how far is too far..wilderness

[PistolPete]

Here are my thoughts--keep in mind I train for this year-round and I take the least/smallest/lightest gear (my bivy hunting pack, full for 6 days, is around 25 lbs). I've packed 1/4's to 1/2's of bulls up to 8+ miles, and can manage to fit 1/3 of a bull in my pack along with camp.

Don't shoot an elk over 3 miles away if you plan on packing it out yourself.

And if the terrain is ugly (which it should be if you want to find elk!) cut that distance in half. It's very easy when bivy hunting to work your way 10-15 miles back over a day or 2 of hunting and moving--be mindful of this. Last year's bull was 12 rough miles from the truck, and we got no cell service to call a packer. My buddy and I spent 2.5 days packing it 6 miles to get to the nearest trail, then ran into town empty and got a packer. The meat would have spoiled in another day or 2; it was stupid on my part to shoot him without further plans, but we made it work. I don't suggest that strategy, ha.

Best of luck!

Pete

[MnFn]

I wholeheartedly agree with Sixby.  I am 62 .  About 15 years ago a friend shot a big cow elk in CO.  We had three guys and a cart.  Even then I was exhausted and we only had to go about a mile, but it was all uphill. And granted that was a whole carcass less entrails.

The last two trips have been backpacking about 3 miles in.   I would never be able to do it if my son wasn't in the shape he is in.  Even then it would be grueling. I am sure we would have had to leave our camp  for another day. For one elk.  Two would be impossible for me.

Hate to say it, but that dilemma is forcing me to have to make some hard decisions about wilderness/backpack hunting.

[old_goat2]

Depends! Easy country or hard country? Anything more than a mile or so I wouldn't want to do without a packer! There are a lot of elk and deer within a mile of a road if you do your homework!

[NY Yankee]

Two words for you. PACK MULES!

[Homebru]

Originally posted by old_goat2:
Depends! Easy country or hard country? Anything more than a mile or so I wouldn't want to do without a packer! There are a lot of elk and deer within a mile of a road if you do your homework!

Great wisdom in that posting.  Another consideration is logistics.  Are you sure you can just march in there and shoot an elk?  Consider the following.

Day 1 pack in.  Day 2 and 3 hunt for elk.  Didn't see any or get into them like you wanted to?  Day 4 pack out for plan B (another 4 day adventure).

You always need a backup plan.  Considering the above scenario, anybody planning to hunt elk with less than 8 days of boots on the ground is going to have a tough time killing an elk, unless you have spent a large amount of time prior to the hunt in the area you're going to.  If you manage to shoot one on the last day and you're packing it out on your back, maybe that should be 9 or 10 days?  Note that of the 8 days described, only 4 were hunting, the other 4 were moving camp.

Just a thought.
homebru

[Wudstix]

What Ryan said.

[Ibow]

Back in the late 80's I shot a moose in northern Ontario. I have no idea how far we were from camp but it was miles and miles. It took us all of an afternoon and through the entire night and into the next morning through bogs and swamps and that whole "Canadian terrain" just to get it to the point where we could get an Argo to it. Sure was "fun". Not so sure I'd do that again.  

[Pine]

If I shot a big deer 10 miles from anywhere , I would just make camp and eat on it till I could pack out what I could carry .
Of course smoking it would make it weigh less .

[LKH]

I'm 67. 2011 I packed my half of 2 bull elk that had 85 pound hams.  Not far and I noticied it.  This year my son has a MT Harper sheep permit(75 air miles north of Tok, AK).  I'm going and have been packing 36 pounds up and down the hills by home.   It's more than obvious that time and arthritis have affecte my load limit.  

A long range elk hunt is obviously out of the question.  Any ideas what I should do with 15 CO preference points?????

[old_goat2]

Hire a packer LKH

For years I tried to get a goat permit, but I was not consistent enough in my efforts, so I went after them with a camera.  Sheep and goats live in places that make packing them out very difficult. When looking at mountain goats through my big lens, I realized that one missed step and I would be twice as close as I was, except 1500 feet below the goats that I was trying to photograph. Mountain goats live at awlful places. I should have hired a packer to pack my weary butt back to my car.