Alcohol on an elk hunt
cougar
Pictured...backcountry elk camp in Co.
So what are you drinking....and how much more does it affect you on a high exertion...or high elevation hunt?
I like just about everything...more of a beer and good red wine type guy...but the last few years it really kicks my butt if I have a couple drinks on a high elevation elk hunt.
Or do you just save your drinking for those whitetail hunts?
I enjoy a glass or two of beer or wine most nights, but when I elk hunt, I generally stay dry.
The main reason is that I find I get more quality sleep when I don't drink and it's easier for me to wake up at 0400 hrs. Alcohol is known to interfere with sleep cycles.
Or have you quit, alcohol and tobacco products and use the savings to apply for elk tags in all the states?
Terry
Doesn't seem to effect me unless I overdo it! I take a flask of bourbon even on a pack in hunt.
pssst.... he's not a fan of coors light.... heheheheheh.... =D
Only thing I'll drink on a pack in hunt is something someone else packed in... =D Everything else is optional....
I'll have a glass of wine in the evening but I have to be careful not to overdo it. I frequently get leg cramps and too much alcohol aggravates the situation due to it's dehydrating characteristic.
I'll usually have a good whiskey with me if I'm not packing in, but I very rarely have any unless there is elk meat in the cooler.
I have never hunted Elk. I do enjoy chasing whitetails. Until recently our camp was dry. In our advancing age our doctors to enjoy a little wine once in a while. We carry a bottle of wine for opening weekend and open it after dark on opening day. Four hunters who have been out all day usually kill the bottle. When a deer is taken we often take it out and hang it up . We will have a celebratory beer or two before walking back to camp. If we are going to hunt our way to camp we forgo the beer.
A box of wine can be opened, and the bag of wine that is removed is easily packed, tossed in the shade, and kept the perfect temperature, so for backcountry drinking, it's ideal. (Beer has to be kept much colder, IMO).
Were you drinking when you posted this on the mountain lion forum? lol
I may drink a 6 pack total on a 2 week hunt. I love beer but don't think about it much on a hunt.
I always take a small bottle or flask to elk camp even when backpacking in. Nice to pass it around the fire especially if there is an elk rack in camp. Do we get drunk....absolutely not but a little goes a long way in high altitude.
Gabe
A lot of it has to do with who I'm sharing camp with too! Some people twist my arm harder than others! And once you packed it in, it's much easier to pack out an empty flask than a full one;-)
Upon arriving back at camp I tend to eat supper and quickly fall asleep. So no I don't drink on an elk hunt.
Drink a beer or two at night when I'm back at camp. Doesn't affect me unless I go over board which I don't do when I hunt.
I wait all year for this stuff, no way I'm gonna mess it up.
I don't drink when I'm there. I'm there to hunt. I'll have a celebratory drink when I get home after a kill
There's something magical, but bittersweet about setting that last load of meat in the truck, draining the last bit of water from my water bottle and pulling an ice cold beer from the cooler.
The beer tastes great, better than almost any other beer I could have had in my life...but it signals the end.
It doesn't matter if I've just muled my buddies' bulls out on a long haul and it's not my meat. I want to turn around and go back.
I enjoy a libation or two by the fire on wilderness canoe trips and camping trips. Good scotch never tastes better than out of a sierra cup or titanium mug with a splash of lake or spring water and some trout in my belly, a fiery sunset putting on a light show across the lake.
But I rarely have a drink on a night during a hunt...and for that matter, I rarely have a fire...and unlike Lou, Will and Les, I haven't been fishing mid day resulting in trout in my belly...I may have to rethink this.
"Honey! I need to tack another four or five days onto my hunt!!"
I would tend to stay away from alcohol during hunts
1) Illegal in many states to consume while in the field or be under the influence
2)Working hard hunting, alcohol will dehydrate you a lot quicker, same to be said about caffeine containing beverages
3) Too much temptation for folks with alcohol/drug addiction issues to have too much screwing up their hunt and the hunt of their friends, colleagues who have to babysit afterwards.
That said I can control my own use very well, helps relax AFTER a trip, celebrate success if used responsibly.
I am a dark beer Jagermeister type guy, but again reasonable amounts. After the hunt when no driving is going on and with food.
