How do they do it?

I'm scratching my head anymore looking at my gear and can't seem to figure it out. How do some of these guys get away with a "10 day backpack hunt on only 45 pounds of gear and food." When we went in on our unlimited hunt earlier this year my hunting partner and I each had about 55 to 60 pounds set up for a week with food, gear, guns, and I had optics we pretty much wore our clothes the whole time besides rain gear and heavier coats while hiking. Anyone have any thoughts? Even when a guy packs for just a couple days with everything to pack-in and stay for 2 or 3 days its still 40+.

I haven't personally gone through and weighed everything to the nat's ass oz. But I have a pretty good idea on where the bulky stuff is at.

Pack: Stone Glacier 5900
Optics: Meopta 12x50 Euros (in chest case), Swaro 20x60-80 STS (Optics are as important to me as Horsepower is to a motor head, there's no substitute especially on these high alpine hunts.)
Tripod: Vanguard w/bino adapter, phoneskope
Food: 1.5-2 pounds per day ( that's everything including a good ole' mountain house)
Water: 32oz nalgene (and I refill along the way), Katadyn Gravity Filter for Camp
Tent: 3lb 4 season Mountain Hardware 1p for a solo hunt or a MSR Mutha Hubba 3p for two people on the hunt
Clothes: Sitka Timberlines, Merino Top (2) per week, Core Pullover Hoody, Kuiu Guide Jacket, Puffy Jacket, Rain Gear, L/J Bottoms, 1 pair wool socks per 3 days, Crocs for camp, Kenetrek Boots Uninsulated
Bag: North Face Zero Degree
Pad: Exped Insulated Pad Regular
Camp Essentials: Pack Pillow/ Utensils, Toiletries, Extra Batteries, Whiskey ( just a little bit), Chew, Jetboil/Fuel and my latest addition which is worth its weight in gold. The Chair Zero, and a medical kit.

Possible Extra: Fishing pole/Lure (3)

Besides the few odds end that's in a guys pack that I wont bore anyone with, but it isn't much. I seriously cant get under 60 pounds with a rifle, or bow on my back, for a week long excursion. I have watched a few videos and read articles and guys are saying they're about 40 to 45 pounds with pretty much the same list I'm running some things differ but along the same lines. I know everyone's gear needs are different and some guys like certain things, but I am all ears if anyone wants to share their setups or give mine some critiquing I would be open to any suggestions. I am by no means a expert backpack hunter but what I have compiled over the past few seasons and learned I have put into use and its working pretty well for me. Thanks Jonas

Id be curious to hear others on this too. I just did a a short 3 day black bear hunt and had the same issue. Some of my problem was it was a pretty cold weather hunt so i had a good amount of layers but I figure most of it is just needing to get some lighter gear. Or maybe just more widdling down of some item that aren't essential but just nice to have. But that only seems to cut at best a couple pounds or so. Its pretty spendy to try and revamp your whole system. but being 15-20 lbs lighter can make a world of difference.

10 days on 45lb... I've heard this sort of thing before and don't believe it. I've been on too many backpacking trips to believe it.

You add a rifle or a bow on to your necessities, there's just no way. You can trim some things like go with a bivvy sack instead of a tent and sleeping bag, or just use a rolled up shirt for a pillow, but most hunters I actually believe when it comes to extended backpack hunts for extended periods like a week or 10 days talk about leapfrogging in two frame packs filled with food and gear. The longest I've been out at one stretch was 5 nights. My pack barely held everything I needed, dehydrated food and all, and I was at about 55lb not including my bow.

Yeah the only times i've seemed to be able to stay under that weight is on a non hunting hike where i'm not bringing all the hunting accouterments. Seems like just all the basics get me to about 30 lbs then adding in a rifle and food and extra gear bumps the weight right up.

I've cut everything a guy can, and have a small fortune in gear. My sheep pack is between 50 and 55lbs for 10 days including rifle depending on solo and time of year. I've done probably 25ish 9-12 day backpack trips, and have shaved about 10lbs from then I started, but really can't go any lighter. I think guys forget to add in water and rifle, or don't have a spotter? I take zero creature comforts.

Splitting gear will save a few pounds, and forgetting some at home even more.

I go on about 1.5lbs per day food and don't starve to death by any means.

I just stuff it in and forget about it. The weight is what it is.

They use the same scale their wife uses. I just came back from a 3 day and my pack was 57lbs with my rifle. My buddies was 68lbs. Maybe that's it. You take a new guy hunting with you................

