npaden
Well-known member
I keep procrastinating on typing up my hunt reports so I thought I would share a couple thoughts on things that I learned during this season.
#1 - I learned that my old standby safety kit with a lighter, some matches and a piece of paper doesn't cut it in poor conditions. On my Wyoming elk hunt we were in a spot where it had rained/snowed for over a week in an area with burned out timber and EVERYTHING was wet. It was next to impossible to get a fire started. Small dead sticks would just bend instead of breaking they were so soaked through.
Thankfully my hunting buddy had a tube of firestarting gel that we were able to use to get fires started, but even then it was an hour long process to get things going and you had to babysit the fire pretty regularly. If there had been large live trees around usually you can find some dead branches and needles that are relatively dry from being under the tree, but with all the dead trees there wasn't anything that wasn't wet. We ended up drying wood out next to the fire and rotating it into the tent to keep it dry, but without that firestarting gel I'm not sure we would have got it started. From now on I'll be packing several different options to help kick start a fire. I even have a little pack of stuff that says it will light on fire and burn even under water.
#2 - I really enjoyed my InReach SE satellite messenger system. With my mountain goat hunt and a 12 mile pack in backcountry wilderness hunt it sure gave my wife and my hunting buddies wives peace of mind. We also ended up using it to do some 2 way communication to organize getting my buddy back to town when he was having some health issues. Worked better than I expected.
#3 - Check the snow report before you commit to hunting a specific area. I had hunted the same unit in New Mexico for elk the year before and thought I had it figured out. I ended up wasting 3 days hunting low this year when the elk were up high because the snow just wasn't there yet this year. I should have checked on this better and only wasted a day or less down low before moving up high.
#4 - Think about the pack out before you pull the trigger. I ended up with a pretty scary packout in the dark on my Wyoming elk hunt. In retrospect it all ended up okay, but it was looking like a night spent away from camp with no shelter or food for a little while. At the time I pulled the trigger I didn't realize the packout was going to be as bad as it ended up, but I should have thought about it a little harder. Still would have probably pulled the trigger, but might have gone about the butchering and packing out a little differently.
Those were a few of the lessons I learned this year. Probably could think of a few more if I worked at it.
Anyone else with some lessons learned this season?
Thanks, Nathan
#1 - I learned that my old standby safety kit with a lighter, some matches and a piece of paper doesn't cut it in poor conditions. On my Wyoming elk hunt we were in a spot where it had rained/snowed for over a week in an area with burned out timber and EVERYTHING was wet. It was next to impossible to get a fire started. Small dead sticks would just bend instead of breaking they were so soaked through.
Thankfully my hunting buddy had a tube of firestarting gel that we were able to use to get fires started, but even then it was an hour long process to get things going and you had to babysit the fire pretty regularly. If there had been large live trees around usually you can find some dead branches and needles that are relatively dry from being under the tree, but with all the dead trees there wasn't anything that wasn't wet. We ended up drying wood out next to the fire and rotating it into the tent to keep it dry, but without that firestarting gel I'm not sure we would have got it started. From now on I'll be packing several different options to help kick start a fire. I even have a little pack of stuff that says it will light on fire and burn even under water.
#2 - I really enjoyed my InReach SE satellite messenger system. With my mountain goat hunt and a 12 mile pack in backcountry wilderness hunt it sure gave my wife and my hunting buddies wives peace of mind. We also ended up using it to do some 2 way communication to organize getting my buddy back to town when he was having some health issues. Worked better than I expected.
#3 - Check the snow report before you commit to hunting a specific area. I had hunted the same unit in New Mexico for elk the year before and thought I had it figured out. I ended up wasting 3 days hunting low this year when the elk were up high because the snow just wasn't there yet this year. I should have checked on this better and only wasted a day or less down low before moving up high.
#4 - Think about the pack out before you pull the trigger. I ended up with a pretty scary packout in the dark on my Wyoming elk hunt. In retrospect it all ended up okay, but it was looking like a night spent away from camp with no shelter or food for a little while. At the time I pulled the trigger I didn't realize the packout was going to be as bad as it ended up, but I should have thought about it a little harder. Still would have probably pulled the trigger, but might have gone about the butchering and packing out a little differently.
Those were a few of the lessons I learned this year. Probably could think of a few more if I worked at it.
Anyone else with some lessons learned this season?
Thanks, Nathan
