Come along on a DIY elk hunt with me this year in Colorado. Pictures added

[Gil Verwey]

Jim you will have a blast. Take your time and savor the whole experience. If you get an elk it is icing on the cake. If you don't, who cares.

If this is your first time it may wind up being a scouting trip and learning experience.

When you are out there relax and enjoy every minute of it. It is not stressful at all unless you make it that way.

Remember this isn't a competition it is a labor of love, something you have waited for, for a long time.

I look forward to your pictures and tales of adventure too.

I will start tomorrow with more pictures of equipment as I prepare for my hunt. I will describe what worked and what didn't work so well.

[Gil Verwey]

We might as well start off with sleeping quarters.

I used a Outdoor Research bivy. The bivy is light but it is confined. I also found that you get a lot of condensation inside. That may not happen to you since I am full of hot air.

I would put some of my clothes in the foot of my sleeping bag and used other clothes as my pillow. This about all you can put inside.  
 
 

My partner used my one man Eureka tent. This tent was also light but did not pack down into as small a package as my bivy. It had more room and less condensation. You could also keep much of your gear inside. I had to leave a lot of gear exposed under the tarp.

 

I like either one. The bivy is a little lighter and packs down into a small package. I will probably continue to use my bivy though. Especially since I didn't put my name on my tent and can't find it. Hmmm I wonder where that went?

The Tyvek tarp was a life saver. You never know what type of weather you will get out there. With the weather we had I would have been in trouble with just my bivy. I think the tent also would have been less comfortable. It also gave us a weather proof area to store our gear and if we each brought our own we would have had much more comfortable living space.

I had a self inflating pad while my partner had a foam pad. The self inflating pad compacts nicely and is comfortable. If it pops you will be sleeping with no padding. I bought a light weight foam pad that packs down small too. I am going to try that before I go and may take that one instead. Since we are going in on horseback I may even bring both. The pad is also comfortable but not as much as the self inflating. It also doesn't pack as well.

My bivy and sleeping pad are packed into the black mesh pocket on my pack. The black stuff sack holds my bivy while the green has my sleeping pad. My sleeping bag may also in the mesh bag but behind the other bags or I may have put it in the fanny pack with my cooking supplies. It packs down to a smaller bag and I stored in both places during this trip.

       

You can see my partner's sleeping pad - a mile away! I am pretty sure the blue bag attached to his pack is his sleeping bag. He also had a light down bag but it was heavier than the Marmot Helium and didn't pack down into as small a footprint.
 

 

I am 6' but I bought the extra tall Marmot Helium down sleeping back. It fits people up to 6'6". I bought this one because I like room in my sleeping bag and I can keep some of my clothes in it to keep them warm and dry for the morning. I also had to get the longer bag because I know my partner may need to borrow it one day - and yes I made sure to put my name in it! Ha!

This bag is warm to very cold temperatures and packs down to a very small package.

The orange pad you see is my self inflating pad. You can really see now how it packs down small compared to how you see it here.

 

[razorsharptokill]

I also have the marmot helium and that same air mat. Been considering going with a tarp and bivy sack instead of a tent. I have the MSR hubba 1 man tent. I think it weighs 3.5 lbs with poles.

[Gil Verwey]

I would stick with what you have. I would still get the Tyvek though.

I bought and will continue to use the bivy, but when I go solo, I want to actually hunt with my camp on my back. When I do that I will have a smaller piece of tyvek too.

[dnovo]

Gil, On the Tyvek, you can buy a full roll of 9' x 100'for about $120-$130. Split it between you and have enough for several years.

[DoubleB20]

Great Post and lots of good info. We're going with an outfitter this year on private land in Colorado - 53 days until we leave, but who's counting?

I have some Tyvek left over on a roll and I was thinking about tossing it last week. Guess I'll keep it now for my next adventure.

What kind of pack are you using?

Good luck on your hunt!

[Gil Verwey]

Good timing Brian because that was next.

I don't think you have to spend a arm and a leg on a pack. They are all pretty comfortable. I can't see spending $600 to save 2 or 3 pounds like some of the real light packs. I find the packs that are one big bag inconvenient and don't like them. If you were to get one you have to bring in a extra day pack or fanny pack so what ever you save on weight in the pack is lost. I personally think is all marketing BS.

