nutrition & hydradtion...best?

[TheSleepyHunter]

Wondering what others have found to work the best over long hunts, specifically nutrition. I'll be chasing muleys in UT at the end of the month, its about 4.5 miles in to the area my friend and i have been scouting. We're likely to do 10-20 mi on the actual hunt. Its my first time on a backpacking hunt and I want to make sure I have the right food and not crap.

Also, one of my concerns is hydration. I tend to sweat quickly and a lot, there aren't any water sources that I could filter and "top off" my containers where we'll be hunting. I was thinking of taking a 3L bladder of water and 2 32oz gatorades, luckily it won't be as warm as it was during scouting trips. Anyone figure out a great hydration regimen for a hunt like this?

 

[WestT]

Check out Wildnerness Athlete and also Paleo Meals to Go for food and nutrition. PM me if you have any specific questions and I have discount codes for both. Good luck!

 

[Formidilosus]

Every person is different in water needs. Just take enough.


As far as nutrition this is what I do per day-

1x double/triple serving Mountain House meal
1x Advocare Meal Replacment shake
5x Slim Jims
3x mini snickers
3x Peanut Butter cups
2x hot cocoa/apple cider/coffee


The MH is for dinner and the meal Replacment is breakfast. On top of that I take enough Advocare Spark and Rehydrate to last the whole trip. Rarely am I drinking water during the day that doesn't have both mixed in.

 

[TheJason]

If you don't want to screw with mixing stuff in your water, take some electrolyte capsules and pop a few of those each day.

For food it doesn't really matter what the hell you eat, so long as you are getting plenty of protein and fat in your daily intake. Go higher than you normally would for intake of both.

Make sure the food tastes good to you, because sometimes it's very difficult to keep your appetite up if you are at high altitude and going hard.

 

[Ben Lamb]

I get dehydrated and crampy pretty quick as I sweat like Trump at an audit.

I've started taking the electrolyte squeeze bottles. At first it was propel, but I can't find that locally so I've been using Mio brand. Another option is to take your thermos with 20-40 ounces of beef broth. The salt, vitamins and protein work wonders for me and it's not just another crappy Gatorade, etc, plus it's warm. Chase it with a tonic water when you get done (gin or vodka only advisable if hydrated) and you should be good to go.

 

[Flatland Crusoe]

Hammer electrolyte pills and nuun water tabs go a long way for me. If I get cramps during a hunt I've thrown off my nutrition and hydration pretty badly, but during long mountain bike races electrolyte in take I had to figure out something beyond drink more water/gatorade.

Starting the hunt/hike hydrated is pretty key to buying yourself some wiggle room.

 

[Bambistew]

For water, I need/drink about 5-6L per day including what I use for making meals/coffee. I skip out on the water mix in stuff. Usually gives me indigestion and I'm miserable all day. The fake sugars are the worst for me. Good ol plain H20 works fine.

Nutrition? Not sure, I take a lot of protein and energy type bars (2-4 per day), as well as jerky, smoked salmon, pre-cooked bacon, salami, cheese, etc. MH for dinner usually with some more protein added. A candy bar or two each day, nuts of some sort, and usually gag down something for breakfast, like oatmeal or PB on a tortilla.

A good rule of thumb for me, is 1.25-1.5lbs of food per day, and I usually have a bit left over.

Good luck on your hunt. Post up pics when you get back

 

[NoWiser]

I used to get the overprice Wilderness Athlete stuff and got sick of it really quickly. Now I bring two or three packets of Emergen C Electro Mix for each day I'm hunting. It has just enough taste to be refreshing but isn't so sweet. It's great after a tough day and is much cheaper than Wilderness Athlete.

For water, only you'll know how much you need. When I'm not hunting, I don't drink unless I feel thirsty. Some of my hunting partners drink a lot of water every single day. Their bodies seem to need about 2X as much water as mine on a hunt. I usually will go through about 2 liters in a day of hunting (not including what I need for breakfast and dinner). I'll bring more if I know we'll have to climb a few mountains and less if my plans involve sitting and glassing or watching a wallow. If there are no water sources near where you will be camping, it's going to be tough. Carrying more than 1 or 2 days worth of water is going to get heavy fast.

