Trekking Poles While Hunting?

[Whip]

I know that trekking Poles can make hiking steep country much easier and safer.  For those of you that use them, how do you carry your bow?  

I assume that while actively hunting you put the poles away, but if you're using them to climb on the way up and down do you take your bow down and stow it?  Strap it to your pack?  Sometimes game can appear when least expected - do you worry about not having your bow ready to go?

[Orion]

Hey Joe.  I don't use a trekking pole, but I do a home made walking stick.  Only carry one.  Use it for packing in/out, etc. not hunting.  It's in one hand and my strung bow is in the other.  One pole/stick adds a lot of stability. Haven't found it necessary yet to use two poles.

[PistolPete]

In certain situations, two trekking poles are invaluable! I don't use them while hunting, but when packing packs full of meat they are absolute life savers. I collapse them in my pack while backpack hunting and only get them out when the pack gets bloody (or to use to hold up my tipi tent). I'd estimate they add another 25-50% to the amount of weight I can carry across broken/steep terrain. I find a way to strap my bow to my pack--this is where 2-piece bows excel!

[Pete McMiller]

I don't have a pair yet but with bad knees I can see the advantage of having them while packing out a load of meat.  Are there specific brands that work better for that?

[PistolPete]

Pete--I fashioned my own and love them. Go get a pair of the FLIP-LOCK poles from the Walmart camping section (not twist-lock). Then simmer the handle section for 10 minutes or so and remove that huge, heavy rubber grip. Buy some cheap foam fishing rod grips and slide them on, then rivet the straps back. Done! Now you have a sturdy, cheap, lightweight pair of trekking poles that have served me extremely well in packing out 100+ pound loads over many miles.

I wrote up more details on these poles in a few articles on my blog:  http://elkprep.blogspot.com/2012/02/gear-tinkering-2-trekking-poles.html

[Pete McMiller]

Thanks Pete, I'll look into them.

[highPlains]

Joe,

I have had to use them the last three or four seasons because of problems with my feet and ankles.

When I'm covering big amounts of land I strap my bow to my pack. It has not cost me an opportunity yet, but I know that it probably will at some point. When I am actively hunting or in a good area then I strap the poles to my pack and carry my bow. Sometimes I use one pole so I could have my bow in my hand, I can lean the pole against my body or a tree if I run into a critter. I've done that several times and it was okay. Not as good as not having them, but I've been kind of forced into it and made the best of it. It does worry me about running into something when I don't expect to.

It'll take a little experimentation but I think you'll be able to hunt with them and not cost yourself too many opportunities.

I read in Backpacker Magazine that they take 30-40% of the load off your feet when you're using two. I can attest first hand that packing out an elk with two poles is the best thing since sliced bread. Not only does it decrease the load, but it increases your balance so your back and core don't get as fatigued. Had I not had problems with my feet I would have never used them, and never known how great they are. Get ya some, they're invaluable.

For what it is worth I use the  Helinox Lever Lock  from Big Agnes. They're light weight, strong, and pack small. Before that I had some from Black Diamond that I bent up in a rock field. And I ran through two sets with the twist lock that just weren't strong enough for how I used them.

If anybody has a suggestion for some sort of bow sling or something I'd sure love to hear it.

The heaviest load I've ever carried, never thought I could carry this much before using poles and a good pack.
   

How I carry my bow when covering country.
   

[OregonTom]

We have a couple pair of thrift store downhill ski poles that are real sturdy and only 5 bucks a pair.  I kinda like the cheap ones more than my Black Diamond flip lock adjustable poles that were 70 bucks.

[Hummer3T]

Whip, I usually take two but use one, until I have to pack an animal out.  I use Leki telescoping poles so its easy to put one in my pack for hiking up and around. Bow in left hand and pole in right.  I have a take down bow and with an animal in the pack both poles come out and bow and arrows either get strapped on or put away in pack.

Poles sure work great and us when it makes sense (that is not all the time).

[Whip]

Thanks for great replies.  Using one pole with the second one in the pack until packing meat or carrying a heavy load makes a lot of sense. And when seriously hunting and going slow it is usually fine without any pole.

Tommy, that picture with your bow strapped on is what got me to thinking about it.  Fine if in wide open country with little chance of running into game suddenly.  But then I'd also worry I would wear my sorry butt out and plop on the ground without thinking and jam that lower limb into the dirt.  Probably safer for me to take the bow down.  Doesn't take but a minute or two to be ready to go.

[Tajue17]

Trekking poles are great if you want to set up a tarp shelter, I'm sure they serve other purposes.

I don't need to hike with them but I want to get a pair and somehow cut them down or customize them  so they pack smaller down to a 12", then get a nice lightweight back packing tarp along with my super tiny stove and I can set up a camp and relax for lunch or sit out a rain right next to a pond or stream while bowhunting,  

beats hiking out for lunch and everything should fit easily into a small pack.  

thanks now my wifes going to kill me because someone put the bug in my ear that I need trekking poles.

[MnFn]

Joe,
Trekking poles were a lifesaver for me two years ago in Colorado.  I was hiking four miles out of the mountains after a week of hunting.

I had hurt tendons in my left leg, and limping with my pack on until my son met me and carried it the last half mile. I can't imagine what that would have been like without trek poles to take the load off the leg on the way down the mountain.

I'll never be without them if I ever go backpacking elk hunting again. But I just use them when carrying a heavy load, not when hunting.

[rodmaker]

I use a folding wading staff. Foot long in my pack, chest high in my hand.

[Burnsie]

Once we got the heavy load in and got camp set up, we didn't use the poles anymore while hunting. Used a smaller day pack while hunting throughout the week.
The poles were a life saver with heavy loads going in.
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[centaur]

Hmm, I have used them on difficult hikes, but never hunting. I may have to try using them in steep hunting terrain. I can attest to the fact that they make hiking tough country easier, but I really like the idea of using them when packing game out (if I ever manage to have to pack another elk out).

[Matty]

Joe. I boUgh a pair 3 years ago black diamonds. The first year I said... I'm not gonna use these as I always see old ladies using them and I questioned their purchase. And I consider myself very fit and capable. So I didn't use them. The year after my friend came out to hunt here who dad bad knees. I gave them to him to use. Well he wanted to hold his bow and a pole. So I took the other one....and that sold me...JUST 1 made all the difference. I Havnt Not taken at least one each time I go out. Trekking pole in one hand bow in the other.

[slivrslingr]

Get a pair, you won't regret it!  Mine are Black Diamond carbons and they have been used hard and still going strong.  Buy the flic loc type, not twist locks, whatever brand you choose.  I won't hike/hunt/climb without them now, they just flat out work, it's like the difference between 2 and 4 wheel drive!  

If I'm actually hunting, they are collapsed and on my pack.  If I need them both (as in the terrain is steep and ugly, most likely not too much hunting going on), the bow is collapsed and on my pack. One is better than none, but two is best when carrying a load.

[Walt Francis]

Joe,

When you got a moose down, you have bad knees, bad feet, and are over a mile and a half from the Landing strip, they are worth their weight in gold.  I always have a set in my backpack but rarely take them unless I am packing a load or training for a hunt.

   
 


   

[ozy clint]

i use a black diamond carbon whippet pole for my hunts in New Zealand for tahr and chamois. it's designed to be a backcountry self arrest ski pole but i find it excellent as a pole for hiking in tahr country. it like having an ice axe that's adjustable for length.

i only like using one pole at a time and prefer to have a free hand to carry the bow and grab hand holds. mind you that's tahr hunting.....climbing as much as hiking.

[Whip]

I'm convinced - I've got some shopping to do!
Thanks for the help.