Sure - the carbs and sugar will burn off quick. Couple beers at night in base camp (unless AndyJ is there, then might be there :) Maybe one before the afternoon nap. Some single malt for celebration.
I also have some Becks NA beer for non-alcoholic refreshment with a carb boost.
Midwest you made me look....Ha, not sure how this got from "Bowhunting topics" to mtn lions...no funny cigarettes either...which I maybe should have included in the conversation.
Of the two elk I have shot, Ice chilled, COLD, Miller lite was consumed, at responsible levels, when the work was done. There is not much better in this life than setting around a fire, knowing your freezer is going to be stocked with a hard won bounty of CLEAN protein, with a ice chilled, COLD, Miller lite in celebration. It makes supper better too. God Bless men
1 or 2 Miller Lites or Miller 64s in that afternoon.(Assuming I'm not in the back country of course) No ill effects...
After a tough day climbing mountains and chasing bugles nothing rejuvenates me like a cold beer! Hell, sometimes it doesn't have to be cold! I like to wind the day down with one or two at base camp. And after a kill there always needs to be something a little harder for a celebratory toast. I have no desire to drink to the point I feel it the next day, but I don't see anything wrong with a little in moderation and it wouldn't be hunting camp to me without it! Fwiw, my elk hunting beer is tecate. And I'm partial to Scotch (I like them smokey), but any kind of whiskey will work for a toast with me! And Grand Marnier makes a nice sipping liquor too!
I remember going to bed at 4 am and getting up at 5 am. Lots of patron that night. That day sucked. Now days the only alcohol I drink is the 1 day spent in town during the middle of the hunt.
Geez, maybe if some of you didnt take elk huntin so seriously your success rate would go up! :)
Pass me a cold beer please
Never had a adult beverage while hunting i think i need to start !!!!!
Around the end of Aug, one of the local liquor stores starts their close out of Sam Adams Octoberfest...$10.99 a 12 pack. I stock up enough to have a couple before my afternoon siesta, or more than a couple on the occasional evening off!
And nobody had asked yet why this is under the mountain lion subject heading? Haha! Bruce, is there something I missed? I guess a little wine could get you a "cougar" in the right setting. But seriously, celebratory only for me. Jack Daniel's & Honey straight up over ice. Beer would be Newcastle or an Amber Bock. TODDY
I've drank most everything in varying quantities, some times too much! I'll be 62 this summer and 6 weeks ago decided I've had my share and will leave the rest for others.
Does a greasy samsquanch $h/@ in the woods?
Gotta have a beer or 2 when i get back to the truck after dark... Nothing like sitting on the tailgate in the dark and listening to a bull bugle...Or maybe a bunch of coyotes yipping it up
Elk season only comes around once a year and i tend to try and enjoy it to the fullest;)
It is funny....someone mentions elk hunting and beer and the first name tossed out is AndyJ. Lol!
One or two for me at night too! Nothing like a cold one for sure, helps me sleep good too! No drinking during the day though, I wouldn't function worth a hoot if I did! (grin)
ElkNut1
Ice cold Aquavit is my new campfire story telling drink.
Far as celebration goes... if tagged out early we have been known to head into a town and pick up a couple OTC Cheetah tags..... =D
we pack in some whiskey in a water bottle but we save it for a kill celebration or last night in camp if we haven't killed yet
I like to end the day with a cold brew or two or maybe a couple fingers worth of good whisky. I even manage to kill something more than brain cells once in awhile. I'm out there to enjoy myself, and a relaxing drink or two if I feel up to it helps me do that.
I usually take a keg of Guinness, a gallon of Patron and a fifth of Jack. If it's Colorado where I'm hunting, I'll stop in some of the specialty shops and get me some grass too.
Embry, any room in camp for one more this fall? Lol
As far as drinking during the day, everyone is different and alcohol has a different effect at altitude. If I'm hunting out of base camp or ATV spike camp, I really enjoy a cold beer after hiking out a few miles, before taking a nap.
For someone my size and metabolism (@200 lbs and low BMI) even two beers in an hour barely makes a blip on the BAC scale but it sure helps downshift the motor in my brain, which leads to a nice, rejuvenating nap before climbing that mountain again. The carbs kick in and I'm ready to rock.