My meals this year were: 3 packets of oatmeal for breakfast, 2 tortillas with a packet of tuna, mustard, and mayo for lunch, a snickers bar and bag of trail mix for snacks, and a Mountain House for supper. It was the perfect amount of food to keep me going and I only dropped 5 pounds over the course of my 10 day hunt.

 

[fwagner]

Every person is different in water needs. Just take enough.


As far as nutrition this is what I do per day-

1x double/triple serving Mountain House meal
1x Advocare Meal Replacment shake
5x Slim Jims
3x mini snickers
3x Peanut Butter cups
2x hot cocoa/apple cider/coffee


The MH is for dinner and the meal Replacment is breakfast. On top of that I take enough Advocare Spark and Rehydrate to last the whole trip. Rarely am I drinking water during the day that doesn't have both mixed in.

I agree...I also use meal Advocare meal replacement shakes and spark. It's pricey but they use high quality ingredients. Advocare also sells hydration powder you can add to your water. I personally would steer clear of any company, including Wilderness Athlete, that doesn't have their products independently tested for quality and ingredients. There is a website/company called informed choice that does that very thing. I used to eat mountain house meals as well, this year I ate "Mary Janes Farms" dehydrated meals...much better then mountain house in my opinion.

 

[1_pointer]

Dinner = Mtn House

Lunch = PB/honey sandwiches or tortilla

Breakfast = Couple of protein/breakfast bars. Cliff or Nature Valley Protein. If I'm not feeling lazy prior to leaving, Logan Bread is cheap and easy to make. COFFEE! Either Folgers bags or Starbuck Via.

MISC = Trail Mix; Small Candy Bars; Hard Candy (especially Atomic Fire Balls).

This will get me through pretty easy. I too prefer just water to drink. If I'm only going out for a couple of days, I'm not against replacing the Mtn House with MREs and leaving the stove at home.

 

[WestT]

fwagner, regarding your comment:

"I personally would steer clear of any company, including Wilderness Athlete, that doesn't have their products independently tested for quality and ingredients."

I wanted to clarify that Wilderness Athlete does indeed lab test their products. I reached out directly to them for confirmation. From the founder of WA (he was pretty fired up so I cut out some of the rhetoric):

"Shawn, all WA raw materials are tested by the lab the moment they arrive. Even the boxes are tested for any potential fungus that might occur...But if anybody tells you that these products are scientifically better formulated and manufactured in safer more sterile facilities than WA they are simply ignorant."

I'm not questioning your nutrition and hydration choices, just wanted to make sure you were aware that WA products are in fact tested for quality and ingredients. Thanks.

 

[fwagner]

fwagner, regarding your comment:

"I personally would steer clear of any company, including Wilderness Athlete, that doesn't have their products independently tested for quality and ingredients."

I wanted to clarify that Wilderness Athlete does indeed lab test their products. I reached out directly to them for confirmation. From the founder of WA (he was pretty fired up so I cut out some of the rhetoric):

"Shawn, all WA raw materials are tested by the lab the moment they arrive. Even the boxes are tested for any potential fungus that might occur...But if anybody tells you that these products are scientifically better formulated and manufactured in safer more sterile facilities than WA they are simply ignorant."

I'm not questioning your nutrition and hydration choices, just wanted to make sure you were aware that WA products are in fact tested for quality and ingredients. Thanks.

I have enough degrees and credentials to make the educated statement that the sports nutrition world is saturated with products that claim to be "tested in a lab" for purity and content. I personally prefer a company who is willing to have a their products INDEPENDENTLY tested for quality and safety. I personally prefer products that are listed under testing companies such as http://informed-choice.org. I'm not saying Wilderness Athlete is selling poor quality or unsafe products but talk is cheap and every supplement company makes that claim. Other companies back it up!!!

 

[cant]

I cramp easy no matter how much water I drink and have forever. I have tried just about everything out there and nothing worked except for mtn ops endure. I just found it this year. I don't know why it works for me and don't care. All I know is I have literally tried like 20 other products through the years and its the only thing that has ever kept me from cramping.

 

[raiderbowhunter]

For everyone looking for a great electrolyte package that is all natural ingredients look at Skratch labs out of Colorado. I use this stuff training and racing endurance mountain bike races. An the single serve packets are amazing while sweating your balls off on the trail.

 

[Arrow_slinger]

Another vote for Skratch! Sells great in the running world and works great in the backcountry.