If you are going to go in for 3 to 5 days you can keep you pack light, but if you go extended like we do, you can't. We go in 11 days or more so no matter what we do our packs are going to be heavy. Most people don't go in that long from what I read.      

My pack is the Dwight Schuh Mega pack. It is an older one. It is 5600 counting all the pockets and mesh bag. I had a Badlands 4500 but sold it before I could use it and decided to go with this pack. I didn't like it.

My partner used a Badlands 4500 last year and this year he is using a Cabelas Alaska Outfitter pack external metal frame. He didn't like the Badlands either.

The reason neither of us like that pack is that you can't organize anything in it. It all gets shoved into the same pack. It has a couple of pockets but they open from outside and are inside the pack. It was hard to get anything in them or out of them. He actually broke a zipper trying to unzip it.

The weight of my pack is close to the Badlands but it is much more versatile and can actually hold more. The pack system has a neat system of hooking the packs to the frame. I unhooked my pack and used it as a day pack while my partner used the other pack on mine as a fanny pack. The fanny pack on the Badlands is useless and he couldn't use it.

My pack and now the pack my partner is going to use this year have external frames so that in the event we shoot a elk we will be able to lash large quarters to the packs.

This is mine.

   
   
   

Here I took the one pack off for a day pack.

   

This is the badlands.

   

[Gen273]

[WESTBROOK]

Great thread Gil    

This should be saved in the "how-to" forum.

Granted, everyone may not do it the same way, but your covering a lot of bases and making people think about it.

Eric

[Gil Verwey]

My goal Eric when I am done with this, is to show everyone how easy it is to do. And it is easy!

I am not being facetious when I say if I can do it anybody can. Anybody can do this, because it isn't much different than what we already do.

There is no secret to doing this. You don't have to be a guide or outfitter to do it.  

I hope when I am done and everybody sees the equipment and how I use it, they will realize there isn't much to it.

It doesn't take a lot of equipment and you don't have to go out and buy the best of everything. I think the best, is just the best marketing.

That pack I use I bought used here on Tradgang. I bought the Badlands new from Cabealas for a lot more and found it wasn't as good (for me) as the lesser expensive used one I bought.

Like you say, there are many ways of doing this. One size doesn't fit all. Just like with bows there are all kinds. But if you see what I am doing and what I am using to do it, I think everyone will realize that this stuff is easy to do. It is just hunting and instead of going to your truck you go to your camp. Then just pick the flavor of equipment you want to use and the way you want to use it.

The great thing about a DIY is DO IT YOURSELF. You go at it the way you want for how long or how far you want to do it. The important thing is to do it.  

I think the two things I would splurge on is a very good, light, warm, down sleeping bag (around $300). I would also get a good bivy or reasonable tent (between $150 and $250). Even the best of these are not that expensive.

I sure wouldn't go out and buy a $600 pack. I also wouldn't buy a $1,800 pair of optics. I know some guys are going to jump on me for that statement, but I have two pairs of Zeiss and have looked through Swavorski and Leica. For what we do and the amount of time we do it, my Bushnell Legend Ultra HD 10x42 were great. They were very clear with a wide field of view and did not fog in 11 days of hunting in all kinds of weather.

Just beacuse something is expensive doesn't make it good or us better.

We can stay within a low budget and do as well as anyone else with high end equipment. The equipment will not make you a better hunter no matter what the marketing tells us.

[randy grider]

Great thread Gil ! I'm like you, tight as a banjo string. I get just as much pleasure out of saving bucks on gear and hunts as I do taking the animals.
I'm allways proud of myself when i can hunt somewhere for a week, at just the cost of gas getting there. I never count food, because i have to eat no matter where i am. KEEP THIS THREAD ALIVE!

[fnshtr]

I use a Dwight Schuh pack also. I did modify it a bit by having my wife sew me a second bladder pocket into it. I find that with only one bladder I have to go to water more often than I want to. That said... I'm usually hunting from camp and use the main pack, with both bladders. It is comfortable and gives me plenty of room.