I think Bambistew hit the nail on the head. Without water and a rifle my pack seems pretty reasonable. When I add 2.5 liters of water and a 9 lb rifle, my pack weight seems to double

Heck I can't go on weekend backpack trips and come under 45lbs...it might be because the girls want a gallon of wine

I did 7 days this year in Sept. and pack weight was 38lbs including 3L of water. Food was right about 2lbs per day.

I'll lay it out later when I get back to my little notebook with all my weight wrote down. It's a very minimal list but I wasn't wanting anything the entire time. In fact, I had extra stuff I never used in my pack.

There was a thread recently on a gear focused forum I frequent where people were touting their pack weights. I remember making a joking comment about how weight didn't seem to count if it was worn on the body instead of in their main pack. Folks often were not counting their clothes, bino harness (with binos, rangefinder, gps, etc), weapon, items worn on belts or even water. You're still carrying it!

vanish said:

There was a thread recently on a gear focused forum I frequent where people were touting their pack weights. I remember making a joking comment about how weight didn't seem to count if it was worn on the body instead of in their main pack. Folks often were not counting their clothes, bino harness (with binos, rangefinder, gps, etc), weapon, items worn on belts or even water. You're still carrying it!

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Nothing on my person would be counted in pack weight. So boots, binos, bow would not be plus the clothing I had on. Everything else would count in to that 38lbs including 3L of water.

TimeOnTarget said:

Nothing on my person would be counted in pack weight. So boots, binos, bow would not be plus the clothing I had on. Everything else would count in to that 38lbs including 3L of water.

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Well there you go. This is exactly why the OP is scratching his head. While your pack weight was only 38 pounds, you were carrying quite a bit more in gear weight than that; the metric the OP is talking about. Binos+Bow is going to be close to a 25% increase alone.

I think there's a good argument on how pack weight is irrelevant: If you just didn't take a pack and instead taped everything to your body, your pack weight would be zero. Yes, its a bit silly but I think it shows the point.

A less extreme illustration would be "I reduced my pack weight by wearing my jacket."

vanish said:

There was a thread recently on a gear focused forum I frequent where people were touting their pack weights. I remember making a joking comment about how weight didn't seem to count if it was worn on the body instead of in their main pack. Folks often were not counting their clothes, bino harness (with binos, rangefinder, gps, etc), weapon, items worn on belts or even water. You're still carrying it!

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That's funny. Reminds me of boarding a flight on Air New Zealand. They have a strict 15 lbs. carry-on policy. Mine was a little over so I had to take my binos out and wear them. The flight attendant warned me sternly not to put them back in my bag once I boarded. That scenario made the plane lighter.

I think the guys that can do a 40 do it in warm weather.

Your pad, bag, tent, and clothes could be reduced a good bit in warm weather.

As others have said, rifle etc probably not in the final tally

Also, you could drop a pound by going with the 3300 Stone Glacier. A few more ounces with a pocket rocket instead of jet boil, etc.

I’m not a hardcore backpacker, but I own a lot of this stuff and have crunched the numbers. Start with shaving a few ounces or more off everything you can and pretty soon it adds up to pounds.

I never weigh my clothing i wear or boots. But if its getting carried in the pack it gets weighed. No sense in tryng to fool fooling yourself into thinking your light weight to just strap more stuff on before you head out. For some reason some people I know think its more manly to spout off how heavy their pack is. I don't understand that one bit.

I definitely don't have an ultra light set up, in fact i've never weighed it because I don't really care, but I have noticed some big differences with a few changes. The biggest change was ditching the heavy internal framed eberlestock pack and going with a lightweight external frame pack and just adding lightweight dry bag for overnight gear and a small frameless pack for the actual hunting gear. A stripped down SJK rail hauler fits this bill well. The next big change was going with the 2 lb. Black Diamond megalight mid tent instead of the 4 lb. double wall tent I used to have. I cut a center pole from the woods when i get to camp. It's just a better shelter for hunting anyways for me. I swapped out my heavier, warmer sleeping bag for a lightweight down bag with a super light bivy sack. If it gets cold at night i just wear my puffy jacket and add a hot water bottle, works great, especially in a tipi style tent. Jet boil, mountain house, grouse, instant oatmeal, snicker bars and elk jerky for food. I get water from springs and treat accordingly with Aquamira or a Katadyn basecamp if camped next to a stream. That's as stripped down as I can go and not suffer (too much

belly-deep said:

I think the guys that can do a 40 do it in warm weather.

Your pad, bag, tent, and clothes could be reduced a good bit in warm weather.

As others have said, rifle etc probably not in the final tally

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I did this in Sept. Was hot this year and didn't use any of the extras I had along at all. I'd certainly be adding a few pounds of gear for the same hunt in Oct.

Do you cut your toothbrush in half?

ditch it all together.