terrified and super excited... first trip like this for both of us. I'm going out for a 4 day moose hunt this weekend and when I get back I'm going to pack my sheep gear and nail down my food. Then I'll be ready to roll.
Final thing besides food is nailing down a taxidermist and talking to them about field care of the cape and skull. Thanks again... keep it coming guys. I'll post an updated list maybe later today or when I get back.

 

[devon deer]

What is the terrain like?
I can't add anything as I've never hunted for that long, all I can say is when I trained for my hunts in the UK prior to visiting Montana I had no elevation to worry about, the ground was a mixture of bog, long grass, hard paths and undulating hills, I packed almost 60lb, we did 24 miles in one day, all I can say I have never been so tired in all my life at the end of that day.
So 15 miles doesn't appear to be a problem to me sitting on my backside in the UK
Have a great trip, very jealous!
Cheers
Richard

 

[recurveman]

Food is a biggie. Weight is one thing....being able to eat what you brought for 14 days is another thing. I've looked at food in my pack at times and only one or two items looked good at the time. Bring variety. You can't have to much variety. I've spend as much time dealing with getting food right as the rest of my gear. Being able to eat and drink when you are cold, wet and tired is very different than sitting in front of the TV. Make sure to have a plan for eating and drinking on your way in. You will need to consume a fair amount of food and water if you are going to hike 15 miles in one day. Like you need to start eating and drinking as you leave your truck and plan on eating 200-300 calories per hour with fluids. If not by hour 4-5 it will be really, really ugly. WHEN your attitude goes to crap (and it will) sit down, grab something to eat and drink fluids. That will help a bunch.

You are going to have a great adventure and learn so much. Just stick it out and have a blast!!!!!!!

 

[ThunderNocked]

What is the terrain like?
I can't add anything as I've never hunted for that long, all I can say is when I trained for my hunts in the UK prior to visiting Montana I had no elevation to worry about, the ground was a mixture of bog, long grass, hard paths and undulating hills, I packed almost 60lb, we did 24 miles in one day, all I can say I have never been so tired in all my life at the end of that day.
So 15 miles doesn't appear to be a problem to me sitting on my backside in the UK
Have a great trip, very jealous!
Cheers
Richard

So from what I can tell not being able to do any boots on the ground scouting - the bottom isn't too steep - 1000' elevation gain over several miles. But I will be walking narrow trails through alder/aspen/birch/willow. Once we get to camp and start hunting. It will be a couple thousand vertical feet each climb up or down the ridges.... between 2500-4500 feet gains from the 2000' floors.

 

[ThunderNocked]

Food is a biggie. Weight is one thing....being able to eat what you brought for 14 days is another thing. I've looked at food in my pack at times and only one or two items looked good at the time. Bring variety. You can't have to much variety. I've spend as much time dealing with getting food right as the rest of my gear. Being able to eat and drink when you are cold, wet and tired is very different than sitting in front of the TV. Make sure to have a plan for eating and drinking on your way in. You will need to consume a fair amount of food and water if you are going to hike 15 miles in one day. Like you need to start eating and drinking as you leave your truck and plan on eating 200-300 calories per hour with fluids. If not by hour 4-5 it will be really, really ugly. WHEN your attitude goes to crap (and it will) sit down, grab something to eat and drink fluids. That will help a bunch.

You are going to have a great adventure and learn so much. Just stick it out and have a blast!!!!!!!

I have seen a ton of advice - and my buddy and I have been watching alot of Jason Hairstons old Kuiu talks, listening to alot of other guys and everything I've read had said this. That was the biggest reason I upgraded to the 3L Platypus so I can just sip even as I'm walking. And then I can also stop to filter water, etc. Snacking throughout, I plan to have a gallon ziplock with the days food and have some stuff that is always good (Fritos and Peanut M&Ms) as well as protein bars, banana chips, some jerky and a mix of stuff. i was also going to to go to the local costco and just buy a bunch of bulk items and start splitting them up.

Thanks for the input. I am planning to stick it out as long as I can and I know even if we aren't successful and if it doesn't work out it will be an amazing learning experiene and an awesome memory.

Having said that.... I'm sticking a dang SHEEP with my bow!!!!!

 

[JLS]

Bring variety. You can't have to much variety.

By about day six, trail mix has the same appeal as dog shit. Variety is crucial.

 

[JLS]

i was also going to to go to the local costco and just buy a bunch of bulk items and start splitting them up.

A few items I really like are Corn Nuts, dried mangos, and good jerky.

 

[JLS]

15 miles on a primitive trail is likely going to take you 7-9 hours, especially with a 75 pound pack. Take your time, take breaks, and eat food. Grind it out.

 

[ThunderNocked]

15 miles on a primitive trail is likely going to take you 7-9 hours, especially with a 75 pound pack. Take your time, take breaks, and eat food. Grind it out.

Corn Nuts, Fritos, Jerky, Dried Pineapple, Dried Apples, Dried Coconut, Jerky, Peanut M&Ms, Chocolate covered Almonds are on my 'idea' list for food variety.
I was also going to try to bring Nan bread instead of like a bagel or Tortilla...not sure how it willl hold up though.

Yeah my plan was to take the entire day to get back in there. One of the directions we can get a ride part way on ATV's that could cut several miles and a stream crossing off our hike. But I'm planning on a dark to dark day the 30th getting in.