Food for a Backpack Hunt

[Robin Conrads]

#6631

Jason Hairston of KUIU posted this video about how he packs food, and how he calculates protein and calories needed for a 12 day hunt. I think it’s a good idea to pack your own food rather than rely on the guide to get you through. Any thoughts or comments?

[Alexandre Bugnon]

#53488

Jason’s got it right. Also, I like that he went back to more simple food like bacon, cheese, bagels and peanut butter instead of these over-prcessed friggin’ protein bars! I did the same. I pack peanut butter/jerky sandwiches and dark chocolate bars.

[Stephen Graf]

#53521

Yep those mountain house freeze dried meals are good. My favorite is the lasagna. Yum!

I was a little disappointed to hear him say he burns his plastic bags in the fire. Burning plastic is about as nasty a thing as you can personally do to the planet. Not only that, the stink travels for miles.

Case in point: Our neighbor, who I have been working on for years to clean up his act, burns his own garbage. He lives about a mile from us. When he burns plastic I can smell it while sitting in the house. I call him up and say, “Hay Willie, you’re burning plastic again. What did I tell you about that?!” He never remembers what I tell him, but he can’t figure out how I know he’s burning plastic, even after I tell him I can smell his stink.

A quick tutorial on burning plastic, if interested:

http://www.wecf.eu/cms/download/2004-2005/homeburning_plastics.pdf

[ChumpMcgee]

#53828

An empty can of Pringles can hold roughly 2 pounds of pasta, cylinder shaped can be packed almost anywhere. Get the bagged tuna which weighs less than the can and grab a couple packets of mayonnaise from Subway and you have a weeks worth of food in side a Pringles can. Carbs, protein and taste 100x better than the dehydrated packs.

[wahoo]

#53952

nice post . Steve I caught that too. Hopefully he’s not doing the plastic ? I cked that article I should send it to all my neighbors, they burn like crazy. I like all the food Ideas plus the chips probably are great fire starters ?

[Stephen Graf]

#54157

I like the idea of having each day’s food in a separate container. Keeping a backpack organized is tough enough. Being able to just reach in and pull out a bag is sweet!

Maybe instead of burning the bag, he can just cr%$^p in it. Pack out everything you pack in and leave only footprints, right? 😳 🙄 😯

[Col Mike]

#54172

x2 What Steve said. On Dave and I’s recent trip we were appalled at the condition of campsites and the refuse left behind.

[Col Mike]

#54180

Forgot to mention that was a great video –thanks mom.

Beats the heck out of some of the stuff I packed for 3 decades.:shock:

[Charles Ek]

#54319

I just stopped the video when he said his day starts with a Mountain House breakfast product.

I’ve eaten the stuff, I’ve sold it and I know people like it. But it is much more expensive (and, not infrequently, far less satisfying from an eating perspective) than learning how to use commonly available foodstuffs and reusable packaging.

My advice is to take to heart the lessons of the National Outdoor Leadership School on this subject. No, I’m not a devotee graduate, or a paid endorser. I’m just a fan:

NOLS Cookery

And a day without oatmeal first thing in the morning is a day spent in town for me. Well, actually, I eat it in town several times a month as well.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

#54370

eidsvolling –

Thank you. As someone who taught for NOLS for more than a decade, it’s good to see that some still think it’s ok to go into the wilderness without a bunch of highly processed, pre-packaged meals.

There are certainly backcountry trips where you may just need a quick meal in order to be able to focus on other pursuits, but one of the things that NOLS taught me (and that I consequently saw many other students realize over the years) is the joy of cooking and eating well in the outdoors, as well as the importance of slowing down to take the time to do so. And the costs you mention are no small issue either – an extended trip with nothing but freeze-dried meals is a significant expense. Heck, I could almost buy a new bow that I don’t need for that amount… 😀

I’m sure not everyone agrees with this, but I think it’s somewhat symptomatic of a certain newer approach to the outdoors that you need “quick” meals in order to be able to save time to rush to do the next thing that you’re out there to do. As trad bowhunters, I think most of us have realized that there’s a lot more to the experience than that, or we probably would have chosen other implements to hunt with from the outset. 😉

[James Harvey]

#54547

I just got back from about a 10 day kayak expedition and one of the new (to me) foods I tried was wraps (flat bread) with peanut butter and honey. I had a few zip seal bags with piles of wraps in them (to avoid having all my wraps in one potentially water logged basket), a squeeze bottle of honey and a jar of peanut butter. Delicious, real food and very compact.

I like this fella’s idea about 24 hours food in each pack. That’s how our work rations come and it’s very convenient. Keep today’s ration in an external pouch so it’s easy to get to, the rest in your main sack. Then every morning resupply from the main supply. It’s also convenient as if you miss a meal for some reason, you don’t have to figure anything, you just get to gorge a bit more at your next meal stop 😉

This kayak trip I had my meals organised into a bag of breakfasts, a bag of lunches, a bag of dinners and a bag of snacks. It worked really well, but much better suited to kayaks than backpacks. I reckon the 24hr is the way to go there.

I’m surprised that fella didn’t have more chocolate and nuts though, as per weight they are about the most calorific food you can get (besides lard, which my research has shown to be the highest calories per weight of anything in the supermarket). To each their own 😉

I’m also rather opposed to plastic burning, but I’m not 100% sure that’s what he was getting at. Hopefully not eh?

[Stephen Graf]

#54714

Well now Mr. Hammer and Mr. Eidsvolling, I am not usually a fan of processed food, but for me a trip like that is a once every 3 or 4 years kind of thing. So I appreciate the quick and easy and light nature of the freeze dried stuff. I am sure if I did it more, I’d be finding a better way. I may have to get that cookbook and see what it’s all about…

But come on now, have you tried the lasagna? I bet if you did you’d be singing another song 😆

[Ralph]

#55079

Jim, if I had a peanut allergy I’d starve to death come hunting season.

Between PB&J sandwiches and Payday candy bars………..:D

[Bruce Smithhammer]

#55111

Steve Graf wrote:

Well now Mr. Hammer and Mr. Eidsvolling, I am not usually a fan of processed food, but for me a trip like that is a once every 3 or 4 years kind of thing. So I appreciate the quick and easy and light nature of the freeze dried stuff. I am sure if I did it more, I’d be finding a better way. I may have to get that cookbook and see what it’s all about…

But come on now, have you tried the lasagna? I bet if you did you’d be singing another song 😆

Ha – you know I’d eat the heck out of that lasagna, Steve! And of course, we’d follow it up with my homemade backcountry cobbler…

[adirondackman]

#55226

I have gone to packing foods that do not require cooking. I wish that I thought about it years ago. I pack each days meals and snacks individually. It is so nice to be able to hunt hard all day and not have to worry about cooking when you get back to camp. Plus I don’t have to lug around a stove and fuel anymore. I have been doing this for about 10 years now and would never go back to cooking.

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