How steep is too steep?

[D_Walt]

How steep does a mountain have to be before you just say “nope”. Screen shots below are of some steep areas I’ve hunted, one area I went up with my teenaged daughter week before last in her muzzleloader hunt. She was asking how much steeper of a hill can you actually hunt? My response was that I wouldn’t want to go up anything steeper than what we were on. We weren’t on the steepest one below when I said that, but I was younger and dumber (and less pudgy) when half the fun was just getting to the top.

This is pretty steep,


This is steeper and really sucks, at this point I’m not having as much fun:



Then this one I doubt I’ll ever do again:

 

[RobG]

Funny you should ask. 78% grade on a sheep hunt last week

 

[rmyoung1]

Steep, bruh…

 

[Bob-WY]

Going up is bad enough, but for me at least, coming down is way worse

 

[gouch]

Back when I had two good strong legs the steepness of the terrain was never even a consideration when I wanted to get somewhere. The trick is to learn to recognize which shrubs, exposed roots and rocks will support your weight as you pull and claw your way up the hill. There were, of course, times when it got too steep for me to climb, and I was left with the unpleasant task of backing down and trying another route.

Now days I'm pretty much a flatlander.

 

[Gut Shot]

Depends on what I'm hunting. If the dogs have something bayed up in the rocks you climb your ass up there and sort it out whether you want to or not.

 

[npaden]

The actual terrain has a lot to do with it. Loose and steep combined is bad. Sometimes some of the steep stuff has natural steps and shelves that make going up easy.

Here's a hike I do for "fun" at bible camp in the summer. Total distance 2,178', elevation gain 1,169'. Pretty steep and some of it is loose, but you can figure your way up without too much difficulty.

 

[WYWINCHESTER]

How big is the bull at the top??? It's all a down hill drag.

 

[trackerbacker]

Tough to say, maybe elevation more an issue than elevation gain? Or total distance going up that grade?

Quite a bit of what I hunt is 1:1 +, 300'. But over say a mile, I may do that up-down-up-down-up-down-up-down-up-down the entire time, not sheer distance though on that grade...

Soo I'm going to go with yes?

Example:

 

[2rocky]

I'll walk an extra mile to get a more gentle slope where I can look down on those steep sections. I've found over the years that if I kick my own ass too early in the hunt, the quality of my stillhunting decreases later on for an extended period.

When I look at well used gametrails in that steep country I notice they sidehill more than up and down.

 

[Perlodid]

Back when I had two good strong legs the steepness of the terrain was never even a consideration when I wanted to get somewhere. The trick is to learn to recognize which shrubs, exposed roots and rocks will support your weight as you pull and claw your way up the hill. There were, of course, times when it got too steep for me to climb, and I was left with the unpleasant task of backing down and trying another route.

Now days I'm pretty much a flatlander.

Everybody curses vine maple until they're climbing back up out of the hole. I was consistently impressed by how strong sword ferns were too.

 

[Brandon270]

Steepest I've done is about the same as your first example, the bad part is it was on a loose pea gravel type hillside. I found out the hard way trying to come back down it in the dark. I tried sidehilling back down and ended up falling and sliding feet first one my stomach for about 50+ yards two separate times on my way down. Pretty scary situation when your doing it alone.

 

[SAJ-99]

How steep does a mountain have to be before you just say “nope”. Screen shots below are of some steep areas I’ve hunted, one area I went up with my teenaged daughter week before last in her muzzleloader hunt. She was asking how much steeper of a hill can you actually hunt? My response was that I wouldn’t want to go up anything steeper than what we were on. We weren’t on the steepest one below when I said that, but I was younger and dumber (and less pudgy) when half the fun was just getting to the top.

This is pretty steep,

View attachment 294038
This is steeper and really sucks, at this point I’m not having as much fun:


View attachment 294036
Then this one I doubt I’ll ever do again:
View attachment 294035

That is probably where I say ‘nope’. About .35 is the ratio I start to worry about what I am blindly getting myself into. As someone said, terrain matter. What I will add is a topo can lie. Sometimes a 20ft drop and a 20ft cliff on the other side looks doable on a map.

 

[Redmt]

If a 4x4 won't make it, I ain't going.

 

[fishing4sanity]

1st rule, stay safe
2nd rule, know your limits
me.....

 

[perma]

Of all the years of hunting SW CO and as rocky and steep as it is, I can only recall a handful of times where I had to hand crawl up a hill to get to where I wanted to be. Looking back, even if I knew there was/wasn't game in there, I would have probably opted for the safer route. My risk assessment skills are starting to really veer me away from steep hills, even with trekking poles. Heard too many stories of hikers slipping or getting cliff hung. I will walk another 2 miles around a basin and get to a ridge than sheep up the side.

As far as what's too steep, I wouldn't know unless I saw it. I try to not make it a numbers thing because of the differences in floors. Hard dirt is different than scree at a 75% grade. You just know by looking at it, I guess.

 

[p_ham]

I usually don't give it much thought until it's a problem. That's ended with me packing meat on all 4's a time or two.

 

[Redmt]

I was thinking a little deeper on this. Steep for a 30 something is a lot different than steep for a 70 something.

 

[PRO MO]

i checked my steepest spots that i go and they are between 33-50% slope, so 1-1.5ft of elevation per yard of elevation of straight line distance. the longest stretch is just over 600 yds, but usually we can traverse our way up that. 300-400yds at a 50% is the steepest we typically straight line go up. If we're hauling ass, i try to do my 50 step rule (50 steps then rest), but this season it's like 30 steps - or less and pretend i'm listening for elk.

 

[winmag]

If grass is growing on it, you can walk on it.