As much as I love backpack hunting, as as essential as it is sadly becoming to escape the ATV hordes on western public lands, it takes a huge amount of planning to get everything you need into a workable load. My most recent trip, with T Downing, was at timberline in CO and I humped about 65 pounds and T even more. A big problem is that you need two separate sets of gear and packs: one for camping and one for hunting. I wound up with my hunting packed stuffed full and strapped atop my backpack. Happily, though we were high it wasn’t a long hike in so it was doable. Then if you succeed (we were after mule deer) you have the meat and maybe horns to deal with in addition to your gear. It’s worth thinking all of this out ahead of time. That said, I personally find going into real wildness, with a friend or solo, to be the purest and most rewarding form of hunting, if also the most demanding. Beyond the mountains and at lower altitudes it would be far easier. Just do it and sort it out as you go along. 😛 Dave