Backpacking Food & Hydration

[Rockymtnx]

There are enough backpack hunters on here, that I thought we could share our methods of staying hydrated and fed while in the backcountry.

How much water do you carry?
Do you filter any collected water? If so how?
What sort of lightweight non-spoiling food do you take?

[brett01]

it really depends where im going, and for how long. if its just a day trip i'll take just a regular bottle and a oatmeal 2 go bar or something along that line. I'm my neck of the woods "west of caroline" im not scared about getting beaver feaver and will drink from most creeks and springs. If im packing in camp or goin on a over nighter sheep hunting or something its really the same deal. The less weight the better, i have a little backpackers burner and a small pot and pan. I get my water from the creeks and springs. For food im not in to that pack food that you buy. Trail mix works good, i take Kraft dinner as it is light and simple to pack. a can or 2 of salmon. anything that is light and wont take up much space. I also mange to find and get chickens to so there is always fresh meat. Its pretty much what ever u feel like packing on your back for miles upon miles i guess.

Two litres is the most I'd every carry on a day hunt. When we did the Willmore trip, we camped well above any water so we packed a 4 gallon container that we could hike down and fill. It lasted about three days. I never filter water but it's not a bad idea down lower for sure.

For an extended mountain trip:

Breakfast...Granola bars or hot oatmeal
Lunch....jerky, protein bars, chocolate bar, trail mix
Dinner...Mountain House freeze dried...the large bag that serves two.

Treats...coffee, tea, crystal lite, dehydrated fruit

For a day trip:

two pitas with peanut butter and butter
couple chocolate bars
energy snacks...Sharkies
protien bar

x2 what Brett said. I don't mind dehydrated food though, the mountain house stuff is really good and simple. We also take gatorade powder along really does the trick. For snacks I like power bars and jerky the best.

[zenstalker]

when I butcher my fall deer I usually grind quite a bit of it ....i dehydrate (in the oven) cooked ground deer...I then use powdered milk + hamburger helper + ground deer....delicious

[albertadave]

Originally Posted by sheephunter

energy snacks...Sharkies

What is a Sharkie?

[Rockymtnx]

I usually take 2 liters of water with me. I also have a MSR MiniWorks EX Filter that adapts to Nalgene wide mouth bottles or MSR Dromedary Bags.
As far as food goes I take a variety of the following:

Granola Bars
Trail mix (I like trail mix cause it has nuts, chocolate, and raisins)
Oatmeal
Jerky
Small Packet/Can of Tuna or Salmon. (Cans aren't fun to pack out)
Dehydrated fruit
Packaged Noodles
SunRype Fruit to go Bars
Ocean's Tuna Snacks
Sometimes powdered juice mix
Mountain House Entrees (Havent tried any other brands)

They are an energy snack...marathon runners use them all the time. Kind of like little gummy sharks packed with energy...lol

[Rockymtnx]

Where do you buy Sharkies?

MEC, Running Room

[Rockymtnx]

I also have thought about using a few things out of Military IMP Rations.
A friend of mine gave me a couple to try out. They are always for sale on FleeBay.

Anyone use them before?

[Rockymtnx]

Originally Posted by sheephunter

Dinner...Mountain House freeze dried...the large bag that serves two.

Just for yourself?

Yup...definitely not enough for two and just enough for one after a hard day in the mountains but they do have a new size for one that is about 1.5 servings and isn't bad. They are a bit lighter so sometimes I throw a couple of those in for the days when I don't work as hard.

[Rockymtnx]

I will have to look at a couple of mine when I get home today. Maybe they are double size. ????
I shouldn't really worry. I have lots of reserves that need to be burnt off. Enough to last a few weeks. lol

[Mintaka]

.

Food definitely becomes an issue the more days you are out. What's the longest anyone has gone just living out of their pack...with hunting and camping gear as well. For me it's 13 days and food was pretty scarce at the end. Not sure doing more than two weeks would be possible unless you were killing some of your food.

[mackenzie71]

It depends on where I go and how long I am gone for. For day hunts keeping it simple is the best, like everyone else has written, trail mix, granola bars, I also bring pepperoni sticks. and a couple of litres of water. When I go for a longer period of time I go to Crown Surplus in Calgary and buy the military IMP's. Being a former member of the forces I find these great when you are on longer hunts. You can either warm them up in boiling water, or whatI do is throw them on the dash of my truck with the heater on. With the IMP you get your meal, some kind of fruit, (like apple sauce) A dessert like a chocolate bar, and insant coffee, gum etc... It can be packed easily in your gear. If I know i'll be doing a lot of hiking, I bring a camelback, they fit under your pack. I think the one I have holds about 8 liters of water.

