Contributors to this thread:
To the bivy hunters out there. What is the most days that you have stayed out and did you plan your food accordingly ? Thanks for your input!
10 days. The good thing is your pack gets lighter each day!
I'm not sure if you are talking about true bivy hunting where you carry your entire camp on your back while hunting each day but I'm in fantastic shape and have hunted elk for over 40 years..tried bivy hunting a couple of times and it was next to impossible! There are VERY few guys that can do it for a few days and I can't even imagine trying it for over 3 or 4 days! Believe me, if you haven't done much backpacking do yourself a favor and hunt out of a spike camp that you backpack a few miles off the roads. It will be a lot more enjoyable and you will likely be more successful!
7 days. What greg simon said, the pack gets lighter every day!
Each days food goes in a ziplock bag - so you do not overeat. Often I stretch my food an extra day.
Yea, lighter but only the weight of one freezed dried meal and a 1/4 oz of Jet Boil fuel.
Spike camping and then move once in a while if needed is good. 7-10 days.
Heading out right now to my hunting area. ie, o dark thirty of 6am.
Good hunting, Paul
Typically 3 nights, depends on the elk for sure. hard to leave good hunting if you can scrape enough food for 1 more day. Keep your pack weight under 30 and life is allot nicer.
We have our base camp which is a few miles in. Then we will bivy from there, usually 2-3nights.
Had two friends try to hunt/bivy last year with everything on their back. It about killed them. They lasted 4days and went home. Said it was too hard.
Everything is doable from the comfort of your couch.
Have a great hunt!!!
To clarify: My backpacking would technically qualify as spike camp hunting. Pack in, set up camp, get up in the morning and hunt leaving camp set up. Move camp when and if needed. I carry only minimum gear when actually hunting.
Usually only go out 3-4 days at a time. After that, I miss my shower and bed (getting lazy in my old age!).
My "bivy" hunting is like others above - hike back in, set up camp and hunt out of there. Probably should call it "mobile spike camp" hunting. Only hunt with little in my pack. If I need/want to move camp, I do it mid day. The setup is light enough that I can hunt with the full pack on, but it is much nicer to have the pack filled with only what I need to hunt with.
My pack (Just One) has an internal duffle that I keep all my non-hunting stuff in. If I get something down, it will zip onto the outside of the pack leaving the inside for meat. I can take it out, mark the location on my GPS, tighten up pack and head out to hunt (usually done if I hike in early in the morning - not much fun to set everything up in the dark). Other times of the day, I can set up camp and then go hunt. It is nice to have all my "bivy" gear in one bag. All I have to transfer is the food I need while out hunting that day.
Not sure if many truly bivy. Yode's design is the same for me. Most nights out for me is 8, I moved camp once during the 4 days. But did carry food for 8 days, mostly moutainhouse, jerky and trailmix,plus energy drink mix.
I spike camp for 5 days at a time...never weighed my food but my whole pack on trip in is at 36# inc appx 32oz of water
Last year me and my partners hiked in 5 miles for 13 days. We brought ruffly 26 lbs of food apiece. We were pretty stinky coming out. This is to a spike camp. I won't say I will never do it again. However I prefer to do about a 7 day stretch. Come out for a day then go back in again.
Anybody get sustenence off the land while you're in? I'm gonna give it a shot this season. I have a month straight vacation. Plan to get as much of my food there as possible. Will be on state forest, traveling light, hunting with an osage selfbow... small game, deer, maybe turks, fish, tend a few traps. Stay in as long and as primitive as possible and only come out when I just can't do it anymore. Might be 3 days. Might be 3 weeks. I want to enjoy myself, test myself, but not set myself up for early eminent failure. I should probably take a sandwich and a soda :^)
I'd put double meat on that sandwich Jeff:)
Jeff, 3 friends and myself did a 10 day trip that was more a survival trip than a hunting trip. Let me tell you, you spend a lot of time trying to get food and not a lot of time hunting. Unless you kill big game, the hunting suffers because if you aren't killing big game, you're starving if you're not spending a good amount of time hunting small game/fishing/picking berries/mushrooming. And if you're just eating squirrels or just eating fish for several days, it starts to suck.
I've never understood hunting with 35+ pounds on my back. Base camp is at the truck. Spike camp is 2-5 miles in and can be moved rather easily which provides a whole lot of square mileage to hunt. I prefer to spend more time at the road and hunt my way in till I find elk. I'll check 3 different areas from trailheads before I'll spike in. Spike in if necessary for 3 nights.
It's a rare unit that doesn't have elk close to the road somewhere.
Good luck Jeff. Are you sure you haven't been watching too many of those Bear Grills TV shows. Even the winner of the show, Alone, admitted he lost over 50 pounds. And every one of those guys were professional survivalist. My bet is you'll be spending more time just trying to feed yourself than you will elk hunting.
But I admire your enthusiasim and can't help but wish I was young and dumb again!
Well I have ambitions, but I like to think I'm a realistic, objective sort of guy. Not young. Not dumb. I'll be 50 in May. Never watched a Bear Grills show once. Wouldn't hurt me to lose a couple pounds though :^) I'll report back.
Don't forget elevation, water, etc! Make sure there is water close to where you'll be hunting or you'll be hiking even more to keep yourself hydrated! I'm not sure what state and type of country you are hunting but that could make or break your trip.
I'll forewarn you...you better be in the best shape of your life..especially at 50! I'm in top shape...used to run marathons...and won't even attempt true bivy hunting! Believe me, it aint worth it!!!! If you last 5+ days in steep, high elevation country with a pack on your back the entire time you are a true stud! If you harvet a bull plus endure 5+ days you are an unGodly stud! I would be curious to hear how it goes when you return!
Forgot to mention that if you happen to get an elk and are hunting alone...it will likely take you 3 or 4 trips to bone and pack him plus your camp out!
I got a smaile out of Jeffs sustinance comment. I'm sure it can be done....
We did a couple of backpack trips when we were young with only seasoning, rice packs and mashed potato side dishes as we were going to survive on all of the fish we caught.....
lets just say the fishing was bad that year- grin