I want to hunt with Otc Will and embry. My kind of crew!! Hunt
Beer has carbs? Huh....maybe that explains things in my midsection come March?
I am an ice fisherman after all ??
I always take some. Even on backpacking trips, I take a flask of good whiskey.
Usually have a whiskey or two at night. Maybe a beer.
Hunter Master is the translation for Jagermeister I have a neck band that holds my binos, rangefinder compass, etc.
Look a the German quote on the bottle, roughly translated:
This is the hunter’s badge of glory, That he protect and tend his quarry, Hunt with honour, as is due, And through the beast to God is true.
How can one beat that??
Question: how many folks follow the German tradition of giving the game one last sprig of evergreen, cedar browse, etc. and prayer of Thanks once they have them down??
i like a few in a cooler to knock the edge off in the evenings. I don't drink much at all but I do like to have a beer in the evening at elk camp.
If cnelk and I are together, typically that edge gets rounded rather quickly with as many elk as I have to help him pack out!
Embry's list is just the start for us. Our camp is up for at least five weeks and has a full bar, with pretty much anything you want. It's just there if you want to use it or not. Some weekends, when the party crowd shows up, nights can be pretty short.
Last year we had eight elk down by Sept. 10, so there wasn't much left to do except have a good time every night. We also make some pretty impressive gourmet meals, hunt birds, threaten to shoot a deer or a bear, and fish some. A pretty good life for the month of Sept. when the trees turn color.
I am sharing your post with my wife and bringing it to work MarkU.
At least part of your second sentence.
FIVE WEEKS
FIVE WEEKS
FIVE WEEKS
It may not mean that much to you, and it may not last, but right now, you are my hero.
FIVE WEEKS
FIVE WEEKS
FIVE WEEKS!!!
I'm pretty serious about my elk hunting, but sharing a few beers with friends in camp or after a tough pack out is all part of what makes September fun. Live it up - life's short. Someone usually has some Fireball to poison me with after I fill a tag. Jason Stafford and Matt Palmquist.....
Work hard play hard. I never get drunk in elk camp. If done right you should be so tired from hunting that you can't stay awake long enough to consume that much alcohol.
But I always have a bottle of bourbon on hand for a nightcap. Depending on what corner of the planet I'm on I might take a 6 pack of Coke to mix it with. If I'm on a far corner I'll take Tang mix.
It is my insurance policy that if anyone snores it'll be me and I have never listened to anyone else snore. But my partners are usually out cold too so it's all good.
I could take it or leave it really though.
I've seen some insane cook tent parties over the years in outfitted camps. I'll never forget the group that brought a case.... of fifths! Everyone has different things that motivate the and some guys are just over the top happy about getting away from work and family that killing elk, or even hunting hard isn't a priority. But who the hell would pay 4 or 5 grand to ride up a mountain to drink? But I guess being on the mountain is an atmosphere you can't replicate. I have to admit those mountain bashes were second to none because the spirits are just soooo high. Some damn funny stories come to mind.
As far as Jagermeister... some seasons I will carry one of those small airplane size bottles of it in my day pack just waiting to walk up on a downed elk and yes I have done the little evergreen sprig ritual. I think about packing that bottle around when I read posts about guys shaving one ounce off of their gear list and laugh.
Kind of a weird topic for me. I really enjoy a variety of good stuff at home or when traveling. We've got a nice wine collection stored downstairs, and my bourbon stockpile seems to get bigger every month. Hmmm...dark lager, pilsner or pale ale? Red or white? Rye or wheated? I enjoy them all. But for some reason I just don't think much about any of it when heading into the mountains. I'm not against responsible use in camp. I have been in camps where people got completely schnokered or worse and became....let's call them difficult to endure. I'll say it: I don't like being around a drunk.
That said, I have popped a cork or 6 over the years while in camp. It's pretty easy to keep a bottle of vino tucked away until time to celebrate. A glass in the evening while tending a woodstove in the wilderness is alright by me. Isn't that why they make takedown wine glasses?
MP, best way to shave weight off a bottle of liquor is to... Well....
For me, it isn't a priority at home so it isn't a priority on an elk hunt.
I throw a few local beers into the truck to celebrate the final heavy pack out of meat, but that is about it.
Dry until the gutting is complete:)
I need to hunt with Wyobullshooter! I love the October fest!