[Rockymtnx]

Originally Posted by sheephunter

What's the longest anyone has gone just living out of their pack...with hunting and camping gear as well.

Well you have me beat. The longest I have is 6 days. I did shoot three grouse for camp meat on about day 3.

[Mintaka]

.

[LongDraw]

As far as backpacking food goes Sheephunter has outlined what I bring on trips that are 5 days and longer. On the trips that are under 5 days I tend to bring food for my dinner that is a little heavier. For example I may bring a couple tins of oysters, tuna or salmon, etc.. I will mix this in with the freeze dried to make it taste a little more "real". All I bring for water is my 1L nalegene bottle, and I never filter, maybe I've been lucky but never had giardia. I always make sure the water I drink is from a high spring or seep.
As well on the longer trips I bring Crystal Light to give the water some flavor without sacrificing weight and on the shorter trips I will pack 1/2 a pound or so of Gatorade crystals.
I always bring a few packs of gum as well, makes the paisty mouth dissapear on the long death marches!

Longest trip I have done is 15 days, but we had some goodies and food dropped off to us out of the plane!

[TheClash]

i switched a long time ago to a hydration system rather than water bottles...smaller for frequent sips...keeps me hydrated better. i used to carry a filter...but for where i usually go the water is crystal clear and clean..so filtering out particulates is not a big deal.....i use pristine to treat the water. if i am going for multiple days i will pack in my light weight 7 liter collapsible jug...fill it with water before going to bed add the treatment...hang it from a branch on a tree...and in the morning i have plenty of clean, cold potable water.

as for food....it all depends on how long i am going for. i like to take as much "fresh" food as possible.....as i think it tastes better....for one or two nighters..a fav of mine is this:

gnocchi with knorr lentil and potato soup mix, sliced peppers and red onion and some freeze dried chicken chunks. add in a sliced avocado after the cooking process is done...and it is amazing!!..but a bit heavy.

one food i always take camping as it is dead easy to make and good for you..whole wheat couscous......use it in place of rice....cooks much faster=less fuel=less weight.

if i am going for more than a few nights...i make my own meals many times. a nice dehydrator and you can make some incredible meals.....especially tasty soups and fruit stuffs.

i always bring a backpacking pantry cake or brownie mix..along with the vanilla cream with raspberries.....tastes amaaaaaazing in the back country under the stars.

life is too short to eat bad food in the back country!

[Map Maker]

Longest I have been on living out of a backpack is 8 days. One of the best trips of my life. Brazeau Lake area with my soon-to-be-wife at the time.I feel after 3 days is when your body gets used to the different demands of your body and you can really feel what your body can do. I was very suprised how little we ate but still able to carry heavy loads over tough terrain for 10 to 15 km per day.
Mornings we would have bannock (flour,water, baking powder) and some dehydrated meat
lunch we would have a cup of dehydrated vegatables (peas,corn,carrots frozen type)
suppers have dehydrated spegheti sauce with noodles or rice. Couple nights, fresh caught trout was a real treat.
Snacks of dehydrated fruit.
We dehyrated our food ourselves before we went out so we could know exactly what we were eating.
Nearing the end of the backpack, we couldnt cinch our waist strap any tighter cuz our stomachs had shrunk in size so much and there was no more room on the straps.
hoping to do a solo one this year.

I've made an interesting observation about hunters over the years and that is that some love the experience of the eating and camping as much as the hunting and other just eat because they'd starve to death otherwise. I definitely fall into the latter category. Give me something simple that I can shove down my throat in a hurry that will give me energy and make a turd and I'm happy. There is definitely no joy in eating on a hunt for me and the less fuss the better but I truly admire those that make a ceremony out of it.

[gunslinger]

you bet i just bought 14 cases of mountain house today, for our spike camp this coming spring in the fly in area.
cant beat mountain house after a long day of hunting.

[Puma]

Originally Posted by sheephunter

What's the longest anyone has gone just living out of their pack...with hunting and camping gear as well. For me it's 13 days and food was pretty scarce at the end. Not sure doing more than two weeks would be possible unless you were killing some of your food.