I'm leaving on August 17th for Colorado... can't wait! Love your thread Gil. By the way... I'm 58 too. I've had arthroscopic knee surgery and currently have a ruptured disc. Exercise, weight control and stubborness allow me to do this. If I can... anyone can!

Great thread.

[Gil Verwey]

Wayne that is a good idea. I am going to over water next. I think I may do the same thing. You will see why later today.

At 58 we have our battle scars but still don't break like a cheap whiskey bottle yet. I bet you are like me and we still bounce pretty good yet.

I had a heart attack dragging out a 8 point buck (it was a nice fat little buck though), a head on car accident at 55 mph which left me with broken bones, 3 herniated cervical disks and 4 herniated thoracic disks.

When I bite the big one it will be packing in with a 70# pack or packing out with 100# of elk meat. Until then I am going to keep chugging. It confirms again that anybody can do this, even old bucks or does for that matter, with battle scars.

[Gil Verwey]

Water.

You need to drink a lot of water while you are out there to keep you hydrated.

You will also use water to cook all of your meals, except probably lunch.

We used Mountain House dinners. To me and my partner they were delicious. All you do is open the bag and take out the the little package that keeps it fresh. You heat up about a cup of water and pour it in the bag. Stir it up and seal the zip lock on the bag. Let it stand around 8 minutes and you have a great meal at the end of the day. We didn't find one meal we didn't like. If I could find the chef that came up with the recipes I would marry HIM or HER!

In the morning we heated water for oatmeal or a Mountain House breakfast. I didn't care for the breakfasts but my partner loved them. I traded the few I had to him for oatmeal.  

I used the Wilderness Athlete Re Hydrate mix to put in my drinking water after it was filtered. It tastes great and has nutrients to help you on these trips. We also used EmergenC for the same purpose. My partner just had EmergenC. You can buy EmergenC anywhere, while Wilderness athlete you have to buy over the Internet. I had extra boxes of Wilderness Athlete with a lot of packets in each one, but he decided to leave the ones I gave him in the truck. Once he tasted mine in the field, he decided he loved them and guess what happened next. He already ordered his own for this years trip.  

In addition to drinking water we carried in our packs while hunting we also made tea, coffee and hot chocolate during the trip.

There are many sources of water in the wilderness, but you can't drink directly from them. You need a water filter.

I had a good MSR hand pump filter while my partner brought the Platypus Gravityworks camp filter.

The hand pump takes a lot of time and effort. It also clogs fast. This year I am leaving that home and bringing in a second Gravityworks. When you stay out as long as we do you have to filter a lot of water. Once the filters in these purifiers clog they have to be back flushed to be able to clear them to get enough water in a reasonable amount of time.

The Gavityworks has two water bags with a hose and filter in between. It holds and filters a lot of water. You fill the top bag and the water filters down into the bottom bag. It is just as the name implies, you let gravity do the work.

These filters also clog. You would be amazed at how much stuff is in the clearest water. We innovated while we were out there. We had paper coffee filters. We cut the bottom off a small water bottle we had. My partner brought a large empty plastic container, you saw on his pack in earlier pictures. When he had that strapped to his pack, I said the same thing you probably were thinking, "what the heck are you going to do with that".

This is what we did to help the filter. Instead of just scooping water into the top bag we used the empty jug to get water. My partner held the bag open with the cut water bottle as a funnel and we put a paper coffee filter inside. We poured the water through the filter. This saved us from having to back flush the filter as much as we would have had to do. You can't believe the microscopic volume of stuff in the clear water. It would clog the paper filter right before our eyes where water wouldn't go through anymore and you couldn't see a spec of anything on the filter. When I was hunting in North West BC our water was right out of anywhere it pooled. Our water bladder was a collapsible cup. Those days are gone. This year I am bringing a small coffee screen filter with some paper coffee filters.

We are both bringing in the Gravityworks and my partner bought an extra filter for it too. I guess you can tell how much we hate to back flush filters.