When we did the Bowron Lake trip in northern BC we were out for 13 days.
Travel was by canoe and portage, but we were limited to 30 lbs gear per person so we had to pack smart.
We came out with food, fishing was outstanding so it was big lakers every night for the first half of the trip.
Guys, if you ever experiance Beaver Fever, you will never drink "wild" again. My fishing pal had it twice over the years, He lost 30 lbs in a matter of days in the hospital before they realized what he had. I always filter my water with a small PUR Hiker filter.It only takes a couple minutes per liter.
Puma

Yup...had it a few years ago...it is nasty stuff! Lost 20 pounds in two weeks. Easy to cure but you have to go to a doctor for that....ya, stupid me!

[Duk Dog]

Originally Posted by sheephunter

...Give me something simple that I can shove down my throat in a hurry that will give me energy and make a turd and I'm happy....

Now that made me chuckle.

[altaberg]

hm, me thinks you are all missing some essential ingredient to a happy backcountry experience in the form of a small flask of something spiritual.

Sheep covered it farily well, I like dried fruit and always carry some, dates, mangoes, prunes, cranberry.

I still drink water out of streams but I did have giardia once. I was sick, but actually not that sick. It does depend a bit, some people never knew they had it.

I have done a backpack trip without resupply for 18 days.
In Sweden north of the arctic circle there are some fairly large national parks. the biggest is called Sarek. they connect to some others across the mountains in Norway. The mountains aren't very high but very rugged and treeline up there is ~700m(?).

I've been there three times. One year, just after getting out of the army, a buddy of mine and I walked from Swedish lappland (Jokkmok) to the road near Bodo and Fauske in Norway. There are no real trails and no real chances of supply. River crossings can be exciting.

We figured it would take us 15 days and thought we had packed food for 20.
It took us 18 days and the last two days we lived on sugar cubes, margarine, tea and hot chocolate. We did go as light as possible with everything else and used only the little army stoves with solid alcohol. Still the packs were 40kg the first day. (We had just gotten out fo the army and at least no grenade launchers or belt-fed machine guns to carry, so it didn't feel all that bad).

Once we got to Norway we settled into a campground by the ocean, cleaned up and bought fresh food - bad idea! We were sitting there for two days with diarrhea.

Another thing I remember is how wet the ground was in summer.
We both us leather, army paratrooper boots. really good for walking and comfortable. Second day we saw those Swedes in rubber boots and laughed.
Except that they knew something we didn't. The area above treeline, which is most is moss and lichen and in summer like a sponge. You're walking in wet moss up to your ankles most of the time. Drying boots became a real challenge and we eventually ran out of water proofing and on the last few days two daily applications of margarine served to keep our boots alive.

Also the largest number of reindeer i ever saw. Walked through herds for hours.

I have tons of photos but they are from a past era and some day I should take the time to scan some.
I was young and foolish back then, now I'm not young anymore.

"Finding rams is hard but finding a hunting partner who is physically and mentally prepared for backpack hunting almost as tough."

Isn't that the truth. The longest I've convinced my Dad to tag along with me for was 3 days. Living off jerky, trail-mix, ichiban soup base and fruitcake, as one slice and I'm not hungry for the rest of the day .
During the summer months I've done lots of 3 day trips and i seem to think my longest was 6 or 7 days, hard to remember but it was fun. I got lots of friends who are into it, couldn't convince any to tag along for hunting this fall.

I think I've finally suckered one of my brothers into coming with my for a week solid next September, gotta work hard for a bighorn, he may draw a ewe tag. I realize i should put more emphasis on food, we are definitely minimalists and should market our extended hunts as a quick way to drop some weight . I never filter water and have only been really sick once (for a week or so, don't think i had to go in for medical attention but can't remember for sure). Maybe its just a mind thing but i'm convinced i've built up immunity to many water born illnesses, that or i'm just lucky. Whatever works.

My most memorable trip started on the York Creek Road in the south, camped at Plain Crash the first night, next day hiked into the next valley, Peaked Ptolomy and Andy Good Peaks on the way, camped in the little Valley right on the BC border. Next day followed Ptolomy Creek for a bit, ended up coming out on Sentry mountain, camped on Crowsnest Creek the next night as we had arranged pickup nearby (At the falls to be precise), was pretty nice. Wish i had more time to do trips like that. Challenging but rewarding, beauty scenery and some interesting wildlife/plants/caves/etc.

[zenstalker]

10 days without resupply in the Willmore park...probably could have done a couple of extra day as I was with my girlfriend and was carrying most of the food.....sure was fun though...them horses sure look appealing at times.