Instead of filters you can use Iodine pills or Potable Aqua. You add these to water let it stand for a while then drink. They leave an aftertaste in the water, but if you add a supplement it may mask the taste. I brought Iodine pills as a backup in the event of an emergency.              

Since you have to heat water you need a stove. There are all kinds out there. I did alot of research and got the Reactor stove. This stove boils water so fast you can't get bored watching it. You no sooner start it and the water boils very quickly. That saves on fuel as far as I am concerned. It was also good in high altitude and in the wind. It is almost like a catalytic stove and won't blow out when the pot is on top. It comes with a pot that stores it and one large MSR gas can. My partner had a very light MSR backpacking stove. It worked great in high altitude and didn't blow out much, but it had to be a little shielded from the wind. It boiled water fast but not nearly as fast as the reactor. I brought in 3 MSR fuel canisters. I used all three during the trip. There was some left in the third one. We used my stove most of the time because it boiled water so fast. When I go it alone I am bringing in my reactor and the very light MSR stove as a backup.

[tuscarawasbowman]

Gil- I hear ya about being stupid in lightning. lol. When I backpacked with NOLS for a month in the backcountry it rained every. dang. day. And they would tell us go "get in the lightning position" they wanted you away from trees. After 2 days of that crap I said screw this and always got under the biggest, driest tree I could find. I figured if I'm gonna get hit by lightning I'm gonna at least be dry.

[Gen273]

Gil,

do you pack in a stove, or do you just use a camp fire? Also what do you use to boil water and eat out of?

Thanks
Charlie

[cacciatore]

Great stuff Gill.

[Gil Verwey]

Charlie I discussed the stove we used in the above thread. I used the Reactor stove and my partner used a light MSR backpacking stove.

Gil

[Gil Verwey]

Navigation.

This is no different than what you currently do. I use a compass and topo but I also use a GPS. Always trust your compass.

If you use a GPS always bring a compass with you. Before you use your GPS make sure it is calibrated by double checking it against your compass. I mentioned earlier what happened to us with the GPS. If it isn't in tune with the compass re-calibrate it.

Elk Calls. I could never ever use a mouth call until last year. I use the Woods Wise wooden cow call. Last year I bought a 3 piece combo set of mouth calls from Primos. They have a little plastic cup on top which lines them up in your mouth. These were the only mouth calls I have ever been able to use to bugle. I used a young bull call  call and got a reply every time I blew it. I was more excited finally being able to bugle with a mouth call and get an answer than shooting a bull elk. I was going to let my partner do the hunting while I did the calling. I know now how turkey hunters feel when they call in a big tom.

I just ordered another pack. They are the Primos Elk 3-Pak Model 1650 Sonic Dome Series. Just like I said that if I can do this back country elk hunt anyone can, well if I can get a bugle out with these calls a possum can do it. I am that bad at it.

[Gil Verwey]

When I get all my equipment lined up I will take some pictures and show you that there isn't much to it.

I hope I was able to show you that this isn't hard and anyone that can hunt the whole day whitetail hunting can do this. It is no different from what you already do, except you don't have to drive home. Just like all game animals elk are hard to hunt. Imagine what whitetail hunting would be if bucks screamed here I am and I am a monster.

Just like game animals, when you go to the back country and stick around in it, you need food, shelter and water. You also have to navigate around. We are lucky, we have an advantage over the game we seek, because we can make our own food, shelter and water. We also have big brother in the sky guiding us and our GPS and little brother (compass) in our pocket.

If I can do this any of you can do this, and I do mean any. If your health isn't that good go to a area with flatter terrain, don't go in as far, get someone to help pack out game. If you can't make it out west for elk go whitetail hunting and camp, if you can't go whitetail hunting go do a squirrel\\camping expedition. It is all fun and great stuff.

I said it several times throughout this thread, give yourself the gift of time and take it one step at a time. You will be glad you did.

You will have added additional adventure in your hunting and be able to immerse yourself in it more. This will heighten the experience to where a weekend will feel like a whole season in regard to the rewards.

As I come up with stuff preparing for this hunt I will add it here from time to time and when I get back I will post the pictures and story. If you can't do 2012, maybe when I get back I will fire you up for 2013 or 2014.

Good luck
Gil